Just A Little Something

Hey all!

Well, I'm finally back from vacation.  Actually, I've been back for a week or so, but I got sick during vacation and at the same time as returning had to prepare for all manner of presentations and did not have the time or energy to put out a post.  

But I have a few minutes and felt I needed to put something out, even if it is pretty short.

I could talk about vacation and such, which was great, but instead I'm going to make a small but important point based on an interaction I had with a person at a recent thingy I did.

"Thingy" is the technical term for what us preacher types do.

I spent a day doing presentations and Q and A time after we returned from vacation.  I had almost no voice at all, so, it was a long day.

I won't go into all the details of what we talked about and discussed, but I will tell you what a person said to me after we were all done and my voice was finally completely dead and we were all ready to go.

As is often the case after a presentation or a sermon or a talk of any kind, people will come up and say hi and such.  And, normally there is a broad range of response from people depending on who they are what they took from the whole experience.

One thing I had been trying to accomplish was to encourage people to truly think about their lives and what they believe and what they do with both of those things.  Don't just blindly stumble through like a bull in a Star Wars collectable shop, doing more damage than good.

Unless it was a prequels collectable shop, then stomp away.  

I'm looking at you Jar Jar Binks.

One man in particular came up to me and started the conversation like this.

"I know what you were trying to say."  (First thing people say when they are about to politely disagree.  If they aren't worried about being polite, they just start by calling you names.  True story.)  "But one thing that makes the culture of the country I come from better than yours (he actually just said where he was from, but I'm not trying to hate on his people, it isn't the point or the problem) is that we never question anything.  We just accept it all and stay faithful no matter what.  We always do everything we are told and believe."

Now, at this point I was sick, tired, had no voice and in general wanting to lay down right there and pass out.  Two of the organizers saw me after I finished speaking and they said, "Holy cow, you look horrible!  You need to go home and rest."

That's never a good sign.

So, because of this, I just had no ability to have a long discussion and/or argument with the guy.  It probably wouldn't have helped anyway.

So I thanked him for his thoughts and told him it was great to meet him.  Which it was.

But let's think his statement through for a moment.  

Never question anything?  Accept anything told to you just because the source is "official"?  Never go deeper into the source or material or bother to learn why someone interpreted something the way they did?  

What if that person made a mistake?  What if they didn't know what they were talking about?  What if they themselves were complete ignorant or mislead?  What if they were purposefully deceitful?

Never ever ever just accept something simply because someone said so.  Not even if you agree.  Maybe especially if you agree.

That is super dangerous with a side of extra stupid.  This is how damaging and hurtful beliefs and practices are started.  This is how lives are damaged and ruined.

From a Christian standpoint, the bible even tells us to test and measure.  Using the concept of faith to promote ignorance is evil.

And if you are not religious of any kind, well, the same still holds true.  And perhaps you know it to be true more so than the rest of us.  And for that, I'm sorry.

Never be afraid to ask the hard questions and go against old programming.

You might be surprised the good will do you.  And just as importantly, the good it will do for someone else.

Lesson 12 - The Tying of the Cat

People believe some crazy stuff.  Of course, they don’t think their belief is crazy.  We never think our belief is crazy.  But everyone has something they believe is true that others might consider wacky.

I had a student who is more than old enough to know better who was convinced that a girl could get pregnant all by herself simply by doing complex gymnastics moves.  I have met full grown adults who believe that if you go Trick-or-Treating on Halloween that you will immediately become possessed by a demon.  Then there are the parents who won’t allow their kids within 3 miles of a movie theater because they are “evil”, but will sit at home and watch gory horror films about demons and witches with their kids.  Same said parents won’t let same said kids watch Disney animated movies because they are also “evil.”

Seriously.

And, please, don’t read anything into those examples about what I believe or don’t believe about these things.  I think I’ve made my proclivity towards sci-fi, action, and fantasy clear by now.

The point is, people believe some interesting things.  It causes us to wonder where they picked that up from?  Where did they learn that?  Why do they believe that?  Who taught them that?  Why choose to die on that hill, and not another?

