Putting the World Right Again

Most of us memorized John 3:16 about the same time we learned our ABC's and that stupid Barney song. Sorry, it's probably stuck in your head now isn't it?

Unfortunately, growing up we never seemed to get to the next verse. It's a shame because John 3:17 perfectly describes divinity's heart towards humanity.

'God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.' -Message Bible

Does that really happen? Does Jesus really put things back together or is He just a good bumper sticker, excuse to vote our own political ideas, or imaginary folk-lore persona that has birthed mass-deception. And do we really need his help? We're educated, sophisticated, experienced, and sympathetic to others, so what's with the condescending, 'I'll put the world right again.' Doesn't every consecutive generation make the world a better place by ending war, poverty, and senseless genocide?

When Nietzsche famously said, "God is dead", he was more accurately saying God is no longer relevant. Several of his works are premised on this presumption and call on mankind to find a new mode of survival. In essence, what is the fuss of religion, God, forgiveness of sin, and grace when we have evolved into an advanced species who are capable of developing our own parameters of nurture and nature.

Funny thing happened after Nietzsche eulogized God: World War I with 18.5 million soldiers and civilians dying, World War II with over 35 million soldiers and civilians dying, 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded releasing one hundred times the radiation dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, violence continues in the Middle East as genocide grows in parts of Africa, and 27 million people are enslaved in modern day slavery and human trafficking.

As I write this, I can't help but think of kids dying of starvation all over the world, people suffering under physical and sexual abuse, and rampant war and disease.

I know Theology is a messy thing because most time it starts and ends with a why. But Jesus didn't come to make sense, he came to make things right, and that's why Nietzsche's not. We need help, from ourselves. God's only irrelevant when he's misrepresented, or his message is perverted for personal gain. And when you've made God into anything but what he is, I agree with Nietzsche, he's dead.

Nietzsche may have been a great author, but he was lousy as a prophet. We need something purer than us, without selfish motivation, to rebirth us. To make the messy things in life right again. Can God really heal pain, sickness, war, fear, prejudice, abuse, and fear? Because the truth is, we can't.

Cyclone Power

“The problem in many of our congregations is not that we’ve chosen a wrong strategy or have an irrelevant style but that we are an unhealthy culture.” - Erwin McManus

I love sports and I love going to sporting events, especially when they’re free. The Big 12 basketball tournament is at the new Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City this weekend and I took my son to the free open practice sessions on Wednesday and yesterday a friend took me to see a couple of the games.

Now I love sports, but I have digressed in my relationship with ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and March Madness ever since marriage and fatherhood became my #1 leisure sport. So as I’m walking into the beautiful, yet out-of-place in dreary downtown stadium yesterday, I wondered if I would still be able to speak coherent sports jargon with my friends during the games. I couldn’t name a single player from any of the teams playing, and I wasn’t even sure what Iowa State’s school mascot was, but more about that later.

I took my seat just a few rows behind Kevin McHale, who was scouting those players I couldn’t name, I ordered food that graciously did not provide the nutritional content on its packaging, and I cheered, booed, and yelled with the eclectic crowd wearing various school colors.

And then something unusual happened…

Iowa State took the court for pregame warm-ups. I knew nothing about the school or the basketball team, and these were my initial reactions:
1. They are called the ‘Cyclones’. Nothing like naming your school after horrific natural disasters.
2. The mascot is a Cardinal. Not sure the connection between the cardinal and the cyclone, but I don’t think the cardinal comes out of that one too well.
3. The school colors are yellow and red. Doesn’t seem bad, right. Except last night looked like a McDonald’s convention at happy hour. Even the mascot, the bird not the cyclone, was dressed like the reincarnation of Ronald McDonald.
4. The band members were wearing hockey jerseys. This was a BASKETBALL tournament.

So by default, I decided to root against Team McDonalds and cheer for Texas A&M. It didn’t last.

Across the stadium, I noticed several guys painted in yellow, wearing red wigs, and chanting wildly. I looked beside me and I noticed I was one of the few fans not wearing the McDonalds two-tone special. The atmosphere in the stadium was changing. These fans weren’t annoying or obnoxious, they were intriguing. They made the game exciting, even though the basketball team wasn’t, they made me laugh, and won me over. It was great to see fans who traveled, from wherever Iowa State is, and physically and emotionally take over the filled-to-capacity stadium. Even the band, although they may not have realized what sport they were playing for, frustrated A&M’s band because they were louder, more passionate, and played until the last possible moment.

