Showing posts with label Relationships. Show all posts

(OK.  I'll have a couple of posts on Steve Jobs today.  Please forgive this Apple fanboy.)

This quote below caught my eye. And, frankly, it's not because it's a critique of Fox News.  It's because it gives an alternative to the Liberal/Conservative framework that shapes so much of our dialogue.

This is a conversation Steve Jobs had with Rupert Murdoch.  It's found at Poynter:

“You’re blowing it with Fox News,” Jobs told him over dinner. “The axis today is not liberal and conservative, the axis is constructive-destructive, and you’ve cast your lot with the destructive people. Fox has become an incredibly destructive force in our society. You can be better, and this is going to be your legacy if you’re not careful.” Jobs said he thought Murdoch did not really like how far Fox had gone. “Rupert’s a builder, not a tearer-downer,” he said. “I’ve had some meetings with James, and I think he agrees with me. I can just tell.”

Murdoch later said he was used to people like Jobs complaining about Fox. “He’s got sort of a left-wing view on this,” he said.

I love that quote, "The axis today is not liberal and conservative, the axis is constructive-destructive."

I don't view this as a left-wing perspective.

I don't take Jobs to mean that liberal=constructive and conservative=destructive.  I could be wrong, but my assumption is that those who find them politically (or religiously?) liberal could either build up or tear down, using their words or positions to collaborate or rip each other apart.  And, I assume, the same goes for those who consider themselves conservative.

That's a great way of looking at the world and I can hear Paul preaching to us from 1 Corinthians 8:1:

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

So, can we reach across political divides of liberal and conservative as long as we're trying to build up each other, our community, our country?

I have been accused of being both liberal and conservative and consider that kind of a badge of honor.  But more than those designations, I pray that I am perceived as one who supports and nurtures and cares and heals and forges relationships between folks.  I hope I'm among the "constructive."

Well, to be honest, they weren't actually "zombies."  They were persons acting like zombies.  And, to be clear, they weren't the "Night of the Living Dead" - type zombies either.  They were very much alive, but infected by some horrible virus that turned them into rabid monsters.

But, why were they in church?

A new outreach program?

An odd sermon illustration?

The result of a particularly bad worship experience?

Not exactly.

I have always thought it best for clergy folk to hang out with non-Christian, or at least non-church going people.  Too often we can get wrapped up in our own religious worlds and forget that there are folks out there who believe differently or believe nothing at all.  And it's a good thing for us to find a group of people we like to interact with who aren't going to be the people you see in the pews (or chairs, as it were) on Sunday morning.  They have different expectation and can offer different perspectives that aren't so rooted the usual religious stuff.  It's not so much about evangelism as it is relationship and friendships.

I like hanging out at the coffee shop.  It's "The Grind" and is run by a guy known as "Gator."  I like sitting there, coffee in hand, iPad on lap, interacting and chatting with the folks who make their way down to get a latte or Americano or just to tap into some WiFi.  Gators's a great guy and I've loved the staff he's had work in his shop.  So, I go and sit and make small talk.  The point, really, is not evangelization, but friendship and keeping me from being so insular in the work of being a pastor.  I enjoy those folks.  I call them "my coffee shop friends" and I do care about what they have going on in their lives, how their various businesses are going, and what brings them joy.  And I truly believe they care about me and what I have going on.  I love it.

Well, Gator is a creative guy.  He's somewhat of a nerd and a fan of pop culture, things about which we have wonderful discussions.  Well, he's also a man obsessed with making a movie.  He has a storyboard that flows through several notebooks, each scene mapped out entirely.  It started, first, as kind of an Alaskan wilderness survival movie, since that's something he knows a few things about.  But, it evolved into something more than that.  The reason persons were trying to survive in Alaska is that there has been an outbreak of some virus that causes those infected to turn into rabid-Zombie-like creatures. 

