The thing about Christians is that we are supposed to be very easy to identify. We are supposed to stand out and be different. But, according to John 13, 1 John 2, and 1 John 4, the most easily recognizable character trait is supposed to be our love for one another. "They will know you are my disciples by your love one for another." That is what Jesus told His followers in John 13. It must have made an impression on John, since the entire book of 1 John does just two things - fight gnosticism and talk about how we should love each other. That is a pretty powerful thought. When people are trying to figure out what you stand for, they should know your beliefs about God by how you love people.
Why would that be such a telling behavior? Think about it - all people should know how to love. They have parents and family and friends and kids. Love should be one of the most common traits in mankind in general. Yet, it is so absent that if we actually loved each other, it would be so startling that immediately people would know that we are Christians. The fact is that love has been counterfeited and damaged and poisoned from the very beginning. Satan attacked that right away, and it soon became selfish. This love that Jesus and John were referring to was not the love that we see on display around us. Those are actually lustful and manipulative and selfish loves. This love is the Agape love that Jesus displayed - unconditional love that would be willing to die for another. THAT is how much we as Christians should love.
Boy, did we blow that. How are Christians known now? How are they recognized? Let's take a look at the defining characteristics of Christians ACCORDING TO THE WORLD.
Judgmental: Christians judge everyone around them (Christian and not). If I realize you don't believe like me, then I judge you. You must not be open to God's leading, since you don't believe like I do. We then try to cram our beliefs down your throat. And this isn't just on big issues. It is on little stuff that the Bible doesn't even address. This leads into the next characteristic.
Hateful: Christians hate those people who do not believe like them. That may be the person who drinks (if you are Baptist), or who sleeps around, or the homosexual, or the liberal Democrat, or the environmentalist, or the abortionist. It isn't just left at judging those people, it becomes a genuine hatred for those people.
Stupid: Christians don't even try to learn about issues, they just spout the Bible out and expect that to suffice. This is seen in the stem cell argument, the evolution/Creation argument, politics and war in general, science across the board. Most Christians completely ignore 1 Peter 3:15 and can't justify their faith at all. When it gets questioned, they get angry and run.
No Fun: Christians can't do anything fun. They can't have sex or drink or do drugs or play cards or dance. They can't go to football games because church is on Sunday.
Hypocrites: They say one thing and do another. They spout verses out and go to church, but act exactly the same at home and at work. They are just as unethical, immoral, vulgar, and angry.
If you don't believe these are true, just watch television or get online. CNN is running a special this week on God's Warriors. It is about extremists in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. They have found these Christians who are militant about their beliefs. They are easy to find, because they are loud and confrontational. I heard one at the Exodus conference - talking about Revolution. Television shows that have run in the last year have had Christians reflecting each of these characteristics. The characters have ranted and railed. They have sold out their faith. They have betrayed each other. They have done everything except love.
And the world is dead on in their assessment. I know this because I spend my life around Christians. I am entering my tenth year working in ministry and church related jobs. In that time, I have seen Christians do some of the most despicable acts to each other. It has been ridiculous. I have seen ministers lie, cheat, and misallocate funds to advance their own agenda. I have seen pastors absolutely DESTROY staff people to keep them in line or punish them for even the smallest infractions. This included telling them that they were incompetent, uneducated, worthless, and unwanted. One minister was called a cancer and another a parasite. Another was told he was lucky to have his job, because he wouldn't be able to get anything else that paid decent. Several young people who were considering entering ministry were given lousy maintenance jobs and told that if they really wanted to serve God, they would do that with joy. Then they were constantly berated and mistreated.
Okay, those were hearsay, right? Well allow me to share MY experiences:
- My job was threatened at my first church job six different times. As in "If this happens again you are fired." My crimes? One time I misspelled a word in the bulletin. Another time I had the wrong paper for a newsletter due to a mistake by our vendor. Another time I was lied to by some other area ministers and got left holding the bag for an event. My worst crime was I confronted the pastor about some questionable spending.
- I was continually told that I could not put the Rev. in front of my name because I was "just a secretary."
- I was ripped a new one during a meeting in front of the rest of the staff because I dared to express the fact that I felt the staff was not a level playing field, and then apologizing for my bad attitude.
- I was mocked for seeing my group's numbers drop when I had just taken over the ministry and was re-organizing it.
- I had a pastor tell me that their church "deserved someone with a seminary degree" instead of me since I didn't have one -which has been echoed several times other places without the snotty attitude.
- By Christians in general, I have been chastised for being too secular for watching too much television, going to too many movies, listening to too much non-Christian music, reading non-Christian books, not homeschooling my kids, going to a public university, letting my wife consider go to medical school, having friends who drink, reading Donald Miller books, going to a big church, and making too many jokes.
- On the flip side, I have also been chastised for being too closed-minded for NOT watching certain TV shows, NOT going to movies with excessive violence or sex, for NOT listening to most music, for NOT reading Harry Potter, for sending my kids to a Christian school instead of a public one, for taking seminary classes at all, for working for a church, for NOT drinking, for NOT liking Rob Bell, for going to a small church now, and for being too negative.
Basically, Christians don't love each other. It is not modelled in church staffs. Pastors usually are using their jobs at larger churches to get more attention so they can have a tv show and book deal and get to speak at conferences. They use business principles for growing their church. They will run over anyone they need to in order to succeed. They teach sermon series on success and prosperity instead of teaching the Gospel. The membership turns on anyone who doesn't agree with them. When a staff person or lay leader leaves, they are shredded by everyone. "There must be something wrong with Person X if they dare to leave our church." If a person comes forward with a sin issue (porn, lust, drinking, anger, abuse) they are ostracized or booted out. They never are restored or lovingly ministered to. Churches consider too much recovery ministry a "bad thing" because it brings too many of the "wrong kind of people" to their church (actual position from a church conference).
In the mean time, the world outside the church doors sees all of this and wonders why in tarnation they would EVER go inside. They are already reviled by the church, and it doesn't seem as if it is going to change if they join it. I am so tired of this. I have wanted to post something like this for a long time. But I have been afraid about if someone who is not churched reading my post and getting angry at God. Then I thought about it - they already know this. They already see it. They already have been judged and hated and insulted by Christians. They already feel unloved by the very people who should be known for their love. The Early Church was actually so loving that people around them accused them of being lewd - because no one could understand how perfect strangers could care so much about each other without sex playiing a part. Today, that is so far from true. Today, if Christians actually tried to market themselves as loving, the people around would think it was a joke. I know I would, and I work within the church world.
We aren't told to do service projects to prove how much we love the world - so we can trick them into coming and getting saved. We aren't told to call ourselves "The Loving Place" so we don't actually have to follow through. We are told that we should be known by how much we love EACH OTHER. If you are incapable of loving and caring for your own family, how can you possibly think you can love anyone else? I guess that some things that have happened in MY world lately have really made this a point to consider. I have witnessed some of the ugliest and hateful behavior committed by Christians in the past couple weeks that I have ever seen in my life. Supposedly Godly men have lied, backstabbed, and blackballed to protect themselves - from accusations that were 100% true. I also found out that one of the most hateful and vicious people I ever met in church work is actually 2nd in command at one of the largest Baptist churches in America now. I had heard he was run out of ministry for his viciousness. Turns out he was promoted. This has always been the biggest challenge for me being in the church world - you know too much. You see too much. And you get beat up, hated, and mistreated too much.
