The Only Way…

For years now I have been blessed to have regular deep, theological conversations with a good friend of mine.  It is truly a blessing to have this friend in my life because he not only helped me grow in my faith, but has also challenged the beliefs I have formed and helped refine them through his questions and willingness to discuss, disagree, and not hold a grudge over differences.

One of the reoccurring topics of conversation between my friend and I revolves around the necessity of attending church.  The question goes something along the lines of “can you be a Christian if you don’t go to church?”  Usually we discuss what “church” means and try to put some rational meaning to “Christian.”  In the end, almost without fail, he ends up on the “you really need to belong to a church in order to be a Christian” side, and I plant my flag on the “if you believe in Jesus as your personal Savior and friend, and is Savior  to all” side of the discussion.  And while he and I have not had this little bit of friendly banter in a while, something last week brought our long-time discussion back to the forefront of my consciousness.  A video showed up on YouTube that pitted Jesus against Religion.  The first time I watched this video, it had tallied 442 views.  As I type this sentence the video has garnered more than 13 million views.

While Religion and “church” are not totally synonymous, the parallels are undeniable.  And I am not going to argue the definition of “church.”  It is not outside the stretch of the imagination that the young man in the video is talking about “Why I Hate the Church, But Love Jesus.”  But that gets back to the discussion topic…are “the church” and Jesus mutually exclusive?  Can a Christian survive without one or the other?

At the center of the whole discussion is John 14:6.  “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (NIV).  This and several other scriptures affirm that the only way to God is through His Son, and my friend and my discussions never question this.  We agree that a Christian cannot survive without Jesus.  He is the “cornerstone” of faith.  “Whoever has the Son has eternal life.”  But does a Christian need to be a part of a church to be a “good” Christian?

Here is where my friend starts to really shine in his argument.  There are certain things a Christian cannot do without in a truly dedicated walk with Jesus, and one of the most important aspects of a Christian journey is community.  It is unwise, unhealthy, and almost impossible to have a fruitful relationship with Jesus without some sort of interpersonal interaction with other Christians.  Without being a part of a Christian community an individual stands alone without any support, guidance, or accountability, and whether you argue against “religion” or “church” the truth is that both of those institutions supply or create an environment of community.  They offer a place where a Christian can find the support he/she needs in brothers and sisters.  Is it ideal?  No, way less than.  But it is necessary to some extent.

Have I changed my mind about how I feel about the institution of religion or church…no.  I am not a big fan.  I am an individualist.  But I recognize that I cannot do it on my own.  In 2010 Matthew West released The Story of Your Life featuring the song, “My Own Little World.”  It is a powerful song that talks about how we as Christians sometimes become insulated, isolated in our little “Christian” bubble.  Sometimes we start to think that our own little world is all about “me.”

So I think there is a balance somewhere between my friend and I.  While I do not necessarily like the “church” and organized religion, I do understand their role and the benefits they offer.  I agree with the young man in the video.  I believe that their is only one true way, and He is Jesus.  But without the church, I would not have my friend to argue with, to grow with, to be friends with.

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

I pray that I can continue to see past the imperfections of the church.  I pray that the church will continue to do the good works of the Lord.  I pray that God would make me a blessing unto someone as much as he has made my friend a blessing unto me.  And I pray that you would find your balance between religion and faith…between perfection and imperfection…between Jesus and the church.

Be Blessed

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

Qualifying Christ…

Jesus Calls His First Disciples
Matthew 4:18-20

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.

“Come.”  It is a simple, open ended invitation.  It is a request for someone’s presence and company.  It may involve a journey of great distances, or the traveler may already be nearby.  “Come” expresses a desire by the inviter to have a companion, to not be alone, to share something special.  “Come.”

Earlier this fall convicted murder, Troy Davis was executed in Georgia for the murder of an off-duty police officer.  Opponents of the death penalty ardently advocated for Davis’s life, arguing that the death penalty is a violation of basic human rights.  They staged protests, marches, social media campaigns, and more in an effort to halt the execution.  In the days following the execution I was involved in several conversations surrounding the morality of what had happened.  In the course of one of these conversations, one of my friends made a very powerful statement along the lines of:  “I question how anyone can be a Christian and not holistically pro-life.”

