"Go West Young Man": A different reading of Psalm 103:12 that you will not want to read over in the Bible.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”- Psalm 103:12

This verse is one of the most frequently cited verses from Psalms primarily because it provides great assurance that God has caste our sins away.  To be honest, I think growing up, and even as an adult, I like this verse because it allows me to quantify the great distance God will caste my indiscretions.  The use of directional language “east” and “west” is something I can get my head around.  While I was no geometry whiz in high school, I can at least understand that a straight line moving in opposite directions will continue to move on that plane never to meet again.  While I think the writer of this particular verse wants the reader to draw a similar conclusion, I believe the directional terms “east” and “west” are not actually directional at all.  I believe these are metaphors that reference not the distance God sends my bad decisions, but rather terms that were loaded with narrative meaning from the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) that the original readers would have noticed.  

Disclaimer: one may continue to read this passage as infinite directional movement (two lines that depart in opposite directions that will never touch again) if one chooses too, and the jist of what the author is getting at remains in tact.  However, not to capture the “east” and “west” metaphor will be to miss a trove of metaphorical expressions that are thematically woven throughout the Old Testament that illustrate redundantly God’s desire to remove separation and judgment and restore community.  In short, to only read this passage as a placating proof-text that reassures us that the stupid decision made on Friday night is quickly jettisoned into divine geometrical forgetfulness is to only capture part of God’s love story for his creation.  This essay will help contextualize the redundant uses of “east” and “west” as both directional and metaphorical terms through the first five books of the Old Testament.

The first prominent use of “east” or “eastward” is found in Genesis 2:8, “The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.” The Hebrew scholars remind us that the English translators preferred the term “place in the Garden” so as to highlight how man found himself in the planted Garden located in Eden.  However, the same Hebrew term is used elsewhere as “put” in 2:15 with two very particular purposes in mind of “safety” and “rest.”  In other words, our English vocabulary short changes the Hebrew language by missing all together that God's original purpose of man in the Garden that was located in Eden was for safety and rest and to be in community with God.  This is probably not a critical distinction since the reader of Genesis can easily conclude that the purpose of the Garden existence prior to man’s disobedience was to exist in special community with God. 

The directional term “east” in Genesis 2:8 is meant to locate the Garden that God planted in a place called Eden.  From this point forward in the first five books of the Old Testament, the term “east” will have a double meaning of location and the metaphorical meanings of judgment, separation, evil, and disobedience.  I will mention several examples of “east” as a juxtaposing condition from “west.”  I am certain my list will not be exhaustive, but maybe as you read the Bible you will pick up other intentional examples of this narrative language pregnant with meaning.

Old Testament Uses of "East" and "Eastward"

-Genesis 3: When Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden in Genesis 3:24, they were sent eastward and access to the Garden was denied by divine Cherubim.  Notice the double meaning of “eastward” in this context that explains both the physical direction they were exiled, but also the spiritual direction they were exiled.  Their punishment was the judgment by God of their actions in Gen. 3:9, “Where are you?” This is cross-examination language by God.  As a result, they experienced separation from God.

-Genesis 4: The very next narrative is Eve giving birth to Cain and then to Abel.  The events of this story are well known. Cain out of jealously kills his brother Abel.  Don’t miss the intentional cross-examination language by God with Cain in verse 9, “Where is Abel your brother?” The same forensic language used by God with his parents in the Garden.  God passes judgment on Cain.  According to the text, the punishment was too great that Cain leaves the presence of the Lord.  Notice the direction he takes in verse 16, “Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” 

-Genesis 10: Moving along through the book of Genesis we find ourselves with the descendants of Noah after the flood.  According to verse 30, “Now their settlement extended from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the hill country of the east.” Their physical direction and spiritual direction continue opposite of God’s safety and rest.  This trajectory will continue to be a juxtaposition of God’s redemption and Salvation.

