Facebook/Twitter Users Beware: The Perils of Social Networking

Social media users (like me) need to proceed with awareness and caution.

You know the old adage, “actions speak louder than words.” Thanks to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and blogging, we need a new one: “words speak louder than action.” Allow me to elaborate.

I haven’t blogged in a while. It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say. Rather, quite the opposite. I have had quite a bit of things to opine, whine, and wax eloquently about. I simply lacked a whole lot of motivation to write about such things. For one, others often end up putting my thoughts into better words than I can (hence my constant postings of columns by Nicholas Kristof). Also, I was getting somewhat dejected by the amount of argumentative responses I would receive about certain…um, controversial things I would write about.

So…I watched. I read. People posted statuses and blogs and tweets and links to things they felt were important. And I began to notice a trend in my way of thinking toward people. My opinions toward people would suddenly reflect what their statuses revolved around. Their online presence became a major factor in the overall composite of who I perceived them to be. And, unlike any time in history, we can now “listen” to people (through statuses and updates) daily, or hourly, without ever having to interact with them in person.

In fact, we can feel like we know exactly who someone is without ever seeing them physically interact with the people and world around them. We can form opinions about their communication skills without ever hearing them talk. We can make evaluations about what people value without ever seeing them spend time doing something. And all of this is quite dangerous to our overall impressions of the people around us. Because, the truth of the matter is, actions speak louder than words. But what if we never see people’s actions? What if all we have are words?

A person’s words become their identity to a whole population of people that only interact with them online.

And so, Francis (a made-up name) can spend all of his free time volunteering at a homeless shelter. He can donate most of what he has. He can be one of the most selfless people on the planet. However, if Francis spends all of his online “real estate” (i.e. statuses, tweets, etc.) complaining and whining about others, then a perception will (quickly) grow: Francis hates people.

For the first time in history, words speak louder than action.

Another example: my grandfather is one of the most loving people I have ever met. He gives of his time and money more than anyone I have ever witnessed. In fact, virtually everyone that ends up spending any amount of time with him comes to the same conclusion. He is one of the best examples of selfless living that I’ll probably ever encounter. However, he also sends me quite a few email forwards. These forwards typically consist of very politically-charged diatribes against Pres. Obama. Often, these diatribes border on the absurd. They can be hateful and most of them are utterly fictitious. Let me reiterate that these are not things that my grandpa writes, he just forwards them.

However, if someone on his email forward list never spent time with him, they could get a very strong impression that he hates all Democrats or all liberals. Based on his email forwards, such a conclusion is only natural. But I know this is not the case. I know that 96% (roughly) of my grandfather’s thoughts and time are spent looking for ways to help and love people. But one wouldn’t know that by his email forwards. In a world where online presence can often exist in a vacuum, perception is reality.

An unfortunate side-effect of the social networking that most of us engage in is that it creates a barrier between us and the person with whom we are trying to communicate with. So, instead of erring on the side of niceness and polite conversation, we are more likely to speak more strongly and forcefully, often to the point of speaking much more freely (or meanly) than we ever would in person. In light of everything else I have talked about, this is an incredibly dangerous way of communication. There have been people in my life who are incredibly nice in person; however, as soon as they get online, they can be mean, argumentative, and offensive. If someone’s online communication is more frequent than the “in-person” communication, then it doesn’t take long for the perception of the “online self” to override the perception of the “real-life self.”

All that said, I am incredibly thankful for social networking. If you are reading this, then you probably know that Facebook and Twitter are things I use quite often. There are some incredibly good things that can come about as a result of the flattening of the world because of online media. But, like any form of communication, it must be navigated with care and precision.