I don't want this post to be a rant or just blowing off steam. I hope that it convicts you. It convicted me. I get very angry and judgmental - especially when someone questions my writing or my work. Those things are very personal to me. I am pouring myself out and when you read my stuff or use my projects, you are kind of getting to know who I am. So, when I face criticism, I am overly sensitive. And that turns to anger. I guess I battle thinking that if people don't like what I wrote or generated, that it means there is no use in it. I question what gives me the right to put my opinions out there anyway. I'm just a 33 year old with no seminary degree and minimal "useful experience." So I want people to like my stuff. And if they don't I feel like it invalidates my writing it - and in some ways invalidates me. You can think that is stupid if you want. I don't care. That is how I feel - and it is stupid. I have as much right to say my thoughts as the other 55 million bloggers. And I need to get over it. I need to be more loving - to those who disagree with me, to those who hurt me, to those who hurt people I care about, to people different than me. I hope that maybe this will make you take stock too. If we are supposed to be recognized by our love, and we aren't loving, that what the heck are we even here for? How are we supposed to represent God and bring Him glory if we don't even look like Him. He IS love. Maybe we should think about that fact for a while and see if that changes anything. I hope it does.
Showing posts with label reformation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reformation. Show all posts
Aug 21, 2007
Nov 20, 2006
Church Service
I try to write this blog in a way that anyone can read it without feeling unwelcome. I know for a fact that I have some "non-church" readers, and I never want them to quit being a part of this blog. That is why I do the wide variety of things I do - movie reviews, running show diaries, goofy stuff. And I try to keep the blatantly "Christian" posts to a minimum - I'm not ashamed of them.
With that being said, I think everyone who knows me knows what I believe. I have never hid that - all the way back to my days at Conniston Junior High and Forest Hill High School. My blog description mentions my profession. And today, I want to write a "churchy" post. This is to and about Christ-followers. If you aren't one of those, feel free to keep reading - but don't feel bad about skipping this one and picking up with the next one. [And if you want to know more about what that means, just let me know -- now I feel like a true Baptist minister.]
Yesterday we went to a new church. I hate trying to find a new church. It is one of the most uncomfortable things to do. A church is more than just some place to hang out on Sunday mornings. It becomes your family and friends. That is why it is so hard to find one - like finding a suit. Finding a suit is my nightmare clothes adventure. I have bizarre dimensions. I have this very large gut, which means that I have to get a larger chest size. That then causes the top of the suit to billow out in ridiculous manner. I also have a long torso (you can't tell so much due to the large gut). So I have to buy long suit coats. HOWEVER, compared to my height, I have short legs. I am around 6'3", but my inseam is only 31". So I have to find these pants with a huge waist and short legs -- which rarely are worn by people with a long jacket. Combine all of that with the fact that when I wear everything the same color (like a suit) it just makes my head seem very small and my body look ginormous.
Finding a church is like this. You try them out and see if they fit. This one may have great preaching and decent music, but no Bible study. Another one may have great music and Bible study, but have a pastor dancing near heresy every week. Or - even worse - finding a church that is great in every way except it holds onto a false teaching in a major area -- something you can't ignore. So you wander around like a nomad. I always want to decide on one fast so I can skip the whole shopping process.
Anyway, I went to this new one yesterday. I'm very familiar with the church - know a lot of people there. I admire what it does and stands for. I even have a history with it. At the end of the sermon, the Pastor started talking about how, as Christians, we are supposed to be servants. And he called the church to change how the community viewed it. He wanted them to serve the community - to help with groups like Coalition for the Homeless. He mentioned Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and said he wanted the church to do stuff like that for Orlando. Man, I can get behind a church like that. That's what I want to do - that's why I quit to work full-time for Defender Ministries. I wanted to serve the community and help them to escape the prison of lust and sex that they are captives in.
As the day wore on, I started to think about something. How did the church get to the point that the community does NOT think of them as servants? Wasn't that what defined the church for so many centuries? Think about the hospitals and children's homes and schools that were built by churches. The church fed the hungry, and gave shelter to the homeless. They took in orphans. I just finished reading the book Hood by Stephen Lawhead [awesome book, by the way]. It is painting the story of Robin Hood in a post-Norman conquest Britain. The churches there were welcoming to travelers and injured and poor. They were the CENTER of their community. How did that change?
It actually made me upset that a pastor had to work so hard and appeal so passionately to his people to convince them to act that way. I was thrilled he did - and I hope they follow through on that challenge. They have the resources to make a HUGE difference. But how in the world did it get to this point where that was considered a revolutionary vision? I have heard a lot of indictments of Christianity this year. I read Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz and In Search of God Knows What. In those he skewers the church for failing to have concern for social needs. I watched as a major church leader was outed and destroyed on the front page of CNN.com. I watched as a major Christian actor got drunk and hurled racist insults - and as a result made anyone who liked his last film seem like a racist too. I listened as a major Senatorial candidate from my state repeatedly made comments about Christians and their "duty" to their country - which made us sound like a bunch of quacks. And I read Elton John's comments about how he admired Jesus Christ, but wished that religion would be banned due to its hatred.
But perhaps the greatest indictment of Christianity is that we went introspective and stopped giving a crap about the world around us. Instead of turning our 6 million dollar budgets lose in the community, we used it to build ourselves up. We built more buildings, paid higher salaries, created witty ad campaigns, and took "mission trips" to exotics locales. But we stopped trying to change the community we were a part of. We pulled our kids out of schools, pulled them out of sports, pulled them out of choirs and created our own versions of those things so that our kids would not be harmed by the world around them. We created our own television studios, radio stations, theme parks, movie production companies so that we could have things our own way - without having to interact or battle with others.
I can see the blood rising in some of your faces. I am not saying that all churches suck, and all homeschoolers are wrong, and that Upward sports is a mistake. There are perfectly acceptable reasons to do all of those things. But, the reality of the matter is, we have managed to create a world where we do not have to interact with anyone who does not believe in Christ except at the grocery store. Sure, they are more than welcome to COME TO US, and COME TO OUR STUFF. But we are NOT going to GO TO THEM and GO TO THEIR STUFF. That would be offensive to us and damaging to us -- we would be ruining our witness or putting ourselves in the path of temptation.
But the problem is, THAT is where Christ hung out -- with the sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes. And THAT is what He told us to do. Read Matthew 28:19-20 again. It starts off with "GO YE THEREFORE INTO ALL THE WORLD." The very first word is GO. It is not, SIT AND WAIT FOR THEM TO COME. It is not even DRAG THEM TO YOU. It is not INVITE THEM TO YOUR STUFF. It is GO. You should get up and GO to them. And while you are there with them, you talk to them, and you introduce them to Christ, and you teach them what it means to be a Christian. You are the active one. You are the one going and clothing and feeding and giving water to and helping. You are the one with all the active verbs.