I was swept away in a sea of mustard and ketchup, wishing I had attended Iowa State and wondering why I hadn’t been a fan all along. The same team I mocked at first, became the object of my affection for the next 40 minutes.

It’s been said that the goodness of God leads us to repentance. For some reason we’ve become dyslectic with that truth. We think repentance leads us to the goodness of God. ‘Say your sorry enough, have a revelation of how worthless you are, and then you’ll encounter God.’ That gospel is not only ineffective and stupid, it’s wrong.

God says, ‘See me in nature, see me in the arts, see me in people groups all over the world, see my goodness in creation, harmony, and life…and be awed!’ That will lead you to become a community of people who believe in me.

It wasn’t the mascot, team uniforms, conflicted bird, or badly dressed band that determined my belief in Iowa State, it was the passion of their community. The love the fans had for their school, each other, and even their acceptance of converted A&M fans like me was a powerful force. The way they took over a stadium not by bumper stickers, religious rants, or protests but by how they seemed to be loving life, drew us in.

Christianity doesn’t work any differently. The belief that the church will be empowered when we win elections, more powerfully protest sin, and organize effective boycotts of the bad guys, makes our message impotent. Instead we must become vibrant followers of Christ, hunger healthy communities of truth, and desire to produce life and love wherever we go.

So I bless you to live life full, and pursue healthy communities marked with humility, excellence, and passion.

Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today...Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace...You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world...You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
Imagine by John Lennon 1971

An honest attempt to visualize a place where the things that divide people no longer exist. I love the melody, a soft approach masking a strong political and religious message, although Lennon probably saw these two regimes as one.

Lennon asks the listener to follow him on his journey, his ideological quest for living without the death of heaven, hell, countries, killing, religion, possessions, greed, and hunger. In 2001, under the shadow of a debri-filled New York City, Neil Young performed this song before a televised audience of 60 million; 60 million people still moved by the power of Lennon's prophetic musings.

Lennon was calling for a movement, although he always publicly denied this in interviews, but the third stanza gives his motivation away as he is calling for us to more than imagine, and to join arms with 'us'.

I've been thinking about this, not Lennon but the song, what it means, not to Lennon but to us today and tomorrow. And I've hit a road block.

Doesn't every political and religious force use the same rhetoric as Lennon's? Isn't every war fought to 'end war' or remove suffering? Don't people join a religion to remove 'evil' from their own lives and bring about an end to 'evil' in society? Don't most see heaven as an eternal extradition from things like greed and hunger?

I guess my problem is what Lennon's was, and why his movement has not moved past imagining. He offers no real answers or explanations, only condemning the generation before him for the systems they put in place. That's probably why the song continues to be so popular. Nothing like blaming mom and dad and their politics and religion for all the bad in society.

Lennon struggled to imagine real answers to killing, pride, and poverty because to achieve it requires a purely motivated political uprising demanding equality, a religious movement demonstrating societal justice, and men and woman serving the needs of community over the wants of their souls.

Now Lennon's song will remain on my playlist, and will probably continue as the anarchist anthem for generations to come. But I'm not content to only 'imagine' all the wrongs in government, religion, and society. I want to make a difference, now. I want to do something about poverty in my community, eliminate hatred and fear in my city, and remove divisions of race, gender, and religion.

Maybe politics and religion are not to blame after all, maybe we're the problem. We might be in need of some help from someone who died passionately for what he was(and not just what he believed in), and left a perfect example on how to achieve what Lennon sings of.

So I encourage you to celebrate imagination, let your dreams be unhindered, but be brave enough to move into the fog of living them out.

No Insiders Allowed

As usual, I was waiting several rings to see if someone else was going to answer the phone. Just before the call was directed to the answer machine, I realized that today I was the only person in the office. I reached for the phone and my notepad at the same time, sure that I would just be taking a message for someone else.

The caller never did tell me his name, nor did he ask me mine. He baited me by telling me he was new to our community and was looking for a new church home. He just wanted to talk to a live voice(which is pretty much all you get out of me on the phone) before he decided to visit our church. I’m not a good salesman, and I have never meet a good salesman that I would want to spend any time with away from the sales floor. My wife, in act of defiance and wisdom, will not step foot on a car dealership, real estate office, or electronic superstore until the very last minute, when we have already done our research from the safe confines of our home. So although I love my church, I knew I wasn’t suited to ‘sell’ this guy on the benefits of attending our church.