So what does “being a Christian” look like?  Should a “Christian” look, smell, sound a certain way?  I have touched on this topic in my earlier posts, but I rebelled at my friend’s concept/question.  I began to question what he meant.  I challenged his concept.  I became a aggressive in my defensiveness because the idea scared me.  What if a person has to look, sound, smell a certain way before he or she can become a “Christian?”  What happens when we start qualifying Christianity?

The inherent danger of qualifying  Christianity is that we begin to put restrictions on who can and cannot wear the label “Christian.”  When you restrict, you exclude, and I am not comfortable with excluding people from meeting the risen Savior.  I accept and understand that Christianity represents certain beliefs, and as people who call themselves “Christians” we wear that label with the general understanding that we endorse and support the belief system associated with Christianity.  But I wonder what it looks like to people gingerly dipping their toes into the pool of Christian faith, if we (established Christians and I use that moniker very loosely) tell them how they can and cannot/should or should not believe.  Who are we to say that our searching friends need to have water-wings and a certain swimsuit before they can jump in?  You see establishing a Faith in Christ and growing as a member of the Christian body is a journey of personal experience and exploration.  Each person starts in a different place, navigates different obstacles, and develops a personal relationship with Jesus.  How can we lump all of those very personal experiences into a “You can join if…” qualifying statement?

It is not our responsibility, duty, or job to tell others how they should look, act, or believe in order to be a follower of Christ.  In doing so, we model for “searchers” what exactly “Christians” should NOT look like.  We create an exclusive “club” of believers where if someone doesn’t fit in, they don’t belong.  That is not what Christianity is about.  My savior opened his arms to ALL.  John 1:12 “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  Who are we to turn people away because they don’t believe like we do?  Who are we to question someone’s faith based on a singular, subjective belief or ideal?

I am glad my Savior doesn’t judge me based on what I think.  I pray that I can continue to grow in my faith so that I may learn to think more like Christ.  I pray that He takes advantage of my unique experiences to build in me a unique and personal faith.  I pray that we look at others with the eyes of Christ and help them to discover their own faith…one that is as personal and real as the love their Savior has for them.

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

Rebel…

For years now I have worked purposefully to live my life in such a way that others would recognize that I am not into conforming to societies’ norms.  I don’t run around trying to live my life like a rebel.  I am not looking to be viewed as counter-cultural or a rabble-rouser.  I just try to live my life my, in the most genuine, honest, open way I can.  I try not to hide behind facades or sulk in dark corners because that is not what God has called me to do.

Too many people work very hard to portray a very specific character.  They dress a certain way, act a certain way, listen to a certain type of music all in an attempt to propagate an image that will garner them acceptance and approval.   The more they immerse themselves in this character they create, the more they become transformed by it, the less of themselves is really left.  Every day I watch as students struggle for identity and acceptance into a world that often doesn’t want them for who they are, but who they could be.  They jump from one social group to the next adopting all sorts of character traits all in an attempt to belong.  These kids have not yet learned that the best way to belong is to be yourself, to develop your own identity.

In 2008 Christian Hip-Hop artist Lecrae released Rebel, his third album.  The title track is an indictment against conforming to social norms, and uses the example of Jesus Christ as the prototypical “Rebel.”  “Jesus was a rebel, a renegade, outlaw/A sanctified troublemaker but He never sinned, naw/and He lived His life by a different set of Rules/the culture ain’t approve so you know they had to bruise him.”  The body of the song focuses on how people are influenced by society to make choices that allow them to assimilate.  It refers to how the world is “full of sinners” and that if you want to “rebel” you shouldn’t put on a leather jacket and pop a top, but stand up for what you believe in.

There are countless examples in scripture where Jesus stared social pressure in the face and chose not to conform.  He ate with prostitutes, he healed on the sabbath, he hung out with lepers, and rubbed shoulders with tax collectors.  His disciples were not the cream of the crop.  They did not have the highest education or were the best looking bunch.  His disciples were fishermen, and one of them wore rags, had a scraggly beard, and ate bugs.  But Christ didn’t worry about any of that.  He refused to give in to the pressure society placed on Him to conform.  Jesus knew that He was uniquely made.  He understood that God broke the mold when He made His Son.  And I think we forget that God broke the mold when He made each one of us as well.  God created each one of us to be uniquely beautiful and precious.  ^“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14).

