Bored, Disengaged... BUSY!

So my thoughts recently have been diverted from my previous post. I have been in dialogue with different people about how we notice perhaps the general trend in our local church is that people are generally just "bored" spiritually... You know, there seems to be a lack of growth and change and when these topics come up in conversation, they are quickly pushed aside to make room for the REALLY IMPORTANT and EXCITING topics of conversation... (like the COLTS: 9-0!!! GO COLTS!)

However, I have been thinking about why people would be bored spiritually... This has been difficult and tough on me as a Leader and Pastor in a local church setting - because the natural thought progression will inevitebly wind up back looking at leadership. Is it my fault? Are people I lead "under-challenged" spiritually speaking? Or even worse, have I drifted into presenting Christ, WHO He is and HOW He calls us to live as something that is in fact boring??? TOUGH STUFF!!!

I have come around to the realization that maybe it's not so much of the above (i.e. being under-challenged) and maybe just more a case of boredom resulting from living "disengaged". I don't really know a better way to say this, but I am noticing more and more that people are sitting in a service, serving as part of a ministry team, mentoring students, giving to those in need etc. without being totally engaged... Has it become so comfortable and normal for them that it is nothing more than routine??? I don't know... But it seems that when it comes to observing spiritual formation in the life of an individual it obviously necessitates their being ENGAGED (thinking, processing, questioning etc.) right? SO again, do the prior questions still apply... like have I presented godliness and following Christ in ways that cause people to disengage??? TOUGH STUFF!!!

I don't know that this is entirely true, but I wonder if we are all soooo busy in the ways we schedule and live our lives that we really allow no room to be engaged on these kinds of things... What I mean is that it is not uncommon for us to meet the demands and stress placed upon us in the workplace by disengaging in most other areas of our life - i.e. family, church, relationship with God etc. I wonder if our "jobs" drain us (physically, emotionally, and mentally) to the point that we really have no margin left to engage in a conversation about spiritual things - let alone stay engaged and allow someone else's thoughts/teaching impact and really apply to MY life... Are we all just too tired??? I don't know... its just a thought!

What do you think?

"Christian Baggage?"

Today I finished reading "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren. This book was great for me and has left me thinking... a lot... and sifting through my own religious "assumptions" and "baggage". I really do want to become more clear on what is truly "of God" and the TRUE Gospel (according to Jesus Christ) and what is nothing more than my own assumptions - which are largely the result of the westernized "Christian Culture" in which I was raised.

I don't want to sound hyper-negative or totally bash Christianity, but neither do I want to just idly and blindly accept the "culture" of Christianity as being critical and crucial to faith... What does all this mean? Let me give you an example...

One thing that I have been really thinking through these past 2 weeks has to do with the way Christianity is viewed throughout the world by different people/s, culture/s, religions etc. Christians tend to look back on our heritage with fondness... Recalling "the good 'ole days" has become a favored past-time for many. Unfortunately we are not viewed in this same light by the rest of the world - because those "good 'ole days" were filled with violence, hatred, prejudice, arrogance and an overall conquering/crusader-type spirit displayed by these so-called Christians...

Sadly, for many years the missionary method employed by the Church was: Capture, Conquer & Conform. They came in and took control by force... usually imposing "western" culture and civilization upon people groups who maintained their own history, tradition and culture - in some cases far richer and more significant than that experienced by these Christians...

This line of thinking led me to dwell upon several questions...

1. To use the cliche': "What would Jesus think/do"???
2. Was this entirely wrong? Did they even really understand or realize what they were doing?
3. What effects of this are still felt today? (McLaren suggests things like the language we use and the thoughts/images it implies to those NOT from a Christian background... E.G. "WIN the lost"... "TAKE this nation for Jesus"... etc.)
4. What other things from our faith may be needlessly OFFENSIVE to other people/s? Are they ESSENTIAL? i.e. are they TRUE doctrine and essential to faith, or are they merely part of the "Christianized Culture"???

I don't know why I decided to post all of this... Just thoughts that I've been living with recently. I guess that I have really struggled with this "exclusionist" and "exclusive" mindset that seems so prevalent throughout the Church. When I look at Jesus, I see far more "inclusion" than I do "exclusion"... why is that? Furthermore, we are so quick to avoid and run from people of other religions, when the very tenants of the Church were often formed "in dialogue" with people and influences from other religions and belief systems (Judaism, Greek mythology etc. etc.) - in my opinion this is what helps us to solidify and gain clarity on what we believe and why we believe it. Not in some kind of judgmental and condemning spirit that seeks through dialogue with other religions to "prove" how wrong they are, but rather to accept that maybe our faith can be strengthened and we can "improve" and grow by learning from these other influences while in dialogue... Seems healthy to me... I don't know, it's just a thought!

Clint.

Decisions, decisions...

So, for some time now we've been trying to decide what to do - do we buy a house or not? If so, what kind of house? Where? How much do we want to spend? etc. It has been a crazy process and we came to a point where we were both completely CONSUMED with this/these kind of decisions... We WERE praying, but didn't sense God giving a clear leading in any particular direction, so we wound up frustrated... Not sure which way to go! However, this didn't stop our minds... we would still find ourselves thinking and talking about this stuff more than anything else!

Finally, at a point of frustration we decided to chat with some trusted friends of ours and we came out of that conversation with the following insight:

God really may not be all that interested in the particular decision/s that we are facing or even making... There really may not be a RIGHT and/or WRONG answer... Perhaps God is far more interested in the process - the praying, seeking, pursuing, and communing with God in the midst of the decision/s.