The Church and Christians should be all about serving. That is the example set by Christ. We should be out there really ministering to our community -- and not some lame-o, half baked thing once a year where we hand out water at a stop light. I mean consistently living in a manner where we are helping. I know that I am guilty of being too caught up in my own world to be able to help anyone around me. But we HAVE to stop being so selfish and focused on ourselves. We HAVE to reach out to the community. The more we remove ourselves, the less we have any right to expect them to listen to us or respect us. If we don't care about them, they won't care about us.
I truly hope that this church really does start to focus on the world around them. I hope it becomes a defining quality of that place. And I hope I can get involved -- and that I will do that in my own life. If we ever expect the Church to be anything more than just a "members only" group, we have to start looking outside of our doors. And we gotta GO.
With that being said, I think everyone who knows me knows what I believe. I have never hid that - all the way back to my days at Conniston Junior High and Forest Hill High School. My blog description mentions my profession. And today, I want to write a "churchy" post. This is to and about Christ-followers. If you aren't one of those, feel free to keep reading - but don't feel bad about skipping this one and picking up with the next one. [And if you want to know more about what that means, just let me know -- now I feel like a true Baptist minister.]
Yesterday we went to a new church. I hate trying to find a new church. It is one of the most uncomfortable things to do. A church is more than just some place to hang out on Sunday mornings. It becomes your family and friends. That is why it is so hard to find one - like finding a suit. Finding a suit is my nightmare clothes adventure. I have bizarre dimensions. I have this very large gut, which means that I have to get a larger chest size. That then causes the top of the suit to billow out in ridiculous manner. I also have a long torso (you can't tell so much due to the large gut). So I have to buy long suit coats. HOWEVER, compared to my height, I have short legs. I am around 6'3", but my inseam is only 31". So I have to find these pants with a huge waist and short legs -- which rarely are worn by people with a long jacket. Combine all of that with the fact that when I wear everything the same color (like a suit) it just makes my head seem very small and my body look ginormous.
Finding a church is like this. You try them out and see if they fit. This one may have great preaching and decent music, but no Bible study. Another one may have great music and Bible study, but have a pastor dancing near heresy every week. Or - even worse - finding a church that is great in every way except it holds onto a false teaching in a major area -- something you can't ignore. So you wander around like a nomad. I always want to decide on one fast so I can skip the whole shopping process.
Anyway, I went to this new one yesterday. I'm very familiar with the church - know a lot of people there. I admire what it does and stands for. I even have a history with it. At the end of the sermon, the Pastor started talking about how, as Christians, we are supposed to be servants. And he called the church to change how the community viewed it. He wanted them to serve the community - to help with groups like Coalition for the Homeless. He mentioned Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and said he wanted the church to do stuff like that for Orlando. Man, I can get behind a church like that. That's what I want to do - that's why I quit to work full-time for Defender Ministries. I wanted to serve the community and help them to escape the prison of lust and sex that they are captives in.
As the day wore on, I started to think about something. How did the church get to the point that the community does NOT think of them as servants? Wasn't that what defined the church for so many centuries? Think about the hospitals and children's homes and schools that were built by churches. The church fed the hungry, and gave shelter to the homeless. They took in orphans. I just finished reading the book Hood by Stephen Lawhead [awesome book, by the way]. It is painting the story of Robin Hood in a post-Norman conquest Britain. The churches there were welcoming to travelers and injured and poor. They were the CENTER of their community. How did that change?
It actually made me upset that a pastor had to work so hard and appeal so passionately to his people to convince them to act that way. I was thrilled he did - and I hope they follow through on that challenge. They have the resources to make a HUGE difference. But how in the world did it get to this point where that was considered a revolutionary vision? I have heard a lot of indictments of Christianity this year. I read Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz and In Search of God Knows What. In those he skewers the church for failing to have concern for social needs. I watched as a major church leader was outed and destroyed on the front page of CNN.com. I watched as a major Christian actor got drunk and hurled racist insults - and as a result made anyone who liked his last film seem like a racist too. I listened as a major Senatorial candidate from my state repeatedly made comments about Christians and their "duty" to their country - which made us sound like a bunch of quacks. And I read Elton John's comments about how he admired Jesus Christ, but wished that religion would be banned due to its hatred.
But perhaps the greatest indictment of Christianity is that we went introspective and stopped giving a crap about the world around us. Instead of turning our 6 million dollar budgets lose in the community, we used it to build ourselves up. We built more buildings, paid higher salaries, created witty ad campaigns, and took "mission trips" to exotics locales. But we stopped trying to change the community we were a part of. We pulled our kids out of schools, pulled them out of sports, pulled them out of choirs and created our own versions of those things so that our kids would not be harmed by the world around them. We created our own television studios, radio stations, theme parks, movie production companies so that we could have things our own way - without having to interact or battle with others.
I can see the blood rising in some of your faces. I am not saying that all churches suck, and all homeschoolers are wrong, and that Upward sports is a mistake. There are perfectly acceptable reasons to do all of those things. But, the reality of the matter is, we have managed to create a world where we do not have to interact with anyone who does not believe in Christ except at the grocery store. Sure, they are more than welcome to COME TO US, and COME TO OUR STUFF. But we are NOT going to GO TO THEM and GO TO THEIR STUFF. That would be offensive to us and damaging to us -- we would be ruining our witness or putting ourselves in the path of temptation.
But the problem is, THAT is where Christ hung out -- with the sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes. And THAT is what He told us to do. Read Matthew 28:19-20 again. It starts off with "GO YE THEREFORE INTO ALL THE WORLD." The very first word is GO. It is not, SIT AND WAIT FOR THEM TO COME. It is not even DRAG THEM TO YOU. It is not INVITE THEM TO YOUR STUFF. It is GO. You should get up and GO to them. And while you are there with them, you talk to them, and you introduce them to Christ, and you teach them what it means to be a Christian. You are the active one. You are the one going and clothing and feeding and giving water to and helping. You are the one with all the active verbs.
The Church and Christians should be all about serving. That is the example set by Christ. We should be out there really ministering to our community -- and not some lame-o, half baked thing once a year where we hand out water at a stop light. I mean consistently living in a manner where we are helping. I know that I am guilty of being too caught up in my own world to be able to help anyone around me. But we HAVE to stop being so selfish and focused on ourselves. We HAVE to reach out to the community. The more we remove ourselves, the less we have any right to expect them to listen to us or respect us. If we don't care about them, they won't care about us.
I truly hope that this church really does start to focus on the world around them. I hope it becomes a defining quality of that place. And I hope I can get involved -- and that I will do that in my own life. If we ever expect the Church to be anything more than just a "members only" group, we have to start looking outside of our doors. And we gotta GO.
Oct 30, 2006
Put Out the Fire
Couple of really quick housekeeping things first:
I was thinking recently about the jobs I have held. I am not counting teenage or pointless summer jobs (Ponderosa, AMC theatres, school board film library, Sea World). I am referring to real jobs. I have worked in four main industries: Government (UCF Student Government for 2 years), Education (2 UCF jobs, 2 teaching internships, substitute), Sales (Rhodes furniture), and Religion (church, BCM, Defender). As I thought about it, these four industries are pretty big deals in our country. And even though they may seem quite different, they are actually VERY similar. In fact, I can honestly say that I have either heard this following speech - or some variation of it - from people in each of these fields.