So what do we do?  What is our action step in this world where sameness is the norm and individuality is discouraged?  We accept one another.  Christ modeled that acceptance when he chose his disciples and the people he hung out with.  Zaccheus was a short, greedy dude, and Christ accepted him.  Peter had a little cowardice in him, and Christ accepted him.  I am loud, brash, temperamental, and emotional, and I know my Savior accepts me.

So while I am busy trying to live my life in my own unique way, I pray that I can remember that there are other people out there trying to do the same thing.  I pray that I can recognize that.  I pray that I can follow Jesus’ example and accept those individuals for who they are and not who I think they should be…the way Jesus would.  And I pray these same things for you…in my own, unique way.

Romans 15:7
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Be Blessed

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

A Place to Belong…

I have been on a bit of a blogging streak this month.  I am not sure if it is because I have started writing down all the ideas I have, or if I am just sitting outside more enjoying the amazing weather.  Either way, I find myself today joined on the deck by my ever-present companion Porter.  It is about 64 degrees out and his strategic placement on my feet, though heavy, is nice and warm.

The point is that it is nice to have a companion…someone to relate to and be with.  I am reading yet another Donald Miller book: Searching for God Knows What.  In this book, Miller explores how humans evaluate their worth and discusses how we often don’t measure our value based on how God sees us, but how we are viewed by others.  To be honest, I am only about half-way through the book, but so far, he has made several pretty astute points.  I just finished a chapter about a young boy in Miller’s junior high class who was ostracized and made fun of because of his appearance and socio-economic status.  This particular chapter struck home with me for a few reasons.  I remember my elementary and junior high days as a little difficult.  My family was far from rich, though (much to my parents’ credit) I never needed for anything.  But I never had the “coolest shoes” or the “nicest jeans.”  My lack of fashion sense combined with my “gingerness” and fiery temper conspired to put me in what Miller would call the bottom of the social line.  I was not athletic enough to be picked for the teams, smart enough to be successful in school (at least not yet), and I was too temperamental for most kids my age to deal with.  In short I had no real place to belong.  It wasn’t until late in my junior high/early high school years where I began to “fit in.”  I started to figure out my learning style (thank you Mr. Miller) and learned that hard work can take you a long way in athletics (thank you dad and Mr. Beesley).

I began to move up the social ladder in high school.  My peers began to recognize my academic achievement, and my athletic prowess (though limited by talent) began to grow through hard work.  I was never a stud athlete or a 4.0 student, but I lived right in the middle.  I associated with or could relate to almost every social group or clique.  I began to belong.  That is a 421 word introduction to bring me to my (and Miller’s) main point.  Why should it take so long to “belong?”  Why did I have to base my sense of belonging off of my social status?  Miller’s point so far in his book is that our sense of belonging should come from God.  In a perfect world this is awesome and true…we don’t live in a perfect world.  Which brings me to my point.  I think I may have found a better way to help kids belong.

To say “I have found it” is not accurate.  More precisely, I have been blessed to be a part of a new school in Sioux Falls called Sioux Falls New Tech High School.  It is a part of the New Tech Network of schools that is based on Project Based Learning and peer collaboration.  In my school I have seen the breaking down of the typical social structure; the blurring of social lines and boundaries.   We still have the jocks, cheerleaders, nerds, geeks, goths, gear heads, and chameleons, but what we don’t have are the social outcasts.  Our students have embraced a collaborative learning environment where it doesn’t seem to matter to them where they fit in the social ladder.  They see value in each other.  They work with each other.  They socialize with each other.  They play with each other.  In a society where people are judged based on appearance, style, or stereotype, my kids at school have begun to learn how to transcend those traditional ways of dealing with their peers.

For example:  I have two students who at a “normal” high school would be as far apart on the social ladder as imaginable.  Mark and Jane (not their real names) are polar opposites.  Mark comes from a split family and has jumped back and forth from mom to dad.  He is athletic, spontaneous, super social, and a bit of a trouble maker.  Jane comes from a “traditional” nuclear family.  She has had opportunity, is well traveled, and stable.  She is very intellectual, reserved, structured, and a noted rule follower.  Two more opposite students would be hard to find anywhere, but at New Tech, these two have joined forces to become the face of the student population.  Mark’s energy and passion combines with Jane’s focus and drive to accomplish things they never could individually.  The amazing thing is that there are dozens of kids like this at my school, and they are all learning that they can accomplish more together than they can individually.  They are learning that they belong wherever they are.  That they have value for who they are, not who they hang out with.   P.S.  They are freshmen.