Not to get off track, there is a quick literary note I want to make linking the sin, nakedness, covering, and curse in the Garden and the sin, nakedness, covering, and curse that occurs with Noah between his sons.  In the Garden located in Eden, the seed that was planted that grew the tree that in turn produced the fruit that Eve ate in disobedience caused rupture between God and man.  Now in Noah’s narrative, the first thing he does after exiting the Ark is to plant his own garden.  The seeds he planted grew a vineyard that in turn produced the fruit of the vine (wine) that Noah drank to become drunk.  Admittedly, this is a strange passage, but nonetheless, Noah is asleep in his tent “naked.”  Ham, the father of Caanan, decides to view his nakedness and tell his other two brothers outside of the tent while Shem and Japheth decide to cover him with a loin cloth.  When Noah wakes he punishes/judges Ham and pronounces a curse on Canaan that he will be a maidservant to his brothers. In both passages, nakedness is viewed as knowledge of evil and something to be covered.  There is more to say on this maybe for a different post. 

Tower of Babel

-Genesis 11:1, “Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. 2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.”  This is the setting for the story of the Tower of Babel.  It is important to note that Noah’s descendants were instructed to scatter the earth and replenish; however, they opt to go “east” and settle to “make a name for themselves.”  Taking this permanent settlement a step further, they decided to build a great tower that would cause God to both destroy their tower and confuse their language. Again, notice the connection between “east” and disobedience.  John Sailhamer in The Pentateuch As Narrative makes the cogent observation, “It is important to the author of Genesis that we picture the starting point of the events of the story as the “land” west of Babylon.  Thus the movement of the story the builders moved eastward to build Babylon” (Sailhamer 134). Babylon will hold a consistent place all through the scope of scripture representing the reign and rule of evil. 

-Genesis 12: Abraham obeys God’s call to leave the land of Ur of Chaldean (Babylon) and travel east. He will set up tent with Lot his nephew and their families.  The text tells us that both clans were unable to get along and so guess which direction Lot travels, “So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other.”  Lot would settle in the valley in the city of Sodom.  You probably know how this stories ends.  Sodom will be destroyed by fire and brimstone because of the ubiquitous sin among the citizens of Sodom.  Redundantly, “east” represents man’s continued trajectory away from God’s redemption and salvation.

-Genesis 16: Abraham has a child by his Sarah's Egyptian maidservant.  This child was a result of Sarah's plan to accelerate God's blessing and promise to her husband Abraham.  There is a literary connection between Eve's attempt to work around God's plan by eating of the tree and Sarah's plan to work around God's timing.  As a result of this act, God declares of Ishmael, “He will be a wild donkey of a man,
His hand will be against everyone,
And everyone’s hand will be against him;
And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”

-Genesis 25: Ishmael clan will continue even after his death in eastward proximity to Assyria.  Genesis 25:17-18, “These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.  Assyria will hold a prominent place in the history of Israel.  Keep in mind, the original readers of the first five books of the Old Testament were probably reading this already in exodus from Egypt and potentially, and maybe even, in exile.  They would have picked up on the geography of both Babylon and Assyria in the history of Israel.

-Exodus 10:13 “So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 

-Exodus 14:21, “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided.”

-Numbers 13-14: Israel would travel eastward after their exodus from Egypt.  They would eventually wander until an entire generation dies in the wilderness and NOT enjoy God’s blessing because they did not believe in the Lord (Numbers 14:11).

Conclusion:

I suspect I have not captured every instance or use of the metaphor of “east” and “eastward” as a spiritual direction opposite of faith and obedience, but you get the idea.  So back to where we started with Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” is a declarative statement of God’s desire to pursue after disobedient humanity for the purpose of reconciling us to Himself.  This is more than blotting out our indiscretions.  This is a passage of hope for a new identity and restorative image in Christ Jesus no longer following the “eastward” direction of our fractured image in sin.  For those in Christ Jesus (Christians), we are called to turn from our “eastward” ways and follow after Jesus.  The literal definition of the Greek term Metanoia from which we get “repentance” is to literally change directions.  In this context, when we repent of our sins, we are doing a 180-degree turn away from the “east” and journeying “westward.” In other words, as far as our sin, separation, judgment, and exile have caused us great distance with our Savior, so far has he removed those obstacles.  He brings us close to Himself and makes the first move of redemption.

