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Is Bigger Better?

“get ready, God is preparing you for something really, really small” – shane claiborne

In a moment of indiscretion I did something horrible in college. I applied to a large university. Now I really say that as a joke, because in actuality I don't have anything against this particular institution. As a matter of fact I rather like it a lot as well as it's cross state rival. However, I applied and was accepted to this institution and I thus I began the gauntlet of requirements being part of the school necessitated. Park in this are, then walk/run all the way across campus to get the TB test, then head over to a different corner of campus to file the change of address form, after that make sure to go see a counselor over at a different part of campus, then you can go back to your first area to actually register, etc. etc. And there was this sense that if I were to make one misstep in this horrible process filled with red tape that I was unworthy to be part of the institution. And of course no one was going to help in any way. Often times employees would refuse to give any clearer directions than go to the such and such building, which is great if you know which building that is and/or where it's at, no help at all otherwise. So I did everything. I did it all right, I filled out my change of address forms and moved just down the road from the school.

Then one day I received a notice that my classes had been dropped. I go to investigate and find that despite me doing everything right, they had sent my bill to the wrong address, and since it had not been paid my classes had been dropped. Now the classes were full and I could not get any of the classes I needed. This was all due to their mistake, they were even able to find the change of address form I had filled out and submitted.

At this point I decided I did not like being treated like a number rather than a person, so I transferred to another smaller school where people were helpful and you felt like a person.

Now I don't think institution number one is evil or anything like that, I simply believe it's large. And when things get too large people become smaller and smaller, worth less and less. There are great advantages to being large, but there are also drawbacks.

I think by and large in the U.S. we tend to think that bigger is better, and we fail to see the impact that small things can have. But over and again in the scriptures Jesus seems to refer to the Kingdom of God in terms of small or hidden things, bursting forth and changing everything else (mustard seed, etc). When we look at Jesus we see that he did draw large crowds, but it also seems like whenever the crowds really start to grow he begins to teach things that will thin them out (John 6).

I don't deny that God wants to do big things in our world. The mustard seed does grow and spread, the disciples were told they would preach in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. However, I think that God might be even more concerned with the small things, that's where the big things begin. At the same time, a mustard tree only grows so large, then it reproduces. While the disciples were told that they would do big things, those big things were to happen through the making of other disciples.

Again, don't think I'm demonizing big. There are advantages that come with being big, I'm well aware of it. However, often the good that comes with being big comes at the cost of our humanity, so it's important that we find ways to grow smaller while/if we grow larger. Very often we forget that often times the big things that happen take place because of a few very dedicated people. Jesus' core was 12, um . . . make that 11 disciples and a few women. And yet they completely changed the world as we know it. I think Mother Theresa said it best, that we can do no great things, only small things with great love. But that small things with great love can change the world.

Update

About a month ago I started a new blog series that I hope to continue in the not too distant future. It's full of really good stuff. However, shortly after I started it a lot of things happened and life has become quite hectic. So, for all our friends out there I just wanted to give a quick update.

Over the last month Katie has truly started her new job as well as another semester of evening classes in pursuit of her Master's Degree. Cari started Kindergarten, so we are working diligently on learning our letters and simple words. I turned 30 and collected money to help provide clean water for people in Africa who could likely die without it. Also, I've been independently ordained thanks to some great friends, Don Brock and the great folks at Synergy Ministries, thank you so much, it means more to me than you know. My Parent Project® classes have started and are going well which takes up another evening, and I got called from a local community college to teach an Ethics class which I am absolutely loving. It may not pay much, but I can't remember the last time I've actually earned money for having so much fun. On top of all of this, I plan to start a small business doing full service web hosting and site design. I have to wait until September to get a business license, but getting everything done on that has been taking some time as well. The plan is to offer web hosting for $5/month. However, what I'm really excited about is that I want to offer to churches a full service package where I do a custom site build to what they're looking for and I do updates each week for $30/month. With a one year agreement I will build the site for free. My hope is that I will be able to help small churches that don't have the money or technical resources to have a quality site that is regularly updated get exactly what they want and need that the large churches pay thousands of dollars for.

So, life is hectic but really great. Once we get more into the rhythm of all these new schedules and adjustments I'll try and continue the series.

Luke 15 Critiquing the Pharisees Part 1

As I previously mentioned I am starting a series of blogs about some of the parables of Jesus. Several of these stories have really captured my attention in unique ways for some time, and I wanted to share some of the dynamics and insights I've found within them. Some of the posts will be long, others will be extremely short. And of course I'd love to hear your thoughts along the way, get to share in the things that you've found that I've missed. So with that said, let's get started. The first parable (or set of parables) I want to talk about is found in Luke 15, the familiar parable of the "Prodigal Son."


The parable of the man with two sons commonly called the Prodigal Son doesn’t actually begin at verse 11. In actuality it starts no later than verse 1. This chapter begins with a scene in which Jesus is teaching and “tax collectors and sinners” were gathering to listen to him. The Pharisees and teachers of the law are grumbling about the kind of company Jesus welcomes and eats with. It is in response to this grumbling that Jesus tells three parables. The first is a parable concerning a lost sheep, the second is a parable about a lost coin, and the third is a parable concerning lost sons. These stories are interesting in that they serve in very subtle ways to both justify Jesus’ activity while simultaneously condemning the activity of the religious leaders of the day.

Question: Why is the sheep and the coin lost? Now certainly sheep can wander off, but by and large sheep tend to flock together, they’re followers. That’s why you wouldn’t want to mix sheep and goats. Goats wander, sheep follow. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a critique against the shepherd, but certainly could be especially in light of the second parable about the lost coin. Unlike animals, coins don’t simply wander off. The coin is obviously lost due to mismanagement (unless of course she has a two year old, in which case this would be completely understandable). How does someone lose a day’s wages?

Jesus is obviously defending himself, he is the one going off after those who are “lost.” But, could this also be a critique against the religious leaders of his day?
As we move toward the parable of the two sons we will see that lostness can occur for multiple reasons. But, looking at these two parables together we find that one reason for lostness can be mismanagement. Could it be that Jesus is saying to the religious leaders of his day that he wouldn’t have to be the one finding the sheep or coin if they had done their job correctly to begin with?

Herston 30 for 30

A bit of an update. I know it's been a bit since I've blogged. For anyone who might have been looking for a post, sorry. I've got something in the works that is going to be some good stuff, so don't give up on me. I've had several specific parables of Jesus that have just been returning to me over and over again over the last few years, and I want to spend some time dwelling on them, learning what you get out of them, and sharing some of the things I've gotten as they have been brought back to me over and over again. So, besides working on this series of posts what have I been up to? Glad you asked.

I've posted about this a couple of times, but I've been quite busy with some different things one of which being my 30 for 30 campaign. My hope is that other people's lives will be better because I existed. That there will be people who live because I lived. In short, in some small way I want the world to be a better place because I'm a part of it. So, with my 30th birthday coming up what better than to ask friends and family to give toward building a well in Africa. $1 = clean water for 1 person for 1 year. $5000 = a well providing clean water for a village for generations. That means I need 150-175 people to give $30 each for my 30th birthday (not including my personal contributions). If you feel generous feel free to give more. To learn more visit www.30for30.jonathanherston.com

Controlling Life

I've been reading this book, and it's full of wonderful information. At the same time it comes from a "christian" perspective and the scripture work in it is pretty horrible a lot of the time. It spot quotes verses, takes them out of context and tries to make them mean things different than how they were really intended (and I don't mean in a that scripture is kind of but not really related to that kind of way, but in a that has nothing to do with what you're talking about kind of way). Normally I would put the book down and walk away, but this one was written by psychologists, and as I said the information (beyond the scripture work) is really good. I'm finding it helpful to me and I would imagine it would be to plenty of others that I know. So, I've continued reading, but it has gotten me pondering all kinds of questions about "Christian" perspectives.

