Missional Living

 Today is day two of the National Worship Leader Conference here in Austin.

Wow.

Not only have I run into old friends, former students, and new buddies, but I’ve been trying to drink from the fire hydrant that is the nature of conferences like these. Lincoln Brewster says I am supposed to lead with excellence. Len Sweet says I am on a campaign against cliche. Because of my nature, and because I live in a Google World (not a Gutenberg world, as my older counterparts do), my head today is filled with metaphors of what it means to be missional, relational, and incarnational.

In a modern,Gutenberg world, things were propositional. sequential. orderly. dissectable. Truth was proclaimed propositionally.  The problem, of course, is that the modern, Gutenberg world has gone the way of the T.Rex, and those from that world now find themselves immigrants in a new, Google world.The currency of today is not  proposition or words. It’s not even really information. It’s metaphor. Metaphor and image create what words can not.  And metaphor is metamorphosis. it is change. As one who proclaims the Good News, you and I are in the metaphor business.

Jesus, too, was in the metaphor business. Remember ‘the Kingdom of God is like…’? And again, "the kingdom of God is like…". And again. and again.

So what are the important metaphors of our time? Luke 12:54-56 admonishes us to ‘interpret the times’… so what are the important metaphors of our time? What images are God using to reveal Himself to us in this season?

It’s an important question. Why?

Because as worshippers it is essential. Worship is not a performance art. It is a participation art. It is the art of connecting (and helping others connect) to a living God through metaphor using lyric and sound and story. not argument and proposition.

What metaphors move you? What images capture your heart and catapult it towards Abba? What stories resonate with the melody of redemption? In a day where I have no longer any desire to debate with the Kirk Camerons and Ergun Caners of the world, I’d love to spend time telling the stories and images of God’s redemption and grace.

Moses. The burning bush. His glowing face. His anger that smashed the tablets of stone.

Abraham and Issac. The ram caught in the brush that became the sacrifice on the altar. The sacrificial lamb called Jesus that willingly lay on an altar of wood.

Saul-turned-Paul who fell in love with the idea that a missionary-god came to die, but then rose…and will come back again soon.

Tom. Who never imagined he’d experience such a vast amount of undeserving grace. Who is daily reminded of his own weakness. And sees the big muscles of his Daddy rise up like a kinder, gentler Incredible Hulk who carries and protetcs and shelters by his strength.

And on the images go.

What’s yours?

"If you have any questions, call my cell phone at 965-XXXX"

-me, on an Austin-area radio show last Saturday morning. Geesh.

Yeah.

What was I thinking?

My CELL number?

I’ll let you know how that works out…

Live and learn, huh?

Apologies for the lack of blogging lately. As usual, the whirlwind of summer is in full swing. Family. Student ministry. Worship. Doing life with those who are in the process of becoming shepherds. And learning that I don’t know it all.

OK. That last one is common knowledge.

Last Saturday I was privileged to be a guest on a central Texas radio show here in Austin. We spent most of the time talking about leadership principles and how they apply to student ministry and to parenting. A great discussion that may make for some good blog fodder in the near future. One of the best things was that it was co-hosted by a former student and fabulous young lady named Christina. As she talked about how I was her "Paul" for many years, I quickly realized how much I’ve learned from her as well. It’s a very humbling thing for someone you’ve watched grow to talk about how you’ve shaped their life. Your mind begins to race to the areas you could’ve done better with, modeled more grace or compassion, or demonstrated Christ more. At any rate, we had a ball and it was an honor for me to participate.

Also over the weekend, I was able to pick up a much-needed guitar. Thank you, Jesus. Without going into too much detail, through a long string of events and the grace of God (and some of his people), I got a great deal on a guitar well above what I thought I’d ever have. It is not flippant to say "it belongs to the Lord". Period. I just get to use it for now. If you’re at all familiar with a Taylor 814ce, you know…I could bore you with all the details about the sitka spruce, the indian rosewood, pearl 800 series inalys, and how it sings with clear, full bass tones, yet has crisp, clear highs and….oh….sorry.

Today, I head out to do all the pregame setup for our middle school camp. By the time this posts, our setup team will have spent four hours on the ground, getting ready for the arrival of a herd of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, jacked up on Monsters and expectation! I LOVE middle school camp….