It gives me a great deal of hope to be able to walk into this school every day.  It makes me so proud of my kids to see them work together, play together, and grow together in a way that is so different from “normal.”  I only pray that they can take what they have learned and become outside of the walls of the school.  They have found value in themselves not based on what others think of them, but based on that they know they have value and worth.  They have the knowledge and power to teach others what they have learned.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” -Uncle Ben Parker.

The Meaning of Art…

I surprised my neighbor last night when I went over to borrow his air compressor to pump up a flat bike tire.  He looked at my shoulder and asked, “when did you get the artwork?”

Original Design

I have been wanting a tattoo for years.  I can remember as a teen and young adult dreaming up all sorts of wild designs that involved tribal art, dragons, and other spectacular visuals, but fortunately for me, fear and lack of finances prevented me from permanently marking my body with something that may not have been as meaningful.  Last Christmas my mom gave me a gift certificate to a tattoo artist by the name of Chris Mosqueda. She has some artwork and knew that I had been interested for a while, but was too cheap to pony up the green.  So with the up-front money in hand and a design six-years in the making, I headed out to Urban Ink Tattoo .  I knew what I wanted and was pretty excited to get the work done.   Over the course of the next six months, my tattoo took shape.  It was not a totally pleasant process, but with a little stiff-upper-lip and a lot of C-Mos skill, I got my first tattoo.  It ended up being much larger than I had intended my first one to be, but I think it was supposed to be.

I like to show off Chris’s handy work.  He did a great job taking my design base and expanding on my concept with some sick free-hand work.  But with the ink exposed, I invariably get questions about the tattoo’s meaning, and I am more than happy to share.  Part of the reason I waited to long was that I didn’t want to just “get inked.”  I wanted to make sure that whatever was going to be permanently inked upon my body was something that represented me…that told a story about who I am.

Stage One

As with any good work of art, it is always a work in process.  My original design was the result of a fruitful imagination and a lack of knowledge about how tattoos worked.  And in my lack of experience I designed my tattoo in Adobe on a standard 8.5×11 inch template not thinking that the finished product would be that large.  As a result after Chris had inked the centerpiece, we had to either rethink the design, or prepare for it to take up a huge chunk of real estate.

On my next trip, Chris and I talked through our options.  Then he asked if he cold “freestyle” on me.  Freestyling in rap and art on paper is great…freestyling on my skin with indelible ink, not so much.  But he had some pretty good references and some really good pieces on display, so I said “go for it.”  He took the rest of my concept and our discussion and created a masterpiece.  Each part carries with it a special meaning for me, and Chris did an amazing job interpreting my ideas and laying them out in accurate and beautiful representations.

So what does it mean…

The centerpiece of the tattoo is a black angel hung on a cross of thorns.  Binding the angel to the cross are rivulets of red blood.  The black angel represents my guardian angel.  He is a bad ass who has been through a lot, seen the crap that I have done, and followed me through the darkest times in my life all to protect me.  He is scared and battered, but he is strong and faithful.  The color black represents the dirt/sin that he has had to endure to remain faithful to me.  The cross of thorns and the streams of blood represent the dedication of Jesus and the price Jesus paid to free me from my sins.  The red lettering above the angel reflects upon the crucifixion of Christ.  INRI translates to English as “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.”  Just below the text is a red crown of thorns.  This centerpiece serves to remind me of all the tough times in my life and how loyal and faithful my savior has been to me.

Final Tattoo

With the original background out the window because of its size, Chris went to work on creating visual art from my words.  He began to create a landscape from the bottom up.  The rocks and cliffs flow into clouds and blue sky which transitions into sunlight and mountain tops.  This landscape represents the journey a Christian takes.  The rocks and cliffs on the bottom represent the valleys we sometimes walk.  They are dark and grey and hard to deal with.  On the other end is the brilliant sunlight, fluffy clouds and majestic mountain tops.  These signify the high points of a Christian walk…a time when everything is right and perfect.

Within the whole tattoo is the image of a cross.  It is not outlined in black or made to stand out in any way.  In fact, it is the only un-marked part of the design.  Chris knew I wanted a large cross on my arm to serve as a sort of badge…a proclamation of my faith.  When he floated the idea of a “cross in the negative space” to me, it was perfect.  Think about it…the only part of the artwork where this NOT something marking it IS THE CROSS.  It is pure, it is untainted, it is strong, but it is subtle and serves as the foundation for the entire work.