Well, luck or favor was on my side, because this guy was not interested in ‘buying’. He immediately went off about our church, the church in general, and how society and the world was being harmed by our message and focus. As he tore at everything our church stood for, I must admit, it was good to hear that our church was having such a global impact! Normally when we get calls or emails like this we end the communication as soon as possible, but I was enjoying this guy. Yes, he was off the wall with his exaggerations and hyperbole, comparing teaching to brainwashing, discipline to control, love to manipulation. But, I’ve heard that stuff before, and it sounded like he was reciting from someone else’s skewed view of Christianity. What intrigued me was what the man was trying to say, and I found great truth in the unsaid longing of his heart.

He felt that the church, and because I answered the phone, my church, had made him an outsider and was trying very hard to keep him as one. We have our weekly meetings, our songs and radio stations, even our own television stations all geared to…us, the insiders. He desperately wanted to know why we had turned a message about creator loving creation into sophisticated, orchestrated weekly meetings designed to please insiders and at the same time, even if done without malice, keep the outsiders as…well, outsiders. We dress alike, have our own book sections in Barnes & Nobles, our businesses marked with the fish symbol, our coffee houses, our amusement parks, even our own political representatives!!!

But, what this man, who dropped as many F-bombs on me as my high school football coach, was picking up on, was all we really have been doing with Christian influence, money, and power, was clearly making our churches and bible studies as havens for insiders.

Well I must admit, the man who ended up hanging on me before I could tell him that he was making more sense than most 3-point sermons on a Sunday morning, sure got me thinking, and now I’ve decided to become an outsider. No, I’m not leaving Christ (In case you didn’t notice, the only time he visits the inside is to knock the place around). Instead, I’m on a search to find where he really is, and just as important, where I should be.

So consider this your invitation, come join me outside the walls of plastic Christianity, and let’s live life as Christ lived his…on the outside.

Deadly Pandemic or Authentic Journey

"Do not follow where the path may lead; but go to where there is no path and leave a trail."
- unknown

I have an incurable disease - a deadly pandemic that I was infected with almost nine years ago. It happened innocently enough, by two random events spread apart by several years. The first and least important event happened when the Texas Department of Motor Vehicle issued me a driver's license. The second event was my wedding day nine years ago. These two days were crowning achievements in my life, and I successfully completed both tasks on my first try.

Unfortunately, the combination of these two innocent events has resulted in an inoperable condition I call, "I know where I am going, we don't need directions!" (which will be refered to as NOMAP from now on) My wife, who was originally a nursing student, has labored in vain as an amateur apothecary mixing various medicines such as, "Just read the map stupid!", "Stop at the first gas station!", and "Ask that old lady walking down the street!"

These may seem like items with powerful medicinal powers, but the side effects, plus the pride the druggist would take in 'curing' me, have proven to be too much for me. I have accepted the fact that I will never be cured from NOMAP and I, and my unfortunate passengers, will suffer under its effects for as long as my license is renewed.

The truth is, much of my life is governed the same way. I don't want a map or a program to tell me when to turn, where to go, and what decision to make at every intersection. I want to make those decisions myself...better yet, I want to search out the truth about what decision I should make, instead of listening to someone else telling me what to do. Many times parents, pastors, well meaning friends, and family members protest to those infected with NOMAP. But the truth is, many times we are not acting out of rebellion or youthful ignorance, instead we are driven by a desire for authenticity.

I don't want to be someones religious robot nor evangelical puppet. I don't need to be told how to vote, how to dress, what movies and music to listen to, and whatever else we have confused Jesus with being about. Instead, I need to be shown how to love, how to heal, and how to forgive...the things Jesus was about. And for that, I don't need a map or a religious system. I need a relationship with a revolutionary thinker, a heroic champion of justice, and an architect of a better way to live.

Sometimes we call the bible a road map, but I think we're selling it short. For me, the bible is the greatest romance novel ever written. (And thankfully, Fabio isn't on the cover.) It is a story of a deliberate and intentional God giving humanity life and relationship with their creator, and putting into motion a way for all to experience communion with his presence, forever.