This being the case, I couldn't help but think that we'd missed the point completely... We were so hung up on the whole "house" deal that we'd actually taken our eyes/focus off God. This serves as a great reminder and lesson for us FOR LIFE - that anytime we face a significant issue, decision, circumstance or whatever, that God is FAR more interested in the process than He is the end result... Or maybe that's just my thoughts!

PEACE!
Clint.

... at least someone is taking care of the "BOGANS"! This place is just down the road from where we live here in Indy...

For those of you who don't know what a "BOGAN" is, I snagged this definition for you from the Austalian Slang Dictionary:

Bogan : person who takes little pride in his appearance, spends his days slacking and drinking beer

Good-bye Syllabi... (part I)

So I was thinking the other day... (surprise, surprise) about all my friends and family who are currently in the midst of collecting syllabi and course requirements as they embark upon another quest to survive just "one more" semester at college. I'm not sure exactly what prompted these thoughts - but it may have had something to do with the fact that people have been repeatedly asking me: "So, how does it feel to not have to go back to school this semester?"... maybe there's a connection there(?!?)

Anyway, back to the original thought - I was reflecting upon my own college experience and in particular lamenting over just how much I truly HATED the first week back to school... You know, it's the week where you start out all excited and legitimately "pumped" about the classes you will be taking, the professor's who will be teaching you, the people you know who will be in those same classes with you, the people you didn't realize would be in those classes with you that you get really excited to see on that first day... etc. etc. But then it happens...

You find yourself walking out at the end of your first class where the professor has done little more than hand you a neatly stapled grouping of papers before continuing to read it aloud to the entire class verbatim. While this may not have the same effect on most college students as it did on me, I will never forget those intense emotions that began to cloud and consume me as I walked out of one class and into another where the same protocol would be followed to the "T"... and then another, and then another, and after each dose these emotions would intensify to the point that usually by about the end of the second or third day of being "back-to-school" I would be ready to quit and drop out... FOR LIFE! These were the all too familiar feelings of being overwhelmed, instantly stressed and honestly fearful of what it would "take" to accomplish all that was required for each of those classes within a short 12 weeks of class... let alone what it would take to maintain decent grades with a requirements list that was longer than all of Keith Drury's hikes COMBINED!

I'm not sure what drives professors to create a syllabus... I'm not sure why they feel the need to devote their whole first class period to simply reading through it... I'm not sure why the requirements list is always so intense (well, maybe they sit around in "staff meetings" trying to "one-up" each other with their own set of syllabi... Can't you just hear it now: "oh, yeah - well check this out!" as Dr. Bounds pulls out his newly revised Fall 2005 Syllabus for Theology I... Or maybe not...) But there is one thing that I am sure of, and it's this: While there is still a good chance that I will pursue further education at some point in my life; for now, I am incredibly happy & grateful to say "Good-bye Syllabi" (while wishing all of my college friends the best of luck... of course!)

Stay tuned... there may be a part II!
Clint.

CUT SICK!

Seasons of Life...

I know, I know... It's been a really long time since I updated this! I've been getting in trouble for it to... WHATEVER!

The thing is that I have now officially decided to give up on this whole idea of living life in "seasons"... because they never truly seem to end, and if they do end, then the next one just starts up immediately on the heels of the previous one and it keeps you just as busy as before!!! It's just a never-ending cycle... It's like a dog chasing its tail, yet never actually catching it... chasing that elusive "slow, relaxed, calm season of life"...

It's as if vacations actually do more harm than good... Sure it's nice to get away and enjoy some different scenery, maybe even a different "pace" of life for a while, but think about the last vacation you took. What about the stress and extra work you had to cover (i.e. busy "season") on both the front end & back end of your time away... Sometimes I really wonder if the additional work and stress preparing to go away and then playing catch-up when you return is actually truly worth it...

SO - all that to say, the latest update from Clint & Jamie is simply this... We are now entering a season where we are both in the same country, both graduated from college, both working full-time jobs, and both working really hard to establish a new PACE of life that is sustainable and lasting for LIFE (over the long haul)... We've both decided to do away with seasons, because it has never really worked out that our sucking-it-up and pushing through a really busy season actually brings the "rewards" that we imagined and hoped for... SO SCREW THE "SEASONS OF LIFE" - it's all a LIE!!!

Maybe you find yourself agreeing with me (or maybe not) and yet you can't even imagine where you would start to do away with the seasons mentality in your own life... Let me leave you with this thought: Perhaps it is actually your own laziness that is causing the chaos in your own life/schedule/day-timer... Why laziness you might ask??? Well - perhaps it is due to the fact that I'm beginning to understand that saying "NO" to things and actually taking charge and dictating my own schedule is far harder work than is just "going with the flow" and allowing my schedule to dictate my life... leaving me always reminding myself and others (complaining) of how "busy" I am and how I am just in a "difficult season" right now...

It takes discipline and really hard work to truly dictate my own schedule and really decide how and where my time is spent... This is the journey that Jamie and I are embarking on over the coming days, weeks, and months - hoping to establish an ongoing "season of life" that we can live within for good! That way, I'll have no reason, excuse or right to complain to you any more about how busy life is right now... Because from here on out - I accept that it is totally MY FAULT!!!

Hopefully a sign of things to come... OUT!
Clint.