On top of reading this book I've had a couple other experiences recently. I came across a blog post where both "Christians" and "Atheists" were posting comments. And, I came across a couple of presentations done by skeptics and scientists. And I've begun to notice something. I'm noticing that a lot of times our perspective on the world isn't about truth as much as faith, and it isn't as much about faith as control. Let me unpack this a bit.

We long to understand life. We want to know the best way to live, how to live and move in the world. We want success, ease, joy, comfort, excitement, and all the other good life has to offer. There's this sense that if I can figure out life, the key to it, the secret, then I can make the most of it and be happy. And we're bombarded by a million perspectives and according to each it is offering the fundamental rubric through which we are told we should ground our being. We can pursue money or power, fame or success, excitement, experiences, adventure or any number of perspectives that can serve as our lens for trying to understand how to conquer life.

And that's what it's really about, control. Some of us are afraid, so we pursue safety. We think if we can just keep things from going wrong everything will be ok. We buy insurance thinking that things will be ok no matter what, because I've got insurance and supplemental insurance. Others pursue fame. We think that if enough people know us, then we will have significance and fulfillment. Others pursue success. We think that if I do something of worth then I'll be of worth. Or, money will allow me to do what I want, then I'll be happy. Or, excitement and adventure will bring me a rush and I'll feel like I'm truly alive.

And to be honest, I'm not ever sure what exactly it is we're seeking. But, we have this sense that there is some kind of void in our lives and we need to do something to get rid of it.

Now, the anchors beneath all of these perspectives tend to gravitate around either religion or science. Either what we see and can measure and test is all that there is or there's something more. One of these two tend to lie underneath whichever perspective(s) we choose. Something is going to be the thing through which all that we do will be grounded, thus both are a type of faith. What we're looking for we tend to find. How else could such brilliant people come to such different conclusions on almost everything (I'm thinking specifically about a debate I recently saw between two unbelievably intelligent men regarding whether moving toward nuclear energy is a good idea or not - and they directly contradicted each other in their basic statistical information. In the end it seems to comes down to an in faith value judgment on the part of each.)

Science is concerned with the "natural world". And because of it we've learned much and made great advances. We need reason, we need science because it pushes us toward truth. It doesn't accept doctrine or myth. Thanks to science the faith of the Church is more accurate. We know that the Earth isn't the center of the universe like we once thought, like our interpretation of scriptures once said it had to be. At the same time most of us have this nagging sense that something isn't completely right about science. We don't completely trust it because yesterday's miracle drug now has law advertisements telling us that if we took that drug and developed a certain condition we are entitled to a settlement. We're hesitant to completely trust science in a world where today's dream come true miracle medicine could be tomorrows nightmare. We have this depths of our bones understanding that love is more than chemicals in our brain, I, my conscious self, am more than simply mind meat, and in between those two realities, the tangible and the intangible, the scientific and the philosophical lies something real, something meaningful. So, we look to religion.

But, oftentimes popular "Christian" culture doesn't seem to help. Between the tangible and intangible lies an unspeakable mystery. Yet by and large we aren't invited to step into it. Rather we are given easy answers to questions for which there are no easy answers. Life is wild, it can't be controlled. The Divine is untamed, beyond us in such a way that we never know what to expect. Yet, instead of admitting this and inviting people to delve into the mystery, into the wonder, we offer a religious science of "timeless principles" that are "true" because "the bible says so" all the while forgetting that scripture is always interpreted, rarely does it ever just "say so." Or, we take something God once spoke to someone and we take that as a promise for us here and now, because if it's in the bible it must be for me specifically. But, because scripture is always interpreted, what's really being offered isn't the mysteries of God and the universe, but rather just another perspective filled with over-simplified answers to make us feel like we are in control of life. And that's really what lies underneath all of this, our fear and anxiety and attempts at controlling both life and God. We do everything we can to place life and God in our little box of timeless truths and eternal promises. But, God cannot be tamed and life is beyond our control. We can influence life, but we can't control it. There are truths, but we will be infinitely exploring them because they are mysteries too large for us to attain. Much of what we talk about as truths are more like guidelines, things that will work by and large, but not something that is a guarantee. Because we were never intended to be in control. We are to guide and direct and influence, but you can do everything right and things still go wrong.

But, what I think I'm beginning to learn might be that learning to control and conquer life isn't the point. It's fools gold that only disappoints. Some of the perspectives will work for some people, some will work for others, and some will only work for a little while. But, all they allow us to do is stay so busy that you run from the void. If controlling life isn't the point, what is? I don't know, I'm in my twenties and live in Alabama. I don't even really understand the theory of relativity. But, I'm pretty sure finding the point begins with embracing the mystery between the tangible and intangible. It involves going beyond the easy answers on both sides of the tangible/intangible coin to that place where something real and significant lies. There is something meaningful in searching and living, in joy and wonder. Good can be produced even out of bad. Living is really about being open to what's happening around you here and now, communing with the untamable God at this moment, and trusting that whatever chaos life throws your way this God is bigger than it. It's about learning in the midst of it all to trust this God and ground your life in your connection with this large, wild, untamable Being who often can be found in the most ordinary of places and moments. Even this one.

On Business Marketing

I'm not much of a fan of advertising, by and large I'm against marketing. I struggle with the balance between making sure things are known about and much of the manipulation that goes on in marketing today. I want to know when a product I'm excited about is being released, and I always enjoy a funny commercial. But, ads are designed to capture (and steer) your emotions. I fear that having so many ads telling us that our lives are deficient (until of course we buy their product) has a negative psychological impact on us. And of course the products never deliver what the ad promises implicitly or explicitly (I've never enjoyed Herbal Essence shampoo as much as the people in the commercials). And I've been amazed that the message has gone from implicit to explicit. The, "buy our product and you will be happy" message used to be implicit, but with the recession all that has changed. Walmart - Save Money Live Better, Best Buy - Buy Happy, and the list goes on.

In a world where many businesses are solely about the bottom line, so much so to the point of down right being unethical, there has also been what is for me a welcomed trend. There have been businesses springing up that aren't simply about making money, but also making the world a better place. For example, when you buy a pair of Tom's Shoes a child in a third world country gets a pair as well. This mindset has begun to spill over onto marketing strategies.

I recently discovered HotelsCombined.com who is doing something I think is a stroke of creative genius. Instead of spending their money on a traditional marketing campaign they are donating that money to charities. So, I join their facebook page then write on their wall where I want their donation to go, or post a tweet that contains HotelsCombined.com in it, or I do a blog post like this and send them an email to make them aware of it, and they send a donation to the charity of my choice.

As you may know, I'm trying to raise money to build a well in Africa for my 30th birthday, so I've begun the Herston 30 for 30 campaign. The idea is that I invite friends to share in my 30th birthday by giving $30 to blood water mission with Herston 30 for 30 in the comments box. So, I have facebook, I have tweeted, and now I have blogged, and they should be sending $35 to Blood Water Mission on my behalf.

I know very little about this company. I haven't used their service (although I did do a quick hotel search on their site and found some pretty good prices). I can't vouch for them beyond what I think is a brilliant marketing campaign. But, for me that is enough to give them a try next time I'm shopping for a hotel. I just find it inspiring to see a company think beyond traditional marketing and use that money to support good causes. If you would like to have them donate to your cause go to http://www.hotelscombined.com/Charity.aspx

iPhone 4, Technology, and Relationships

I've always been fascinated with gadgets, but I am a fan of very few products or companies. However, after working with/on computers for a few years I was really impressed when I experienced the OSX Mac. Since I knew Windows well I was afraid I wouldn't know what to do when when a Mac broke. Therefore I waited until they came out with Macs using the Intel Chipset so I could put Windows on it if I needed. But, I was so impressed with how much better it operated that it drives me crazy to use a PC with all it's freezing and crashing. If there were to be an operating system problem I still wouldn't know what to do, but after several years with this machine I haven't had to. So, I'll admit, I am a fan of Apple.

