Missional Living

A few weeks ago David Zimmerman graciously sent me a copy of his latest book, Deliver Us From Me-Ville. Right away I began to devour it but, for reasons that will become apparent, I realized I needed to slow down and digest it thoroughly.

I have to say upfront that I absolutely love Zimmerman’s writing style. His wit and sometimes snarky storytelling make for an easy, comfortable read. He begins with exposing us, not to suburbia, but to Superbia (Latin, ‘ego’), the strong-but-subtle suburb of the City of God he calls Me-Ville, and then offers escape routes out of the neighborhood towards our true home in the City.

In Me-Ville, our self-absorption is not only killing us slowly (or even not-so-slowly at times), but also setting up our entire world for a tragic collapse. Thankfully, Jesus not only comes to meet us in Me-Ville, but He also leads us out of it.

One warning (praise?) about the book: Zimmerman is not only wry, but brutally honest at times about his own self-aware existence in Me-Ville. Or, maybe he’s just been reading my journal at night. In either case, it’s a book that deserves a deliberate reading, pencil in hand. It’s packed with humor, scripture, and great quotes from some of the wisest dead people I’ve ever read (as well as movies and musicians you MUST know.) You will find yourself in the pages of his stories and the securities of superbia. I suggest participating in the Escape Routes offered at the end of each chapter and ask God to give you insight.

Ben Patterson says to read Me-Ville and ‘get over yourself.’

I’d take it a step further and say ‘move out’. The great theologian Tyler Durden once said, “You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are not your job. You are not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your khakis.” We have the tendency to perceive our culture and way of life as secure and safe and prosperous. But what if this image-obsessed, plastic culture is very, very hard on our souls? It’s not only a matter of getting over ourselves, but a matter of getting on to living in the City in intimacy with Jesus. And, as with any move, part of the joy is cleaning out all the useless, unproductive junk you’ve stuffed under your bed, in the back of the closet, and in the garage. Leave it on the curb as you drive away and start anew in The City.

I can’t say it enough: I loved this book. It deserves more than a casual reading. Originality. Brutal honesty. Wit and humor. All make it something to put on your ‘must read’ list. I give it nine out of ten tacos! We live in a  world overrun by iPods, iPhones, iTunes, and iLife. It can’t even spell ‘we’ without two I’s (Wii)! Deliver Us From Me-Ville is one of the best, most refreshing books I’ve read in a long time. Buy Deliver Us From Me-Ville.

In one of the most bizarre cases of idiotic legislation I’ve seen in a while, ‘children’ are being abandoned, i.e. ‘dropped off’ at Nebraska hospitals because of an ineptly written law.

The law was written to make sure an unwanted baby can find a healthy home where he/she can be cared for, as well as protect the unwilling parents from repurcussions of abandoning their child.

Enter in some hastily-written legislation and some irresponsible and/or exasperated parents and this is what you get.

A single dad who leaves nine children at Creighton University Medical Center (story), among others, totaling at least 15 older children who were dropped off by a weary parent, aunt, or grandmother.

The main interest state Senator Arnie Stuthman cited for the law was ‘that it gives the mother or parent another option of what to do with a child before they do something drastic."  And since the law doesn’t specify, it allows anyone, not just a parent, to legally surrender custody of someone all the way up to 19.

Now, I’ll grant you that some parents are dropping off kids because they are at their wits’ end. But is this the solution? To hand off unruly teenagers because of tough economic conditions, worry, stress, etc.? I don’t know. I can see parents getting overwhelmed and seeing this as a viable option.

Regardless, it’s much like our current political landscape. I’d love to see the government step out and the Church step in. I commend teh Nebraska legislators for wanting to protect  all children (not just potential Dumpster Babies) from harm, but IMO this smells a little bit like the $700 billion bailout we’re trudging through.

Thoughts?

If you haven’t seen Mark Riddle’s piece titled Not Making It Happen, it’s definitely worth reading and discussing. Riddle, a long-time student minister/author, wrote the article for YS a couple of weeks back aimed at youth pastors, but IMO it’s great for all of us in ministry.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve bought into the lie that our job is to ‘make things happen’. To build programs, to attract people in the name of ministry, or to build the Kingdom. We’ve believed that our success or failure is tied to our ability to motivate people and move them through our self-erected plans and dreams in the name of vision. (I’m paraphrasing Riddle). The bottom line is we are infatuated with visionaries who can make things happen.

He’s right. Part of the reason I love being a Youth Pastor (and love worship, for that matter) is to see creative ideas take form and feet. The problem is that the vast majority of us are evaluated by how efficiently you bring others on board with your ideas and visions…and how well you produce results. After all, you’re only as good as your last camp, right?

