A trip to a third world country, in my case Haiti, will show you just how much syncretism we practice in America.
Here are some of the gods we mix with our faith.
- The safety god
- The comfort god
- The performance god
- The money god
- The staff god
- The building god
- The schedule god
I don’t point those things out to bring judgement on anyone. In fact, these are my gods, too. As I’m re-entering my culture I need to wrestle with these gods in light of the teachings of Moses in Deuteronomy.
The thing that God (the real God!) kept hitting me over the head with while in Haiti is that I live a life of dependency and faith avoidance. Before the trip, as I wrote about, I felt like God was calling me out and asking if I truly believed the things I told people I believed in.
I hope I lived up to the challenge.
And it turns out, coming home presents a new challenge of faith.
As Francis points out in this message, dangerous things could happen if we would just be obedient to what God teaches us in the Bible. Our faith can change things. But so much of that is conditional on whether or not the people are lifting God up above these false gods.
The fact is that believing the Bible is actually true is a step of faith.
But putting your complete faith in Christ and living as though the things of the Bible will happen in your midst… now that is dangerous.
The reality I am trying to reconcile is that I know God is calling me to live a dangerous life. But the life I know isn’t all that dangerous.
We live in divided times. In particular, those of us who love Jesus are more divided than ever. A trip to the “church” section of the yellow pages or Google is heart-breaking.
The church is polarized today.
This is contrary, of course, to what the Bible teaches.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
If we contextualize that statement made by Paul to the church today that statement would read like this.
There is no liberal or conservative, Baptist or Catholic, black church or Korean church, suburban or urban. For we are one in Christ.
I pray that we lay aside or differences… as real and pressing as they seem… and live in the tension and knowledge that all people who call on the name of Jesus for salvation are one in Christ.
It’s easy and childish to focus on what divides us, it is mature and difficult to instead embrace the common mission we share.
What is the reason social media is so difficult for most organizations? It’s a process and not an event. Events are easier to manage, pay for and get excited about. Processes build results for the long haul. link
Why do pastors and other church leaders need a social media presence?
The world is full of fakes. Because of the public sin of so many who lead large ministries, there is a general suspicion of all people in church leadership.
The people in your congregation want to know if you are a fake. They show up, so on some level they believe in you. They are watching your life to validate what you say.
The people in your community already think you are a fake. You need to prove them wrong.
If you need a biblical justification for investing your time and energy in social media, look no further than the incarnation of Jesus. John 1:14 says, “He came and dwelt among the people.” The way church is run today… pastors do not dwell among the people. They dwell among their flock and their offices. (2-3% of the population of your community is hardly “the people.”) Look at the example of all of the Apostles in the New Testament. They all dwelt among the people. Most of them worked vocationally in the cities they ministered in.
A public presence, 1 hour per week, preaching in front of an audience, is simply not enough of a presence to know if you are fake or not. The fact is, if that’s all people see of you than they know you must be fake.
I have an article in the upcoming Winter 2009 edition of The Journal of Student Ministries. As you can tell by the title, the article discusses the convergence of social media and theology. I’m stoked about how the article turned out. It’s such an important topic! I’m also excited to publish my first article in the journal.
This year, I’ve had my first piece in a book and now a piece in a magazine. 2009 has kicked butt!
