Merry Christmas, Geek Style!
Merry Christmas from BeDeviant.com! Enjoy some “Jingle Bells” while you drink your egg nog, open your presents, and dump everything onto your iPod.
“Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.”
Different Isn’t Wrong…
I was talking with my friend Mitch this morning and he told me a story that made my head spin. I’ll tell it to you and let’s see if it does the same.
Mitch was on an airplane talking to the guy next to him. It ended up that his travel buddy was a Presbyterian pastor. They got to talking and eventually ended up discussing the movement of the Holy Spirit and what that looked like.
The pastor said this: “To a Presbyterian, the Holy Spirit is moving when everything lines up in order. When one element of the service flows perfectly into the next with no seams, we feel like the Spirit is at work powerfully. If there is perfect order to a service, we feel exceptionally blessed.“
The pastor continued, “Now, contrast that with a different tradition - let’s say Pentecostal. Pentecostals feel like the Spirit moves when schedules are put aside, the pastor or preacher gives a message that lasts two hours, people are clapping and speaking in tongues and laid out on the floor.“
So, my question to you is, which one is right? Is there a “right”? Can you tell one tradition that the Spirit is not moving in their church because, on the surface, it seems to be at odds with another tradition’s definition of the movement of the Spirit? Could it be both?
I think this situation floored me because we Christians spend so much time judging one another that we can not step back for a minute and ask the question, “Is God big enough to move in different ways in different churches and traditions and still be God?” Nothing bothers me more than when I visit a church that cannot accept faith traditions that express themselves differently than their own.
A relationship with God goes so much deeper than our cultural assumptions and traditions. Plainly speaking, that’s what most of our worship expressions are - traditions that have been passed onto us by the people who have gone before us. This isn’t a bad thing, we just need to be aware of it. Perhaps the tradition that makes you feel most expressive in worship before God is the tradition that makes another Christian feel the most inhibited and uncomfortable before that same God. They aren’t any less faithful, they just aren’t like you.
Different is not wrong. Different is just different.
Are You Having An Affair?
I think I just witnessed two people carrying on an affair.
Let me be clear, I don’t know this for a fact. It’s not like people who are in extramarital affairs run around wearing t-shirts that say, “The choice for me? Adultery!” It’s not that simple. I have no concrete proof for what I’m about to share, just a lot of circumstantial evidence. Bear with me.
The past few weeks after Monday morning coffee with a friend, a young couple has come in to the coffee shop we visit (Amici espresso). They both wear wedding rings. They seem to both work at the same place (same ID badge). They both enjoy their coffee. They like to share intimate details about their lives with one another (I’m not eavesdropping, I promise. It’s a small coffee shop and they literally sit down next to me. They don’t seem to be covert in what they’re discussing either.)
I can’t but overhear their discussion. They young woman will say, “So-and-so did this at the bar this weekend,” the young guy will reply, “Such-and-such is a slob and won’t pick up their stuff.” Normal, everyday stuff that you tell a co-worker on a Monday after a long weekend. Not stuff you would tell a spouse as if you hadn’t seen them in days. If they’re married to each other, they must go days and days without talking, all to catch up on a Monday morning in a coffee shop.
It’s not like what they’re telling each other is illicit, but it’s the way they say it to each other that makes me think they’re having an affair. The context of the conversation is off if they are indeed married to each other. But I don’t think they are. I think they’re married to other people and they’re having an affair with one another. A secret (or not so secret) coffee shop meeting; a rendezvous after work; a weekend trip disguised as a business outing.
There’s an intimacy at work in the way they address each other. An intimacy that needs to be reserved for their spouse and their spouse alone. They are playing with fire and they will get burned … Eventually. I can only imagine the rush of emotion of carrying on an affair: The secrecy, the lust-filled emotions, the emotional high of “pulling a fast one” on people. But I can’t help but wonder, what’s it going to feel like when they get caught?
I asked the question this morning on Twitter as this couple was next to me, “Do you say something to people who are having an affair, even if you don’t know them personally?” As you can imagine, I got quite a few colorful responses. What do you think?
The bottom line is this: If you’re having an affair, stop it. You may think you’re being discreet. You may think you’re being secret. But you’re not. You never know who listening (like a pastor with a blog, for instance). You may think it brings you life. You may think the other person “gets you,” but they don’t. They’re selfish. And so are you. You’ll destroy your life.
