The Midas Touch

I listen to alot of Giants games. That being said, I love this time of year when I can listen to a ballgame just about everyday if I am able. As I listen, I find myself often getting the catchy marketing slogans that are inserted between innings or a pitching change stuck in my head. Some are for Autozone, Speedy Oil Change and Tune-Up, Midas, etc...I was driving down Ocean St. here in Santa Cruz the other day and saw a sign in front of a Midas for an oil change for $19.95. Not a bad bargain and of course having heard the "Midas Touch" jingle a few times, I was inclined to check it out(don't I sound like a pawn of corporate marketing!). I went in about 9am this morning assuming it would be a quick one. No no no no...hour and half later I finally got out of there.

I am always intrigued by the magazines/newspapers sitting in these type waiting rooms. I started with the newspaper. One article caught my eye. It was discussing some recent U.S. religious statistics. This was the main point of the article and the stats: over the course of the average "religious" person's life in America, they change religions and/or denominations at an incredibly high rate. It specifically talked about the rate at which protestants "walked away" from their inherited religion. The main reason, their stats argued, was not due to science disproving the reality of God, but the judgmental/hypocritical examples they had seen and experienced within Christianity. And for a variety of other reasons, they had become disenchanted by this version of Christianity. Interesting article.

My oil change was over the 1 hour point by now and I continued to peruse the magazine options. Between a few on Brad and Jenn locking eye's on some red carpet, I saw a magazine with the bold headline, "How Jesus Can Save Your Career." I was hooked, so I picked it up and had a read. This article described a growing trend of church goers whose main goal in attending was learning how a faith in Jesus could bring about financial wealth and security in a time of economic downturn. I can understand these people's fear and I can also understand the desire to cure the fear by putting my faith in something bigger than myself. Here is the kicker...the article continues by telling of this "wealthy, Prius driving" demographic going to a church where the "rock star" pastor takes the stage holding a staff with a money symbol adorning the top. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the pastor said some great things and it sounds like he did reference some good resources, but to me the "money" conversation needs to be elevated to a higher level if we are to truly follow/model the teachings of our Savior, Jesus. Rather than preaching a model of strategic accumulation of money that leads to comfort and sustained excess in this time of economic downturn, shouldn't we more closely be looking at/living out Jesus teachings of giving away our possessions and self sacrifice for the good of others?

Maybe this disconnect between Jesus teachings and our "church" teachings has something to do with this disenchantment from those that have at some point aligned themselves with Christianity. If for no one else, I know this realization proves to be a challenge for me. Does my life preach strategic financial accumulation or obedient giving and self sacrifice? I have along way to go...

Blog Freeze

So I have been running from an honest update on this blog for some time now. Reading the blog of my great friend Chip, has stirred me to action. Some use the "blog" as a platform to inform others of the latest life happenings, some use it as a public journal of personal thoughts/exploration, others may use it as a place to sound tough on issues they are passionate enough to write alot about, while often taking much less effort to turn the words into actions, etc...I probably have used it for all of those things. Further, most blogs I have read end with some kind of conclusion that gives the impression that the writer has mastered the issue(s) at hand and can come off a bit arrogant. I have probably done some of that too.

I am typically a "glass half full" kind of guy. Not lately. Things have been a tough go, while lacking many of the positive experiences and/or insights I mentioned above. Something I am realizing more and more everyday is that I am a product of a paradigm/culture that doesn't very well embrace the reality of simply "being" who we are without having some kind of positive spin to it. Especially those that find themselves in religious leadership positions. If I don't have some positive news, life experience or insight then why share it? Well, I am finding that this may be the most important time to share. I can often relate to the pain of real life in a much more profound way than I can relate to anothers' success. Not that I am saying we shouldn't celebrate and throw a party as a result of anothers success. We should. But I also want to be with others in the pain of the everyday in the same way that I need those closest to me to partner/share in mine.

These past few months have been full of relational tension, confusion, frustration/anger, hopelessness, passivity and depression. It is not necessarily the events of these past couple months that have led to this, but the illumination of past hurt that has surfaced. Not just ways that I have been wronged, but ways that I have wronged myself through unrealistic expectations. I feel as though I am going through a detox from this culture of "assumed/expected daily euphoria" that I had bought into and moving towards one of transparency, humility and service.

I have a pretty good idea what to blame for this extended time of introspection and revelation. Like never before, Janny and I have experienced a peace in our souls that affirms that we are uncovering and partnering in the Kingdom of God in a real way. It hasn't come in the form of going to a church service or speaking/sharing only the ways God has "worked" in our lives. It has been through an acknowledgment of the ways He is "working" and asking us to better identify with those that may not have it all together...like ourselves. I'm not saying this peace has made it all easy or at times even felt worth while. But I have to assume that if God wants us to invite others into His Kingdom that raises up the weak, poor, hurting, broken...we must be able to relate. I must get a more true understanding of who I am in light of this Way of love and share with others in the midst of chaos.

I'll save our latest life happenings(teaching, coaching, church, etc...) for the next blog. For now, I have thawed the Blog Freeze with some good old fashion honesty.