Ok, why do we do this?

The random thought came to me tonight, "Why would we make a church for the unchurched?" I realize that some in the post-modern / emergent / whatever now will immediately see me as someone who doesn't understand how God is moving now or some other crazy thing like that. Know this... I am not a traditionalist. I don't really care how we did it yesterday. It doesn't matter to me that it has always been done a certain way. My only criteria for doing something ministry-wise is effectiveness. However, there is a movement that somehow all things done in the church should be with the unchurched in mind.

I'm honestly not sure this is the correct approach. Let me rephrase that... it's probably not the most effective approach. It all begins with the definition of "church." If the church is a building then it should be inviting to all who chose to enter the door. If it is a program or an event, it begins to get a little shady because there are specifics that will only be effective toward a target audience. For example, in-depth study for those in the know; basics for those new; and introduction to those who don't know. This is not to dumb down the process or to say those who are non-Christian would not be able to understand intellectually; but it is because the basics form the foundation, and the foundation is the most important part.

The issue is that the "church" is neither of these things. The Church (big letter "C") is the body of believers. Wanting the definition to be different doesn't change the definition. While the body of Christ should be open to those who are seeking at all times; they should not rely on an event, program or building to reach out. The early church was interestingly different. They did not try to make anything appeal to the outside world. However, they went outside into the world to share what had changed their life. It's crazy, but they walked the line between being accepting of all where they were; but at the same time being so stoked by being changed by Jesus that they wanted everyone to know, even if the others didn't want to know. It was like Amway salesmen on crack, except that they weren't selling a product, but they were inviting others to be a part of a family and enjoy relationship.

I believe the reason the unchurched have a problem with us is because they feel like we are trying to sell them something. To refer to the Amway guy again; there have been a few times when I have met some really nice people, and I felt as if I would be able to form kind of a bond with them. They seemed to care, and in a few short minutes, I was drawn to them. Then, as if they had pulled a two-by-four out of their back pocket and hit me in the head, they tell the story of how they had found this "opportunity" to better their families and blah, blah, blah. I begin to feel as if they only were my friend to get me in business. I feel abused and used. It's the way we treat the non-believer sometimes. Instead of selling something we need to invite them to meet somone. We need to care about them and their story before we are trying to change them.

So, for the sake of making this a shorter entry: Unchurched Milton and Mandy, you don't have to understand what I do and what I know. You just need to see that I care. If you don't see that I care, talk to me about it; because I have a problem that needs to be corrected. I just want you to love Jesus like I do. You don't have to have the same style, but the fundamental truth of Christ can be at the forefront of many different styles. I don't like country music, but I don't go into the Grand Ol' Opry and cry out that they are not speaking my language. However, the fact that country doesn't appeal to me doesn't make me turn my back on music. I simply find a different place to love music.

Oh, and I really am open-minded. Try me.

Setting Yourself Up for a Fall

I can almost reach out and touch the attack as if it were tangible. The thing is... I have brought it on myself. If I were just an innocent bystander, I could cry at the injustice of it all. However, I have put myself in front of the firing squad; shunned the blindfold and the cigarette, and am giving the very order itself. I am coaching little league baseball.

I am actually coaching two little league baseball teams. In the 9-10 age division, it is kid-pitch and we are the "JayCees". (The teams are named for the sponsors, you see). Jonah, my oldest is playing, and the kid-pitch thing means it is a whole new ball game, pun kind of intended. He faced a wild pitcher with dreams of being Roger Clemens the other night and didn't bail out. It's a great start, because when he gets his confidence up, he will murder the ball. Some of the kids think they know everything, but that can be worked out as we teach the fundamentals of the game and life. The other team is in the 5-6 year-old division and it is coach pitch. We are "First Community Bank." Jonathan is playing in this league, and I swear, he is the fastest kid alive. In this league, the goal is to keep them from playing in the dirt and to run the bases in correct order. Seriously, if a plane flies overhead, you might as well just stop the game and enjoy the show.

I give you this update to tease you. I have a great story of a coaches meeting I went to and how it relates to dreams, both the shattered kind and the kind lived out vicariously through your children. Oh, and also a lesson about how NOT to use PowerPoint. It will come later, when I have time.