To put in very superficial song lyrics, Christian artist Michael W. Smith says it best, “Go West Young man!”

Mission Creep: The Temptation for Every Christian Organization

                                   

                                                                                                           

The term “Mission Creep” is a common expression within military circles describing the organic tendency for campaigns to gradually drift or shift beyond its original goals, often after initial success.   I suspect there are plenty of examples of military engagements throughout history of mission creep.   Just talk to the spouse of enlisted soldiers who get news that what was supposed to be a six-month deployment has turned into a two-year separation, and then the reality of mission creep hits close to home.  The tendency to “drift” is not isolated to militaries and wars.  There are constant temptations for Christian organizations to “creep” away from their original mission.

There are many factors and forces that lead to mission drift, but I want to only focus on one set of dynamics.  Initial successes and new potentials for revenue coupled with an increase in programs and expansion are some of the most potent forces that lead to mission drift.  The increase in programs or expansion almost always requires a “mission” gut check.  It is important to note, I am not suggesting that all Christian organizations are locked-in to policy language and practices established by their founders.  In fact, there are great examples of organizations making redactions to their by-laws, policies, and even programs to meet the emerging needs of our world and their goal of evangelism.  This is almost inevitable with any organization that has a long history spanning many decades of cultural shifts and even globalization.  However, there is a strong argument to be made that shifting in policies and some practices are to be expected, but drifting from one’s mission can potentially lead to a DNA change that fundamentally changes the organization all together.

Christian organizations at one time all shared a common DNA that was gospel centric.   In other words, whether it was Harvard in the early 17^th century, global mission organizations, or churches, they all started with a deep conviction that was probably tethered to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as explained in the Bible.  This is not to suggest that all Christian organizations share the same functions and forms, but it is to suggest that they share the same DNA.  The problem with mission drift is the “success” or “expansion” may require a creep away from the fundamental reasons and convictions for existence for the sake of keeping the machine running.  In these instances, the boards, elders, and stakeholders begin changing their missions to accommodate the strategic plans necessary for continued success and expansion even at the expense of their Christian DNA.

In my lifetime, I have seen major stories of mission drift from very well known Christian organizations that seem to have at least one thing in common.  Donors!  It goes without saying most religious non-profits rely heavily or solely on the generosity of donors.  As a result, an entire career path has been developed around securing major gifts as well as educating donors on ways they can restructure their estate to benefit said organizations.  Professional fundraisers can make a good living in specializing in the “Ask.”  Unfortunately, the “ask” (a term related to the development and asking of money) is not coupled with a deep conviction to organizational mission. 

From my vantage point, it is very easy to allow a big gift to set in motion the fiscal waves that begin the mission drift.  Don’t get me wrong; I am not suggesting that there are not examples of well-intentioned and well-resourced people that offer to write huge checks to Christian organizations with no strings attached.  Some of my own personal experiences of Godly people sharing in amazing ways come with this preface, “God placed your organization on my mind and use this gift as you see fit.”  But for all of the unrestricted gifts, there are just as many, if not more, “restricted” gifts that may or may not fit into the mission of the organization.  It can be a very difficult conversation when someone is willing to write a 6 or 7 figure check and the strings and mission creep that comes with that check potentially changes the Christian DNA or the organization.   When this occurs, the brain’s ability to rationalize kicks into 4-wheel drive and is willing to go way “off-path” to figure a way to fit that donor’s agenda into the mission.  After all, “God must want us to be successful or else He would not have made this funding available?”  Or, “This is God’s way of telling us that we need to change our mission.” 

When major donors are given the ability to change mission, it often starts with innocuous word games.  For example, “I am willing to give you or build you, but in order to get my money you need to be willing to make some changes so I can save face with my constituents.”  As you can see, I am using hyperbole to make this point.  There have been famous slogan changes over the years as a result of mission drift.