When you are faced with a situation with an unhappy or complaining person, it is important to think about this. You carry two buckets with you: one is filled with water, one is filled with gasoline. You have two choices. First, you can douse the fire this person is lighting with water, diffusing the situation and showing them there is nothing to worry about. Second, you can douse the fire with gasoline, causing it to flare up worse - and showing this person there is something to worry about. This shows them that there is disunity in the staff, that there are problems, and that they have an ally in their complaints on the inside. You should try to help put out the fires, not make them worse.
I have heard that exact speech several times. I have seen that attitude portrayed many times. It is a common practice in all four of those industries. How did it become so universal? Well, I know for one that John Maxwell uses it in AT LEAST one of his leadership books. Every leader loves that story, because it keeps the fire from reaching them, and it puts the responsibility for controlling fires on the lower staff members. However, after thinking about that mentality for a while this past weekend [don't ask how it started], I realized that I have a real problem with it. Actually, I have three problems with it, and they lead into each other.
FIRST - Fire is not always bad - Think about this. Fire is a good thing many times. No, when it is rampaging through the forests on I-95 and destroying homes, it does not seem so good. But, in addition to making such yummy steaks and burgers, fire has a lot of good uses. Here are a few.
SECOND - The wrong people are giving the orders - On the road I drive every day to and from the kids' school there is a testimony to days of yore. Right next to Snow Hill Road, there is a large forest fire watchtower. It used to be that the rangers would sit in that tower to look for and get information about fires. It is not used much now, since most of that land is now full of houses. But it still stands for now. That tower reminds me of how most of the people in authority operate. They live high above the day to day operations, and ocassionally look out over their locale. If they see a glimmer of flame, they quickly send off their firefighting underlings to put it out.
But from high in that tower, it is hard to tell if that fire is a campfire, a bonfire, a glowing grill, a candle, or a wildfire. The person on the ground is the one that can identify the fire. They are the ones who should be able to tell what is a danger and what is not. They are the ones who can see if there is a dangerous amount of underbrush springing up, that may need burned off so that the trees don't get choked out. The lower level staff are the ones who can tell if it is an electrical fire, that will cause more damage when water is dumped on it. There also is a chance that the person in leadership is the reason the fire got started -- their ineptitude or laziness or poor decisions or selfishness.
The people in the tower just look out and see the trees, the "big picture." They have been told that getting your hands dirty is something you do when you get started, and then eventually you get big enough to get out of that. They become more useful "casting the vision" and "providing leadership." And they are scared of fire - because they cannot control it. It is something primal and wild and random and unplanned. So, like Frankenstein's monster, they chant, "Fire Bad."
THIRD - The end result is half-baked - As these fires are being put out, we are unwittingly putting out much more than a flame. We are killing off good ideas, passion, innovations. Think about it.
Is there a cure? Who knows. I know that trying to get the people in power to change is not going to lead to a very satisfying outcome. I guess the lesson is that sometimes, instead of putting out a fire, we should try to let it burn and control it instead. See what it leads to, and if necessary put it out. But see what is up first. The other lesson is that if you get water dumped on your head, don't let it put you out. If you feel strongly about something -- something positive you have to share, or something wrong that needs to be fixed -- keep on trying, while being respectful of the leadership you are under. Don't give up - sometimes it takes a while for a fire to get going.
- I realized I didn't put any kind of ranking on the tv shows on my last post like I do on my movie reviews page (link to right).
- I realized no one cares anyway. So I didn't change it.
- I have heard that a couple of these shows are in trouble in the ratings, which should clear up my schedule soon.
- I didn't mention any of the Spring shows we watch -- 24, American Idol, Scrubs.
I was thinking recently about the jobs I have held. I am not counting teenage or pointless summer jobs (Ponderosa, AMC theatres, school board film library, Sea World). I am referring to real jobs. I have worked in four main industries: Government (UCF Student Government for 2 years), Education (2 UCF jobs, 2 teaching internships, substitute), Sales (Rhodes furniture), and Religion (church, BCM, Defender). As I thought about it, these four industries are pretty big deals in our country. And even though they may seem quite different, they are actually VERY similar. In fact, I can honestly say that I have either heard this following speech - or some variation of it - from people in each of these fields.
When you are faced with a situation with an unhappy or complaining person, it is important to think about this. You carry two buckets with you: one is filled with water, one is filled with gasoline. You have two choices. First, you can douse the fire this person is lighting with water, diffusing the situation and showing them there is nothing to worry about. Second, you can douse the fire with gasoline, causing it to flare up worse - and showing this person there is something to worry about. This shows them that there is disunity in the staff, that there are problems, and that they have an ally in their complaints on the inside. You should try to help put out the fires, not make them worse.
I have heard that exact speech several times. I have seen that attitude portrayed many times. It is a common practice in all four of those industries. How did it become so universal? Well, I know for one that John Maxwell uses it in AT LEAST one of his leadership books. Every leader loves that story, because it keeps the fire from reaching them, and it puts the responsibility for controlling fires on the lower staff members. However, after thinking about that mentality for a while this past weekend [don't ask how it started], I realized that I have a real problem with it. Actually, I have three problems with it, and they lead into each other.
FIRST - Fire is not always bad - Think about this. Fire is a good thing many times. No, when it is rampaging through the forests on I-95 and destroying homes, it does not seem so good. But, in addition to making such yummy steaks and burgers, fire has a lot of good uses. Here are a few.
- It purifies. Fire is what is used to purify metals, to sterilize tools. It burns off the impurities. Busting out the Bible, it is what God will use to purify - and what He uses all the time. Gold, silver, steel all must go through a fiery purification process.
- It cleanses. Nature uses these rampaging fires as a way to cleanse itself. Humans are not fond of fire burning their neighborhoods. But look at any nature show about Africa. The Serengeti goes through cycles of drought, fire, rebirth, growth all the time. The fire removes what the land cannot support. It is a useful thing for removing the excess. This is even used in a controlled manner by builders and developers as they clear land
- It warms. Try spending a night outside during the winter without a fire (at least in those places that have winter). Fire provides warmth for people, for food. We can even see this symbolized through the romantic candles, that give a couple the feeling of warmth, of intimacy.
SECOND - The wrong people are giving the orders - On the road I drive every day to and from the kids' school there is a testimony to days of yore. Right next to Snow Hill Road, there is a large forest fire watchtower. It used to be that the rangers would sit in that tower to look for and get information about fires. It is not used much now, since most of that land is now full of houses. But it still stands for now. That tower reminds me of how most of the people in authority operate. They live high above the day to day operations, and ocassionally look out over their locale. If they see a glimmer of flame, they quickly send off their firefighting underlings to put it out.
But from high in that tower, it is hard to tell if that fire is a campfire, a bonfire, a glowing grill, a candle, or a wildfire. The person on the ground is the one that can identify the fire. They are the ones who should be able to tell what is a danger and what is not. They are the ones who can see if there is a dangerous amount of underbrush springing up, that may need burned off so that the trees don't get choked out. The lower level staff are the ones who can tell if it is an electrical fire, that will cause more damage when water is dumped on it. There also is a chance that the person in leadership is the reason the fire got started -- their ineptitude or laziness or poor decisions or selfishness.