I Think I Should Stop Thinking For You.
Rhett Smith absolutely knocks it out of the park on this one. Peep this:
“I wonder if we as preachers have helped condition people to often not think for themselves. They are so used to coming to church and hearing advice on how to do something, that anytime we leave the how to steps out they are paralyzed. I wonder if we have gotten away from the mystery and some of the parable style teaching of Jesus that often makes you scratch your head and say, “What?” Giving how to advice and laid out steps does not lead to transformation of people’s lives in my experience, at least not internally. But rather, engaging them in God’s Word and allowing them to wrestle with the meaning and action for their own lives is powerful.”
Amen! I had a woman call me today telling me how her daughter has gotten into the wrong crowd. “We just need to get her into church, that’ll fix the problem,” is what she said to me. Wrong!
Going to church is not the fix-all.
Putting your child in Sunday School will not automatically “fix” them.
Your pastor cannot and should not take your place as parent.
I said it once and I’ll say it again, pastors over-function for their people. Can I get an “amen”?
A Disagreement with Craig Groeschel.
Usually I’m pretty lock, stock, and barrel with Craig Groeschel. I think his ministry and church are breaking ground in so many areas, helping to transition the Church from modern to postmodern (and post-Christian.)
However, I read some words on his blog today that are just flat out wrong.
Craig writes, “My mom used to tell me, ‘Craig, God made you special. You can do anything you set your mind to do.’ Her words made an impact on me. As a child, I honestly believed what she said was true.” I understand what he is trying to convey here: Have dreams and aspirations for your life. But the notion of “I can do anything if I set my mind to it” is a dangerous epidemic in our culture.
The problem comes when someone - anyone - comes up against a limit in their life. They encounter a task or sport or class or job that is simply beyond them to accomplish. For instance, I am fully aware of the fact that I will never be a Greek scholar. Or a pro football player. Or a chemical engineer. And you know what? I’m okay with that. Peter Scazzero calls it the “gift of limits.” I’m learning to embrace mine.
What Craig is suggesting here (all with good intentions, I’m sure) is something I call it the “Mr. Rogers Syndrome.” Mr Rogers Syndrome occurs when young men and women believe they can do anything if they just try hard enough. Optimism is good. Unbridled optimism is not. When they try and try and try and still fail, an overwhelming sense of doubt, fear, depression, and failure creep in and can cause serious derailment in a person’s life. Why? Because, “if you just try hard enough, you can accomplish anything.”
They tried.
And tried.
They failed.
Am I suggesting, like Dante, “Abandon ye hope, all who enter here”? No. Dreams and aspirations are good and even necessary for a human being to live a fulfilling life. But optimism tempered with a sense of reality is to be desired more than pie-in-the-sky daydreaming.
The reality is I have dreams at this moment that will never be fulfilled. I have plenty that will. You, at this moment, have dreams that will never be fulfilled. You have plenty that will. We cannot be naive enough to think that “whatever we set our minds to” will come to pass. That’s not reality. And I pray everyday that God would teach me about the reality he has created.
I’m not mad at Craig. I just wish he’d be more careful with his words and influence. Aspire to inspire, yes, but also aspire (even more so, in my opinion) to teach people to embrace the limits that God has placed in their lives.
What are some of the limits you’ve encountered in your life? Personality? Geography? Education?
Blogging Bethel V.1
Wow. I’m beat.
On tap for today was the following:
- Perfect Active & Perfect Middle/Passive Verbs
- Greek Participles
- Basketball (followed by a backache)
- PB&J for dinner
- Study more Greek (Mounce, Chapter 24)
- Realizing that I’m exhausted.
- Bed (soon.)
There is a verse that has been swimming past my view finder for quite some time now. An amazing verse from Hebrews 4, verse 11:
I need to rest. Badly. I need God’s rest, the rest he promises me and you. Badly.
I just got done listening to a timely message by Brad Jorgensen. It was on this very topic… Rest. (For all things good and holy, you must listen to this message - find it here.) The theme of today’s chapel at Bethel was, you guessed it, rest. People are talking about it, everywhere and in every way.