NFL 2009 Preview: NFC Edition

This is my first-ever NFL preview article, so I am not totally sure how to go about it. With that caveat, let us begin with my picks to win each division in the NFC:

NFC North—in potentially the strongest division in the NFC, it’s hard to pick against the Vikings (and no, not because of Brett Favre.) This was the team to beat with Gus Frerotte/Tarvaris Jackson under center. Adrian Peterson is, barring injury, going to have the best year of his pro career. He is stronger and faster than he’s ever been, thanks to a more diligent offseason. The Bears will also be contenders, and it seems that Green Bay’s offense is somewhat unstoppable. However, in the division games, Minnesota will eke out wins by controlling the clock and wearing down opposing defenses. Top of the division: Minnesota. Bottom of the division: Detroit Lion Cubs.

NFC South—this is also a tough division. Tampa Bay, with confusion at the coaching level and indecision at the quarterback level, will have no problem assuring its fans that they have nothing to cheer for. The other three teams, however, will be better. This may sound crazy to some, but the Falcons will repeat their playoff season and win the division. The Panthers, with Jake Delhomme having an identity crisis (Do I suck, or do I really SUCK?) will barely beat the Tampa so-five-minutes-ago-Bucs (didn’t they get the memo that Pirates are out, Vampires are in?) in record. The Falcons will win a close race with the Saints, who will not make the playoffs despite improving on last year. Top of the division: Atlanta. Bottom of the division: Tampa Bay Sea Thieves.

NFC East—this is still the toughest division in football overall. The Redskins are the worst team, and they could easily give every other division winner in the NFC a run for their money. However, this division will only send two teams to the playoffs, despite the fact that three teams will have as good (or better) records than all of the NFC West teams. The New Jersey Giants will have a difficult time putting yards on the board after losing some offensive weapons to friendly fire (Plaxico Burress) and trade (Derrick Ward). Dallas, after giving Diva the boot, will rise to the top. Despite some defensive back depth issues, the Boys’ defense will rise above last year’s level with Wade Phillips’ play-calling and the best defensive player in the league (Demarcus Ware). The Boy’s minus-T.O.-offense will be more of a balanced attack with the best tailback tandem in the league (Marion Barber III and Felix Jones, who will also do their fair share of receiving.) The Philly Puppy-Killers, though a preseason favorite, will fail to gain traction on offense, despite their up-and-coming wideouts. Michael Vick will struggle—causing rifts in the locker room and national drama as sportswriters everywhere call for the Eagles to throw Vick to the, um, dogs. Top of the division: Dallas Homeboys. Bottom of the division: Washington Political-Correctness-Fighters.

NFC West—this will (still) be the weakest division in football, and the winner will take the division with a measly 8-8 or 9-7 record. The Cardinals, last year’s improbable Cinderella team, will fail to meet last year’s middling success (they only went 9-7) and Kurt Warner will finally show his age by a) getting hurt or b) insisting that all the offensive linemen meet him for coffee at the local Phoenix McDonald’s every morning so they can talk about the good old days. The Rams will again wonder who took Marc Bulger’s place during his 2006 Pro Bowl season because the REAL Marc Bulger will inevitably get hurt, play less than sixteen games, and not reach 3,000 passing yards (like 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2008). San Fran, despite Crazy-Eyes’ first full season as head coach, will not be able to inspire his team by pulling his pants down and yelling about “butt-whuppins.” Shaun Hill will perform admirably, though, and have a solid Aaron Rodgers-circa 2008 year, all the while having John Mayer’s song “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” stuck in his head. The Seafowl, despite a high-school level running game, will elevate their offense thanks to the addition of Pony-Tail Housh just enough to win the division and be one-and-done in the playoffs. Best in the division: Rain-town Seahawks. Worst in the division: The “Why-Are-We-Still-in-St. Louis?” Rams.

Wild Card predictions: The Green Bay Cheeseheads will rebound after last year’s drama-filled snafu and barely lose the division to the Vikings. They’ll play in Atlanta in January. As will the New York Football (duh!) Giants. They will not be able to repeat their division crown because no NFC East team in the last 5 years has. But they’ll be ready to play in Seattle in January.