I know some people don’t agree with tattooing, and I respect their opinions.  For me, this tattoo serves as a reminder of where I came from, where I am going, and to Whom I owe everything.  It is why Christ is at the center of it.  It is whyChrist is my guardian angel.

I pray that Christ is at the center of your life, and that no matter how dirty your guardian angel is, you know that HE will always be faithful to you.

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

The Weight of Expectations…

I have been struggling lately.  It seems that sometimes in life, things begin to pile up and up and up until the mountain they create obscures the light.  I am at the point where I am recognizing that things are beginning to pile up, and I kind of feel helpless to stop them.  I feel that I should have the ability or skill handle everything that comes my way, and the gradual realization that I don’t frustrates me.  I feel powerless, inadequate, inferior.  I expect more from myself, and I feel that others do as well…and that is where it all starts.

Expectations come in many forms and from many sources.  They are promises made and agreements shook on.  They are hopes and dreams.  They are the best laid plans…  No matter how you look at it, expectations are future based.  They involve someone’s interpretation of what the future should hold and how that future should take place, and most of these expectations come from ourselves.  Combine those expectations with the ones others have for us and you can begin to see how a mole-hill might become a mountain.  With each expectation comes some weight, and before you know it, a person can feel buried in an avalanche of stress and anxiety.

I hate feeling like this.  I hate this feeling of weight on my shoulders.  And it is about the time that I really begin to battle that I remember a poem my Grandma Stone shared with me.  “If” by Rudyard Kipling is a letter of sorts written to a son offering advice and encouragement.  I often reflect on this poem and its many pearls of wisdom, but every time I begin to lament the weight of expectations, I remember a particular line from the poem.  “If all men count with you, but none too much..”  What does it mean to have “men count with you?”  According to Kipling that is an honor.  But what does “too much” look like?  I am struggling with the expectations of my boss and co-workers, my friends, my family,  and people I don’t even know.  I often feel like “if I don’t do it, who will?”  Is that “too much?”

About the time I get all worked up about this, something usually slaps me in the face.  Luke 7:20  “When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”  I feel like such a tool when I look at this verse.  Even before Jesus has ever really started his ministry, people are already showering Him with expectations.  They question not only what He is doing, but who He is.  They are expecting a savior, but at the same time are doubting whether or not Jesus is the Savior.  Not only does Jesus have to deal with the expectations of the people, but He is fully aware of why His father sent Him.  He knows His Dad has a pretty big plan.  I mean would you want to be the one to screw up God’s plan for Salvation?  Seriously…

Gethsemane (Matthew 26 NIV)
³⁶ Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” ³⁹ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” ⁴⁰ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹ “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ⁴² He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” ⁴³ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

It gives me comfort to know that my savior was so human that he felt the pressure of his expectations.  It helps me through some of these trying times to have an example in Jesus to look to for guidance and empathy.  It also humbles me to look at the pressures I feel and expectations I face and compare them to those Jesus had to deal with.  It makes me thankful that I can count on Jesus, even if sometimes I count on Him too much.

How are you dealing with your expectations?  How are you handling the weight?  Are you counting on Jesus to help you with that load?  If you are like me, you know He is there and willing to help.  I just need to learn to let Him take some of that weight.  And I pray that you can learn that too.

May “all men count with you,” and may you learn to share that burden with the One who has carried the heaviest of weights.

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

 

 

 

Tough Questions…

Even as wisdom often comes from the mouths of babes, so does it often come from the mouths of old people. The golden rule is to test everything in the light of reason and experience, no matter from where it comes.  – Gandhi

There is hardly a more accurate, yet more disregarded quote than this…especially the first part.  In fact, I would venture to guess, that many are only familiar with the first part of the quote.  Today’s young people have an awful lot of wisdom and insight to share, but all to often, we fail to recognize that.  We do not listen to what they have to say, and when we do listen, we don’t take the time to truly pay attention.  Did you read that carefully?  I said “we” because I am just as guilty as anyone else in this, but every now and then one of my “kids” says something that truly shocks me and makes me think.