There was a time when the YMCA was deeply committed and unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Today, it is just “ the Y” and a place to go and play ball.  Southern Methodist University was proud of her name and religious heritage, but pragmatics led to institutional abbreviation and now SMU is all you see or hear.  I am told in this instance that it is very difficult to recruit students and raise money in other parts of our country with both the terms “Southern” and “Methodist” in the same sentence.  It could be the case that national re-branding campaigns do not necessarily change or alter Christian DNA, but this is certainly a drift point that has implications.  Another example close to home, TCU will NEVER be called “Texas Christian University” by ESPN.  They will always be referred to as just “TCU.”  These subtle changes often come about by well-intentioned marketing firms that almost never share the DNA of the Christian organization, but they certainly specialize in secularization.  After all, it is easier to recruit students, grow programs, raise money, and build buildings when Jesus Christ is marginalized and even removed.  It seems that the Bible reminds us of the world’s desire to mistreat and avoid Jesus.  Why are we surprised that worldly success occurs in tandem with pushing Jesus to the margins?

It is amazing how money and power have the ability to contribute to mission drift.  It takes a great deal of faith and integrity to turn down a major gift or donor.  But be reminded, one of Satan’s greatest tactics is not mission destruction; It is mission drift.  I am reminded of Jesus' own mission inauguration and after fasting for forty days, Satan engages in tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11).  In each of the temptation episodes, Satan doesn’t attempt to destroy Jesus’ ministry; instead, Satan attempts to redirect Jesus’ focus under the pretense of empowering and expanding his ministry.  Some commentators suggest this may have been Satan’s way of verifying that Jesus was indeed divine.  I tend to think differently.  Satan realized that if Jesus’ mission would drift toward, power, popularity, and gimmicks, then Jesus’ authenticity and mission to rescue and redeem humanity would be compromised. 

By the way, the same tactics aimed at the organizational level are even more efficient at the personal level.  Satan would like nothing more than to bring slow spiritual drift to the life of the believer.  C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters illustrates the evil one’s desire to not wage a nuclear holocaust, but instead, to lob small RPG’s toward our mind and heart.  Over time, the spiritual creep that will occur will accomplish the evil one’s desires.  The end game is the same.  Whether we are eaten by a whale or bitten to death by a thousand minnows, the end result is the same.

How to avoid mission creep: 

• First, establish organizational practices and policies around receiving gifts from donors.  Not every gift is a mission appropriate gift and learning to say, “no thank you” in a God-honoring way, while very difficult, may alleviate a lot of organizational angst down the road.  
• Second, develop the habit at the highest level of the organization to continually remind the organization of her mission.  This sounds simple, but get that mission emblazoned in the minds and hearts of your people, and when the time comes to defend against mission drift, it will feel more normal than abnormal.  
• Third, avoid the tendency of rolling in and out of re-brands.  Of course, there are times to do a re-brand.  But make sure that those you are hiring to manage, design, and execute your re-brand share your mission’s DNA.  
• Last, always vet when mega wealthy entities approach your ministry or organization with a desire to partner.  This is especially difficult when they are giving you “free” access, resources, publicity, etc.  Remember, you get what you pay for in these instances.  Free is great, but free may be the very drift point that sets the organization on a trajectory that will lead to mission change. 

The Power of the Gaze: "When Captives becomes their own Captors. TheElf on the Shelf represents more than a holiday tradition."

“This architectural apparatus should be a machine for creating and sustaining a power relation independent of the person who exercises it; in short, that the inmates should be caught up in a power situation of which they are themselves the bearers.”-Michel Foucault

       Preface: I recogonize I am biased in my own gender as well as flawed and broken relying on God for continued growth and transformation.    