Where do you need rest? Is your job taking you to the limit? Is insomnia claiming the late hours of the night that God intended to recharge your body? Is guilt gnawing at the back of your brain like a buzzing July june bug? In the words of a modern day poet, do you “feel so tired but you just can’t sleep?”
Maybe it’s time to rest. It’s time to enter into the rest God promises you. And note the word, “enter”. We “enter” into God’s rest - not “strive” or “travail” or “force” or “push” or “strain.”
Pray for me to rest, and I’ll pray the same for you. Peace.
What makes you so sure?
I was listening to a talk show today. One of the guests was a businessman who made it abundantly clear that he wanted to beseen as an Evangelical Christian who had a very clear set of political views.
The more I listened, the more I wanted to ring his neck.
He was arrogant, brash, rude, and disrespectful to anyone who did not share the exact same views as him. Anyone who wasn’t lock, stock and barrel with the way that he saw the world was misinformed at best, ignorant at worst. The tone of his voice was condescending. His attitude towards another person on the show who disagreed with him was dripping with arrogance.
Here is a man who verbally spouts a set of doctrinal beliefs, yet the words of his mouth betrayed the very life that he, as a self-confessed Christian, is called to live. The last time I checked, Jesus did not say, “blessed are those who verbally berate others who do not agree with them, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.”
As I listened, I found myself literally asking the question, “what would Jesus do?” How would Jesus respond to someone who respectfully disagreed with him? Would he respond like this self-confessed follower of Jesus? With arrogance and selfish pride? With a religious spirit so thick it gave a tangibility to the radio waves beaming through the air?
If I ever had the chance to speak to this man, face-to-face, I think my first question to him would be, “what makes you so sure?”
What makes you so sure that the way that you see the role of the Church in politics is correct?
What makes you so sure that the disconnected way in which you live your life of faith is correct?
What makes you so sure that you are right and everyone else is wrong?
What makes you so sure?
I can tell you this, I love Jesus Christ more than anything in my entire life and I did not agree with one peep that came from this man’s lips. So I ask again, “what makes you so sure?“
Christian or not, have you ever experienced someone like this? What was your response to them? What did it make you feel?
A conversation with a friend yesterday surfaced these prophetic words, “God will change the entire face and expression of Christianity in one generation.” Maranatha, let that generation be ours!
Hitting a nerve.
So last week I posted on ignoring a homeless beggar that I saw on the side of the interstate when coming into work. He was young, comfortably dressed, and smoking. I chose to ignore him and not give him money because in one hand he held a sign that said, “Hungry - Please Help,” and in the other was a lit cigarette.
He chose smoking over food.
I think many of you felt the same way I feel - struggles and all. This is what some of you said:
Andrea: “In those moments I have to think not of the earthly person “begging” but of the Heavenly Father who for whatever reason has allowed them to cross my path that day. For me to keep driving (and I sometimes do) would move me one step further from being the life of love that I so desire to live. Whether they need it or not is none of my concern.”
Dave Sandell: “I used to have similar struggles with this issue, and after much soul-searching, I think what’s most important is that I believe Jesus works with your heart’s intent. So if you give the beggar with a cigarette $5, you’ve given Jesus $5.”
jwagnerdsm: “Regarding professional beggers, they provide a service by assuaging our guilt about not doing more to help the poor by making it easy to slip ‘em a few bucks and then get on with our uncomplicated lives.”
It looks like a lot of you have experienced this phenomenon of beggars and the struggles that follow. My question today is this, “does it really matter if they use the money we might give them for food or shelter or cigarettes?” In other words, even if they say they will use the money for food and instead go and use it to buy a beer/cigarettes/meth, etc., should that really matter?
I seem to be revolving around the fact that those who are truly less fortunate would welcome a hot meal over a few bucks any ol’ day. But, does kindness happen when we give or when what we give is used to benefit said person? In other words, is kindness when I place $5 into the hands of a beggar or does kindness happen when that $5 is used to buy food/beer/cigarettes, etc.? Is it in the act or the benefits of the act?
What do you all think?
I ignore beggars.
So here’s my predicament: I ignored a beggar on the off-ramp today while coming to work. And when I say, “ignored,” I mean “totally did not even acknowledge his existence - no eye contact, no wave, nothing.” Just to be clear.