At the same time, I'm aware that Apple is not perfect, it is a company, it's out to make money. They tend to leave a few bugs in their first generation so that they can improve it for the next (like the recessed headphone jack on the 1st gen iPhones). This (along with money) is why I don't plan to get a 1st gen iPad. I figure I'll let them work out the bugs and we can get a 2nd generation or something. I'm still disappointed about the downgraded iMovie I was stuck with last time I upgraded iLife. But, faults aside, they do make darn good machines and I'm a fan. I love my 1st gen iPhone (even with the depressed headphone jack), I can have my iPod and phone all in one device, there's a full keyboard, and the calendar is fantastic and syncs with the one I use on my Mac.

I am really excited about the new iPhone 4. An led flash for the new 5 megapixel camera, taking HD video (and being able to edit it on the phone), the new display, and especially "facetalk" where you can actually do Jetson's or Skype type video phone calls from a mobile phone - finally, unbelievable. I think this is going to be an amazing device. I would love to get one, and anyone reading is more than welcome to purchase one for me.

Being a techie, I love technology, but I also realize that often our discoveries technologically tend to progress faster than our discoveries ethically. I love the idea of being able to video call with the family if I'm away somewhere, or be able to see what friends are seeing as they are on a trip. At the same time I'm slightly disturbed by what this could mean. I watched their ad and saw a father watching his child crawl, grandparents watching a grandchild graduate, a father watch an ultrasound, and I couldn't help but think, why are they having to use a video phone? Why aren't they there, why aren't they present?

The answer, because they don't have to be. They have a video phone and now they can give their presence to the things that are really important to them while not being completely absent from the relationships that matter most. I know that's a little harsh, it's really just to make this point, does technology actually expose our priorities? I understand there are times when we can't be somewhere and having this technology would be great. I have a cousin who had a birthday party the weekend before last and I couldn't make it. It would have been great to be on the other end of a video phone and be passed around to everybody and quickly catch up. But, the only way I would not have been there for my kids ultrasounds would have been if I didn't have a pulse.

Most of what we communicate does not come through our words, rather it's how we say it. The medium we use is the message. An extreme example: Have a nice day written on a card communicates one thing, having it written on the side of a bomb communicates something completely different. Calling someone on their wedding day let's them know your thinking about them. Driving five hours to be at the wedding, tell them congratulations, and give them a hug communicates something similar only in a more powerful way.

Technology has the ability to help us keep in touch with people. This is why I enjoy facebook, blogs, and twitter. But, they can only do so much. As Dr. Barnhardt says, they are great for maintaining relationships, keeping in touch, but they have a hard time actually strengthening or deepening relationships. And, if you're spending twenty minutes checking the status of hundreds of friends, that's twenty minutes that you're not spending with the people that are actually there, present with you in that moment.

So, don't get me wrong. I think the new iPhone is going to be awesome. I would love to get one. I love the part of the ad where one guy talks about his kids going off to college and him being able to not only hear their voice but look at their eyes and make sure they're ok. I'm a fan of technology and love that it can do wonderful things.

At the same time there is also the possibility that instead of us running the technology the technology will run us. There is the possibility that we will be connected to so many people that we won't truly be connected to anyone.

Exciting News

As you may or may not know we have been in a bit of a time of transition the last couple years. This has pressed me into a bit of soul searching that I'm still in the midst of. But, in this process I am forming values and goals for myself which hopefully you'll hear about for years to come. I want to invite you to be a part of one of my first endeavors.

One of my great hopes is that when my life ends this world will have been a better place because I was a part of it. Like the boy saving starfish on the beach to whom the old man says there are too many for you to save them all and the boy responds but I can save that one, I know that I cannot save the world from all the things that plague it. I know that compared to all the issues in the world my impact will be small. However, I also have come to realize that the people who are truly changing the world would never say they were. They simply engage in the hard drudgery that matters most. Hopefully, while people will not be able to say that I changed the world, there will be people who will be able to say that I changed their world.

I think the greatest impact that can physically be made on our world is that of providing safe, accessible water in places where people are having to walk miles to gather water from contaminated mud holes and engaging the third world in microfinance initiatives.

Therefore, for my upcoming 30th birthday I am asking my friends not to give me presents. Instead I want as many people as possible to give $30 toward providing clean drinking water for those without it through Blood Water Mission. Of course if you are welcome to give more if you want. But, if 200 people give $30 each we should be able to build a well for a village.

The basic formula is that $1 provides clean water for 1 person for 1 year (that's less than the price of one bottle of water at most gas stations or a quarter of the price of a bottle of water at Starbucks - just kidding I don't know how much water costs at Starbucks, who would buy water when there's vanilla bean frappuccinos?). So, what we're able to do will depend upon how much is given. But, I would love to see us raise enough to create a solution (maybe build a well) that will provide water to a village for generations.

I'm sure we'll have some sort of party that you can give at, but if you would like to give online click here or go to www.bloodwatermission.com click on the donate tab, and put "Herston 30 for 30" in the comments box. All donations are tax deductible, so don't feel constrained to only giving $30.

Make my 30th birthday a happy one and save some people's lives.

Jason Mraz is right or The movement of faith and why prosperity preaching is wrong

This is a post that leans heavily on Luke Chapter 8, so you might want to read it before or after.  I primarily use the TNIV version here, and I have put letters in bold for those who want a quick reference for the various streams of thought P for path, R for rocks, T for Thorns and G for good.  With that said, here we go.

A farmer once went out to sow some seed.  (P) As he was scattering the seed some fell along the path where birds came and snatched it up.  (R) Some fell among rocky ground where it sprang up quickly but when the sun would bear down, it would also wither quickly because it had no root.  (T) Some fell among thorns, so they grew but they didn’t produce because the weeds choked the life out of them.  (G) Then some fell on good soil and produced more than was originally sown.

Jesus told this parable then explained that he was the farmer sowing the seed of the message of the Kingdom of God.  (P) He said that the seed that fell along the path is about people who hear the message but “the evil one snatches it away from their hearts” (primarily they don’t want to hear it or they are caught in behaviors they don’t want to give up).  (R) The seed that fell among rocky ground are those who at first receive it with great joy but when trouble or persecution come they quickly fall away.  (T) The seed that fell among the thorns are those who accept the message but then “the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth” choke it.  (G) The seed that fell on good soil are those who “hear the word and understand it.”  They are the ones who produce a crop, more than was originally sown.

In this parable I see a few things going on here.  In pastoring churches and in my life I have noticed some patters to faith.  (P) God speaks to everyone, however everyone isn’t listening.  At the same time, some of us are.  

(R) Now, I’m not 100% sure of what all contributes to this, maybe it’s the really great personal stories we hear, maybe it’s the idea that we accept Jesus then whenever we die we go to heaven and escape trouble and that idea of escaping trouble then somehow bleeds over into ideas about our relationship with God here and now, maybe it’s an American pre-disposition, or maybe it’s the christian culture bubble and prosperity preaching, I don’t know.  But usually along with learning of God’s love for us we also get a message of, “If you’ll get your act together and get cool with God then everything will go well.  You will prosper, God will protect you, your family, and your friends, and you will be happy.”  The problem is, it’s not true.  

In Matthew, Jesus gives the sermon on the mount.  At the end of this unbelievably extraordinary  teaching he says that those who hear his words and put them into practice are like a man who builds his house upon rock.  And when the storms come his house will stand firm.  It doesn’t say that there will be no storms.  Storms are assumed, it’s about being able to weather them.  