For some reason, the older generations in this country seem to think that they have the “monopoly on good ideas.”  It is a phrase I heard at a conference this past June, but it was in reference to geography, not age.  I think it applies in this situation just as well, if not better.  But because younger generations don’t necessarily have the experience or knowledge, they are often discounted or told to”shush.”  But I have learned something in my time working with my kids…they ask hard, thoughtful, shocking, painful, honest, and amazing questions.  They ask questions that make me shudder, gasp, blush, and feel pain, and I want to share some of the questions I have has some of my kids ask me in the last year, and I want you to listen to the wisdom they are striving to find and that they may already have.

1)  I had one of my kids ask me why it is ok for his/her parent to have sex with someone they are not married to, but the teen is not supposed to?  Listen to not only the wisdom, but the social awareness in that question.  This student is consciously aware of social pressures and expectations, concerned with them, but also confused by the actions of a role model.  This is a question from someone who is thinking deeply.

2)  Another of my kids asked me this past June why “if most of the old-school people who made big changes to the church were young, why are most of our church leaders old?”  Wow right?  Martin Luther was 33 years old when he posted his 95 Theses.  John Wesley was in his early 30′s when he began a ministry that would influence an enormous chunk of the Christian world.  At the young age of 26 Pope John Paul II started his journey to becoming one of the most beloved and influential figures in Catholic history.  But according to a 2010 United Methodist report, the average age of clergy in the UMC is 55, and over half of the church elders are between 55 and 72 years old.  The average age of a Catholic priest is 56 years old, and a majority of Lutheran pastors are over 49 years old.  I understand that sometimes it takes a while to “earn your stripes,” but how often do those stripes wear out good young leaders?

3)  One of the favorite questions I have heard came from a middle school student at camp this month.  He asked why “if we are supposed to be ‘one body’ why are there denominations in Christianity?”  I had a hard time explaining to him the answer when he read to me the dictionary definition of “denomination” and I heard words like “division,” “separation,” “grouping,” and “individual.”  In a faith where we are supposed to be “one body,” denominations make it hard to explain why we are not.

4)  This last question breaks my heart, and is one I heard not too awful long ago.  One of my kids was having a rough day, and as we were chatting on Facebook, my student asked me “why are there so many bad Christians?”  Ouch, but that was just the beginning.  This young person asked “if it ok to be a ‘bad Christian’ why can’t gays be Christians?  (There I did it…and it scares the hell out of me, but I opened Pandora’s Box)  I don’t have an answer for that.

I don’t know how to respond to these questions.  I don’t have good answers for some of these tough questions, and if our kids are asking them today, isn’t that a pretty good indication that they are thinking?  That maybe they are more aware than we think?   That maybe they are more invested in their faith than originally thought?  The challenge now comes in finding answers to some of these puzzling questions…answers that encourage our young thinkers to continue to explore and grow…not answers that crush and discourage.

1 Timothy 4:12
¹² Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

I love these tough questions.  They challenge me, make me think, force me to consider things outside of what I normally would.  I just hope I never grow calloused to their questions.  Because as long as they are asking questions, they are learning, growing…becoming leaders.

1 Timothy 4:12
¹² Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

The Truth in Lies…

Disclaimer:  The following blog post is both tongue in cheek and curious at the same time.  Please don’t take too seriously.

I am not going to lie…it has been a long time since I worked on a blog post…or is that a lie.

I am actually quite good at lying.  I am confident, I am quick witted, I am good at thinking on my feet.  All of those traits combine to make me a pretty good liar.  But one moment in my lying life stands out.  One weekend my parents left for a quick trip and instructed me not to take the Explorer anywhere except for an emergency.  Well it turned out that my emergency was my lack of pizza.  When they returned home, they asked if I had driven the Explorer, I said “no.”  Man I was dumb.  They had recorded the mileage, and I was busted.  My punishment was epic.  As a senior in high school I had to ride my bike to school (two miles each way on a gravel road, past a mean German Shepherd) for the first semester.  If I had told the truth, my punishment would have been less extreme, but I chose to lie.  It is the last time I can remember lying to my parents.

But that is not to say that is the last time I have lied.  I am a fan of a current television show called Lie to Me.  I have referred to this show previously in my blog post when talking about personal gifts.  But this post is different.  Every day I deal with people  who insist on lying to me even though they are terrible at it.  Every day I logically deal with their lies and explain to them why their lies are not effective nor necessary.  It drives them crazy that I have learned how to read them and discern their truth telling.