Playoff game predictions: Atlanta will beat the Packers and the Giants will beat the Seahawks in the first weekend. Dallas and the Vikings will enjoy first-round byes. The Giants will go on to beat the Vikings by haranguing Brett Favre. Dallas will beat Atlanta. The NFC Championship game will be in Dallas’ new stadium in a rematch of the Boys’ home season opener. The scoreboard, contrary to popular opinion, will not be a factor.

The Cowboys win the NFC Championship in a game that isn’t as close as it should be: 31-14.

Can Love Win?

92% of all homeless/poverty-stricken women will experience some level of abuse, either physically or sexually, at some point in their lives. 60% will experience such abuse before the age of twelve.

Reading statistics like that can be disheartening. In fact, it’s very easy to look around at this world and draw the conclusion that love will never win. It is easy to see tsunamis and disease and pain and greed and poverty and hurricanes and think that things are only getting worse and worse. And yet, Jesus came “not to condemn the world, but to save it.” Love has to win eventually, right?

The other day, I was with a group that was helping out at the local Boys and Girls Club. The majority of the kids at this particular club came from families that live at or below the poverty level. One of the guys who volunteers there has been putting on a Summer Olympics for the kids; the last several years, he has run the activities by himself. This year, our group decided we’d help. In life, there are things that simply will not get done unless you do them.

We showed up at the B & G with almost no idea what to expect, except that we’d be hanging out with kids for a couple days. Tyrone, the volunteer who ran the Summer Olympics, gave us a couple of responsibilities. However, the main goal was to simply spend time with the kids—many of the older kids at the B & G do not pay any attention to the younger ones.

On the second day, I noticed a young girl (who I later learned was 4 or 5 years old) crying—sobbing, really—as the other kids were getting ready for the games to begin. Now, this wasn’t just any little girl.

This girl, Vanessa, actually had a similar breakdown the day before when someone stole her water balloon. During that incident, I was able to get her to stop crying by asking her to draw me pictures of flowers and stars and telling her that they were the most beautiful pictures I had ever seen.

Because I was able to get her to stop crying the day before, I felt pretty confident that I could calm her down again. As soon as I noticed her sobs, I walked over and simply picked her up. She had her hands covering her face and buried her head into my shoulder, her body convulsing into uncontrollable sobs. It did not take long for my shoulder to become damp with tears and snot.

After a long while she wore herself out and nearly fell asleep with tears and snot dried on her face. As she neared sleep, I switched her over to the other arm so that my shoulder could dry a little. I held her for another hour or so, walking around and occasionally sitting down when I got tired. Noticing that she was barely conscious, it occurred to me that 4-year-olds haven’t quite graduated from the “naptime” stage of life, so another leader and I began looking for a place to lay her down.

We eventually had another person drag a giant beanbag to a classroom area that wasn’t being used and I asked Vanessa if she wanted to lie down and go to sleep. She immediately shook her head violently and started to hold on tighter. We asked her if she wanted us to read her a story and she again balked at the idea. Eventually, as my arms were wearing out and it became closer to the time we needed to leave, I just tried to lay her down on the beanbag.

As soon as she felt me starting to lay her down and let go of her, she clung on for dear life. She threw one arm around my neck and clutched my arm with her other hand and began crying harder than I had ever seen her cry. Immediately my dry shoulder got its own dose of snot and tears.

As soon as I began to let her go, she made it impossible. So I continued to hold her.

As I held her and let her know that I wasn’t letting go, she began to stop crying. She just wanted to be held.

Soon our group had to leave. The director of the B & G searched for the information of Vanessa’s parents so that one of them could come pick her up. Unfortunately, she was dropped off by a friend’s parents and not her own. I handed Vanessa to the director and we left.

It occurred to me, as they were searching for someone to take her home, that home might not be much better. In fact, as the statistic above floated through my head, Vanessa’s home might actually be much worse.

There’s a very good chance that Vanessa doesn’t ever get held. There’s a good chance that Vanessa doesn’t have a shoulder to wipe tears and snot on.