Out of Reach

Have you every been reaching for something, either behind your seat in the car or under your bed or somewhere and you just can't get to it? It's there, you know it is. In some cases you can even see it. Perhaps the tips of your fingers even touch it. They might even brush it ever so slightly further away.

Why can't you get it?

I don't spend time on this question a lot of times. All I generally do is get frustrated that I cannot get it, and I don't care about the why of the matter. The reality is that "someone probably put it just out of my reach" or "this is just like my life that things are out of reach" or some other "woe is me" kind of thought is all that is on my mind. Then, while I'm reaching, a phone call will come with somebody needing something that I will not able to get them because it's probably out of reach too.

Now, I'm beginning to spend some time processing "why" things are out of reach. It could be my fault, you understand. It might not be, but it could be... and that's a sobering thought. This could also go one step more, because part of my job is to help others get things within their reach. If I can begin to understand the things in their life that keep them from reaching their stuff, perhaps I wouldn't get so frustrated at them for not getting their stuff. Kind of random, I understand, but the "whys" matter. They are not just there to give you an excuse for failure, but for you to process and potentially do all you can to change whatever is causing the failure.

I also have to realize that when it comes to helping others, there will be some who will not reach what they need to reach, and I cannot feel guilty that I have failed them. They have a choice to make. I have a choice, too. I chose to search out the ones who don't know, and then invest in the ones who care. I don't give up on the ones who don't care, but I will never be able to truly invest in them.

On a note that will perhaps discredit all that I have said in this post, I reveal that I keep in mind sometimes what Dennis Miller said about a guy who killed his family in one of those "'I'm shocked. He was always so quite.' from the neighbor" kind of moments. Dennis said, "You can't save everybody, just try not to be living next door to them when they go off."

Passion

I am a passionate person.
I'm not passionate about stupid things, I think, but I am passionate about things that matter. They matter to me, anyway. Through the last little bit of my life I have come to understand that there are things that are important and things that are not. The things that are important are worth giving your life for. You can die for them if need be, but I think on the whole it is a lot better to live for them. On the flip, the things that are not important make be mad because others think they are important. I'm working on this second one.

It was a moment ago while thinking about passion that I realized I couldn't type in the word "passion" in my Google search. I started to, and then thought, "What was I about to do?" I had the best of thoughts about what I was going to find, but then I remembered the world we live in and shuddered at the thought of what the first few searches would reveal. It was a moment where a naive, innocent idea reminded me that the world (and Internet) is not innocent.

So, is this why most are so afraid of passion? I realize this is a generalization and there are those in the world who are passionate about the important things, but most are afraid of passion. I want to meet people of passion. I want to be around them. Most of all, I want them to want to be around me. We (my wife, Holly, and I) need them. I think it was Wesley who said something like "Give me 100 men who hate nothing but sin and fear nothing but God and I will change a city!" That's passion. Changing a city... that's what I want. I want my city to be different because of something I am a part of. I'm missing it.

I don't know who will read this, but if you know of someone with passion, send them to me. Currently, the only ones I know who look here are a couple of people I tried to impact and I think they caught something of it, and a guy who thinks he is either god or an alien. I'm not quite clear on which one, but perhaps he will give more clues so I can figure it out. Hey god/alien guy... write back. Perhaps it was my comments on the "Jesus" of Suburbia that drew you, so come on back.

It's Me

I'm a bag of Doritos.

No wait... I'm a butterfly. That's better. No... I'm Batman, that's it! I can claim to be anything. It doesn't matter if what I say can even be backed up, I can say it and people will believe it.

You see, there's people out there who need a Batman. They have been looking for a Batman, even if they didn't realize it. Society has failed them by not providing a Batman for them. The times that Batman has been presented to them, the Batman didn't seem right. Perhaps the people telling about Batman weren't perfect. Perhaps they didn't live up to the standards of Batman that they said others should live up to. Maybe when they told of Batman, the ones listening decided that Batman should be a little different than described, or even written about, so they made a Batman up in their own mind. "Oh, to only have a Batman that would be like that!" they would say. So, along comes one who claims to be Batman. Rapture indeed!