Unfortunately, just about the time they arrive, I’ll have to leave and drive a couple of hours back to Austin for the National Worship Leader Conference. As a first-timer, I’m excited to catch up with some songwriters and thinkers I deeply admire. As of now, I’ve made arrangements to meet with a few of them in an effort to learn and share insights on ministry. These are some of my Yodas.

I’ll be blogging as much as possible during the week to keep you up to date. To get up-to-the-minute details and insights, be sure and add/follow me on Twitter!

There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself–an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly.

-philosopher Antisthenes the Cynic

I was finishing up Leonard Sweet’s 11 last night and noticed my wife watching back-to-back episodes of The Two Coreys, featuring Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, when my mind wandered back to this quote.

As the two Coreys are at loggerheads on their personal and professional relationship, duking it out, my heart cries out. Why? Because I have and need relationships like that in my life. I need a Feldman to not give up on me. I need a Haim for me to not give up on. Those who journey with me. Friends. And thorns, too.

“The problem isn’t that you’re gay, it’s that you’re a jerk.”

I love Gall’s version of tough love and renegade honesty. According to him, the biggest problem regarding the continuation of sin in the world is the way we tiptoe around it and let ourselves be defined by our favorite-flavored spiritual maladies. We hide behind our shortcomings, failures, and failures just as readily as we hide behind any other external thing we attach to our crab shells as camouflage from the squids–sometimes we can’t tell the difference between benevolent eyes and the eyes of a predator. All we know is that we want to be invisible.

Sitting in his apartment, he tells his homosexual roommate, “I don’t think your struggle with homosexuality is the real problem.”

He then goes on to talk about the metaphor of sin as a constantly narrowing well that goes ever deeper. And as we fall, we are carrying these boards with us, things we call sin, and we only fall deep enough until the boards jam against the sides of the well, giving us a place to stand. The boards make the scaffolding of the sin we’re willing to admit. We stand on a board and say, “This is my sin. There’s nothing darker in me than this.” And we swear that the board is not a board, but the bottom of the well.

The problem is that, whatever ‘board’ we stand on, when we remove that particular board, we continue to fall deeper into the well. The problem is that we are jerks because we think our gayness is the furthest extent of our problem. Or our addictions. Or our lust. Greed. Ego. Piety. It’s easy enough to point to the boards of other ‘sinners’ to define and subsequently mount campaigns against those boards. Boycotts. Marches and rallies. Entire ‘ministries’ have been build on this. It’s one of the great sins of Evangelicalism.

However much our sin may attempt to define us, it never accurately does so. Remove any board, and we all continue to fall to the bottom. And perhaps the bottom is the fact that our heart is only big enough for one god. One idol. We cannot worship God and money. Or God and sex. Or God and fame. Or God and anything. My board may be a different size and shape than yours, but it’s still only a ‘prop’ towards my real sin: the failure to recognize that the only absolutely satisfying and trustworthy One in all creation is Jesus That only Jesus satisfies my deepest thirst—all else is saltwater. Any sin in my life is a reflection of my unbelief.

The problem is not that you’re gay. Or addicted. Or self-righteous. Or whatever. Those things I can ‘fix’ on my own.

The problem is that only grace can keep me from being a jerk.
 

When I had dinner with Pete Gall (and Grissom) last week, it was incredibly refreshing. Much like the double soy iced latte I’m nursing while writing this. Gall is a very unimposing guy, though I get the sense that he’s pretty wicked-smart. Our conversation bounced along from his questions about my seminary experience (I tried it. Twice. But it didn’t take…) to my interrogating him how he came into the same circle of trust I share with Grissom (a long story that includes common struggles, failures, and ultimately…grace.) Early into the bounty of Rudy’s brisket, I asked, ‘So…what’s your story?’

 “Well, it started with wanting to be known as ‘a tremendous man of God’.” He smirked in a Tyler Durden sort of way.

“How’s that workin’ out for you?” I asked.

He smiled and swigged down the last of his Corona. He then began to tell me his story. Previous big shot advertising exec. Fortune 50 companies hailing him as the Golden Child. His bravado struggling with being the ‘fat guy’ to the other guys, the ‘good friend’ to any romantic interest, and the Imposter to a God who calls us to authenticity. And church seemed to make it worse, not better.