The people in the tower just look out and see the trees, the "big picture." They have been told that getting your hands dirty is something you do when you get started, and then eventually you get big enough to get out of that. They become more useful "casting the vision" and "providing leadership." And they are scared of fire - because they cannot control it. It is something primal and wild and random and unplanned. So, like Frankenstein's monster, they chant, "Fire Bad."
THIRD - The end result is half-baked - As these fires are being put out, we are unwittingly putting out much more than a flame. We are killing off good ideas, passion, innovations. Think about it.
- A church member is unhappy about the way the Church in general deals with special needs children. He comes to a staff member to voice that and is immediately doused. So he slinks off. Maybe, if that fire was tended better, he would have come up with an effective and helpful method of creating a Special Needs minstry. Instead, the problem (which was genuine) still exists, the member (who was sincere) is still frustrated, and the church missed the boat.
- A mother does not like the way that her daughter in high school has never been taught how to write a paper. She goes to the assistant principal to mention it, and is doused. The teachers never require the students to learn to write, and those students are uneffective in college.
- A young government page wonders why high ranking officials can take so many personal privileges with taxpayer money. He says something to his supervisor about it, and it doused. He's told that it is part of the process. That page grows up to be a Senator, and gets arrested after two terms for misappropriating funds - something he was taught early on was okay.
- A saleswoman comes to her supervisor and says that her customers are coming back to complain that their products are breaking after six months. He asks if they have a warranty. Since they don't, they are told the company won't do anything about it - that is why they were encouraged to buy the warranty. The company never has to raise its standards of construction.
- In politics, we want our politicians to feel strongly about things that appeal to a lot of people - but not to offend anyone with anything they say. Why have they all moved to the middle?
- In business, we want our young workers to be ambitious - within the guidelines. If they get too creative with their ideas, or too "out of the box," they become a threat.
- In religious circles, we want our members to be there at events and services, to get involved in our established activities. But we don't want them to be too passionate about their faith or beliefs - or to voice displeasure or disagreement when they see things in the church don't match God's Word.
- In education, we want parents to join the PTA and to send in money for stuff and to help their kids with homework, but not to get toooooo invovled. Those parents are labelled stage parents, and are seen as problems because they want the rules bent for their kid -- even if they are just wanting their kid to get the best opportunity possible.
Is there a cure? Who knows. I know that trying to get the people in power to change is not going to lead to a very satisfying outcome. I guess the lesson is that sometimes, instead of putting out a fire, we should try to let it burn and control it instead. See what it leads to, and if necessary put it out. But see what is up first. The other lesson is that if you get water dumped on your head, don't let it put you out. If you feel strongly about something -- something positive you have to share, or something wrong that needs to be fixed -- keep on trying, while being respectful of the leadership you are under. Don't give up - sometimes it takes a while for a fire to get going.
May 30, 2006
Grenades
And in the "I Can't Believe Someone Got Paid to Research This" Category, I present you this mind-boggling story. Was this ever in doubt? I think not.
And now for the real reason I am posting today... I figured I could win your favor with a humorous story and then really get up on my soapbox. Just a side explanation before I let loose: I love blogging. But there is always the fear that you are going to irritate the wrong person. I read about several people who have been fired for putting negative things in their blogs about their employers. I also know that a variety of people read this blog. And everyone will not agre with me. But that is kind of what you expect from a blog. Enough rambling and stalling.
I am not a big fan of traveling evangelists. I have had a problem with them ever since Cowboy Ken came to my elementary school, did some fancy lasso tricks, signed some Bibles, and told us all we weren't saved. Every year we had a Spiritual Emphasis Week, where we brought in some big name guy (big name to the teachers - the students didn't care) to tell us all about the horrors of Hell and to rant about how evil we all were. And every year, a bunch of kids would race down on the last day with tears streaming down their faces - trying to avoid the pitch blackness of Hell. It usually was the same kids too. One year I got so terrified I went down, even though I had gotten saved already. My brother told my mom about it, and she talked to me about it that night. As a kid, the graphic scenes and descriptions that are a part of the Bible are very hard to process. When it is coupled with the whole "you are going to hell" bit, it really can send you into a tailspin. I remember going to a musical about Daniel with my family. We all left because I got so scared during that part - mostly because my dad was not saved. They put a partial Passion Play on for us in Elementary school one year, and the visual of a person getting nails rammed through their hands (through stage tricks) made me sick. I guess that fear is a pretty good motivator for kids - and the religious community has figured that out.
Well, that scare tactic doesn't end with kids. Just about every Youth Camp, Disciple Now, youth rally ends with a sermon where emotional tricks and fear tactics are employed to get those students to race down the aisles. And with adults, the same methods are used. We have huge dramas re-inacting in gory detail the Easter story, ones where people are confronted by angry demons and dragged to hell, others where people are faced with a very disturbing and close-to-home tragedy via stage. Perhaps the most traumatizing of all are the traveling evangelists. They are almost like professional spiritual hitmen. They come to a church, accuse the members and guests of all kinds of sin and immorality. They tell them they aren't saved, that Satan has tricked them. They tell horrifying stories of death and eternal punishment. Then they have an altar call with more emotional manipulation. And at all these events people flood the stage and make commitments, get baptized, join the church. The members get thrilled about what "God just did." And it justifies all of what just happened.
But, really what happened? At the end of these events, revivials, dramas, sermons are things any different? Churches will take much offense at that and huff that, "Yes, things are different. Twenty people are going to Heaven that weren't before." That is the sticking point. Those people like me (and there are many) who have a problem with the way these traveling evangelism shows operate are always confronted with these "decisions" and told to stop causing trouble. However, there are some severe issues I have that are not answered by that response. In fact, my issues are compounded in that argument. Here are my arguments:
1 - Fear is a Terrible Way to Start Your Walk with God. That same fear that got you to run forward is now the foundation for your beliefs. If this angry and vengeful God was going to obliterate heathens everywhere, what is He going to do to you? I mean, you just got saved and should know better. Yes, a healthy fear of God is important - no, essential - to a legitimate spiritual walk. A huge problem in today's Church is that it bought a cheap grace from a sissy God - they don't take Him or His Word seriously. However, the kind of fear in these services is not a holy reverance of God. It is a terror attack on unsuspecting and troubled souls. And it is a shaky foundation.
2 - Discipleship is Sacrificed for Decisions. Churches love Matthew 28:19-20. That is the Great Commission - the order from Christ that led to missions efforts and evangelism everywhere. However, most churches don't read that passage. It says, "Go ye therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations." That is not the same thing as "Go and get decisions from all nations." It means to find people who need Christ, lead them to Him, and then walk with them to help them understand what it means to follow Him. Salvation is the first step. We have it all backwards. We try to build a relationship so that we can one day lead that person to Christ. We are supposed to continue that relationship after that. Pushing for a decision is like delivering a baby and then leaving it there on the steps. But churches and evangelism shows do that all the time. There is no discipleship. And when the people who make decsions through these tactics don't follow Christ right, we tell them that their decision wasn't good because they didn't mean it. Does a baby know how to eat on its own, or how to clean itself up, or how to function in this world? No, it takes training and years of teaching - and then they become teenagers who STILL don't know how to eat healthy or how to clean or how to function (though they think they do). Spiritual babies are the same way. But the evangelist doesn't have an investment in making sure those people are followed up with. He's back at his headquarters in Nashville getting ready for the next cruise.