But this understanding of leadership is deeply flawed and destructive, with unintended consequences including isolation, entitlement, and passivity that enables the congregation to abdicate their God-given responsibility to staff leaders…who gladly take it.

We have to understand something.

You aren’t called to make things happen in your church.

Of course, you may get paid by your local church to make things happen, but God’s not calling you to build it all, sustain it all, and convince others to carry it all out.

Read the article (including some great questions) here.

I can’t help it. You have to see the Jesus is My Friend video by Sonseed. And pay very close attention to the lyrics of the last verse at 1:46 or so. Wait for it….wait for it.

Ick.

You may now return your tray tables to their upright position. We’ll return to more serious matters soon.

(HT:TheMIssionalPosition)

If you’ve been following me on Twitter (you haven’t? shame…you’re missing out!), you know by now that Heather and I are expecting a baby this April.

I recently got to attend a field trip with our 5-year-old and my long-time friend (now our Children’s Pastor), John Woods to a local Dino Park. John was talking to Dylan about his upcoming birthday party when Dylan popped off with the announcement, "I’m having a baby."

"Really?", John replied, laughing. "I’ll have to tell your mom about that."

Without missing a beat, Dylan replied, "She already knows."

Classic.

And, yes, Woods and I both laughed hysterically.

(see John’s blog here)

"Jesus refuses to be your domesticated housecat."

It’s probably not what you think.

A few days ago, retired Christian recording artist Ray Boltz came out of the closet, announcing his homosexuality. (His website, btw, is having a pretty huge clearance sale. Interpret that how you wish.) “This is what it really comes down to,” he says in a CT interview. “If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.”

On his official website he says: 

"A few years ago I made the decision to retire from contemporary Christian music. I had won awards, performed in front of thousands of people, and sold millions of records. Still, I believed that if people knew who I really was, I would never be accepted."

The tragedy is that within a community of believers, genuine authenticity is not accepted. That, for all our talk of ‘community’, we have to still hide our struggles and pains beneath the veneer of success.

The tragedy is while Ray Boltz struggled in sin, and received unmerited grace to write beautiful songs, the Christian community will yet again throw him to the wolves. (Michael English, anyone? Sandi Patti? Amy Grant?)

The tragedy is that songs that once brought a sense of awe and reverence to the Church will now become the punchline in a joke.

The comedy? That the enemy will have a field day watching as believers debate and fight over the Scriptures, slander each other, and condemn and accuse the other side of neo-liberalism or fundamentalism. No. Wait….that’s another Tragedy.

Ray Boltz will stand before our Abba one day to give an account of his life.

So will you.

No doubt, homosexuality is still sin. But I believe the grace that covers my USAmerican sin of gluttony, consumption, pride and hypocrisy is big enough to cover his sin as well. If not, we are all in trouble.

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message) reads:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly."

Pray for Ray Boltz. And pray for me, too. We still need Jesus.

Thoughts?

OK…So, I gave in and read Young’s The Shack. It’s a lot like voting in the upcoming presidential election, I typically vote for the candidate with the least amount of celeb indorsements. After reading the pull-quotes from Smitty, Winona Judd, and Kathie Lee Gifford, I almost walked away. Nevertheless, I finished it over the weekend and, with all the hubub surrounding it, figured I’d nail some thoughts to the Missional Living door. Good, bad, or indifferent, I do not pose this to be an academic or hermeneutic dissection of this phenemenon, just some humble thoughts after reading it. So take it for what it is. (WARNING: contains spoilers)

Literary aspects. Although The Shack has been hailed as having the potential to be the Pilgrim’s Progress for our generation, I’m certainly not ready to jump on that bandwagon. Since Pilgrim’s Progress was first published in 1678, I’m pretty sure the jury will be out for at least another 338 years on that. Nevertheless, it’s a very well-written work of modern fiction. Slow at the start (in setting up the history and environment for the rest of the story), but moves along well after the first few chapters. It was even hard to put down in a couple of places.