Jesus said that he came to save the world. If you were to look him in the eye and ask him what his big action plan to save the world was, I think he’d look you in the eye and say, “You are.”

He says pretty clearly to us: “You are the light of the world.” He tells us to be the “salt of the earth.” We are called to be the body of Christ and to heal this world of the pain and hurt that exists all around us.

Because the truth of the matter is that there are things in this life that won’t get done unless you do them. There are things that only you can do. There is pain and hurt in this world that won’t get comforted unless you are there to wipe away the tears. There are problems that will never be overcome unless you overcome them. There are broken relationships that will never be healed unless you mend them. There is suffering that will always continue unless you stop it from happening. There are starving people that will never eat unless you feed them.

There are children that will never get held unless you hold them.

As soon as we realize this, love can win.

All I Can Say

Several weeks ago I began a series that I called “Soul Searching,” and, yes, I know that it’s a bit cliché. Yet, as I sit here at my computer, struggling for words, I realize that I may have embarked upon something that I was not ready for. As we said in Oklahoma, I bit off more than I could chew. I introduced the series with a blatant attempt to convince you, the reader, that there is something inside of you yearning for more than the American Dream, more than the lofty yet shallow goals of money and power. I began with the premise that all of us are searching for more than what we see around us.

And yet, as I think about what the implications for this are, I find myself at a loss for words. It’s almost as if the vision that I had for the continuance of this series has been wiped clean. I woke up one morning and realized that all of the things I planned on writing about seemed trite and ineffective. It felt as if I had said everything I needed to say.

There’s a great song called “All I Can Say,” and the chorus says, simply, “This is all that I can say right now/I know it’s not much/and this is all that I can give/and that’s my everything.”

I began singing the words to this song and realizing that, for several weeks now, this has been the cry of my heart. I simply have not had the words. And as I try to think of the things I should say next, I keep falling on this song. I keep landing back in words that have already been written—instead of trying to think of new things to say, I am going to simply write the words to this song. It may seem cliché, corny even, but hopefully they will resonate in a way that my own words, which fail me now, cannot.

The last two entries have been all about a sense of wandering, seeking, knowing that there is something out there just beyond our reach. The first verse of the song says,

“Lord, I’m tired, so tired from walking. And Lord, I’m so alone. The dark is creeping in, it’s creeping up to swallow me. I think I’ll stop and rest here a while.”

When you come to any kind of realization that you have deep, profound yearnings for meaning beyond the petty capitalism and the pseudo-freedom this world has to offer, then you find yourself in an immediate state of paralysis. The space between realization and movement is full of questions; you can’t help but shout to the universe, “Then what am I doing here?”

“And didn’t you see me crying? Didn’t you hear me call your name? Wasn’t it you I gave my heart to? I wish you’d remember where you sat it down.”

The questions that are asked in this “space between” are deep and sometimes more painful than we realize. They create chasms that have been previously filled with all of the things we try to mend our hearts with. If God is out there, why doesn’t he see me crying? Doesn’t he hear us? Doesn’t he see the suffering?

“I didn’t notice You were standing here. I didn’t know that was You holding me. I didn’t notice that You were crying too. I didn’t know that was You washing my feet.”

It’s easy to associate Jesus with all of the misdeeds, the disunity, the violence, and the pain that His people have caused. It is not difficult to allow the brokenness of humanity to get in the way of the power of love. But when you begin on this journey—when you realize that there is more in store for you than simple pleasures and empty promises of happiness, when you become paralyzed as you ask the deepest questions of your soul, and when you allow yourself to be moved by the power of love—then the picture of your life becomes more clear. You can begin to move forward again. You can realize that there is a Love that is moving in this world that will cry with you, hold you, and wash your feet. You can allow yourself to be overtaken by a Love that will stir within you a new purpose. You will see that—although this world is inundated with brokenness, greed, oppression, suffering, and hurt—love will win.