Let me tell you a story.  We are about at that point in this post, yes?  However, just to be upfront with you, this is a completely fictional story.  Also, for the sake of honesty and integrity and other words that end in “y”, I did not create this story.  So, if you have heard it before, I apologize if I don’t tell it the way you had heard it before.  This story is about the point more so than the details.

Once upon a time long ago there was a Rabbi.  For those who don’t know, “Rabbi” is simply the Hebrew word for “teacher”.  This Rabbi was in charge of one of the weekly prayer gatherings in his area.  The Rabbi took great pride in making sure everything was organized well and ran smoothly.

One day just as he had gotten things started in his prayer gathering, a cat snuck into the room.  As everyone was trying to pray and be focused, this cat began whining and meowing and making all manner of racket.  This made the Rabbi not happy.  He tried to catch the cat but could not.  It stayed out of his grasp as would hide behind random objects in the room.  The cat had ruined his good planning.

The next week, the Rabbi started up his prayer session again deciding to shake off the last weeks travesty of a spiritual gathering.  But just as he thought things were going good, he discovered the cat had come back and snuck in as it began to screech and whine just as loudly as the week before.  Angry, the Rabbi again tried to catch that cat, but once again he failed.

The next week he decided to be smarter than the cat.  He arrived earlier than usual making sure everything was in order, and then proceed to hide outside and wait to see if the cat would show up.  His patience and planning paid off.  The cat showed up right on schedule and the Rabbi snatched it up before it could sneak inside.  Being the kind man that he was, he didn’t harm the cat, but instead tied it to a tree just out side of where they were meeting.  Once the meeting was over, he released the cat and let it go on its way.

The next week he did the same thing.  He waited, caught the cat, tied it to a tree, and then released it after the meeting.  And so it was that every week he continued to do this just to keep the cat from sneaking in and disrupting the meeting.

Unfortunately, the Rabbi was an old man and some time later, he died.  His disciples loved him and tried to honor him by taking over his weekly prayer session.  As such, they made sure there was someone waiting outside to catch that cat.  They would do so, tie it to the tree, and then release it after the meeting.

Well, after a number of years, the inevitable happened.  The cat grew old and also died.  The Rabbi’s disciples knew exactly what to do.

They bought a new cat.

Every week they would take the new cat and tie it to the tree.  The disciples did this week after week, year after year until finally that cat grew old and died at which point they would find another cat.  The tradition passed from disciple to disciple for generations until finally the tree itself died.

Undeterred, the distant followers of the Rabbi simply planted a new tree in the same spot so they could continue to tie a cat to it.

And so, for generations upon generations, the followers tied a cat to the tree every week as the Rabbi had done.  As time passed, books were written about the Tying of the Cat.  They talked about the meaning of the cat and the symbol of the tree and the significance of tying a cat to it and what it all meant and it’s implication on life and God and salvation.

All because some dude didn’t want a cat screwing up his meeting.

People believe some crazy things.  But what matters even more than what they believe is why they believe it and how they came to believe it.

As I mentioned last week, motive is everything.  Intention is everything.  What you do is important, but why you do it is much more important.  The “why” always dictates the “what”.

The reality is that, most of us don’t really know why we do what we do or believe what we believe.  When I ask people, the most common answer I get is “I heard from (insert random non-expert: here).”  The internet.  A TV show or movie.  Their grandmother.  Their parent.  Some person in a random conversation they were close to.  Sometimes they don’t even remember where they heard it.

And yet, they insert it directly into their belief system and regular practice with out ever having sought out it’s purpose or validity or usefulness.

It becomes belief without motive.  At least, not their motive.  And as such, their own motives become muddy and uncertain because they begin to live at cross purposes with their own motives, intentions, and desires… and those of someone else who wasn’t anymore in the know than they were.

If you as a person do not choose to take control of who you are as a person, what you believe and why you believe it, you will always be living at cross purposes with yourself and never be truly fulfilled in life.  Choose to know what you know.  Find the reality obscured by the myth.

Set yourself free.
     Otherwise, all you will be doing is tying a cat to a tree and you won’t even know why.

Blog 15: Let There Be Fruit

Greetings fellow programs.

What, has no one here ever seen Tron?

Huh. Maybe I am old. I didn’t see this coming.