The claims don't have to make intellectual sense, just fit a felt need. The bones found by Cameron seemed to justify our doubts. "See, we were right all along. Here's the proof." The man from Puerto Rico claiming to be the Second Coming of Jesus is not judgmental. "Surely, Christ would be that way." they think. The problem is that we create an ideal in minds that fit our desires, but are not based on anything but our feelings. The wonderful thing about God is that He has been verified intellectually so many times that it makes our head spin. "Examples?" you ask..

• Look at creation. If there is a painting, there must be a painter. If there is a book, there must be an author. If there is a creation, well...
• Previously unknown cities and events written about in the Bible that were scoffed at have been found over and over again, thereby giving more credibility to the Scriptures as accurate writings.
• The fact that Jesus body was not still in the tomb, although disputed today, was not disputed in Biblical times, even by those who did not believe that He was the Christ.
• Intellectually, there is NO way to claim that something does not exist. In order to verify that belief, an entire search of time and space would have to be conducted, from looking under every grain of said at the bottom of the ocean to behind ever planet and star that exist. Oh, and throughout all time as well. [The side note to this is that there is no such thing as an atheist. Agnostics, maybe; but not atheists. They would have to know with 100% accuracy {see note above} that they were correct.]

There's more, but you get the point...

Posing or Blinded, You Decide

Ok, I love technology as much as the next guy. Actually, I probably love it a little more. If it has buttons and lights and you can do neat things with it like play solitaire or store mp3s on it then I'm in. However, I'm a little bothered by blue tooth. I have no problem with blue tooth in general, but I am bothered specifically about the practical application and use of the ear pieces that are supplements to cell phones.

Now, I have been caught unaware and have answered someone in a room because I thought they were talking to me, only to find out they were speaking into their blue tooth thing on a call. It's embarrassing, but it really is on them because it's kind of rude to just talk like you are the guy on the streets who talks to potatoes. However, this is not my problem with the devices.

I have three concerns:
A) the lady in front of me at the movie theater who's ear is blinking during the whole film.
B) the people behind the glass window at the gas station/convenience store with the ear piece in
C) those that wear the ear piece constantly throughout the day

A) Why doesn't the lady just get one of those laser pointers and make the irritation complete. Better yet, just point it at my eye and get it over with. I honestly think I would rather hear it ring than see the blinking light out of the corner of my eye.

B) Honestly, who are these people doing business with? It's a much needed service and everyone needs a job, but come on! They don't even have to ring up the Dr. Pepper anymore, because everything is scanned, and they are distracted too much to even scan properly because they are talking out of their head to who knows who. Look, I had five bucks in gas, I'll just leave it on the counter and be on my way.

C) Now, I'm a pretty busy guy. I'm not the president and carry codes or anything like that, but there are times that people need to get up with me. I understand the concept of hands free use while driving, but is it really important to have the ear piece in while playing racquetball? Society has truly gone past the point of no return if we cannot be that unattached to contact from the world.

So, are these people just posing as someone important, or are they truly so blind to their own selves that they believe they are that important? I can think of very few individuals that need to be available on a truly 24 hour basis. What about the rest? I can't answer right now, I have a phone call.

Arrogance

I have a friend who starts out every post on his blog with what he had for dinner the night before. It's always exotic and cutting edge. At first I attributed it to the fact that he is recently married and a) his wife is trying to impress him or b) his children haven't sucked the very life out of him yet. Now, however, I attribute the cuisine to a flair for writing. I will give the example by sharing my meal last night:

Vermicelli topped with a beef sauce flavored with various spices. Garnished with melted butter and a Parmesan crust. Pristine fruit beverage over ice. Or, as I would normally explain... I had spaghetti with grape kool-aid.

I hate arrogance. I especially hate arrogance with the other is not as good as me, but yet they are still arrogant. That really burns me up. I say that not because I think my friend is arrogant, but I sat down to type about arrogance and thought about his blog and the food opening. Now, I have forgotten what I wanted to say about arrogance.