3 - There is No Biblical Precedent for This Position - Some will argue this by pointing out that Paul went all over the place. Yes, he did - and he spent 18 months to multiple years at each location - training pastors and people. And he continued to write those churches and check up on them. He never disconnected with those churches. These modern evangelists come flying in to a church, at great financial gain to themselves, throw a few grenades around, and then leave the church to pick up the pieces. They are located in Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas in a office building. They never have to disciple anyone. They never have to deal with broken people left by their whirlwinds. They make between $2000 and $10,000 PER APPEARANCE. Take a moment to think about that! If they speak 40 Sundays a year, they would make $80,000 to $400,000 just on speaking fees. But most of these people have figured out how to maximize their earnings. They do weekends and cruises and revivals - multiple day events where they can double and triple their fees. They sometimes get a part-time job at a local church doing a mid-week service or rally. So now, they pull in a salary from that church, plus all the speaking gigs. And, of course, they have books and cds and dvds and mp3s for sale at every location. Where in the Bible do you find this? People will hold up the spiritual gift of evangelism, and how Paul talked about how some are called to be evangelists. Do you honestly believe this is what Paul meant? He and Peter were the two biggest bigshots in the Early Church. Wouldn't they have modeled this kind of behavior?
4 - Most Evangelists are Mean Spirited. - Yes, this is a generalization. But it is one with good backing. I have worked at churches for close to ten years. I have gone to church since I was five. I went to a Christian school for six years. I have gone to state conferences, and national conferences. I have heard dozens of evangelists and "guest speakers." And one characteristic of just about all of them is a bitting view of people. They make fun of "weirdos" - which could be people with tattoos or earrings or weight problems or breath problems. They throw around insulting names and categorizations like a whip. The say everyone is involved in every kind of sin imaginable. And if you dare confront them, they hide behind churchy sounding comments like "the Word of God is offensive, get over it" or "people with the spiritual gift of evangelism just call it like it is" or "that is just conviction." Or they cloak their viciousness with humor, so that their saracsm is just part of their delivery. How is this allowing every word to be seasoned with grace? The reality is that they are angry and judgmental, and they like to take it out on people. The only evangelist who I have heard who is not like that is Billy Graham. But he also tries to get people to disciple people making decisions, doesn't resort to fear tactics, and still has some humility.
5 - Most Evangelists are Egomaniacs - They tell all the places they have talked, how many people have heard them, how many have gotten saved. It is like they have their own resume always ready to give as an answer to someone who questions them. They are trying to use their own credentials as why you should book them and use them and believe them. However, they miss out on the point of why we are doing all of this. This is all supposed to bring God glory and advance His Kingdom, right? We are supposed to be less so that He can be greater. How does that match with pounding your chest about how great you are?
This is a hard place for me. I am about to begin a ministry that travels around and works with churches - and then goes back home. We are trying to work out our fee schedule and how to present ourselves. So I don't want to go throwing stones and rocks and then end up hitting myself. But I also hope that we point people to Jesus instead of ourselves. I want our ministry to leave people better off than when we found them, and I want to give them tools to continue making progress. I know that I just sound like a bitter little twit. I just am tired of these guys who bring doubt and fear instead of bringing hope and love. I am sick of hearing about how great they are instead of how great God is. Obviously, I had a wonderful encounter with another one of these on Sunday, which began all of this rant. And I was once again left with the aching feeling that this is not right - this is not how God wanted His Church to operate.
And now for the real reason I am posting today... I figured I could win your favor with a humorous story and then really get up on my soapbox. Just a side explanation before I let loose: I love blogging. But there is always the fear that you are going to irritate the wrong person. I read about several people who have been fired for putting negative things in their blogs about their employers. I also know that a variety of people read this blog. And everyone will not agre with me. But that is kind of what you expect from a blog. Enough rambling and stalling.
I am not a big fan of traveling evangelists. I have had a problem with them ever since Cowboy Ken came to my elementary school, did some fancy lasso tricks, signed some Bibles, and told us all we weren't saved. Every year we had a Spiritual Emphasis Week, where we brought in some big name guy (big name to the teachers - the students didn't care) to tell us all about the horrors of Hell and to rant about how evil we all were. And every year, a bunch of kids would race down on the last day with tears streaming down their faces - trying to avoid the pitch blackness of Hell. It usually was the same kids too. One year I got so terrified I went down, even though I had gotten saved already. My brother told my mom about it, and she talked to me about it that night. As a kid, the graphic scenes and descriptions that are a part of the Bible are very hard to process. When it is coupled with the whole "you are going to hell" bit, it really can send you into a tailspin. I remember going to a musical about Daniel with my family. We all left because I got so scared during that part - mostly because my dad was not saved. They put a partial Passion Play on for us in Elementary school one year, and the visual of a person getting nails rammed through their hands (through stage tricks) made me sick. I guess that fear is a pretty good motivator for kids - and the religious community has figured that out.
Well, that scare tactic doesn't end with kids. Just about every Youth Camp, Disciple Now, youth rally ends with a sermon where emotional tricks and fear tactics are employed to get those students to race down the aisles. And with adults, the same methods are used. We have huge dramas re-inacting in gory detail the Easter story, ones where people are confronted by angry demons and dragged to hell, others where people are faced with a very disturbing and close-to-home tragedy via stage. Perhaps the most traumatizing of all are the traveling evangelists. They are almost like professional spiritual hitmen. They come to a church, accuse the members and guests of all kinds of sin and immorality. They tell them they aren't saved, that Satan has tricked them. They tell horrifying stories of death and eternal punishment. Then they have an altar call with more emotional manipulation. And at all these events people flood the stage and make commitments, get baptized, join the church. The members get thrilled about what "God just did." And it justifies all of what just happened.
But, really what happened? At the end of these events, revivials, dramas, sermons are things any different? Churches will take much offense at that and huff that, "Yes, things are different. Twenty people are going to Heaven that weren't before." That is the sticking point. Those people like me (and there are many) who have a problem with the way these traveling evangelism shows operate are always confronted with these "decisions" and told to stop causing trouble. However, there are some severe issues I have that are not answered by that response. In fact, my issues are compounded in that argument. Here are my arguments:
1 - Fear is a Terrible Way to Start Your Walk with God. That same fear that got you to run forward is now the foundation for your beliefs. If this angry and vengeful God was going to obliterate heathens everywhere, what is He going to do to you? I mean, you just got saved and should know better. Yes, a healthy fear of God is important - no, essential - to a legitimate spiritual walk. A huge problem in today's Church is that it bought a cheap grace from a sissy God - they don't take Him or His Word seriously. However, the kind of fear in these services is not a holy reverance of God. It is a terror attack on unsuspecting and troubled souls. And it is a shaky foundation.
