presentsense

Advent conspiracy

The art of the sales pitch...

I was never much of a CCM nerd. Mostly because I am a musician, and I care about quality. Let that sink in.

Still, I had my favorite guilt-free bands (you know - the ones that Mom and Dad would approve of if they found out about them) One of those bands for me was the Allies. I am listening to some old stuff that I just got my mitts on again (thanks Luke). I am struck by two things:

• How great the band/production was...and
• How crappy and predictable the lyrics were

To the band - Bob Carlisle was and is a world class vocalist. I really wish he would get back to the balls-out rock that Allies was, but - and Bob might be the first to agree - virtually no one knew about him until his song "Butterfly Kisses" tore up the charts as a crossover. And sorry youth pastors - it wasn't evangelistic in any way. Hence its popularity.

I don't fault the writers on these records and others of their ilk. I know Bob can write some powerful lyrics, but at the time of the Allies, he wasn't allowed to. He had to write 3 minute sales pitches. They had to be direct and to the point, which was to get hundreds of little wayward boys and girls to say the sinner's prayer at the end of the night. Honestly - did you go to any "Christian concerts" in the 80's? Didn't every last one end with an altar call, like these bands had to justify the fact that they were playing music by saying it was their "mission." And like the only way to fulfill the mission was to give a standard invitation after an hour and a half of "selling Jesus" to the audience (which by the way, at most shows, was made up mostly of busloads of youth groups out for a night of "Christian entertainment")

Now don't shoot me. I had a band in college, and we considered ourselves evangelistic. I even wrote at least one musical sales pitch. So I am looking back and shaking my head at myself too. I remember touring Russia, and playing Beatles music to get people to come close (everyone loves the Beatles). I also remember the guilt I felt when one Russian kid came up after a show and asked me (through an interpreter) if we approved of the drug use the Beatles were famous for. I wish I knew now what I knew then. I would have said, "'Help' is a damned good song, and that's why we played it." It's not like we took tabs of LSD on stage and invited the crowd to join us. We were just trying to be attractive. Ain't nothing wrong with that.

As my music tastes have matured, my collection has grown, and the "Christian" section has shrunk relatively speaking. It's a shame. It's a shame we ever invented a Christian counter-culture. Our music vs. their music.  It makes me sick now.  What a waste of time and money we didn't really have in the first place.

My apologies if you got saved at a Carman concert.

Tony Jones on homeschooling...

Here's an excellent (old) article on homeschooling vs. private vs. public schools from Tony Jones.

Full disclosure: I have attended only two schools in my life, and both of them were private. Attending private schools was on balance an advantage to me. Was it advantageous to the kingdom? I don't know. No really, I don't know.

More full disclosure: My kids go to public school, and even if I had the money to send them all to private school, my kids would go to public school. Why? Read the article.

Everything Must Change

This weekend (Feb. 1-2), the Charlotte Emergent Cohort is hosting Brian McLaren and others as part of the Everything Must Change tour. I am volunteering as the tech lead for the event, and I have decided that I will attempt to "live blog" the event from my iPhone.

If you'd like to know more about the event, including when the tour will be making stops closer to you, check out the Deep Shift web site.

Stay tuned to my web site for pictures and notes from the event as it happens!

More links:
Brian McLaren in the Charlotte Observer
Brian McLaren.net
Emergent Charlotte Cohort discussion group

Why they hate us...

I'm mulling over the idea of writing a book. The working title of this book is, "Why They Hate Us - (and what you can do about it)." The premise of the book is that followers of Jesus are hated by non-followers for several obvious, and perhaps a few not-so-obvious reasons. Here are some of the reasons Christians are so hated by non-Christians:

• They were abused by someone in the church who called himself or herself a Christian
• Many Christians aren't anything like Jesus
• Many Christians refuse to meet non-Christians in hostile or even neutral territory
• Many Christians fear first, and ask questions later - if ever
• Christian art sucks out loud
• Christians are exclusive, not inclusive
• Many Christians elevate institutions, traditions, and rules, above relationships
• Many Christians insist that science and religion should be presented (and argued) together
• Many Christians place winning the argument ahead of winning the opponent
• Many Christians think God stopped talking when the Bible was canonized - if it ain't in the Book, it ain't right
• Many Christians pray for peace, and vote for war
• Many Christians aren't any fun

Those are the several ideas I have been working on, and you could help me if you felt so inclined. Do you have any extra insight to add? Please leave a comment here...