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) is probably most known as the father of utilitarianism.  This philosophical view is based on the notion of maximizing the most utility that brings about the most good for the most people.  Implicit in this view is the idea that the means by which the greater good is accomplished is justified by the end results.  Some have reduced this school of thought this way, “The ends justifies the means.”  Bentham’s lesser known contribution to western philosophy and social construction is his architectural model for the emerging penitentiary industry of the 18th century entitled the Panopticon.  For the sake of keeping this essay somewhat brief and manageable, I want to provide a succinct explanation of Bentham’s Panopticon.

Panopticon

The Panopticon was Bentham’s vision for creating an efficient facility for the purpose of supervising criminals in a penitentiary.  Bentham’s contribution came during a transition from the practice of penal colonies (i.e. Australia) and penal ships (putting the insane and convicted on a ship to house them away from society) to fixed structures or facilities to house criminals.  This shift in penal philosophy was more than just the logistics of domiciling the convicted, it was Bentham's unique worldview that criminals could be reformed.  In order to bring his panopticon blueprint to reality, it required making a sales pitch to various countries that his new prison model would be both efficient to manage and productive in reforming the criminals.  This is where Bentham’s genius is highlighted.  In order for the panopticon to be efficient and cost effective, it needed to be managed by few individuals.  The architectural renderings of centralized guard houses with prisoner cells located in radius to the center created a vantage point where one person could essentially view the entire radius, or at least give the appearance of supervision, while never leaving the guard room.  Through other 18^th century technology, Bentham’s plan even had a model of tubes that connected the cells to the guard shack allowing the guard to listen into each cell.  All the while, the guard shack was designed with tinted windows so that the people being watched were never fully aware the shack was manned. 

            
From this 18^th century model, which never made it to construction during Bentham’s life, comes our modern day school and prison architectural renderings.  The idea of keeping the power holders in centralized locations and those under surveillance on the periphery is the ubiquitous model of construction today.  Transcending the architecture of facilities, Bentham’s panopticon exposed a psychological effect that is still relevant today.  When individuals are housed or kept under constant surveillance, over time, they will begin to self-monitor.  The self-monitoring initially is to appease the power holders so as not to get into trouble.  This self-monitoring appeasement later turns into a subconscious self-monitoring where, essentially, the persons under surveillance becomes their own captors.  They subconsciously self-regulate to meet the initial demands of their captors without even realizing they are perpetuating their own captivity.

            
Some two hundred years later, French philosopher Michel Foucault picks up Bentham’s Panopticon and identifies his physical structure as a philosophical construct that can be employed by power holders to effectively and efficiently keep individuals that are powerless under oppressive control.  The genius of this model is its efficiency.  Rather than needing an expensive police force to control large groups of people, implementing panoptic practices of constant gaze and the appearance of constant surveillance effectively and psychologically changes the minds and practices of people so that they begin to police themselves.  For a simple example of panopticism, the use of traffic cameras achieves this goal.  In our city there are cameras that are actually working and from time to time send me a ticket in the mail when I make an illegal right hand turn on red and then there are other “dummy” cameras that keep me honest.  The infrequent tickets are just enough to alter my psyche so that when I see a camera, real or not, I conform my behavior to the wishes of the camera owners. 

Another example of panopticism are the elevated boxes that are located in large parking lots that are designed to give the appearance that there are either individuals or cameras in the structure “watching” over the area.  The idea is to deter criminals because they are under the impression they are being watched.  These mobile police cranes get moved around town to give the appearance that they are effective in deterring crime. 

The panoptic lesson is if you wish to manage an individual or groups of individuals create an environment with the perception of constant gaze making sure that from time to time there are actual moments of surveillance, and the individuals under surveillance will self-regulate their behavior in compliance with the power of the gaze.

We take full advantage of the power of panopticism with our girls this time of year with the “Elf on the Shelf” method.  We introduce the elf and tell our little girls that he is Santa’s helper.  Put in panoptic terms, the elf is Santa’s gaze.  Through parent trickery and slight of hand, we have them convinced the elf moves about freely at night to new locations. This practice keeps the idea fresh in the minds of our kids that the elf is actually conducting surveillance.  Side note, this is a pretty twisted practice that probably has its roots in B-rated horror movies from the 80s where stuffed animals came alive and tormented their owners.  And yet, this cheap method of artificial surveillance, when practiced frequently enough, provides parents the benefits of achieving behavior modification.  Our children learn on their own that the elf, or in Casion terms, the Big Eye in the sky sees everything. 