2 - Discipleship is Sacrificed for Decisions. Churches love Matthew 28:19-20. That is the Great Commission - the order from Christ that led to missions efforts and evangelism everywhere. However, most churches don't read that passage. It says, "Go ye therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations." That is not the same thing as "Go and get decisions from all nations." It means to find people who need Christ, lead them to Him, and then walk with them to help them understand what it means to follow Him. Salvation is the first step. We have it all backwards. We try to build a relationship so that we can one day lead that person to Christ. We are supposed to continue that relationship after that. Pushing for a decision is like delivering a baby and then leaving it there on the steps. But churches and evangelism shows do that all the time. There is no discipleship. And when the people who make decsions through these tactics don't follow Christ right, we tell them that their decision wasn't good because they didn't mean it. Does a baby know how to eat on its own, or how to clean itself up, or how to function in this world? No, it takes training and years of teaching - and then they become teenagers who STILL don't know how to eat healthy or how to clean or how to function (though they think they do). Spiritual babies are the same way. But the evangelist doesn't have an investment in making sure those people are followed up with. He's back at his headquarters in Nashville getting ready for the next cruise.
3 - There is No Biblical Precedent for This Position - Some will argue this by pointing out that Paul went all over the place. Yes, he did - and he spent 18 months to multiple years at each location - training pastors and people. And he continued to write those churches and check up on them. He never disconnected with those churches. These modern evangelists come flying in to a church, at great financial gain to themselves, throw a few grenades around, and then leave the church to pick up the pieces. They are located in Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas in a office building. They never have to disciple anyone. They never have to deal with broken people left by their whirlwinds. They make between $2000 and $10,000 PER APPEARANCE. Take a moment to think about that! If they speak 40 Sundays a year, they would make $80,000 to $400,000 just on speaking fees. But most of these people have figured out how to maximize their earnings. They do weekends and cruises and revivals - multiple day events where they can double and triple their fees. They sometimes get a part-time job at a local church doing a mid-week service or rally. So now, they pull in a salary from that church, plus all the speaking gigs. And, of course, they have books and cds and dvds and mp3s for sale at every location. Where in the Bible do you find this? People will hold up the spiritual gift of evangelism, and how Paul talked about how some are called to be evangelists. Do you honestly believe this is what Paul meant? He and Peter were the two biggest bigshots in the Early Church. Wouldn't they have modeled this kind of behavior?
4 - Most Evangelists are Mean Spirited. - Yes, this is a generalization. But it is one with good backing. I have worked at churches for close to ten years. I have gone to church since I was five. I went to a Christian school for six years. I have gone to state conferences, and national conferences. I have heard dozens of evangelists and "guest speakers." And one characteristic of just about all of them is a bitting view of people. They make fun of "weirdos" - which could be people with tattoos or earrings or weight problems or breath problems. They throw around insulting names and categorizations like a whip. The say everyone is involved in every kind of sin imaginable. And if you dare confront them, they hide behind churchy sounding comments like "the Word of God is offensive, get over it" or "people with the spiritual gift of evangelism just call it like it is" or "that is just conviction." Or they cloak their viciousness with humor, so that their saracsm is just part of their delivery. How is this allowing every word to be seasoned with grace? The reality is that they are angry and judgmental, and they like to take it out on people. The only evangelist who I have heard who is not like that is Billy Graham. But he also tries to get people to disciple people making decisions, doesn't resort to fear tactics, and still has some humility.
5 - Most Evangelists are Egomaniacs - They tell all the places they have talked, how many people have heard them, how many have gotten saved. It is like they have their own resume always ready to give as an answer to someone who questions them. They are trying to use their own credentials as why you should book them and use them and believe them. However, they miss out on the point of why we are doing all of this. This is all supposed to bring God glory and advance His Kingdom, right? We are supposed to be less so that He can be greater. How does that match with pounding your chest about how great you are?
This is a hard place for me. I am about to begin a ministry that travels around and works with churches - and then goes back home. We are trying to work out our fee schedule and how to present ourselves. So I don't want to go throwing stones and rocks and then end up hitting myself. But I also hope that we point people to Jesus instead of ourselves. I want our ministry to leave people better off than when we found them, and I want to give them tools to continue making progress. I know that I just sound like a bitter little twit. I just am tired of these guys who bring doubt and fear instead of bringing hope and love. I am sick of hearing about how great they are instead of how great God is. Obviously, I had a wonderful encounter with another one of these on Sunday, which began all of this rant. And I was once again left with the aching feeling that this is not right - this is not how God wanted His Church to operate.
May 11, 2006
Do What I Can
I guess about a year ago, I read a brilliant book by a brilliant man. I love meeting and listening to brilliant people. Well, I love and I hate it. I love it because they espouse such wonderful stuff that my brain has never been able to even address. But, I like to feel I'm the smartest person in the room, so I hate having to admit that I'm not. This is why I don't get into discussions with my brother or my wife about science. My brother has a Doctorate in Bioinorganic Chemistry from the University of Georgia and just finished a stint with NASA's Astrobiology Unit. My wife is graduating this December with a degree in Micro and Molecular Biology and is planning to attend Medical School. I got a degree in teaching history, took one science class, and now make pretty brochures for a living. Not a fair fight.
Anyway, back to the brilliant book and person. The person was Dr. Jay Strack and the book was The Three Success Secrets of Shamgar. I would highly recommend it. All the great qualities of a great book - it was short, it was a fast read, and it was thought provoking. The book was about Shamgar - the Old Testament character who, according to Judges 3:31 and 5:6, killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. Dr. Strack's basic premise was that Shamgar was able to accomplish this because he followed this simple statement: Do what you can with what you have where you are. It was so idiotically simple that you knew it was true. So, I started thinking about how I needed to try to do what I could with what I have where I was.
So, recently I began really diving back into God and trying to draw closer to Him. Little did I know that what God was doing was helping me to take an inventory of those three things. And, as I looked back on this old blog, I realize that I already addressed two of those things. The first was Where I Am. If you study literature, you realize that one of the absolute essential elements is setting. The setting of a story is where it takes place - but that is not limited to just a location. It also applies to a time, a mindset, an atmosphere. To say that Saving Private Ryan's setting is just France really limits the story. But to really be accurate you need to say that it is set in France, during World War Two, as the Allies make a last ditch effort to defeat the Axis, and as the small group of soldiers are sent on a bizarre and probably suidical mission. All of that plays into the setting. So Where I Am also included Who I Am. It was not just an exploration of the location of my body, but also the location and condition of my mind.
The next thing was What I Have. I did that recently as I began to explore God's Truth. What I have is the undeniable and incredibly powerful Word of God. God took great pains to show me that His Word is enough to free captives and to break the chains of sin. He also wanted me to realize that it is not something to be ignored or tossed aside. It should be the most important thing we have.
Well, recently I unknowingly was moved into an exploration of What I Can Do. And that is what this post is all about. As I wrote in those two other posts I mentioned, God has a way of making things pretty clear, even to brilliant people. After hearing the same message in numerous sermons, and in books, and from people, I guess I needed to start listening. (I know that this was an extremely roundabout way to get here, but bear with me - I'm still working all this out in my head.)
Here's how God decided to get my attention on this thing:
Anyway, back to the brilliant book and person. The person was Dr. Jay Strack and the book was The Three Success Secrets of Shamgar. I would highly recommend it. All the great qualities of a great book - it was short, it was a fast read, and it was thought provoking. The book was about Shamgar - the Old Testament character who, according to Judges 3:31 and 5:6, killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. Dr. Strack's basic premise was that Shamgar was able to accomplish this because he followed this simple statement: Do what you can with what you have where you are. It was so idiotically simple that you knew it was true. So, I started thinking about how I needed to try to do what I could with what I have where I was.