A map has pictures, lines, and symbols. The bible has passion, shed blood, and produces life and liberty. One of the major problems with modern christianity is we have minimized an infinite God to stats, number, and rules.

So those of you infected with NOMAP, I urge to not check into the hospital(or church) for a quick immunization. I challenge you to continue on your difficult journey in your pursuit of an authentic relationship with your living, loving creator.

Life, Motion, and Existence

In 1st century Athens, a city that pioneered philosophy, the arts, and history, a people who introduced a new form of modern government called democracy, and established a legacy in architecture and sculpting, there remained one area that they admittedly remained novice. Surrounded by great achievements, and the ideological hope that they had truly made life better for generations to come, they were haunted by a landscape they had yet to grasp, much less mark with their creative interpretation.

This was not an error of oversight or neglect. Quite contrary, great effort was spent and philosophers from different backgrounds would spend their time talking, listening, and debating on this issue. Foreigners would travel just to witness the open arena, known as Mars Hill, where debate would take place. It was a place where gifted philosopher and common laborer could speak openly, the only qualification being that he must listen openly as well.

The focus, the yet to be learned and conquered ‘art’, was…God. The Athenians were not atheist who disbelieved in God altogether, nor were they deist who believed in a creator who had vanished after creation. They believed in God, they just didn’t know who God was. They even went so far as to build an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God’.

Last week, my son woke up in the middle of the night screaming and crying out. Being the good father that I am, I waited to see if my wife was going to get up and see what was wrong. She did, but after several minutes, he continued to cry uncontrollably. I finally got out of bed, deciding to end this disruption to much coveted rest. When I knelt to my son’s bed, I could tell that this was no ordinary ’night whimper’. Something was wrong. I grabbed my five-year son in my arms, and he grasped me tightly. His whole body was tight, yet shaking, as his tears streamed down his face. My wife and I couldn’t understand anything he was saying, but eventually found out that his stomach hurt.

At one point, as waves of pain overwhelmed him, he tugged on my neck as hard as he could, and he cried out in my ear, ’Daddy, daddy, daddy.’ My sleep had been interrupted by his tears, but my life had been interrupted by his cry. In that moment, nothing mattered except the remedy for his pain. I would have done absolutely anything to relieve his discomfort. His cry had awakened our household(and maybe some of our neighbors), and he had our complete attention and care.

That’s exactly what God did for the Athenians. Truth and freedom from the anguish and painful journey of searching for God, arrived in the form of a Jew, who had had a powerful encounter with the true God.

I’m not sure what your perception of God is, but mine is summed up in 7 words recorded by an ancient king named David. “He parted the heavens and came down.” I not only take comfort in those words, those words describe who I see God as. His desire is to part the divide between heaven and earth, and come down to reveal himself to mankind.

So in your search for meaning, truth, and spiritual sobriety, may you be blessed as the Athenians to realize that, “In him we live, we move and have our being…for we are His offspring.”

Authentic Community

au·then·tic refers to the truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions.

Andrew Root in Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry
"Relational ministries should avoid the temptation to use relationships to influence people and instead see the mandate of the incarnation as the call to shared solidarity in common humanity."

Several years ago, I was working my near minumum-wage job, when hope appeared to me in a three-piece suit. This man approached me and struck up a conversation beyond the normal, "And, I'll take fries with that." I was immediatly struck with how he genuine and honest he was.

He asked me what my plans were in the future, and what I was doing at the present to get there. I tried to give my best shot at an intelligent response while attempting to figure out the answer to those questions myself. After what I'm sure was the stupidiest response he had ever heard, he handed me a business card and invited me to his house the following week for a meeting.

My excitement got me through the next week and I left for his house believing that my life was going to be radically changed. I showed up at his door nervous but with high expectations. I had my resume with me, and I was ready to sound much more intelligent than I had previously. His wife opened the door with a warm smile and she quickly shook my hand and led me into their large living room.

I was surprised to see that the room was full of young men and women who looked just like me. Not expecting so much competition for this job interview, I sized up the room and felt that I still had a chance.

The man soon made his appearance, trading in his slick suit for a more comfortable sweater. He quickly shook hands with each of us and asked us to find a seat. This time he felt cold and distant, and he seemed more interested in sharing what appeared to be some fancy presentation.