I got involved because Gator said he'd like me in his movie.  He wanted to have a scene with zombies breaking in the door of the church were I and some others have gathered for safety.  I would be all dressed up in my clergy attire...what Gator calls my "uniform."  The scene was to have me holding back the door with zombie hands trying to get through.  And then three zombies would breach the door and run towards the folks gathered at the front of church where we we have a couple of guns and an ax.  There would be, he assured, no zombie contact.

I didn't want to do this in the new church since I'm not sure I could have handled the imagery in that space I've worked so hard for.  But I also didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to support Gator and his friends and participate in something that was going to pull in community members I've only shared coffee with and, frankly, whose company I enjoy very much.

So, Sunday night we filmed the scene in the old church.  We had two of my girls with me.  We had four other church folks and several of the coffee-shop crowd, including three zombies.  The zombies had chocolate syrup for blood, since it was filmed in black and white.  People acted frightened behind me.  I learned more about holding a shotgun than I'd ever learned before.  And, in the end, the zombies never touched us.  It was over in 90 minutes and then Gator apparently spent all night piecing together 90 seconds of video.

In advance, I did tell a couple of our church leaders that I was going to do this at the old church.  I thought I should explain myself to a few folks first.  I'm not sure everyone would have appreciated this.  But I had fun and I think some of my non church friends appreciated that the church was able to help them out.  I got to share some of my life and what's important to me while they got to share some of their life.

That's why zombies attacked our church on Sunday night.

And it was a blast.

Sunday as we looked at our financial difficulties at Girdwood Chapel...as we discussed discipleship and giving and stewardship and building needs and work teams and benefits and pastoral compensation and...  Well, we covered a lot.

As we looked at all of this I wanted us to celebrate the wonderful, loving, world-changing, disciple-making things that we're involved in in this community and in the world.  And I wanted to remind them that, while our financial realities are important and can affect ministry, I didn't want it to define us.  I want persons to hear about the love of Christ first and foremost...and not our need for funds.  I don't like the pastor I become when the "trees" of our financial commitments obscure the "forest" of God's grace and love.

I don't want to be the church in the Naked Pastor cartoon above.

Yes, that's right.  This happened just recently.  We were engaged in a nice conversation about...well...important stuff...and the fact that my MacBook Pro has some "bling."

But when we were done and he was headed out of the coffee shop to go about his day's work and I was left to finish the very important business that I was doing (probably updating Facebook!) he said, "See ya, John!"  I heard him.  I didn't correct him, but I heard him.

I've been in this town for 10 years and, while I'm no old-timer, most of the town has been here for fewer years than I have with my family.  So, I consider myself pretty well known.  And, frankly, I kind of assume that I'm going to be well-known.  I'm "Pastor Jim."  It's how I sign my coffee cards, building up to get that "free" one after I've plunked down the money for 10 "non-free" ones plus tip.  And, I kind of assume that...even if people don't know me well...they will know me as "Pastor Jim"...or "Jim"...or "Spike" (long story).

And so, I was surprised that he called me, "John."  I guess he was good on the first letter.  "Jim" and "John" aren't really all that far apart.  But he really didn't know who I was.

And, you know what, I didn't really know who he was.   I couldn't tell you his name, even if I tried.  We're not friends.  But we've chatted in the coffee shops.  I've seen him with his son.  He's seen me with my kids -- all five or just a few at a time.  But I really don't know who he is.  I know his face and I could only hope I could get as close to correct as he was with my name.

Isn't this the way it is at our churches at times.  We assume we know everyone who is coming.  We assume that we're on a first-name basis with them.  We assume we know families and friends and where they work and all the stuff.  But, more often than not, we really don't.  We may know their faces.  But, we may not know a Jim from a John from a Larry or whatever.  We've never really taken the time.

So, how can we expect the relationships to be deep and meaningful if we know so little about each other?

I may have been called "John" but I think, when I see this guy again, I need to make sure I learn his name.  This isn't about getting him in the church or finding a new best friend.  But it is about caring enough to learn some of the most basic information about a person.

That's a place to start.