“…He will destroy the shroud [of suffering, oppression, anger, hurt, violence, greed, injustice] that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Lord will wipe away tears from all faces…” (Isaiah 25.7-8)

Love will win.

And “this is all that I can say right now/I know it’s not much.”

Brain Dead (Soul Searching-Part II)

I am constantly awake at times that I should be fast asleep. I “go to bed” very early sometimes, yet hours later I still find myself processing the events of the day, reliving moments, and examining what my tomorrow will look like. My brain simply won’t shut off.

My brother went to high school with a young man that I will call “Joe.” In high school, Joe was one of the funny guys. He always managed to make a joke out of any situation; oftentimes, awkward hilarity was the result. People liked being around him and they knew what they were getting. He seemed to poke fun of everyone—his humor was often at the expense of others, but no one seemed to mind. He wasn’t spiteful. He just seemed to make everything a reason to laugh.

Joe graduated high school and decided to go to a large university on the other side of the state. He went through his freshman year and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Then, mere days after his first year of college was completed, Joe and some friends decided to have some fun and go to a gun range. Joe, during his turn to shoot, turned the gun on himself.

It is impossible for me to speculate on the depths of brokenness that exist within all of us, but the truth remains: every single one of us yearns for something greater than ourselves. We all spend sleepless nights dwelling on our daily events and conversations, yet often these thoughts transcend mere recaps and we begin to ask questions about who we are. We begin to wonder if we were made for something, some greater purpose that exists just beyond our grasp. We begin to question if a greater love exists than the love that we feel from the people around us. We begin to search for answers to deep and profound questions seem to be imprinted in our souls.

Like Joe, sometimes the brokenness becomes too much. It becomes a burden, a hurt, a bane that we cannot overcome. As powerful as the mind is, it cannot remove scar tissue. A person can’t simply convince themselves that the questions of love and life don’t exist. Some of us ignore these questions, at our own peril. Our brains tell us that nothing exists beyond our five senses. Questions about love and purpose are shoved to the bottom and only ever come out in moments of deep pain and suffering. Yet, at the moments of pain, we still cry out to some unknown entity. We still want to know what happens next.

And so, the questions remain: does a greater love exist beyond the love I feel around me? Do I have some deep-seeded purpose that exists beyond my own recognition? Why am I here?

Joe was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he was later pronounced brain dead. His body went through surgery so that his organs could be saved and given to people who need them.

And that’s the choice, isn’t it? We can ignore these questions. We can decide that nothing exists beyond our senses, our brain. But when we ignore our soul’s questions—when we ignore the yearning inside of us—we detach our souls. Our soul searching, our thirst for answers to these questions, must come to the forefront of our being. Our questions must be answered or we run the risk of emotional death before we ever actually die. In the end, it becomes clear that a mind without a soul is brain dead.

It’s time for us to stop ignoring the searching of our souls. It’s time for us to acknowledge that we have deep, passionate yearnings for a love that is greater than the love we experience around us. It is time for us to make a decision to not be brain dead—instead, let us begin a journey in which we seek to answer our questions. Let us begin a journey in which we quench the thirst of our souls. Let us begin to seek something greater than ourselves.

Soul Searching, Part I

You know those movies that are based around two people searching for each other? Often, toward the beginning, the two people will be in the same place, but barely miss each other; then the entire rest of the movie is spent following them on some convoluted quest to find the other person. The particular scene in which they come that close to finding each other is always miserable (or maybe I just get too involved in movies I am watching!) because you realize that they could avoid all of the heartache, frustration, and production costs (LOL) that the ensuing adventure will entail. They often end up passing by the same hallway or room within seconds of each other, so frantically searching for the person that they completely miss them. There is always a moment in which they are both in the same frame—as an audience member, I find myself wanting to scream, He’s right there!!—much to the chagrin of the people watching the movie with me.

Sometimes I feel like that person. I feel like I am frantically searching for something or someone that feels just beyond my grasp. My heart longs for something beyond this life, beyond the petty pursuits of selfish pleasure, money, and acceptance.