Somehow we manage to read a lot of great things in the scriptures about people following God and things going well for them, but we miss their struggles along the way.  We see the day of Pentecost and miss the martyrdom of Stephen.  No one more fully walked with God than Jesus and he was crucified!  Almost all the disciples were eventually killed for their beliefs and somehow we miss that and think that Jesus is our life’s easy button.

And it’s one thing for us to pick this up on our own, but when we have churches and preachers who tell you this specifically and it doesn’t happen people walk away from church, faith, God, and the whole thing.  We often become cynical and jaded and it didn’t have to be that way.  Prosperity preaching is stuck in the early part of the process of faith, and it produces type two soil (rocky ground).  (R)(T) But, someone somewhere figured out that if they told people what they wanted to hear they would show up, watch their program, buy their books, and/or give.  It’s the easy shortcut.  We can have the best of intentions and yet choose the shortcut, go about the right things in the wrong ways, see success and at the same time leave devastation.  This is why pastors, churches, and denominations can not seek effectiveness or success as their goal (and I’m defining effectiveness as bodies, budgets, buildings and/or saving an institution of a local church or denomination).  Pursuing success leads to shortcuts.  It is counter productive and brings devastation.  However, pursuing faithfulness leads to fruitfulness (forgive my old preacherly cliche alliteration demons coming out). 

But, this is part of the process of faith.  (R) We hear of God’s love and we accept it with joy thinking it’s all going to be good now, then trouble comes.  And the question becomes do we stick with it?  Do we continue to turn in the direction we have begun, toward God rather than away?  Do we decide that we must have had some beliefs wrong at this part of the process and seek to understand struggle and brokenness in the faithful life?  Or, do we walk away from the whole thing?

After the joy phase comes the struggle phase.  (T) And after the struggle phase comes the worry phase.  At this point we’ve seen that what we thought before, that God would keep storms from coming, is false.  We have this sense that anything in life that can happen can happen to us.  Cancer, car accidents, anything that can happen has the potential of happening to me regardless of whether I’m walking with God or not.  Our simple binary understanding of, walk with God only good things will happen, don’t walk with God only bad things will happen, has been destroyed.  We had given our lives to God, but God didn’t come through, didn’t protect us, and while we might not have completely rejected the whole God thing, we came to some kind of understanding that this world is broken.  Good and bad happen to everyone.  

And we begin to realize that you can take the shortcut and succeed, that sometimes the wicked do prosper.  In this moment we are faced with a new temptation.  We may or may not still believe and affirm creeds, but the temptation becomes to take our lives back in the ways we live it in the day to day workings.  

I love the way this is worded, “the worries of this life,” and I particularly love this phrase, “the deceitfulness of wealth.”  Jesus is adamant that there is more to life than this life.  And I know this has been used in the most trite and cliche of ways, but part of the key for Jesus is realizing there’s something bigger going on than our small little lives we get lost in.  God is up to something bigger than the things we worry about and according to Jesus (and Paul) if we’re on board with God, in the end, in the bigger story, in the life beyond this life, it’s all going to work out.  At some point everyone dies, but in the end everything will belong, none of the pain and tragedy will have been wasted.  

Our job is to live in such a way that we bring heaven to earth (think, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven).  Money makes us feel secure, it makes us feel safe.  But, according to Jesus it’s a deception.  All the money in the world won’t save you or your family or your friends from tragedy.  If or when the worst happens, it isn’t going to matter how fat your bank account is.  And it is this worry, this pursuing of safety and security and wealth that can get us lost in our little lives and contribute to the brokenness of the world. These are things that can drive heaven from earth.

(G) But, our other option is to continue to turn as we did to begin with.  To continue to seek to understand this message of the kingdom.  The word repent literally means to turn or return.  Jesus’ primary message was to turn or return because the kingdom of heaven is near.  It’s a perpetual turning.  When we think we’ve got it all figured out and we quit seeking, we quit exploring, we shut ourselves off from this kingdom.  At the same time it is a continual returning, returning toward the God who creates and loves us, and returning the world to the way God intends it to be.  If we can do this, if we can continue to explore, if we can continue to patch the holes in our understanding of this faith that is bigger than our comprehension, if we can press on beyond the fallacies that we become aware of as the struggles come, as we’re tempted to take the easy way, as we’re tempted to take the shortcuts and false safeties, if we can press on beyond the struggles, the worries of this life, and the deceitfulness of wealth, then and only then do we truly produce a crop.  

And what we will find is that just like the seasons, troubles come and troubles go.  Everyone experiences good and bad.  Everyone dies at some point.  Tragedy befalls us all at some time or another.  We can worry about it and expend a lot of energy, but we are really quite limited in what we can actually do to prevent or stop it.  We can seek after money expecting safety but we will find that it fails.  And through this process we will find that it is this very process itself that cultivates the heart into good soil.  That by “persevering” through this process a crop is produced.

This is the pascal mystery.  This is the story of the God who became flesh and dwelt among us.  The one who teaches and shows us how to bring heaven to earth, who walked more closely with God than any other, and despite doing everything right suffered and died.  It is only through this experience only through that death that resurrection occurred. 

And here’s another thing, the gospels were brilliantly written with unbelievable intentionality.  If we look at this parable in Luke (ch. 8) what we see are direct examples of each of these types of soil in reverse order. (G) First is in a parable of a lamp on a stand (good and noble heart that understans/good soil that produces a crop).  (T) The second is Jesus’ mothers and brothers who are caught up in the worries of this life (seed among thorns/weeds).  (R) The third is the disciples caught in the storm (troubles/seed on the rocky soil).  (P) And the fourth is a man who is possessed by demons (engaging in various “sinful” behaviors was believed to open one up to demon possession, which would be hearing the word but having it snatched away by the evil one or the seed among path).  

Now in the parable itself the view is somewhat negative, most of the seed doesn’t produce.  Yet in the stories that follow no matter which type of soil they were, in reality Jesus was bigger than their issues.  Eventually Jesus’ mother and brothers believe, Jesus calms the storm and the disciples go on to do great things, and Jesus drives the demons out of the man (and history goes on to tell us that his witness leads to one of the major early churches).  It’s as if Luke is telling us, no matter where you are in this process it’s never too late.  

Then, as if to drive this point home, he tells us of a story of Jesus bringing a dead girl back to life and healing a woman who had an issue of bleeding for years. She had tried every option and was now hopeless beyond Jesus.  If it were ever too late, it would be too late for these two.  And yet, Jesus is bigger than even their problems, even death.  It’s as if Luke is telling us that with Jesus it is never too late.  You can always turn, you can always return.  Don’t give up, there is more to life than this life and Jesus is bigger than whatever your problems or hang-ups or, or wherever you are stuck in the process.

If you’ll just keep turning, what you’ll find is that, just like you have to turn soil in order to make it able to produce vegetation, in this process you are turning the soil of your heart.  It won’t be easy, bad things will happen, and the temptation to take your life back into your own hands will overwhelm you through the pain.  But, in then end none of it will have been in vain, nothing will have been wasted.  Everything belongs, all of life is a gift, and that resurrection is waiting.  In the words of Jason Mraz, life is wonderful.

Conan O'Brien's Dance off with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert

Are theological differences really about theological differences?

So I've been "reading" a book, and by reading I mean skimming to get to one or two specific parts, and it's not my favorite. There's the religious language and just comes from a place that's kind of unappealing to me (for the most part, not completely). And it's not that those things are bad, it's just not my cup of tea. A lot of people would really enjoy it. Anyway, they did make an argument that I found really interesting.

They are reflecting upon some of the formulations of Christian doctrine, specifically whether Christ was in essence the same as God or in substance the same as God. While they're doing this they argue that the debate wasn't really about doctrine. Underneath the doctrine question was really a quest for power. You have two factions levying for power. Who will history deem right? Who will win and be able to lead this thing? The doctrine question was the symbol of this power struggle. Whoever won this battle won the war.