The Shack is about Mack who loses his daughter to a serial killer, then gets a suspicious note to meet Papa (God) at a shack in the mountains. Mack is met by Papa (as an African-American woman—think of The Oracle from The Matrix), Jesus (the stereotypical Jewish carpenter), and  Sarayu (the Holy Sprit manifested as an artsy, flowing, petite Asian woman. Each of the representations are to help Mack overcome his ‘preconcieved expectations’ of the Trinity.  At the end of the story, Papa reveals himself to Mack as a Father figure, evidently because he is now ready for a Father-God figure. As he overcomes The Great Sadness, Mack learns to give and receive forgiveness and grace. Remember, all metaphors eventually breakdown. I repeat: ALL metaphors eventually breakdown. That said…

Theological aspects. Give me a verb over a noun anytime. The Shack doesn’t fit into Greudem’s systematic theology easily. There are several issues that raise spiritual/theological questions you’ll need to be prepared to wrestle with. For example, Papa suggests that ‘heirarchy only exists where sin is present’. That there is no heirarchy among the Trinity (only ‘mutual submission), which was the perfect plan for humanity all along. Only after The Fall was there a need for an heirarchal order. (Be ready to answer the ‘what about the heirarchy of angels?’ question.) Also, Jesus claims that "those who love me come from every (religious) system that exists" including Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims. (Um…no.) Mack then asks, "Does that mean all roads lead to You?". Jesus responds, "Not at all…(but) I will travel any road to find you." (OK…yes!) Also, there is a great line concerning suffering in which Papa says, "Just because I work incredible good out of tragedies doesnt mean I orchestrate the tragedies…Grace doesn’t depend on suffering to exist." There’s also hole in the plot that leaves the question "Did this occur in real-time or was it a dream?" as a ripcord for the theological problems in the story.

Should you read it? Remember the main thing: it is FICTION. A story told by an author to communicate a difficult-to-communicate truth or experience. Think of it as reading the paper and noticing the following note:

Monday, September 15.

Sunrise: 6:23 a.m.

Sunset: 7:42 p.m.

No one actually believes there’s a literal ‘rising’ or ’setting’ of a sun that moves across the sky, do they? We all interpret that to mean the sun, while motionless, will become visible (or invisible) as the earth moves in it’s rotation. Consider The Shack as a blip from the newspaper. It’s a fictional story of one man’s journey and struggle with a trinitarian God towards grace, not a watertight exegesis of the Trinity. It’s no Pilgrim’s Progress or Narnia, but if it causes you to search the scriptures for answers and to have meaningful conversations with the non-churched or de-churched in your community, then read it and be missional with it.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 tacos. Add salsa to taste.                          

IMonk’s review here.

Driscoll’s review here.

Tim Challies’ review here.

Your thoughs below.

Our offices are ‘officially’ relocated. Even though we still have no phones or air-conditioning yet, we’re blazing through. As we blow through another week, I wanted to pass along some link love that’s gotten me through the past few days.

A pretty fascinating argument from Feminist Tammy Bruce FOR Gov. Palin. hmmm….

What American Christians REALLY Believe …if you believe it.

An interesting Gizmodo article on how you can possibly register to vote on your Xbox. Draw in the gaming (virtual moose-hunting?) crowd..

Listen free to some great Pearl Jam shows (as early as 1990). Pick a date, a venue, a set list, and a city…and listen to free streaming audio like a Gremmie outta control.

And for the true geek, check out the Shakespeare Insults Generator, and get your traitorous swag-bellied whore-master insults…

Share the love.

If you don’t know Ludo you most certainly need to check them out. Although their hardcore fans aren’t as crazy about their latest album as Broken Bride, the title cut is an amazing confession of addiction.

What flavor of addiction doesn’t matter. Whether alcohol or a destructive relationship or eleventy-billion other things, addiction is addiction. It’s high maintanence, gluttonous and cold, regardless of the face it wears. Check out the lyrics to ‘Love Me Dead’:

Love me cancerously, Like a salt-sore soaked in the sea.
‘High-maintenance’ means you’re a gluttonous queen
Narcissistic and mean.
Kill me romantically, Fill my soul with vomit
Then ask me for a piece of gum.
Bitter and dumb, you’re my sugarplum. You’re awful, I love you!

You’re born of a jackal! You’re beautiful!

Of course, you have to watch the video or hear the song to get the full carnival-esque feel of the tune. (That’s how music works…) But it’s a beautifully bouncy tragedy of the addictive nature of sin. Disturbingly beautiful images of  ‘cancerous love’ that drains me, ‘filling my soul with vomit’ (and then asking for a piece of gum, no less!). It brings to mind the old adage, "sin will always make you go farther than you want to go, stay longer than you want to stay, and pay more than you wanted to pay." In my life, I know this to be true. Whenever I feed my sinful desires, they grow. And grow. Pride. Envy. Jealousy. Whatever.

Watch the video–it’s well worth the 3:40..

(if the YouTube vid doesn’t work, go here)

Do you resonate with any of this? How have you seen the destructive nature of sin played out? What about it’s addictive quality? What do the lyrics and video bring to light about your own life?