Working with high school students, I continuously talk to people who have giant, sweeping passions and goals. Some of these pursuits have been placed upon them by their parents who intently try to live vicariously through their children. Some of these students have simply been enticed, even seduced, by what humanity values: power, money, fame, notoriety, attention.

It’s often an extracurricular activity, such as basketball or orchestra. Occasionally it’s even schoolwork—the goal of eventually becoming a doctor often requires a lifetime of good grades! Or this pursuit can be a person; it’s easy to meet someone and suddenly wrap your future around a dream of being with that person forever.

It’s easy to let the pursuit of these things become the oxygen to a person’s soul. When you devote your entire life to something, or a couple things, often less important facets of life begin to flake away. Like limbs that have atrophied, the lack of attention to some areas that inherently comes with a single-minded pursuit will cause those areas to eventually die off. When a something like a sport or a girlfriend/boyfriend becomes the oxygen to a person’s soul, other things in life will fall away.

Something else also comes with these pursuits. Something within these individuals still screams I want more!! Something still causes us to long for something bigger. We have been built, as a people, to long for something greater than ourselves. We will avidly search for wealth or power or acceptance and yet something builds within us all to become part of something bigger.

Our soul always craves more. And so it searches for more in the places it has been trained. It seeks acceptance from people. It seeks the short-lived enjoyment that money and career can provide. It lives off of the oxygen that it has been trained to breathe.

And yet, we still long for something bigger, don’t we? We still, after minutes or lifetimes of building ourselves around these worldly constructs, lie awake at night wondering why we don’t feel fulfillment. We still feel unloved, we still feel like there is more out there for us. We feel like the people in those movies, searching for something that is at hand—and yet, just out of our reach. We’ll catch glimpses of it, but soon it is gone as we blindly pursue happiness in all of the static ways the world tells us to.

We’re all searching for more, aren’t we?

Mea Culpa

I’m a judge.

It’s an unfortunate but valid statement. I often find myself in situations where I am, even silently, making judgments on others. On any random stroll through a store, my head is usually filled to the brim with thoughts like:

“Wow, that guy needs a treadmill.”

“I wonder why she thinks those skimpy clothes look good.”

“His voice is really annoying.”

“I wonder why she couldn’t get a better job—instead of stocking shelves at Wal-Mart.”

Now, these thoughts are obviously incredibly rude. And anyone who spends enough time around me knows that, on a pretty regular basis, these thoughts end up getting vocalized—obviously not to the person I am speaking of.  To some people, this kind of habit could be a part of normal, everyday life. It may be normal, but that only serves to illustrate how big of a problem it is.

My theology is based around a universal love and acceptance of others, no matter how they are treated by the world. And yet, I have a major flaw: my theology often doesn’t match up with my everyday habits and thoughts. Like most people, I continually try to build myself up by tearing others down—even silently. I internalize negative opinions of others in order to feel better about my own problems; in doing so, I am deciding that I am a better judge of people than God is.

God, in his infinite love and compassion, views people based on their unsurpassable worth. To him, all people are beautiful and amazing beings that were made in his icon. I cannot call myself a lover of God if I do not view people the same way that he does—John says it pretty clearly when he states, at the end of 1 John chapter 4, that you cannot love God without loving people. They go hand-in-hand.

To sit in silent (or sometimes, not-so-silent) judgment of people around me is to limit their worth in my eyes to assure my own ego that I am worthy. Yet Jesus calls us to minimize others’ flaws and maximize our own. He calls us to view our own sin as a log and view others’ sin as a speck. When I make judgments on others, I do the opposite.

Who am I to minimize the worth of another—especially when God values everyone with unsurpassable worth?

This struggle with judgment is a daily one, but hopefully I can move my everyday habits closer to the ideas that I speak about so often: love, acceptance, humility.

I need to minimize others’ sin so that I can view people the way God does—as beautiful, amazing creatures who are worthy of every amount of love I can provide.