Anyway, what was I going to tell you…

Oh. That’s right. The wedding. I recently had the privilege to perform a wedding for a good friend of mine. Cool stuff. Got to see some old friends and embarrass the wedding party publically. Well, I don’t know if they were all that embarrassed, but I sure had a fun time.

But let me tell you about what happened at the reception.

Let me start by saying this. Everyone has certain occupational hazards. Pastor’s, for example, might as well walk around with giant targets painted on their chests. Someone is always gunning for you. And so it was at this reception.

As I was sitting at my table laughing and joking with a couple of old friends, a couple gentlemen from another table came over. They wanted to ask the pastor some questions. Now, understand, I am always up for that. I enjoy it. It’s fun. It’s part of who I am. These guys, however, were less interested in asking question as they were going to show me how I was wrong and what I believe and teach are wrong.

At one time they had been a part of my denomination, and they came to me completely certain of what I must believe and teach on certain things. So certain were they, that they just started unleashing their ammo on topic after topic, completely certain I was going to disagree and argue with them and they were going to show me their infallible proof of how wrong the denomination is and by extension, I am.

Over the next two hours, they “discussed” 5 or so different topics that they were sure I was going to fight them on. What the topics were are largely irrelevant. Feel free to inquire if you wish. But the point isn’t the specific topics. The point is that it never once occurred to them that I might actually agree with them.

Which I did. On ever topic but one. And even with that one, I only disagreed in one area, and agreed on the rest of the point. Really, we couldn’t have agreed much more across the board if we had planned it.

And yet, they kept looking for a way to disagree. This is because, they weren’t really looking for a discussion.

They were looking for a fight.

They would launch into a scripture referencing festival, and follow it with, “how can you believe and teach this?”

To which I would reply, “Well, I don’t. I agree with you.”

To which they would reply, “No that’s not tr,… wait, what?”

Every time it was complete bafflement that I wasn’t disagreeing with them. A long time ago, they had been taught certain things. They had believed them. They had believed that this is what the denomination actually believed. Certainly, many do. But not in any official way. But they believed that it was official and that every pastor believed and taught these things. Which, as it turns out, isn’t true. They had learned from pastor’s who were teaching agenda. And these guys had bought it.

Then, one day as they were studying, they discovered that it wasn’t true. It’s funny how the truth always finds it’s way to light. It can only be buried for so long before it sneaks out of it’s prison. And it had snuck into their lives. And this is good and great. There is only one small issue here.

This all happened over a decade ago. And now, ten years later, they are still angry about it. They are still hunting down pastor’s they come into contact with.

Let me be clear. They were not mean. They were not rude. They were perfectly friendly and we had a great discussion. No one left angry. I don’t want to give the impression that this was a verbal brawl. One of these guys I had met a few times in the past before I was a pastor. It probably emboldened him some to talk to me.

But it doesn’t change the intent. They needed to let me know that I was wrong. And when they discovered that I agreed with them, they didn’t know what to do. All the fuel of their fight evaporated. Sort of. One of the two kept trying to find something else to disagree on. It was amusing in some regards.

But I keep going back to 10 years later and still angry. Or at least, still with the bitter taste. Why is that so?

Let answer that question with another question.

When people meet you, once they have met you what do they believe you stand for?

These guys clearly thought they knew what I stood for. Until they actually met me. Then they found out I stand for something else entirely. They were happy with that turn of events, but it did confuse them.

Which caused me to ponder the question, what do they stand for? Well, based on the interaction I had with them, I started concluding that they basis in religion was about confrontational biblical knowledge. Maybe this isn’t true, but having met and spent time with them, this is the impression given. 10 years after being set free with the “truth”, they are still angry, and still arguing about this truth.

Which begs the question, what did they stand for before they learned the “truth”? Where they the same, just on the other side of the fight? Angryish then as they are now, but with a different purpose to their fight?

Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll never know. And It’s really not for me to judge. I don’t point this out to pass judgment. We all have our pet peeves and pet issues that get under our skin.

I use this as an example to as my question again.

Once people have met us, what do they believe we stand for?

I don’t ask that with any assumptions. I don’t know what any of you believe personally. At least, not all of you. I know some of you are Christian, some aren’t. But you are all my friends.