As I passed him, I noticed the sign he was holding. It said, “Hungry - Need food, please help!” Instantly, I became angry. I was angry at a presumably homeless beggar on the side of the road. I know what you’re thinking, “Wow, this pastor sure is compassionate. Where do I sign up to go to his church? I bet they not only ignore the homeless, but punch gentle elderly folk in the face and gamble with the offering dollars!” Trust me, I felt awful about my initial reaction as well. It was a struggle that has followed me around since the incident this morning. Allow me to let you into my struggle…
When I passed this man, I noticed something very peculiar:
He was not old, he was young. He couldn’t have been older than 30.
He was holding a sign about being hungry, yet he was smoking a cigarette with the pack in his other hand.
He was dressed not in rags, but in fairly decent clothing. I wouldn’t have chosen his clothes, but he looked presentable.
This puzzled me.
I am of the belief that knowing the background of any given situation will change the reality of that situation almost 100% of the time. For instance, a father on a subway with seemingly no control over his screaming and out-of-control children looks a lot different when you learn that he just came from the hospital where his wife died and he has no idea how to tell his kids. Compassion breaks forth when you learn of this and a mild irritation becomes a heartbreaking scenario.
Take my puzzling situation from this morning and I will fully admit to you that my compassion was tested. It was tested because of the questions in my head:
“If he’s hungry, then why is he smoking cigarettes? Why couldn’t he take that money and buy a meal? Or even a hamburger? If there is money for cigarettes, why could there not be money for food?”
“If he is hungry, and as young and as healthy and well-dressed as he appears to be, why can he not go and get a job? Even manual labor can provide a livable wage - what is the hang up here?”
So this is what I struggle with. Maybe you have struggled with the same question? The question of, “when do I give to the poor and how much?” This question, regardless of religious affiliation, is a uniquely human one. Even as a committed follower of Jesus, this question still hangs over my head like a cartoon thought bubble made of bricks. (What makes this matter even more difficult is the increasingly common stories of “beggars” who make $100,000 a year sitting on the corner, begging for a living. They are professional beggars. They don’t beg because they need it, they beg because, quite literally, it’s an easy buck or two… or one thousand.)
How do you answer this question? Would knowing the background of every beggar that you meet change if and how much you give? Why or why not? Would you give even if you knew the person would spend the money on something else than what they needed? Where does the line for benevolence begin and the line for personal responsibility end?
Some of the things I’m considering on a Tuesday morning. Peace to you…
Prayer for Des Moines.
“”If it keeps on rainin’, the levee’s gonna break…” Great Zeppelin song, but not exactly the words that Downtown Des Moines (and other waterlogged places in Iowa) want to hear.
For those of you who aren’t in the Des Moines area, we’ve gotten massive amounts of water in the past week and more is forecasted in the days ahead. We need some relief from this water!
One of the best things about having a blog like this is the ability to reach literally millions of people at the push of a button (”Publish,” to be exact). I believe that God loves to answer prayer, but even more so when multitudes of his image bearers are praying the same thing! With that said, I’d like any and all who are comfortable to join me in prayer for the city of Des Moines (and please forward this to your friends who may be so inclined to pray as well):
God of Creation1, we come before you asking for your mercy. Just as you quieted the waters of a raging lake2 and walked on water3, so now we’re asking for you to calm the waters of the Des Moines River. We’re asking that you would move in power and strength and would supernaturally cause those waters to recede. We declare your mercy for the people of Downtown Des Moines - mercy for their homes, businesses, families, and lives. We stand in agreement with your word in that you promised Noah that you would never send another flood that would wipe out all living things on the earth4. We stand on this promise for Des Moines, specifically. Would you cause this flood to purge and cleanse what needs to be cleansed - not only in our city, but in our hearts and minds as well. We love you, God, and declare that you are the giver of all good things5, even the very next breath in our lungs! We desire your mercy, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Keep praying for Des Moines. Pray for her - even if you don’t consider yourself a “pray-er” or “spiritual person.” God desires to hear from you more than you know!
Photo credit: www.iowaflood.com
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ABOUT JUSTIN
A religious deviant who enjoys coffee, reading theology, graphic design, and spending time with his wife while creatively exploring the riches of the Spirit of Christ.
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