Mea culpa.

Movie Review: “Religulous”

I just watched Bill Maher’s documentary, “Religulous.” It was a fascinating and often hilarious portrayal of an agnostic’s attempt to illustrate that religion is destructive, backwards, and will ultimately cause the self-inflicted end of humanity. His apparent thesis came at the end of the movie, where he said that his purpose was to stir doubt within people—to Maher, doubt creates humility, and human history is littered with people acting on what they perceive as certainty. The most violent acts in history are most often caused by people who believe, with absolute certainty, that they have it all (or mostly) figured out.

The interesting thing is, if I had a conversation with Maher, we’d probably agree on more things than we disagree on.

I too believe that religion has been the most destructive force in the history of humanity. In the beginning, the earliest humans spent their time wondering where they stood with the gods, leading them to begin sacrificing their children to these spirits. More wars and battles have been waged in the name of God (or, gods) than any other motive. Even the creation of the United States is scarred with white Europeans believing that they had God on their side as they slaughtered, raped, and displaced hundreds of thousands of Native Americans.

While Maher clearly has an agenda, which appeared to be an effort to shame any and all religious people, I truly think we could find a lot of common ground. At one point in the film, he stood in front of the richly built palace-like Vatican and exclaimed, “Does this (gesturing toward the palace) look like anything Jesus had in mind?” I wanted to stand up and cheer—in some strange way, Maher could read the Gospels and understand that Christ wanted nothing to do with political power, money, and even religion! In another scene, Maher interviewed a Christian leader. The exchange went as follows:

Maher: What should I call you? Reverend?

Reverend: No, please call me doctor.

Text at the bottom of the screen: Not only is this man not a doctor, he has no degree…of any kind.

The interview that followed was shameful and angering as the “Doctor” Reverend, with his many gold rings and designer suit, explained that Jesus was wealthy and wore fine clothes. Maher asked him about the many, many times Jesus appears to condemn the pursuit of wealth and riches, and the man responded that the more he follows God, and the more righteous he becomes, the wealthier he will get.

The fact that this man is representing Jesus is appalling—he does NOT represent the Jesus of the New Testament! I found myself agreeing with Maher.

Throughout the movie, he clearly does what most news anchors do after a disaster: pick the least intelligent people to interview. This is on purpose—the point of his movie is to shame religion! In that way, he clearly wanted to choose people who were contradictory and hypocritical in their religiosity.

The movie, however, allowed me to take comfort in the fact that I do not consider myself a follower of any religion. The actions and words of Jesus lead me to believe that following Him was never meant or intended to be a religious activity. It was never meant to be called “Christianity.” Following Jesus was about pursuing a beautiful servant lifestyle in which we are called to lovingly and humbly “wash the feet of this world.” Religulous” was a funny, biting, irreverent (duh!) movie about the fallacy of pursuing peace by waging religious war—and while I didn’t agree with Maher on many things, I did find myself realizing that true Christ-followers and Maher have a lot of common ground.

That said, he clearly is out to prove himself smarter, or more right, than those who have faith in any kind of higher Being. In that way, he is just trying to assert power over others, which makes him no different than any of the religious people he argues with.

Power over others is always the wrong pursuit, which is why Jesus calls us to lives of “power-under:” service, love, humility, and generosity. It makes me wonder. If all “Christians” actually looked like Christ, would Maher be so quick to reject them? I think not.

Did God Bend the Rules?

Like most people, I drive several miles over the speed limit. I typically don’t view this as dangerous. In fact, either do local police, based on the fact that I’ve never been pulled over for speeding. My motivation for driving over the speed limit has nothing to do with disrespect for authority or romantic notions of “sticking it to the man.” I do it simply because I can—I do not have anyone reprimanding me.

It’s funny how our rules and laws work. If I can bend or even break them without getting caught, then it’s almost not even considered reprehensible. It is simply beating the system.