The collector crab (or decorator crab) attaches to it’s shell bits and pieces of what it finds on the sea floor. The idea is to protect itself by becoming invisible to its natural enemy, the squid. It scurries along unnoticed, hidden by the debris it’s become attached to.

I do the same thing. My guess is that you do, too. And sometimes the camouflage we choose makes us easier to spot. Problem is that we can’t ever really be sure about the stuff we grab and attach to our shells; all we can do is grab what looks good to us and hope for the best.

In My Beautiful Idol, Gall begins his story with advertising spectacles: in a society that tries to sell people, all of whom are bearers of the likeness of God, baubles to attach to their personal shells. Labels. Products. Services. Impressions. Approaches. Tones. Movements. Causes. Whatever we collect to build our own ‘personal brand’. 

It’s how we hide from the squids that show up in the form of shame. Guilt. Failure. Evil. Or a host of other things we work furiously to avoid. From fig leaves to 401(k)s, we’re all about covering our nakedness. And as long as we don’t get eaten, it’s a good day.

But under it all, we’re looking for a way out of the camouflage, because in the end, it not only hides us, but traps us as well.

But here’s my own vulnerability: I’d love to learn how to live in a way that doesn’t require camouflage. I think it’s something we all long for. To be naked and vulnerable, yet still adequate and loved. At the heart of the Ragamuffin, I’m learning to let go of the camouflague. Sometimes I can even pull it off.

Sometimes.

It’s a mere 22 weeks to the inaugural Rock N Roll San Antonio Marathon. I started training (baby steps) this week after being a complete slug since May 1. Last night at rehearsal, our bass player handed me this:

And God populated teh earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

And Satan created McDonald’s. And McDonald’s brought forth the 99-cent double-cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?"

And Man said, "Super size them." And man gained pounds.

And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad."

And God created the healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her figure that man found so fair.

And Satan brought forth chocolate. And woman gained pounds.

And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad."

And Satan bought forth ice cream. And woman gained pounds.

And God said, "I have sent you heart healthy veggies and olive oil with which to cook them."

And Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak so big it needed it’s own platter.

And man gained pounds and his bad cholesterol went through the roof.

And God brought forth running shoes and Man resolved to lose those extra pounds.

And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and ESPN2.

And man gained pounds.

And God said, "You’re running up the score, Devil."

And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition.

And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fat fried them. And he created sour cream dip also.

And Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol.

And Satan saw and said, "It is good."

And Man went into cardiac arrest.

And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery, and Satan created HMOs.

 I really wanted to write this morning, but it’s just not going to happen. Not only is VBS happening downstairs from my office, but the post-camp dust is still settling and my head is not really clear just yet. As a result, I’m posting some GREAT links I’ve been keeping up with the past few days. Drink deep. 

The Jesus of Uncool: a great Rolling Stone interview with Chris Martin (Coldplay). 

The differences/similarities between leading youth and adults in worship, as told by Sojourn Music’s Jeremy Quillo. Never heard of Sojourn Music? Shame. 

This Friday is national Take Your Dog To Work Day. And, yes, there is actually a theme song. 

Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology book that I paid way too much for in seminary is now online for free… 

I finished Jesus for President this morning. It didn’t change my life, but I did like the mixed-media presentation of the book. Decent book–Jesus was anti-war, anti-oppression (even consumer-imposed oppression), etc. I get it. I’m not sure what I expected exactly, but if He was running for President, I hope I’d vote for Him. 

I had the pleasure of hanging out at Rudy’s last night with a long-time ministry buddy (inner-circle-of-friends kind of guy) who was coming through town. Grissom introduced me to Pete Gall, fellow Samson Society brother and author of My Beautiful Idol, who joined us for some great Texas BBQ. Great guy. We’ve got some common ground (and friends) and I hope to hook up again when they come back through Texas on their return tour. Gall gave me a handful of copies of Beautiful Idol, which I’ve passed out and hope to begin reading tomorrow about ‘one man’s struggles as he seeks God as well as hides from Him.’ It looks really good.  I’ll let you know once I get into it. 

"Mixing the church and state is like mixing ice cream with cow manure. It may not do much to the manure, but it sure messes up the ice cream."

-Tony Campolo, as quoted in Jesus For President.

all next week, I’ll be in Port A at our high school camp. Get real-time updates and pictures via Twitter so you don’t miss out!  

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