So, recently I began really diving back into God and trying to draw closer to Him. Little did I know that what God was doing was helping me to take an inventory of those three things. And, as I looked back on this old blog, I realize that I already addressed two of those things. The first was Where I Am. If you study literature, you realize that one of the absolute essential elements is setting. The setting of a story is where it takes place - but that is not limited to just a location. It also applies to a time, a mindset, an atmosphere. To say that Saving Private Ryan's setting is just France really limits the story. But to really be accurate you need to say that it is set in France, during World War Two, as the Allies make a last ditch effort to defeat the Axis, and as the small group of soldiers are sent on a bizarre and probably suidical mission. All of that plays into the setting. So Where I Am also included Who I Am. It was not just an exploration of the location of my body, but also the location and condition of my mind.
The next thing was What I Have. I did that recently as I began to explore God's Truth. What I have is the undeniable and incredibly powerful Word of God. God took great pains to show me that His Word is enough to free captives and to break the chains of sin. He also wanted me to realize that it is not something to be ignored or tossed aside. It should be the most important thing we have.
Well, recently I unknowingly was moved into an exploration of What I Can Do. And that is what this post is all about. As I wrote in those two other posts I mentioned, God has a way of making things pretty clear, even to brilliant people. After hearing the same message in numerous sermons, and in books, and from people, I guess I needed to start listening. (I know that this was an extremely roundabout way to get here, but bear with me - I'm still working all this out in my head.)
Here's how God decided to get my attention on this thing:
- My wife took a class this past semester about ethics in science. The teacher was a liberal. And she went on numerous rants that, had I been in the class, would have caused me to "start a scene." But my wonderful wife sat there, got angry sometimes, and listened sometimes. So she started to ask me what I thought about certain social issues. I, as a good Baptist, immediately consulted the typical Southern Baptist Republican Religious Right Conservative Handbook, 2006 Version and tried to refute the professor while making her appear to be unstable. The only problem was, on several issues she was right. And that didn't match my Handbook. Which was very disconcerting to me. I began to realize that maybe my Handbook was not always right.
- I have a friend named Tiffany. She's a weirdo. I say that in the nicest way - weirdos are fine by me. I say she's weird because she thinks the opposite of me in so many ways. Well, she keeps on talking to me about stuff, and it really started to make me think. She does all this socially conscious stuff. She doesn't eat meat and takes part in these things to build awareness. She gets mad at me because I throw toner containers away instead of sending them to a recycling place. So I poke fun at her (to her face) because that's what I do with people who make me feel uncomfortable. So then I started to listen to her and realize that in many things, she was right. And that got me thinking about my Handbook again.
- I read Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I had been avoiding it for years. Literally. I had the book because a ton of people I knew had read it. But several of my friends who read that Handbook had labelled it heresy and said that Miller was a wackjob. So I had assumed that it was to be avoided. Well I finally read it. And I realized why people felt like they did about the book. It was because it made you think about why you do what you do. And people don't like doing that. They just want to follow the Handbook.
- I listened to some more Dallas Theological sermons, and they started to take a different stance. One guy talked about 1 Peter 3:15 (one of my favorite verse and one I've taught several times). But he didn't take the stance I usually do. Instead he talked about how we should witness. Then I listened to a guy about how Christians need to engage the culture, and often on their terms.
- I took a good hard look at that Handbook and who the author was. And unlike what I had been led to believe, it wasn't written by God. It was written by a bunch of guys who were trying to do the right thing. And I realized that I needed to rethink how I approach life.
I don't witness to people. Part of that is because I don't know very many unsaved people. I live next to some, and I buy smoothies from Juice It Up from them, and I shop at the Publix with them. But I don't tell them about God. I also don't give money to God or His Church or His people. Well, sometimes I do, but I don't all the time. I have come up with an astounding argument against the concept of tithing that is espoused by the modern Church. I still think my argument is right, but I never give money - which is wrong. I don't help people in general. I ignore most social causes because they are headed up by liberals or actors. I drive by homeless people as fast as I can. I don't think about saving the environment. I pay very little attention to places like Darfur or New Orleans. Mostly, thinking about those things make me uncomfortable. And I don't like being uncomfortable. So I ignore those things because, honestly, I don't want to feel those pains. I have enough to worry about with my own life.
That was one of Miller's point in Jazz. He said that people are horribly self-absorbed and selfish. And he is right. I am that way. I always look at situations in light of how they affect me. And if they don't directly affect me - and if dealing with them make me feel bad - I ignore them. So I took a good honest look at myself and realized how far away I am from what Jesus was. Yes, I'm a good person. I work at at church, I teach Sunday School and am pretty good at it, I write Christian essays, I am starting a ministry to help people. I'm a good guy. But, for the second time in my life I have gotten to become a very good mediocre Christian. This time, I'm much further along than I was when I was 20. But I am far from being like Jesus. I write off sin as something that happens in my life. In fact, I feel worse about eating ice cream at night than about thinking impure or angry thoughts. I ignore the hurting people all around me so that I can focus on helping the hurting people far away from me. I am passionate about helping people in Montreal and Australia see God, but don't ever contact my high school friend who is in prison. Jesus hung out with the prostitutes and tax collectors and lepers and dirtbags. I walk on the other side of the sidewalk. I fight semi-racist thoughts about lots of people. I think all liberals are always wrong.
God has been trying to show me that I need to break out of this current view of the world - you know, the one with me at the center. I need to start being aware of the world and people around me. I need to contact Ellis in prison. I need to be free with my money with God. I need to be careful with how I look at the environment. I need to stop being a selfish pig and start worrying about all those people out there. I need to reconnect my sensitivity button and let God show me where people need help. Even as I'm about to embark on this new mission to rescue people from being addicted to the lustful sirens of the Internet, I need to really really HURT for those people.
About a year ago, when I read Dr. Strack's book, I tried to come up with my answer to that challenge. What could I do, where I was, with what I had? The problem was that I was doing the wrong things, in the wrong place, with the wrong mindset, and with the wrong tools. Sure, they were "good things." But they were not the right things. God wanted to move me into a completely different place. So now, when I look at that question, my answer is completely different. As I answered that, I realized that it did not include those identifiers that I had always found so vital. It was a new and uncomfortable thing. And it is great.
I am a child of God who is standing on the precipice of an unknown adventure. I am armed with only the Truth of God, and the skills that God gave me to wield that Truth in battle for Him. And God wants me to go into my world and start to make a true difference for Him - not for me - for HIM -- and for those people who so desperately need to feel the freedom only He can offer. I need to care for them, and reach out to them, and to love them. I need to let their pain hurt me. I need to trust God completely to give me what I need. And I need to follow Him with abandon - and abandonment of my comfort zone, my prejudices, my Handbook. I need to rely on His Book, and His Love, and His Mind.
I don't know if any of that made sense, and three days from now I may be completely mortified by what I wrote. But right now, that's the best I can do to put a handle on what is churning in my soul.
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