But what do people think you stand for? And I don’t necessarily mean specific point of belief.

Back in January I baptized a 17 year old boy. Ha. I called him a boy. Darn. I AM old.

I baptized this kid. Before he was baptized, he came to church on Sabbath and was talking to the head deacon. Now, this kid is a bit awkward. He’s a good kid, but he has problems with being accepted socially. But he gets excited about church and God. And he was looking forward to being an “official” part of the church family. So, he tells the head deacon he’s getting baptized the next Sabbath.

Well, I hadn’t told the deacon yet.

The deacon flipped out. Instead of showing excitement for the kid, he gets angry and starts ranting about how no one told him, and now he was going to have to fill the baptistery and he only had an entire week to do it (it takes a evening of an open faucet). He does this in the middle of the sanctuary. In front of everyone. And this kid felt like he had done something wrong. This guy was yelling at him. It was totally unacceptable behavior. And all the kid had done was tell the deacon how excited he was.

The kid almost didn’t go through with the baptism. He thought maybe the church didn’t want him.

When people meet that deacon, what do they believe he stands for?

What motivates us to act? How is it that some people share similar factual details but act upon them differently? How is it that some people confuse things and turn the detail into the believe, and make the belief insignificant like the detail?

I was sitting in a board meeting the next month. We were discussing the desire some people had to put on a musical program for church performed by our own people. It was a good idea. Immediately one gentleman piped up. He wanted to know what we were going to do to sensor the music.

Now, it doesn’t matter that this wouldn’t even be an issue. We only have 2 people in that church with any music talent at all, they are both pretty traditional/conservative.

Really, he wasn’t talking about that. He was talking about the baptism. That 17 year old kid asked for a specific song to be played. It was a contemporary Christian song by the group Casting Crowns. It was a very mellow, spiritual song. Beautiful song. Completely and utterly appropriate.

This gentlemen said that if we were going to be performing music like that we either needed censorship or he was voting against it. I asked him what was wrong with the song. He responded that it was “evil.”

I asked him what was evil about it.

He said, “I don’t know, it just is.”

It just is. This was his reasoning. “It just is.”

Brilliant.

Translation? The song wasn’t evil. He just didn’t like it. It turns out there is a huge difference there.

Instead of being happy about the baptism and encouraging our people to actively participate in worship, he wanted to complain about music that was never going to be a part of the service anyway.

When people meet this guy, what do they believe HE stands for?

It doesn’t matter what we believe in life. Ok, let me rephrase that. It does matter what we believe in life. What I mean to say is, whatever we believe in life, how does that belief manifest in our lives? What do we show people that we believe in? What we stand for?

The bible uses a phrase that is applicable to anyone regardless of their belief system.

You will know them by their fruit.

That which our life produces is a reflection of what we truly believe. Not what we say we believe, but what we truly believe.

A grape vine produces grapes. An orange tree produces orange. Always. Never do these things produce any other type of fruit.

Poison oak always produces poison oak and never anything else.

What do we produce?

Back in the early church people were arguing over disputable and irrelevant beliefs. These arguments became the larger focus of their lives. The apostle Paul kept trying to tell them to forget about these things and focus on stuff that actually matters.

One example of this is the example of circumcision. Jewish Christians were trying to get gentile Christians to circumcise themselves for the sake of salvation. The only problem was that circumcision had nothing to do with salvation. But they fought about it none the less.

Paul went into a long winded argument about how pointless and irrelevant either argument was. None of it mattered. In the end finished his argument like this.

“The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself in love.”

Please stop and read that sentence again. I don’t care what you think religion is about. I don’t care what side of religion you are on. If you have missed this point, you have missed God’s point. You have missed the point who we are suppose to be. Whether you believe in God or not, the point of that sentence is relevant. The only thing that matters is expressing ourselves through love. With love. In love.

Only love.

There is no other point.

As a Christian, I believe this is the reason Jesus came to die. He came to teach us this point. He hadn’t been dead 10 years before everyone forgot that the only thing that mattered was faith expressing itself through love.

But if we aren’t producing this around us, then what are we standing for?

Once a person has met you, what do they believe you stand for?

What kind of fruit does your life produce?