Now, this may be an oversimplification, and I'm sure each side had a lot invested theologically. But, I also know that usually things are rarely about what they seem to be on the surface. This is always about that. So, it makes me wonder if it's the same today. Are the factions within the Jesus faith really about the differences in doctrine, or are they really about power and the future? We look on these ancient debates and go, who cares, that's stupid to argue about, why are they even concerned about this? And I wonder if people will say the same about the "big" debates we have now. "Free will or predestination, that was stupid why were they arguing about that? Oh that was really about these different sides levying for power or self-justification, or fear that they might be wrong."

Love Your Enemies Video

Beliefs and Relationship

Sam is potty training. Therefore I read him a book, Everybody Poops, I asked him some questions about it which he got right, and I declared him potty trained. That is ff course until he pooped his pants. And in that moment I had a brilliant flash of insight, discovering something long forgotten that no one has knowing in 500 years, knowing about pooping in a potty and actually being trained to use the potty are completely different things. Donald Miller had a blog post yesterday in which this was a bit of the point.

Donald Miller created a post about right theology versus relationship. His basic argument from my understanding is that he wanted to show how right beliefs about God are different from a relationship with God - his post can be found at http://donmilleris.com. Another blogger came across the post and crafted a well reasoned argument for a more holistic understanding of the word theology, that given the meaning of the word theology it should include relationship as opposed to being place in opposition against it, as merely intellectual exploits concerning God- that post can be found at http://agreatercourage.blogspot.com.

In my opinion it appears that maybe Miller stumbled upon a matter of personal importance to agreatcourage who may or may not have inadvertently taken some angst on the subject out on Miller. I know neither of the individuals personally therefore I have no right to really take a side on the subject. Unfortunately some people have been offended and hurt in the process. I don't bring this up to "stir the pot." I hate that people have been hurt and hope that everyone can come to some kind of healing and reconciliation.

Actually I do this because I think both a of these people are extremely intelligent and articulate, much more so than myself. Both posts have great points at their core and I want to make those available for anyone who would like read them. Blog posts are not books, and I try to receive them in the fashion I create them, as not fully formed thesis on a topic, but a means of exploring with those interested ideas or concepts I'm thinking about and/or wrestling through at any given time. I hope for them to challenge, shed a little light, start a discussion, or beg a question. For me, a post should be the first step of a dialogue and our response should be that of questions. - Is this what you mean here? Am I reading this correctly there? What about this issue that relates to that? I would like to stay out of the stirred pot, therefore I'm addressing neither with my questions and thoughts, but I would love for anyone who would like to begin a discussion about a related matter to read the two articles then comment on this post about the relationship between beliefs and relationship.

I really like Miller's basic point. Belief is different than relationship, right belief does not equal having a tight relationship with God. We can look at scriptural texts and find that obvious (James 2:19). Miller uses two metaphors, one being that of marriage. He talks about how knowing information about your spouse is not the same as knowing your spouse. This is an issue I've been fascinated with recently with some great conversations about the impact of social networking sites (facebook, myspace, etc.) and their impact on relationships as well as some discussions concerning our celebrity worship culture where we feel like we know people because all the media/"news" outlets tell us everything about them. But, intimacy and information are not the same thing, we don't really know them.

The second metaphor is that of theology being like guard rails, they're not the point, but they take you to the point. In other words, my understanding of what he's saying is that believing the right stuff isn't the point. Believing the right stuff helps you get toward a deeper relationship with God, which is the point. All metaphors fall short, but for me this is the one that I have trouble with. I both agree and disagree with this simultaneously.

According to Isaiah (55:9) we are all heretics. God is beyond us. We have an experience of the Divine that is beyond anything we can comprehend. In a way experiencing God short circuits our brains. God is so imminent that we experience God as transcendent. So we're left trying to figure out what to do with something that's beyond what we can comprehend. On top of this we're left using words, which in and of themselves are metaphors, and this leaves us talking about things that words can't explain (for more on this check out Peter Rollin's How (Not) to Speak of God). We talk about God being love and use words like Trinity, yet we also know that God's love is really beyond any kind of love we could ever imagine (and good luck trying to wrap your mind around the concept of the Trinity). So, in our attempts to understand the incomprehensible we create beliefs. Much of the way we formulate our beliefs is determined by our context, a Pentecostal would probably describe the same experience very differently than a Roman Catholic. We have an experience of God's love, but words like love don't really describe it. It's more than anything you've ever experienced. However, it's only in exploring those beliefs and finding the places where our beliefs no longer work that we can continue to move forward. It is when we think we have all the right answers, we've got it all figured out that we're truly in trouble. Because we stop searching; we stop exploring.

I would say that beliefs are more like signs or ikons. They are representations that point toward a larger reality. They are things we have to use to guide us, that we can't navigate without, and yet we have to go further, we have to move beyond them toward that to which they point us. The sign of the beach is not the beach, but it points us toward the real beach. Without the sign we might go the wrong direction, so it guides us, yet we don't park under the beach sign and go, "man how great is this."

Which of course begs a couple questions. If reading a book on pooping doesn't make one potty trained, then why would affirming certain doctrines or beliefs make one in right relationship with God, a follower of Jesus, a Christian, or whatever language you want to use to speak about it? And, how can we continue to move churches from a place of telling us what to believe toward a place of encountering God, helping make sense of that encounter, and pointing people forward (a question in which there are a million flaws, please forgive)? And, if Jesus' primary command is to love, how do we continue to move churches more and more toward being places for training people how to love in the ways of Jesus?

Pure Awesomeness!

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

On Church Plants

When it comes to church leadership conferences there are two major seasons, Fall (Oct/Nov) and Spring (April/May). And it seems like whenever that season arrives familiar conversations around church planting seem to flair up once again. Consequently, I'm always disappointed by the fact that the polarization around the conversation hasn't dissipated.

Just like conservatives and liberals, republicans and democrats, for some reason there is a demonization that tends to go on around church planting. Either church planters are characterized as church destroyers whose only aim in life is to destroy someone else's church or the traditional church is demonized as the ineffective enemy of all things that are truly of Jesus.

I've seen situations that have gone each of those directions. I've seen people who have spitefully and intentionally split churches in order to start their new one. It is ugly and messy and destructive. It's definitely not God honoring. But, I've also seen the other side as well. I've seen established churches bribe, manipulate, and dash people's dreams all because they were defending their established church. In these situations the fact that we should all be working toward the same goal has been lost. Both are looking out for their own private kingdom. This happened in the bible too. When Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead the pharisees decide they have to kill him because everyone might begin to follow him which would be a threat to their little kingdom.

I've also seen deeply dysfunctional established churches that were hell-bent on not being faithful to what a church should be and pastors feeling like the only way to be faithful was to start a new one. I have seen this happen quietly and peacefully and I have seen it happen loud and destructively despite pastors' best efforts to minimize the damage. (The thing that bothers me most is when a pastor is demonized even though it was the established church that actually caused the damage.  The opposite happens as well, but then there's a community of people to deal with the issue as opposed to a single person.  Always realize there are two sides to every coin and every story.)

However, in meeting countless church planters what I have found is that the spiteful intentional destruction of established churches in order to build a new church, while occurring far too often, is not the norm. Most of these guys have a real heart for God and don't want to see any church damaged. On the flip side there are many churches who welcome new churches to their area, even help them get started with financial assistance and man power.

In the end, we need established churches to reach the people who are being reached. At the same time we need new churches that are doing things differently to help those who aren't being reached by the already existing churches.

I just really hate that we keep falling into the tendency to polarize and demonize.  Why can't we just answer Jesus' prayer (John 17:11).