Allow me to take a slight philosophical left turn with Bentham’s panopticon and Foucault’s panopticism and draw the analogy with the power of the male gaze in our culture.  It is painfully obvious that our sexualized culture is ubiquitous.  And it is terrible to think that the first place our girls begin to experience the power of the male gaze is in school.  Schools in this country are the public spaces that undergird practices of male gaze that over time plant seeds of male surveillance in the minds of our young girls.  This, coupled with media that constantly portray female value as being directly connected to male approval, constructs a worldview for girls in our culture, at a young age, that they get their attention through their looks and their utility to a male.

I am not pretending to have the solutions for all of the ways our western society creates innocuous systems and practices of sexualizing our kids, I am, however, taking a more keen eye to these institutions and media conglomerates (Disney) that are actively telling my girls that their identity and value are connected to how a male will perceive them.  Remember, the psychological power of the gaze, in this context, have our girls self-monitoring their own fashion, sense of value and purpose, and body image to meet the expectations of those behind the gaze.  Unfortunately, in my opinion, the power holders are men.  As a result, it is impossible to escape the sexualizing gaze that finds safe haven in nearly every aspect and institution in this country. 

To put this in even more direct language, we have set up systems and institutions that specialize in trafficking our girls for the purpose of appeasing the male gaze.  Over time, our young girls grow up and self-traffic with the misguided idea that our society's definition of beauty and utility are actually their own views of beauty and utility.  When this power is left unchecked, we grow up girls that become moms that perpetuate these panoptic principles in their own parenting with their daughters.  When insecure moms are still struggling with their own sense of identity and utility because they are still living to appease the power of the gaze, they end up passing their adult insecurities on to their daughters.  

The ultimate expression of the power of the gaze is the generational self-monitoring and behavior modification that takes place by moms with their daughters. Caveat: I am not suggesting that we take the puritanical approach to parenting.  To suggest that our girls and young ladies cannot wear fashion that is culturally relevant is an easy way out.  Of course, wisdom and discretion is important for both genders as it relates to just how much of our culture we embrace.  Also, to get the guys off the hook by saying to our young ladies, "Just stop wearing those kinds of clothes" is not acceptable.  I recommend the Job 31:1 approach, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman."  This is a great opportunity for parents to talk about disciplining our eyes, minds, and hearts to look upon others in ways that glorify God and affirm value of others.

Conclusion:

How does one negotiate a male-gaze dominated society?  It starts with a healthy and frequent dose of God’s truths spoken frequently to our girls.  The identity, value, and purpose of our girls are not connected to their ability to appease the gaze.  Rather, our children are infinitely valuable because they are made in the image of God and Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection gives them hope and value.  Put differently, the power of the Gospel has the ability to free our girls from the generational bondage of insecurity that manifests in dysfunctional relationships and in some cases sexually broken relationships. 

         
 For the sake of redundancy on exposing the power of panopticism, well-intentioned parents don’t even realize we are doing the work for the enemy by maintaining the very beliefs and practices of our hyper sexualized culture in our homes by allowing networks like Disney to innocuously shape the minds of our boys and girls to a set of values and norms that are NOT grounded on God’s truth.  As a result, the long reach of Disney is engaging in a  battle for the minds and hearts of our kids as well as successfully converting our children into consumers.  The consumerism of our children is another essay for another time. 

Disclaimer: My intention is not to pass judgment on families, Disney, or schools.  This social commentary is intended to be introductory material to the power of the panopticon that shapes our minds and hearts and converts us into our own captors engaging in practices that tighten the very shackles that keep us locked down in a confinement of insecurity, purposelessness, and, in some cases, a low view of God’s will to bring hope and happiness.