50 Shades of Grey

The other day I was at the bookstore with my 4 year old son Haydn.  Next to the register sat a stack of the  popular novel 50 Shades of Grey.  A mom and her son were in line in front of us when the son asked his mom what this particular book was.  She responded, "A book on tying ties."

I am not sure if you have heard of this book or not but apparently it is extremely popular and more than a little steamy.  I have been told that suburban moms are flocking to it like investors to Facebook stock.  Now if you have not heard of this book, as far as I can tell, it is more-or-less a romance novel that might need an NC-17 rating.  Now I am not criticizing the book, or condemning those that have read it, but I find it interesting that we seek things externally that we should find internally.

Take for example our desire for extreme sports.  We continually push the limits so that we can "feel alive."  Or our love for reality TV.  Instead of being content with the life that we have we seek meaning and purpose from the voyeurism that reality TV provides.  And then back to 50 Shades of Grey, do we find passion in our relationships or are we looking for that externally when it should be found internally?

Why are we drawn to things like 50 Shades of Grey?  Sure passing the time is one thing but just beneath the surface I worry that we aren't content with the life that we have and instead search for life elsewhere.  This is a dangerous game.  It is dangerous because we are searching for something we think we don't have in a place where we can't find it.

In the story of the woman at the well Jesus confronts a woman who is looking for life in places she can't find it and because of this she is in a rut and her wheels continue to spin but she doesn't get any where, she doesn't feel any more content but rather the pit in her soul continues to deepen.  When Jesus reveals to her what the life that he gives looks like, everything she used to want suddenly falls away.

So where are you looking for life?  Do you realize that you already have it or are you too consumed with the life that someone else has that you miss your's entirely?  Riding motorcycles isn't necessarily a bad thing (I have done that one) as long as that isn't what defines who you are.  Watching a little reality TV (the Kim Kardashians marriage/divorce thing had me sucked in) as long as it doesn't become your reality.  And if you need to learn how to tie a tie I guess you have found your book.

If Jesus were to ask us for a drink would we really know what quenches our thirst?

See you in church,

Chris

"I consider myself post-Christian."

I recently met a pastor who referred to themselves as post-Christian.  Now at first, this title startled me and I found myself wanting to defend Christianity and trying to figure out how a Christian pastor could refer to themselves in such a way.  But during the course of our conversation I understood where he was coming from and found myself relating to what he was saying.

Over the past few years there has been a shift in how people of the Christian faith have been designating themselves.  Many prefer to call themselves "followers of Jesus" instead of Christians.  Their argument is that the title "Christian" has become tainted by Christians who seem to contradict the teachings of Jesus by what they do and/or say.  For example; saying that God sent a certain natural disaster to destroy a severely impoverished country because years ago they made a deal with the devil.  Or, suggesting that a certain group of individuals should be put behind an electrified fence.  Or, a religious leader who rails against a certain group but then is found to be with a prostitute of his same gender abusing illegal drugs.  I guess I can understand why someone may not want to associate themselves with "Christians" if this is what a Christian looks like.

If this is our reality I think we have two options.  We can take a different name and reinvent what it means to follow Jesus and call ourselves post-Christian.  We can distance ourselves from those who seem to contradict what it means to "love God above all things and to love your neighbor as yourself."  Or, we can stand up for what it means to be a Christian.  We can call out those who choose to base their faith on something other than what Jesus teaches.  We can speak up for those who are oppressed and expose injustice, even when that injustice come from the Christian church.  We can reclaim what it means to be a Christian and invite others to do the same.  It is typically easier to reinvent something than it is to reclaim something but when we are talking about the name "Christian" I think that is something worth fighting for.  I am looking for partners in this battle.

See you in church,

Chris

The Pinterest Church

I guess the appropriate title for this week’s blog should be “Wannabe Pastor’s Blog” as Scott and Chris have graciously allowed me space as a “guest blogger” in this discussion forum to share some of my faith perspectives.  In fact, my participation in this dialogue is somewhat on topic for what I would like to discuss.