There are five stages to group process forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.  This means that in the end, churches split in various ways, shapes, and forms.  Either we can embrace that, guide it, and let it be constructive and healthy or we can deny it, fight it, and let it be destructive and messy.  There are churches that have begun to recognize this, the first for me was Northpoint in Alpharetta and it is something I have always admired about that church.  They realized this tendency to split and so they decided they would break up intentionally.  As the Sunday morning auditorium begins to fill they decide to start a new campus so that they can reach more people.  It's really a beautiful way to reach more people without the whole thing going down the destructive path of the ugly mess that tends to characterize the church plant conversations that come about twice a year.

In the end, I think we need to realize that the defensiveness or offensiveness from "both sides" really comes from a place of fear, anxiety, or hurt.  At the same time, living out of that by demonizing the other only tends to make us feel self-righteous.  It doesn't actually make anything better, only worse.  There are existing churches and church plants who are doing great things.  There are some that are doing great things together.  We can choose to be cynical because we know of some instances where things have gone wrong, or we can choose not to judge, we can cling to hope paying attention to the times it's gone right.  And in so doing we can celebrate and encourage something beautiful.

Because when it becomes about "my thing versus your thing" then my thing is no longer accomplishing anything.

Despite appearances, some things are real

Peter Rollins waxing philosophical on social networking.

Despite appearances, some things are real

Music from Convergence

Thanks to all my new friends at Trinity UMC Homewood for a great weekend. I had a great time getting to know all of you and I appreciate you helping me find my new calling as a songwriter.  We'll be cutting a demo soon and sending it to various record companies to try and get signed.  Here are the lyrics for your special song to help you never forget what you learned at Convergence 2010, you truly had to be there.

Fight Naked


Fight Naked
In the shower with your mother in law
Fight Naked
With Proper boundries we can all belong
Fight Naked, Fight Naked

Reptiles have reptilian brains
Tim's skits make us go insane
Fight Naked, Fight Naked

Bob exits through the closet door
Playing games waiting out the storm
Fight Naked, Fight Naked

Eat, Sleep, Poop
Eat, Sleep, Poop
Eat, Sleep, Poop
and Fight Naked

Eat, Sleep, Poop 

Eat, Sleep, Poop 

Eat, Sleep, Poop 

and Fight Naked

Purple eggs and 100 babies

Sleep deprived and going crazy

Fight Naked, Fight Naked

Welcome to Easter

Welcome to the season of Resurrection, where all things are being made new and anything is possible!

We live in a world where we seem stuck on polarization. Left or right, liberal or conservative, it’s either up with the democrats or you’re down with gop, fundamentalist or emergent, calvinist or arminian, predestination or free will, and the list just goes on. And this affects our outlook on life as well. Either everything’s great or everything’s horrible. Often we can fall toward a blind optimism or dark cynicism. If we fall to the blind optimism we turn a blind eye at the things that go wrong and it’s all just a party in the USA. We fail to take head to the negative, thus doing nothing about it, letting the negative grow. But, if we fall to cynicism then we find ourselves helpless and hopeless. We acknowledge the wrong, but have no hope of a better future thus fail to move things forward and improving little to none. Often because of our dark outlook we simply make things worse.

But, the story of resurrection, that is a different story. That is a story that faces the pain, faces evil, faces the darkness, the negative, the hurt, but continues forward. And, just when all hope seems to be lost, when the one who raised the dead is now three days in the grave and you are left with no hope, in that moment you find that the tomb is empty of bodies and filled with hope.

When we fail to acknowledge the negative we’re left with a bubble gum, pop version of hope. It’s empty, it’s shallow. But, when we can make it through Friday and hang in long enough to experience Sunday, then and only then, suffering can take on meaning. Hope can become significant, weighty, real, beautiful, true. In that moment, the moment of true resurrection, anything becomes possible and life can move forward beyond the negative toward things more beautiful than anything anyone could have possibly imagined. Easter can only come after Lent if it’s going to be something of true worth.
I hope that you have enjoyed the parables as much as I have during lent. For me this was a very specific discipline and I decided to invite others along with me (probably against my better judgment).

If you go to any bookstore and enter the Christian (which is a horrible adjective) section, you can easily notice a plethora of books about the church, what’s wrong with it, and how young adults don’t want anything to do with it. I’ve shared many of the sentiments and read many of the books. For me, I wanted to sit with some of that for a while during lent so that with Easter I could move beyond it. It was a process of letting go. On one hand, I’m really thankful for all the books because there are many within the popular christian bubble who are oblivious (or at least seem to be) to many of the issues. On the other hand, I’m kind of getting tired of hearing about all the problems and issues. In Rollins parables I found a double edged sword of personal and corporate critique packaged in a creative and thought provoking way. These stories are almost like a rorschach test, they read you more than you read them. This is why I wanted to sit with them, to challenge myself.

When I found myself in my first appointment I found myself in a strange position. I had always assumed the church did what it was supposed to do, otherwise it would be doing something different. But suddenly I was supposed to be leading a church and I didn’t know what I was supposed to be leading it to do. This crisis took me on a personal quest to try and understand for myself why the church exists, what it’s supposed to do.

I have come a long way, but along that way I’ve learned that the more answers you get the more questions you have. Therefore, while I could give you several pithy, simple answers and probably either make them all rhyme or start with the same letter (not quite good enough to make them do both yet, but here’s to future divine revelation), I won’t do that because I don’t presume to know all the answers. But, I’m inspired by the traction I’ve gotten along the way.
Lent was my opportunity to sit with these stories, work through some issues (being a preacher’s kid they are many), and move toward Easter where I can let go of the issues and move forward, beyond the complaints, toward re-imagining and re-discovering the possibilities of what can be.
I hope this has been a great experience for you as well. Welcome to Easter, where all things are being made new and anything is possible!

Slavery Today

New Music From The Innerchange

My friends over at the Innerchange have recently released some great new music.
Here's a sample.  If you like check out their website and request a disk www.theinnerchange.org

http://www.mediafire.com/?hozxjmwztcz

Easter Bonus Parable: Being the Resurrection

Late that evening a group of unknown disciples packed their few belongings and left for a distant shore, for they could not bear to stay another moment in the place where their Messiah had just been crucified. Weighed down with sorrow, they left that place, never to return. Instead they traveled a great distance in search of a land that they could call home. After months of difficult travel, they finally happened upon an isolated area that was ideal for setting up a new community. Here they found fertile ground, clean water, and a nearby forest from which to harvest material needed to build shelter. So they settled there, founding a community far from Jerusalem, a community where they vowed to keep the memory of Christ alive and live in simplicity, love, and forgiveness, just as he had taught them.

The members of this community lived in great solitude for over a hundred years, spending their days reflecting on the life of Jesus and attempting to remain faithful to his ways. And they did all this despite the overwhelming sorrow in their heart.

But their isolation was eventually broken when, early one morning, a small band of missionaries were amazed at the community they found. What was most startling to them was that these people had no knowledge of the resurrection and the ascension of Christ, for they had left Jerusalem before his return from the dead on the third day. Without hesitation, the missionaries gathered together all the community members and recounted what had occurred after the imprisonment and bloody crucifixion of their Lord.

That evening there was a great festival in the camp as people celebrated the news of the missionaries. Yet, as the night progressed, one of the missionaries noticed that the leader of the community was absent. This bothered the young man, so he set out to look for this respected elder. Eventually he found the community's leader crouched low in a small hut on the fringe of the village, praying and weeping.

"Why are you in such sorrow?" asked the missionary in amazement. "Today is a time for great celebration."

"It may indeed be a day for great celebration, but this is also a day of sorrow," replied the elder, who remained crouched on the floor. "Since the founding of this community we have followed the ways taught to us by Christ. We pursued his ways faithfully even though it cost us dearly, and we remained resolute despite the belief that death had defeated him and would one day defeat us also."

The elder slowly go to his feet and looked the missionary compassionately in the eyes.