Forgiveness

Overheard on a PBS special a few weeks back:

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds upon the heel that crushes it.

Can you help the lower room?

Please head over to the lower room blog to see how you might be able to help us out.

To make you think...

Here's something to think about.  It just came to me while I was reading a bunch of blog posts by current church leaders, pastors, teachers, etc. (some gracious, and some not-so-much)

The writings of Peter and Paul were not canonized until a few hundred years after their deaths, so it would stand to reason that the two of them had no idea that what they were writing in friendly correspondence was eventually going to be called "Scripture".  I wonder - if they had known - would it have affected what they wrote?  Would they have been more vague, or more specific?

Why do you care?  Well, consider the possibility that today, you and I are participating in the same types of conversations that Peter and Paul did in the first century.  Consider the fact that, in the information age, the ability for our words to outlive us is a far more real prospect than ever before.  Assume (for the sake of the argument) that Jesus doesn't come back for another couple thousand years.  Is it so far fetched to think that the writings of our contemporary church leaders - and maybe even our own blogs and IMs - might someday be collected into a 'testament' of its own?  Don't we already lend a certain gravitas to the (non-canonized) works of St. Francis of Assisi, or Martin Luther simply based upon the fact that their writings have stood the 'test of time'?

My point is this:  If there is even a remote possibility that what you write might someday, long into the future, and entirely outside your cultural context, be read by a believer searching for truth, how would this affect your writing?

I'm hoping for an interesting discussion here.  Don't let me down.

This is what we are up against

I get more and more discouraged by the day.  How can those of us who care make any progress for the kingdom, when the people we fight with the most claim to also be in the kingdom. This link is another example of what the emergent church is up against.

When it comes to the intimidation factor, the world itself pales in comparison to certain wings of "the church".

Church and missing the point

Why is it that when Christians are trying to gauge the character of a person they have just met, they often ask, "Does he go to church?"  Why not ask something more character-indicative, like "Does he care for his neighbors?" or "Does he give to the orphans and widows?"  Over the past year or two I and many of my closest friends have been questioning the purpose of the church, and whether or not the churches we attend are fulfilling their purposes.  None of us are interested in tearing down something the Lord is in, nor do we have a chip on our shoulders towards the church.  I think my main motivation is that I not waste any time performing useless rituals.

So, how is it that we (the church at large) have come to miss the point on church and its purpose on the earth and in our communities?  Is the "gathering of the believers" not intended primarily for believers?  Why have we turned it into the end goal - as though unless our congregations see some significant influx of non-believers, we have somehow failed the great commission?  Personally, I think many folks like to treat Sunday as their "reasonable service" to God.  For the man or woman who is at least nominally a Christian, it is important to feel the sense of accomplishment that attending a church service gives.  "I went to church this week, so I must be on the right track."  -or- "I missed church this week - I better give a little more next Sunday to get back in good graces."

I am concerned that we have made church into the tail that wags the dog.  I believe that our gathering together as believers is very important, but I truly believe it's meant to be a support group of sorts, a therapy session for those of us who, after fighting to expand the kingdom of Heaven all week, have taken it on the chin a couple times, and need the refreshment and encouragement of our fellow kingdom-expanders.  Being salt and light trying to infiltrate a bland and dark world is serious business.  It sometimes hurts. It always wears us out.  Often it raises questions and self doubt.  We need to be with other believers in order to encourage ourselves that we are fighting the good fight, and not just chasing after cosmic brownie points.  What better place to receive this encouragement than with other believers?

Yet, too often, I find that the answer to the question, "What is the purpose of the church?" is something like...

• To spread the gospel to the community
• To support missionaries
• To care for the less fortunate

My problem with these answers is subtle, but significant.  These are NOT the purposes of the church.  They are the purposes of Christians.  WE should be doing these things in our everyday lives, not depending on the churches we attend to organize, motivate, and fund these activities.  The church should be, to coin a phrase, a "Para-Christian Organization" - an entity whose sole purpose is to support the Christ follower in following Christ.  The church as an entity should not - and does not - get us off the hook from doing the kingdom stuff ourselves. 

One final thought:  It's always beneficial for Christians to fellowship and work together toward the goal of kingdom-expansion.  I'm not at all advocating "Lone Ranger" Christians, but too often, we at least tacitly allow the church to pick up the slack when we don't feel particularly generous or loving.  This ought not be.

Have any thoughts about this?