This whole situation leads me to one question…is it necessary to ever lie?  I want genuine feedback on this.  I will share this blog on Facebook, Twitter, and online, so I expect some responses.  As I re-watched episode one of Lie to Me, I watched as a “senator” lied about his interactions with a young prostitute, not because he was having intimate relations with her, but because she was his “long lost daughter.”  This is an extreme case, but it piqued my curiosity.  Is it every acceptable to lie?

As stated before, I am pretty good at it.  I have spent much of my last 10 years watching and learning from a variety of people what lying looks like.  But I often question if this is a skill one should cultivate.  I have walked through the straw market in Nassau, Bahamas and told a vendor that all I had was $10 when I really was carrying more than $500 in cash.  I have also looked at a parent and told him/her that their child was an “absolute blessing” to the class.  Neither were particularly accurate, but does that make them any less valid or acceptable.

This is a HUGE “Grey area” issue with me.  After having to have Marcus give me rides to sporting events and practices my senior year, I have never lied to my parents.  At the same time, I have also caused them some pain that could have been spared had I lied.  Was it right that I should spare them?  I vividly remember several times my freshman year at college where my mom would ask questions.   I was honest…brutally so.  I told her every gory detail, and she was shocked.  She didn’t want to know, but was glad I told her the truth.  Was this a mistake?

My struggle intensified when I became a Christian.  There is no lying to God.  He always knows the truth.  This is totally cool, and totally unnerving at the same time.  Before I was a Christian, I could share the “truth” with anyone I wanted to and feel good about it.  But after Jesus saved me, I began to realize that my Savior knew every (extremely) dirty little secret.  He knew every beer, wayward glance, half-truth, lustful thought, and outright lie.  He knew everything!

So I sit here continuing to struggle with the question of whether or not telling “the whole truth and nothing but the truth,”  is always the best option.  I also wonder why more people can’t seem to tell truth from lies.

Thanks for reading and your feedback.

May God’s Son always shine warmly upon you.

Jason

Life on the Mountain Top…

I just got back from one of the most wonderful weeks I have had in a very long time.  For the first time in my life, I was a camper at a church camp.  Actually I was a counselor, but I had never been to any sort of camp before, much less a church camp.  My friend Andy (director of Wesley Acres) called me up and asked me to serve as a counselor at the Waves of Fun North camp in North Dakota.  So I rolled into camp last week with high hopes and no expectations to work with three adults I had never met in my life, and minister to fifteen middle school students who had no idea who I was.  Sounds like an EPICALLY good time right?  It was…and more.

We canoed, swam, kayaked.  We worshiped, sang, fellowshipped.  We goofed off, pulled pranks, and caused a little trouble.  We hugged, connected, and cried.  I have been working with students and youth for the vast majority of my adult life, and I have rarely experienced anything like camp this past week.  It was an emotional, social, and spiritual mountain top experience, and when I had to come home today, I tumbled down hardcore.  I am a sap.  As I have grown in my faith, it seems that I have grown more emotional, and the five-hour drive back from Wesley Acres offered me way more time than I wanted to reflect on how much going back to the real world sucks.  I thought about my three co-counselors and how amazing it was to work with and learn from them.  I thought about all of the unreal youth I got to play with (because I will never ever tell you that what I did at camp was work).  I thought about the deep discussions.  I thought about the crazy jokes.  I thought about the hugs.  I thought about all of the love I saw shared among campers, counselors and staff.  And as I drove home today and wished that it never had to end, I realized that I can’t live on the mountain top.

You see, the mountain top is a pinnacle.  It is a high point in one’s life, and much like a drug, if you stay high for too long, you build up a tolerance and need a “higher high” to get the same effect.  But that is really one a very small part of why it is impossible to live on the mountain top I think.  I think that those mountain top experiences are meant to give us glimpses of what heaven could be like.  Matthew 17 and Mark and Luke 9 all refer to the Transfiguration of Jesus.  In those gospels, Jesus takes several of his disciples with him to the top of a mountain where he visits with the deceased Moses and Elijah.  The experience is so powerful and amazing that the disciples do not want to return.  They want to build tents for the three big guys and hang out for a while, but Jesus instructed them to go down the mountain.