"Each day we have forsaken our very lives for him because we judged him wholly worthy of the sacrifice, wholly worthy of our being. But now, following your news, I am concerned that my children and my children's children may follow him, not because of his radical life and supreme sacrifice, but selfishly, because his sacrifice will ensure their personal salvation and eternal life."

With this the elder turned and left the hut, making his way to the celebrations that could be heard dimly in the distance, leaving the missionary crouched on the floor.

Rob Bell Resurrection Video

Resurrection: Rob Bell from The Work of Rob Bell on Vimeo.

Playfully Irreverent

A couple months ago I was reading the collected writings of Mike Yaconelli. It's a fantastic, yet easy must read that reminds me why I loved this guy and why he's one of the few people that I look to as one of my personal heroes, despite the fact that I never got to meet him face to face (and I never seem to be able to spell his last name correctly). There are many people I have and do admire, but very few that I actually see as a personal hero. I think even my closest friends would be surprised who's not on the list while Yac is. If you aren't familiar with him, he had clarity and passion for his faith and life, the skills to start an organization like Youth Specialties, and yet the spiritual maturity and humility to be able to pastor what he called the slowest growing church in the country. Each year I try to watch the only video of him that I have and I try to read one of his few books that aren't specifically about doing youth ministry.

As I was reading his collected writings I came across the phrase, "playfully irreverent." Playfully irreverent, that described Yac and it used to describe me. Then I became a pastor and despite the fact that Jesus says we are supposed to be like children, Paul tells us to put away childish things. Evidently playful irreverence is one of those things, or at least the easily offended seem to think so. However I'm not so sure. Because when I see Yac I see someone who had clarity, who had a lot better handle on the things that really matter, and that playful irreverence seemed to let him take his faith seriously and at the same time cause less hurt that the seriously reverent folks I've come across.

So, maybe the childish things that need to be put away are actually pride, ego, the need to convince others that I'm right and force them to come around to my point of view, lack of emotional maturity to get beyond being easily offended, the need for others to like me and all the ways I hide who I really am in order to gain their favor, the fear of how offending someone will negatively impact my future (which is actually nothing less than a lack of faith in God) and the fear of criticism that forces me to hide my playful irreverence that kills faith, dwindles hope, keeps me from loving well. This fear steals joy and keeps us from experiencing God more fully.

So, playfully irreverent, I'm not as good at it as I used to be, but hopefully I'll be regaining that. It's not so much who I am as what I want to be.
Blog posts - not for the easily offended. Forgive me when I get too serious, I'm working on it.

Lent Parable 6: The Reward of a Good Life

Two brothers embraced faith together at an early age. One of the brothers took his commitment very seriously and wrestled diligently with the Scriptures. When he became a man he gave up all of his worldly possessions and went to live in the poorest and most dangerous area of the city. Many of his friends deserted him, and, because of his uncompromising dedication to the oppressed, he lost the one woman he truly loved, forsaking the possibility of marriage for the sake of his work.

the pain of this separation haunted him all his days. And because of the conditions in which he lived, he was frequently ill. When he died, no one was present, and only a handful of people showed up for his funeral.

In contrast, the other brother never took his faith seriously at all. As a man he became very settled, satisfied, and influential. He married the woman he loved, had many children, and lived in a beautiful home. As his satisfaction grew, his thoughts of God dissolved to nothing. He gave little to charity, unless it was prudent to do so for the sake of his reputation, and he paid little heed to those who suffered around him. After a long, happy, and successful life, he died in the arms of his loving wife with his children surrounding him.

In heaven God called the two brothers before him, embraced them both warmly, and to each gave an equal share of the kingdom.

As one might expect, the brother who had been faithful all his years was surprised-he had given up everything to live what turned out to be a torturous life of hardship.

However, his surprise was a joyous one. He turned to his brother, smiled deeply, and said, "Today my joy is finally complete, for we are together again. Come, let us break bread together." In response, his brother said nothing, but began to weep over the wasted life that he had led.

Unpacking Jesus and the Five Thousand

Last week's parable is one that is quite heavy. It is dependent upon twisting a particular moment in the life of Jesus on it's head in order to make a point. Like the others, it is not exploring doctrine as much as practice. It is not describing the life of Jesus, rather it is challenging us to live into the life of Jesus.

The story begins in very familiar fashion, weary, hungry people listening to Jesus teach. Food is needed, but all that can be scrounged is five loaves and two fish. Then Jesus sends the disciples out to find more. One expects, or at least I did, for them to find more food, and the point of the parable to be that the miraculous happens when we all make what we have available. And while this would be a wonderful twist to this parable, this is not the direction it takes, it is more poignant that that. Instead, masses of food are found, then Jesus and the disciples help themselves to a feast, exploiting the weary and their resources and leaving them hungry, with nothing.

Obviously, the shock of this story is the point, that is simply not what Jesus did, nor is it what Jesus would do. My opinion is that the author is making a critique concerning the western church. As I mentioned in an earlier post, followers represent the one they follow. This is part of the reason Paul calls the church the body of Christ. We represent Jesus. There are many who are extremely critical of the Church, especially in the west, in regards to our consumerism, our levels of consumption, and the ways in which we thrive on the backs of the poor. I personally am not so critical. I think that much of this happens unbeknownst to most of us, at least I know that has been the case for me. A couple of years ago I came across various statistics that really took me aback. Things such as the fact that the projection for what it would cost to end world hunger was actually less than the U.S. and Europe spent on ice cream that year, that most of the chocolate we consume comes from the ivory coast where children are stolen from their homes and forced to work in the cocoa fields. For the author, I believe, the shock of the parable lies in the fact that Jesus would never do such a thing and in the idea that this is exactly what he does, because this is what we, his followers, the body of Christ, do.

Now, before reacting, please realize a couple of things. I hate guilt driven religion. By and large it doesn't work. When our faith becomes about a list of things not to do it loses the beauty and life it should give. So, there is no list of things not to do coming. I personally am still trying to figure out what to do with all of this. However, the point for me is not, hey we should feel guilty about these things. For me the point is hope. There is brokenness in this world and we have the ability to do something about it. Our faith should not be about a list of things not to do, it should be about giving our lives to something larger than just ourselves, about putting flesh and blood on the prayer, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." For me it's about asking how can we move forward differently. How can I help to put and end to this stuff, what do I need to be throwing myself and the resources I've been blessed with into? The issues are thick, there's not simple, easy answers and I'm still bewildered by all of it.

If this is all new to you, let me offer a couple of introductory resources. Rob Bell explores this a bit in his nooma films Rich and Corner www.nooma.com and for more on the chocolate issue visit stop the traffik http://www.stopthetraffik.org/

Lent Parable 5: Jesus and the Five Thousand

Jesus withdrew privately by boat to a solitary place, but the crowds continued to follow him. Evening was now approaching and the people, many of whom had traveled a great distance, were growing hungry.

Seeing this, Jesus sent his disciples out to gather food, but all they could find were five loaves of bread and two fishes. Then Jesus asked that they go out again and gather up the provisions that the crowds had brought to sustain them in their travels. Once this was accomplished, a vast mountain of fish and bread stood before Jesus. Upon seeing this he directed the people to sit down on the grass.

Standing before the food and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks to god and broke the bread. then he passed the food among his twelve disciples. Jesus and his friends ate like kings in full view of the starving people. but what was truly amazing, what was miraculous about this meal, was that when they had finished the massive banquet there were not even enough crumbs left to fill a starving person's hand.

On Church

As I've reflected on my post from last Friday, I feel that I may need to do a little clarifying of what I am hoping as well as what I am not hoping to accomplish through this exercise. I might need to post a few words on church and my approach to it's past, present, and future.

Jesus once told a story about a man who was throwing a party. The man invited various people who for some reason or another didn't show. Then, so as to be able to throw the party since none of the invited guests came, the man proceeded to invite anyone and everyone (all those that did not make the initial invitation aka the rejects) from the area. He scrounged up anyone he could find that was willing to come. This among many things is a parable about the church.