For the next 45 minutes, I listened in horror to a slick marketing scheme on how cheap junk could be sold for big profits, simply by becoming part of his sales team. For startup fees of only $145, I could start my own business, and even get my families members, for $145, to start their own business as well. The "interview" turned out to be a chessy pyramid-marketing scheme.

I left the house as soon as I could feeling ashamed that I'd fallen for this scheme, and embarrassed that I had believed that the man actually cared about me.

I'll never forget that encounter and the only good that came out that night was that today I have a heightened awareness of people like him.

It makes me wonder, if in all of our "win the lost at any cost", and "turn or burn" campaigns to "win our cities for Jesus", if we come across just like that man in a three-piece suit? Do we authentically care about people? And are we trying to develop authentic relationships with people not to win them, sell them, or advertise our churches, but because...we love them.

So it's time to put away the evangelism strategies and retire what Rob Bell describes as the "bullhorn guy". Being an authentic community will cause us to be real, raw, honest, and humble. Although a road less travelled, along the way I believe we'll encounter truth, justice, and life to the full.

Messy Christianity

I enjoy reading and listening to people who don't think like me. I am not a glutton for debates, as these seem to be a terrible waste of time. You know what I'm talking about. Conversations(debates) where you talk loudly and arrogantly about why you're right and smart and the other person is wrong and...well, stupid.

I'm talking about merely listening...what a concept! One the American Church and the American Christian do little of. Not only do we not listen to God, a simply reading and obeying of His word, we don't listen to people in general. We really struggle with allowing other people to speak into our lives. It's as if we really believe that the only people that need to stop and listen are weak, anemic people who don't have any idea what they are doing or where they are headed. Well, this is my confession and my blog is my confessional booth... I don't have a clue. So, you wise sages of all knowledge high and far, fire away. Go to work telling me what following God looks like, what I should like, and what the American church should like. Share and elaborate with me your endless rhetoric and precise commentary.

I remember in high school, I had a part time job at an 'eletronic superstore'. My job was to sell car stereos and my salary was completely based on my ability to sell, sell, sell. The problem was that I knew absolutely nothing about car stereos. Not only that, I could care less about what subs were, why you needed to buy the cleanest amp available, and the importance of circuitry design. I was more interested in friends, money, and fun. (I'm not sure in what order.) But one day, via my department manager, who seemed completely interested in the above mentioned stereo jargon, I had an epiphany. "You don't have to care about car stereos, and you don't even have to know anything about them." he said to me one day. "You just have to fake it. You just have to convince them that you know everything about stereos and convince people that if they take your advice, they will be completely satisfied." I was hooked. That day I traded in my training manuals and my desire for new informaton about fresh, cutting-edge technology, for mass manupulation. And it worked.

So today, a little older, not too much wiser, I stand at the same intersection. I see these ministers on TV who claim to know it all, and they'll even share it with you if you buy their new book, or give that generous monthly pledge. And I have friends who at the smallest, slightest acknowledgement that I'm honestly searching for answers, will jump on me with a three-point teaching about wisdom and faith. It all seems so tempting...but then I am reminded of my goofy department manager with his out of date suit and tie. "Just fake it, Joe", he would say to me with a goofy grin. And every time I am around people with their pyramid scheme, marketing strategies that explain how to know God's will, I'm at first skeptical, then somewhat curious, but finally, a new epiphany arrives. They're all as clueless as I am. But maybe even more so, because they are pretending to actually know truth.

You see, my Christian journey is messy. I seem to be moving in the dark much of the time. My growth and revelation may be slow, and it's definetly laborous, but it's legit. Eric Stark, music director at Word of Life Church in St. Jo, Mo, says, "In the fog of my mind, my soul speaks clearly. And with a clear head, the soul stays silent." That really resonates with. Maybe we are designed to move into the unknown, even mystically drawn there. It's a search and a journey that will only end when our breath does. Not just because some schmo told us to fake it, but because the journey is the point.

So, I enjoy listening to what people think, especially if it's not what I think. I enjoy being around people who have become addicted to the fog. We'll allow those with complete revelations of all knowledge of God and man your due time. We'll nod our heads, and appear to believe your sales pitch. But, to those desperate for truth, hungry for justice, and without a clue on how to bring about either one, I bless you. May our journeys carry on, and our questions always haunt us...it's messy Christianity.