In the same way the disciples had to come back down, so do we.  We hate it, just like they did.  It bums us out.  We get depressed, but in the end it is necessary for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I don’t think we deserve to live on the mountain top yet.  We are a fallen people.  We are sinners.  In my opinion, those mountain top experiences are gifts from God to help encourage us in our walk through this fallen world.  He uses them to help keep us going, or to help move us past roadblocks in our spiritual lives.  Second, when Jesus sent his disciples back down the mountain, he gave them specific instructions not to tell anyone until He had risen again.  He didn’t tell them NOT to share…He just said to wait a bit.  I think God wants us to share our mountain top experiences with others.  He wants us to use those encouraging times to help encourage others, and if we stay at the top, we miss the people who need that encouragement the most.

Our final topic of study at camp was on John 15 and Jesus’ ultimate command.  We talked through how all Jesus really wants is to be our friends.  And all we have to do to be His friend, is to follow his command(s).  “Love each other.”  And as I drove home today, back to the real world, I realized that it is kind of hard to love the people who need it the most if you are camped out on the mountain top.  Jesus doesn’t want us to live on the mountain top because He needs us to be spreading the Love in the valleys and plains.  We are, after all, His hands and feet.

If Jesus can come to Earth from Heaven, live with us and die for us, the least we can do is come down from the mountain and share the gifts we have been given.  Are you trying to live on the mountain top?  Or are you bringing the Good News back down to share with the rest of God’s children?

May your mountain top experiences prove as amazing and fruitful as mine.

Jason

One Love
One God
One Way

For more information on Wesley Acres Camp and Retreat Center click the link or check them out on Facebook.

The Art of Being the Bad Guy…

In the past several months, and indeed for most of my adult life, I have been faced with the fact that no one likes being the bad guy.  People don’t like enforcing rules, taking a stand, or saying “no.”  They want to be friendly and liked, and most of all, for most, being the bad guy is simply too much work.  People would rather say “yes” than risk not being liked.  Many would rather do it themselves than take the time and effort to teach someone how to.  And for way too many, rules are too much work, too much effort, too much risk to enforce.  The end result  of all this avoidance is that we let everyone down…ourselves being accountable, and others for not holding them accountable.

Today’s society has become one of avoidance, passiveness, and enabling.  In short, people risk becoming soft emotionally, psychologically, intellectually, and physically.  As a result, anyone who tries to hold people accountable or is firm in their values is vilified.  Teachers no longer hold students accountable for behavior or grades.  A person is no longer “fat” he/she is “plus-sized.”  You can’t be “lazy” but you can be “unmotivated.”  Our society has tried to eliminate failure in an attempt to prevent any sort of perceived negative feeling.  As a result our society is at risk of becoming fat, lazy, stupid, and in denial.

The source issue here is that not enough people are willing to be the “Bad Guy.”  Being the bad guy takes an awful lot of work, and makes a person a target for all of the vitriol that comes from people who do not want to have to be responsible.  In short, the issue is accountability.  The good news is that the “Ultimate Good Guy” was the “Bad Guy.”  Jesus is the model of accountability.  He held others accountable, and He surrounded Himself with people who questioned Him.  Sometimes we view Christ’s disciples who questioned with disdain and scorn:
Jesus Anointed at Bethany (Matthew 26)
⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you,but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
This question, while appearing selfish and naive, indeed well-intentioned.  The disciples are not afraid to look at Jesus and say “why?”  In return Christ responds to them, and teaches them.  He holds them accountable, just as God held Jesus accountable.  Every day I teach in a classroom with one of the best teachers in the country.  Each day she challenges me to grow.  She holds me accountable to the decisions I make and the plans I construct.  In addition, I have friends who hold me accountable for my behavior, and I love them for doing so. 

Ultimately I am lucky.  I have people in my life who care more about ME than being MY FRIEND.  They hold my best interests as a priority over “being cool,” and as a result, I am held accountable by them.  And you know what…I love them for it.  I have begun to recognize the positive impact of their holding me accountable has had on my life.  I am making better decisions, treating people better, and I am taking better care of myself.  All because I have people in my life who care enough to hold me accountable.

Are you accountable?  Have you surrounded yourself with people who love you enough to hold you accountable?  Do you love the people around you enough to help Gracefully hold them accountable?  Are you humble enough to accept their accountability with grace?  Jesus did and was.  I pray that I can someday handle accountability as well as He did.  And I pray the same thing for you.

Romans 14:12
So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason