PaulStiver.com

One of the challenges facing our society today is that we seem to be growing toward polarization. Our differences are highlighted to extremes, especially on social media. When we come across those we disagree with, it can be easy to dehumanize them. We start to see people as "other," or "less than." We start to treat them as unworthy to voice an opinion or to express themselves in a certain way. How should we determine someone's worth? The Gospel of Luke gives us this interesting scene: After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us o...

When we see things like the trending hashtag, #MeToo it breaks our hearts. It should. We should be properly grieved and frustrated. We should hate the fact that many, many women have been overpowered, manipulated, abused, assaulted, dehumanized, raped, and victimized by men. We should feel the magnitude of the problem. This is not okay. For those of us who have maybe been unaware of the sheer magnitude  and pervasiveness of the abuse, harassment, and assault that many women have experienced, #MeToo can come as quite a shock. We have to be quick to avoid dismissing these stories. We have to be quick to avoid rationalizing away the problem. We have to be quick to avoid forgetting this reality. For men, we have to change. We need to get to work. We have to be renewed in the fight. We have to hate any forms of superiority that arise in our own hearts. We have to lay down any thoughts that we have any "rights" over women. We have to question our own hearts and ...

This is the story of the first time that Allison knew that she loved me. I like this story because it means that Allison loved me, and she still does! (That's awesome!) When Allison and I first started dating, it was completely amazing to me. I had no idea why a girl as amazing as her would want to go out with a guy like me. I had no money, an abrasive personality, and I drove a minivan that had no muffler. I did not see myself as worthy of love, especially not from someone as amazing as Allison. If you've ever heard the Fastball song, "She's So High Above Me," that is basically what I was experiencing. Even deeper down, however I was experiencing shame. Shame tells us that we are not worthy of love, because we think we are bad. We think we are bad deep down at our core when we struggle with shame. Shame also tells us that we don't belong. That's why I always loved the song "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman Fast C...