Jesus' followers weren't the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious who should have been following him. No, he called the working people, the ones who were not good enough to be rabbi's. In his parable about the church, it's the losers and rejects that get in. This is what explains why I am in. I'm not supposed to be in, according to the old way I shouldn't be accepted (I like bar-b-que too much), but Jesus' grace is bigger than that. It includes me. The problem is that this causes problems, because we all know that followers represent to non-followers who the person is they are following. I personally don't live up to that. I try, I strive, and hopefully I'm making progress, but as anyone who knows me can tell you, I'm definitely no Jesus. So, first off, I need to apologize because I'm part of the church, I'm what you're stuck with. In my opinion, anyone who claims to follow Jesus or calls themselves a Christian should have no superiority complex whatsoever, because according to the parable Jesus told, we shouldn't be in. We're only in because of grace.

But, if I'm in with all of my shortcomings, brokenness, and questions and the church is full of other people with shortcomings, brokenness', and struggles then this is going to make for a church full of issues. I realize there is more that I don't know than I do when it comes to this. But when it comes to this subject, the way I see it we've got several options.

First, we can become cynical. We can focus all our attention and energy on the negative, ignore the positive, and throw the baby out with the bath water. We can walk away from church and maybe even our faith. We can claim that religion has done nothing but produce fighting and war. We can become angry and bitter, less and less the type of person we want to become.
(I in no way want to become or produce cynics. My intentions with these parables is in no way to try and make people cynical or angry with any church. I have no wish to be a source of division, and no comments during any of my blogs are intended to reflect any local church, denomination, etc).

Another option is the opposite extreme. We can focus only on the good of the church, but completely ignore the bad, disavow the problems. There is this toxic thing in many "Christian" circles that tells us we have to have a super faith that we don't really have, that no matter what is going on in life we can't question God or be honest about what's really going on inside of us. It reminds me of Job's friends who have the easy answers and tell Job he can't question God (however in the end it's Job, the one who was honest and sincere, who challenged and questioned, he was the one that God honored). God is big enough to handle our questions, our doubts, our fears, our struggles, and our lack of faith. This super faith where we're supposed to convince people that everything is always alright with us regardless of circumstances bleeds over into the church. We feel like we have to pretend that the church is perfect and the answer to anyone's problems. But, I believe this is why when people ranging in age from the late teens to the early thirties were polled about the first words that come to mind when they hear the word Christianity at the top of the responses were judgmental and hypocritical (for more info see Kinnamen and Lyons book UnChristian). I believe that this sweep problems under the rug and pretend like they're not there, that everything is always awesome mentality is part of what is driving younger generations away from the church. Why? Because it's not honest and they see through it. In the end, it doesn't actually take us forward, it doesn't make us better. Things that lie inside of us are stuffed only to explode when we can no longer contain it. Because if we don't let it out in positive, constructive ways, it's still in there, and it will usually come out at the least opportune time in some of the most destructive ways. But, there is a third option.

The third option is what I call an honest, hopeful humility. This option does not say, hey there are all these problems with the church, so we all need to leave. It's not cynical. Neither does it pretend like those problems aren't there, it doesn't become oblivious. This approach has the humility to recognize that I am flawed and broken, but I am invited to be a part of this thing nonetheless. It recognizes that since I'm part of the church, the church is going to have some things that are messed up. I'm messed up. It's honest, it recognizes things that are wrong and apologizes (especially to those it has hurt or alienated). But, it also has faith that God is continuing to work in us, that God is continuing to take us somewhere. So, it not only recognizes the bad and apologizes, but it also celebrates the good, when the church rally's around it's hurting, all the good ways it is making the world more what God longs for it to be, the orphanages and wells built, the starving fed, the healthcare provided in the third world (the list goes on further than I could type).
This approach is hopeful, because it doesn't simply see the flaws and walk away. Instead it recognizes the good and the bad. It celebrates and repents, and through the process moves forward, becomes better, helps more, hurts less. This, I believe is the direction this whole thing has been going over the course of human history and I have faith and hope that it is the direction we are continuing to move.

My intentions for this series are not to hurt the church in any way. Rather, it is to take part in the conversation of who we are and what we could be and in so doing honor the work of Jesus making all things new (including the church).

But, there is another danger. Even when having these conversations from the third point of view we can lose the plot. We can get so wrapped up in conversations about the church that we can begin to think that the church is the point. The church is not the point. Connecting with God, following in the ways of Jesus, and making the world more like God longs for it to be is the point. Praying and living out "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" is the point. Love is the point. Because God is Love. And the great thing is, in the end Love Wins!

So, hopefully that helps give insight into my intentionality. Again, there may be better ways to look at it that are more constructive and helpful. If you disagree with me, I welcome the conversation. It seems like the more I learn the more I realize I have yet to learn. However, I do ask that you be respectful, not attack me, anyone else who makes comments, or any specific local church by name. In my experience that doesn't take anyone anywhere.

Lent Parable 4: Engaging in a game that no-one believes in

There was once a British army base located in a tiny town in rural Northern Ireland. The story goes that each time a new battalion of soldiers arrived to do their tour of duty one of the resident Officers would show them a trick that could be played on the hapless locals.

When the latest group of soldiers arrived the Officer brought them down to the local pub for a drink. When they were settled he got out an old twenty pound note and a one pound coin. As the soldiers watched he crumpled up the twenty pound note and polished the pound coin before placing them on the table. Once he had done this he then scanned the bar for one of the oldest and drunkest men in the place, and called him over. When the local had settled himself the Officer said, ‘I want to give you one of these, but which would you prefer, this bright shiny coin or this old crumpled piece of paper’?

In response the old man picked up the coin, bit into it with his teeth and then exclaimed with delight, ‘I’ll take the shiny coin please”. The soldiers, of course, found this hilarious and started trying it with others. The foolishness of the Irish provided them with endless hours of entertainment.

However there also happened to be a tourist in the bar that night who watched what was taking place in disbelief. When the soldiers had left, she went up to some of the old men and exclaimed, ‘why on earth did you take the coin when you could have had the note? Do you not know that it is worth twenty times more’?

‘Of course we do’, replied one of the locals, ‘but if we took the note they would stop playing’.

Unpacking the Parables

If you’ve been reading the parables with me, thank you. I hope you are enjoying them as much as me. I have chosen the parables I have used quite intentionally, and they are about to shift.

The previous parables tell of individuals who have missed the point. The good hearted person who with the best of intentions has immersed themselves in religious activities and even leadership and yet missed something along the way. Often, it is easier for those around us to see this in us than it is for us to see this in ourselves. We can get so busy doing stuff for God, that we can miss God. We can miss the change that God wants to bring about in us and the world can miss the change God wants to bring about through us, because what we achieve inwardly will change outward reality. These parables ask us questions such as, are we seeking God simply for the sake of seeking God or are we seeking God simply for what could be done for us?

But, the issue isn’t simply one of the individual. The church plays a role. In the previously posted parables for me at least the movement is one from where it first raises questions about the individual (the main character, or namely me) but then radiates out to the larger issues. The next series of parables do exactly the opposite, at least for me. They question the systems and structures first, then raise questions about the individual.

For me this is an exercise in re-imagining what a community of faith could be. What would a community of faith look like that had the ability to churn out people who would be convicted, choose God and hell over satan and heaven, and that had somehow found a way to keep people from using their religious activities in order to make them feel good enough about themselves that they can go on living into the systems and ways that further the brokenness of this world rather than help repair it? How do we avoid the regular pitfalls that can commonly come with church as usual?

I don’t think there is a magic bullet answer, but rather a process to work through. I hope that these parables are helping you work through a process as they are doing for me. I hope that you have enjoyed the ones thus far and that you will enjoy the ones yet to come.