For some reason, we have so romanticized the ideas of beating the system that our ideas of God have been overrun—we imagine Him as someone who is bound by laws he created or laws that are beyond his control. Because of this, the death and resurrection of Jesus are seen as God “beating the system” or “breaking the rules.” We look at Jesus death and bloodshed as the necessary and sufficient way for our lives to be restored—we see his death as the replacement for our (eventual) deaths from the infection of sin. We say things like “we are covered by the blood of Jesus” or “we have been healed because of the blood of the lamb.” But what if this linguistic imagery is incomplete?

Is God really simply bound by some bloodthirsty, petty law that requires death for all who “fall short?” Wouldn’t that make God a secondary character in this story? And, perhaps even scarier, wouldn’t that mean that the Law is the main character?

If, in fact, all God needed was Jesus to shed his blood, to die, then why did God protect the infant Jesus from Herod’s demand that all young boys be killed? Would that not have sufficed?

Maybe the life, the example, and the healing of Jesus were just as important as the death.

For a further look at this, check out this video: http://www.godscharacter.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20090306184151808

Or look at this blog: http://www.godscharacter.com/

My Religion Can Beat Up Your Religion

The other day, I found myself watching the ABC special forum/debate on the existence of Satan. Despite the set topic, it (inevitably) wound up being an argument between religions. Not long after that, Biola University held a debate between two intelligent thinkers—one from the atheist camp and one from the Christian camp—and the tone soon turned into a “religion vs. religion” sort of argument. In the first debate, three of the four people involved were self-proclaimed followers of God. In the second, the setting and funding were provided by a Christian university. The easy conclusion, then: American Christians, for some reason, are itching for arguments. In fact, it might even go beyond that. It seems that Christians are trying to engage in a fight that seems to not rise above the petty title of “My Religion Can Beat Up Your Religion.”

So why is this? Is it because Christians feel threatened by this postmodern culture of relativism and tolerance? (Yes.) Is it because the Church is dwindling as an influence to the masses? (Yes.) Is it because the majority of institutional Christianity is still clinging to the bygone mentality of a previous era? (Yes.) Is it because, no matter what your worldview, all of us are just addicted to being right? (Absolutely.)

What is it about being right that is so attractive? I think it has to do with power. When you can prove yourself correct in an argument, the inevitable outcome is that there is someone on the other end who is proven incorrect. In other words, there is a winning side and a losing side. And what is the trophy or purse to be won? The corner on the market of truth. To win an argument is to stake your claim, to plant your flag, in the elusive land of Truth.

When you win an argument, and thus make your claim on Truth, then you suddenly have power over those who do not yet have their flag stuck in the soil of Truth. Because having Truth means having power, people start to fight for this land. They start trying to obtain it at all costs.

The irony is that, no matter what one thinks he is “standing up for,” he eventually begins to worship the idea of being right. It brings power. It brings success. If you have your claim staked in the land of Truth, then you can tell other people (who haven’t yet argued their way into Truth) how to think.

To have power over people, by arguing with them and trying to prove yourself right, is how this world has always worked. Humanity has a depressing and bloody history of people who have created calamity and catastrophe by trying to prove that they are right for the sake of gaining more power. Power over people is never right.

To worship the idea of being right is to worship an idol that is cheap and worldly. Jesus calls us into lives of humility and service, not arguments and debates. He calls us into lives of love. In fact, where does He ever say that we need to “stand up for what’s right,” the phrase people constantly use to justify being hateful and intolerant? He calls us not to have power over people but to become their servants! He calls us not to prove ourselves right, but to be willing to give up the idea being right for the reality of love. He calls us not to stand up for what’s right, but to kneel down and wash the feet of every person on this planet.

As Greg Boyd writes, “real love, as defined by Jesus, is about expressing the unsurpassable worth of another by being willing to sacrifice everything for them”—even to sacrifice being “right.”

**I have another entry about this: http://austinsthoughts.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/getting-it-right/