"Just buy 'em a beer."

A friend of mine, a "youth" pastor at another church, recently told me about a conversation he had with his boss. The context of the conversation was about how to win the allegiance of the men in leadership of the church. The advice given to him was, "just buy 'em a beer, and they'll love you" or something like that.

On one hand, that's really funny. On the other, its very smart. Notwithstanding the various positions concerning consumption of alcohol (I recommend Driscoll), in our "subural" (combo suburban/rural -I made that up) Texas culture, buying someone a beer is a kind gesture. It's different from just buying someone lunch, it's more manly and intimate. It means you're part of the team, in the club, one of the guys. So, it only makes sense, to "buy 'em a beer" if one wants to get "in" with the dudes who make decisions and influence people.

To put some theological and philosophical reasoning behind this action we only need to look as far as Jesus. He was accused of being a "a drunkard and a glutton, a friend of tax collectors and sinners." There are two charges leveled against him. The second of the two was that he befriended the outcasts and misfits of his society. We know that this charge was indeed true. He was a friend of prostitutes, lepers, Samaritans, sell outs and the like. But to move toward the first charge of excess, both in drink and food, is a bit more controversial. I don't believe that Jesus drank too much or ate too much, but he apparently drank and ate enough for the charge to stick. Whatever we say about his evangelistic and discipleship methodology, it seems that we must say that drinking and eating were staples. To understand the why behind Jesus' actions a little more understanding is needed.

Eating a meal with someone in the first century was a fairly important deal. To eat with someone signified extension of friendship and loyalty. The sharing of a meal was an indication of love and commitment... kind of like buying someone a beer in our culture. Both are acts of hospitality and generosity that assume a certain level of relational status. Jesus aligned himself, through the cultural forms of his day, with those who needed to hear the good news, both the disciples and the marginalized (another blog on another day on that last part).

Since I deal with students, who are typically underage, I don't "buy 'em a beer." I usually buy them a drink @ Sonic or Starbucks. It's amazing how God uses the purchase of a $3 beverage to open opportunities for the gospel of Jesus to be planted and take root.

So, be like Jesus and "go buy 'em a" fill in the blank with the legal beverage of choice!

Short list of things I was not taught in college

First off, I am an advocate of education. I've spent tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours on it. It is valuable for a lot of things. However, while I spent time pursuing worthy endeavors, I also spent an inordinate amount of time also studying crap that had very little value to my actual career. Rather than point out those things, I think I'll write the things that I wish they would have taught me.

1) Success in ministry is not solely determined by one's godliness. I was taught that if I really trusted Jesus, then God would bless my ministry and I would have a big church.
2) Success in ministry is not solely measured by the size of one's congregation. While size does matter, it's not the only thing. Perhaps some people have greater capacities for ministry, relationships and leadership than others. If that is the case, then maybe success means exceeding our capacities through trusting God, but shouldn't necessarily be compared to others, as if ministry were some sort of one up or tinkling contest.
3) Gathering a crowd really isn't all that hard. Just do something crazy, but legal and within the boundaries set forth by the New Testament, and people will show up just to see the show. For now, I'll not comment on whether or not that (bait and switch events) is a good thing. Examples: 400 kids show up for a free all you can eat pizza thing, 550 kids show up for a $5, 8 hour lock in that has video games, TV smash, inflatables, all you can eat food including pizza, and mechanical bull. My friend, Sean Chandler, recently put on one of these events "Christmas Chaos"@ HCBC in Hutto, TX.
4) Following Jesus is hard but church should be easy. It seems that we may have it completely backwards with our total buy in of Willow, Saddleback, NorthPointe, seeker driven models. Alan Hirsch has written on this quite a bit. See him for more.

to be continued...

Self Awareness

The people I hang with like to say that evangelism and discipleship are "getting to know someone personally, finding out where they are spiritually, and helping them take the next step." I think this definition is ingenious because it emphasizes progression/growth but is not a one size fits all approach. It allows for customization for the individual and is also communal.

If I'm going to put myself in step 2 (finding out where I am spiritually), it seems to me that being self aware is of utmost importance. By self awareness, I mean the act of objectively looking at one's self to determine the state of affairs for a given area of life. It is the getting an outside perspective instead of just looking through life through our own set of glasses. It is, to continue the spectacle metaphor, to get a different set of glasses by which we view ourselves.

To move forward, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, or physically, one must first realize where they are. It does no good to do something that is not helpful. Yet that is what many people do. I've known of people who spend their entire lives in an emotional or spiritual rut because they've never taken the time to evaluate their own position in life. The result has been incredible frustration and a destructive lifestyle that is harmful the the person him/herself as well as others. However much effort given, these people continue to spiral downward because of a simple fact that they don't know where they are or that there even is a scale to be plotted on. Before they can move forward, they must first get an idea of where/what they are. Only then can they know what to do next.

Father, help us to embrace the counsel of other people who love You and love us. Guide our hearts to be humble and receptive to direction and correction, in order that we might continue to be more like Jesus as the days, years and decades go by. Let our posture be that of brokenness so that we can be useful in Your hands.

Loving People

Loving people is doing what is best FOR THEM, whatever the cost. It can involve feelings/emotions but is first a decision to act in their best interest. Love effects the emotions since it's hard to be kind and patient (see 1Cor 13) with people without emotion. But it is not strictly, nor primarily an emotion. Love is laying down one's life (and self interests) for someone else (see Rom 5:8).

It's just so crazy how many people think that love is only an emotion. People fall in and out of love because they have an incomplete and therefore, faulty view of love. The result is one revolving door relationship after another. Since our emotions are so fickle, they come and go. When someone quits feeling a certain way about someone else, they mistake it for a lack of love, when it could be that love was never present in the first place...at least, not anything other than love of self.

Father, help us to truly love others as you've commanded. Give us a keen awareness of the joy and cost of such a love that was displayed for us in Your Son. Find us faithful to enjoy the experience of giving our lives for others so that Christ can be formed in us.

Joy in God

I'm re-reading Piper's Desiring God for the first time in about 10 years. Btw, it's available free online now....click here.

The following thoughts were prompted by chapter 4 on "Love."

Given that God is a being who loves certain things and is completely full of joy in such, it would make sense that as we love what He loves we will be filled with the same joy. In order to do this, we must see what He sees. That is the job of the Scriptures (Rom 12:1-2) and Christian community (see the "one another" passages in the New Testament). As we view life from His viewpoint, we're aligning our desires with His desires and therefore, full of joy.

Father, help us to approach our devotional reading in the Bible and our time with each other with this attitude. Help us to not lose out on the opportunity to be conformed to your image, and therefore experience true, lasting joy, as we meditated on the Scriptures and meet together.

Jesus was a Democrat...

Everclear's song Jesus was a Democrat has been the topic of a couple of conversations I've had in the last two days. The best comment made about the song was from my mentor and friend Bobby Pruitt. He said the biggest problem he had with the song was the line "if Jesus was alive today..."

Considering all the strong reactions to the song either in agreement or otherwise, this statement seems to be the most profound.

blogging

This all seems so cliche'... blogging.

This blog will primarily just be a place for me to put my random but meaningful (so I hope) thoughts. I'd like to keep track of these things and this seemed like a good place to put them. Perhaps these ramblings of mine will help others and draw attention to the King.