This past week, my wife and her friend were chatting about the latest in social media ventures, “Pinterest”.  Now as I understand it, Pinterest is like an online bulletin board where people can share ideas on a variety of topics: recipes, craft ideas, book recommendations, etc.  You simply “pin” the idea to a dedicated message board and can organize the boards based on topic.  Not a bad idea.  A good way for collective wisdom to accumulate for the greater good, right?  I couldn’t help making the connection to faith.

The bible, in many ways, is this type of environment.   Throughout history, people have “pinned” their uniquely inspired experiences with God.  Initially these experiences were passed down orally, but later they were recorded in written form.  These “pinned” experiences would ultimately become canonized into our Holy Scriptures. 

Paul, for instance, “pinned” the most, writing the majority of the New Testament, examining what this new community of Christ followers should look like and how they should behave.  Four different gospel writers “pinned” their take on Jesus’ life, each with their own unique flavor and intention.  The Hebrew Bible is a large collection of men and women who “pinned” their experiences with God that provided an extraordinary glimpse into the faith lives of people of this time.   As Christians today, we benefit greatly from this divine bulletin board we now refer to as the Bible. 

Like Pinterest followers, we can read and learn from this conversation, but the conversation doesn’t have to stop.  In his seminal book, “Velvet Elvis”, Rob Bell writes how faith is a conversation borne out of the biblical writers, apostles, and early church fathers, but continues to this day.  He uses the illustration of art, posing the question, what if artists years ago, simply stopped painting?  What if they completed a piece, in this example, a painting of Elvis on black velvet, and determined that this was it, that it could not be improved upon.  That this was the “be all, end all” of artist endeavors. What a tragedy this would have been for the art world.  Fortunately, they didn’t.  Artists realized that they needed to keep painting.  There was still a story to be told.

In seminary, we participated in this neat spiritual practice where we gathered in a circle, each with a small block of clay.  We closed our eyes and prayerfully allowed our hands to shape our individual blocks of clay, however the Holy Spirit was leading us.  After a few minutes, we started at one end of the circle and took our created shapes and added them to each other, one at a time, around the circle, until the final person was holding this amazing, beautiful sculpture.  It was the collective result of each person’s individual creation.

This is how Christianity is.  We are all part of this historic, spiritual conversation; this collective piece of art, that has been going on for centuries and will continue long after we are gone.  But we are called to participate in this conversation.  We are called to contribute, in some way, using our unique insights and gifts.  I’m not talking about theological insights (although that is certainly fine), I’m talking about tossing into the mix your own spiritual gifts for the betterment of God’s world.  If your gift is music, create beautiful music and put it out there for the world to enjoy.  If your gift is dance, dance your heart out for God’s glory.  If your gift is rolling up your sleeves to build a Habitat house for a family in need, go do it!  But don’t sit on the sidelines, don’t simply be an observer.

The conversation needs your input. You are equipped with unique gifts from the Creator for the greater good.  So how are you using them? What are you going to pin?

Have you caught the "Insanity" yet?

Last weekend my family and I made the short drive over to Concord to celebrate my daughter's birthday at The Great Wolf Lodge.  If you are not familiar with The Great Wolf Lodge it is a hotel with a pretty big indoor water park, and to use the water park you have to stay at the hotel.  Now aside from the water park the hotel is your typical hotel and when I am cramped up in a small space with three, bouncing-off-the-walls children, the TV becomes a source of refuge.  While flipping through the channels I came across an extended infomercial for the home-workout DVD called "Insanity."  Now remember, I don't have cable so I don't see these things too often (while I am sure those with cable have seen it countless times) and as I watched this extended infomercial I found myself getting sucked in.  The leader of this cult-like experience, Shaun T (who coincidentally will be in Charlotte this weekend), is hard to ignore.  Even though it is just a TV program he is more than in your face.  The participants who are featured in the show are over the top with their praise for the program and it is hard to ignore, what appears to be, the evident change in their physique.  But what is the most captivating is the excitement that exudes from everyone who is a part of this "Insanity."  You would have thought each person just received a new car from Oprah or won the lottery.  Their excitement and energy pulled me in with a Star Trek-like-tractor-beam force that kept me from changing the channel.  And as I sat there and tried to figure out why I was so "zombied" to this show it hit me: I was caught up in this insanity because what I was witnessing was exactly what we see in churches across the country every week.  People who are so excited to go to church that they cancel their tee times to be there.  People who are so thankful for everything they have that you have to beg them to not give away everything they have.  People who are begging to teach Sunday school, even and especially the classes that their kids aren't in!

Now, no I have not been drinking, and yes I am being sarcastic.  But this did make me wonder what would it be like if everyone had that same excitement for their faith that these folks had for Insanity?  What if they realized that, just as Insanity changes their body, faith changes their entire being.  What if church people had that type of excitement, an excitement that others couldn't ignore and caused them to want to be a part of it too.  An excitement so powerful that it pulled them in with a Star Trek-like-tractor-beam force.  What if?

Instead church people typically are not described as excited but instead we look more like a dysfunctional family and who wants to join up with a dysfunctional family?  Instead of being excited about our faith, like these folks were for Insanity; excited because of what it did for them and how much they wanted others to experience it; we forget what our faith has done for us and our excitement seems less genuine.  Instead of excitement we are more concerned about determining who is right and who is wrong.  Who is in and who is out and that typically does not lead to excitement.

I can only imagine what church would look like if we had Insanity type excitement.  And not the excitement that comes from a heavily caffeinated cup of coffee but the type of excitement that brought about real change, like the change that Insanity promises.  That change is there in our faith I just wonder if we have forgotten about it.

 I wonder what an Insanity church would look like?  What if we had that type of excitement for a faith that promises and delivers real change?  I wonder what that would look like?  What if...?

What's Missing?

One of the things that I fear we lack most in the Christian Church is a sense of the need to be humble.  Last week I attended a preaching conference with the Episcopalian Church up at their retreat center (Kanuga) in Hendersonville, NC.  One of the presenters at this conference was Shane Hipps.  Now you may not know Shane by name, but indirectly you may.  For the past could of years Shane has been a pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI.  The same church that was founded by Rob Bell, who wrote the recent book Love Wins.  There were only about 55 attendees at the conference so we were actually able to talk to the speakers instead of just watch their presentation.  During one of the conversations Shane shared an interesting insight, he said, "The church is the sail, it is not the wind. It cannot control the wind but it needs the wind."  Now Shane's church is big.  They have thousands of people attend their services every week, they come from all over the world and their podcasts are heard by millions across the globe.  Even with all of this success and clout Shane understands the need to be humble.  He understands that his church is just a sail and it desperately needs the wind.  I wonder if the rest of the church understands this need to be humble?

I worry that we think we have it all figured out, that we have the market cornered and we have nothing left to learn.  Can we really put God, Jesus or Christianity into a box?

One of the themes that came out of the 16th century reformation was the need to be always reforming.  Not change just for the sake of changing but reforming so that the church can continually get closer to God.  Are we still reforming today?  What I think Shane was getting at with this wind and sail idea is that once in a while the church needs to get out of the way.  We need to remind ourselves that as important as we are and for all of the incredible things that we can do, we are not the wind but we vitally need the wind.  There is something freeing about that statement but it can also be very challenging.  When we remind ourselves that we are just the sail and Jesus is the wind we are admitting that we don't have control of the wind, we don't have the market cornered on this one and the wind will blow where it wants.  It will blow in directions that challenge us, it will blow in places where we don't want it to go but when this happens our faith grows and it grows because of our sense of humility.

Once in a while we need to humble ourselves so that God can continue to be God.  We need to remind ourselves that salvation does not come from the church but from Jesus and when we figure that out and we allow that wind to fill our sails we are able to do incredible things for the kingdom.

See you in church,

Chris