Is that what Jesus told you to do?

Jim, is this what Jesus told you guys to do? Who is Jim and why do you ask? What is going on? Why does this blog start with all these questions? Where is Kevin going with this? Oh, I could go on and on, but my fun at your expense should probably stop, it seems that it may be in poor sport. So, what is this blog about? (Did it again, HA HA!)

Jim, is a guy that wrote a book with the help of another guy named Casper. In fact, they called their book, simply enough, Jim and Casper Go To Church. The question was asked by Casper to Jim in the book they wrote together. A little back-story might help. See, Jim refers to himself as a “longtime Christian” and Casper is a self-proclaimed atheist. While it sounds like a premise for a Fox reality show, “Jim loves God, Casper hates God, let’s put them together and see what happens, next week following the Simpsons.” It is actually a very good book, granted with a catchy title. As the title “somewhat subtly” implies Jim and Casper go to many different churches in many different towns. Jim paid Casper to give him his honest opinion of what he thought. It is very interesting to read Casper’s impression of what he saw. In Casper’s defense, I am taking a little dramatic license with the Fox reality show title; Casper never says he hates God. He simply does not believe in God, which is the definition of atheist. Someone who hates god might be called a misotheist.

Any way, I tend to go on, back to point. Is this what Jesus told you guys to do? Excellent question! Especially coming from an atheist. You would really need to read the book to understand why Casper asks this question in the context of the book. I invite you to go buy the book; it’s a quick read. My intention here is not to review the book, but to discuss Casper’s question. I find it challenging. The church is an organization. Like all organizations, we have tendencies. We tend to propagate, when we are not careful (which is almost always), self-supporting subcultures. Which means that we sometimes find ourselves doing things that don’t really make sense when compared to what Jesus said do. I propose that we Christians don’t ask ourselves if what we do is what Jesus said do enough.

Would it be obvious to an atheist that we miss the point? Every week we do what we do at church. Every week we have a service, but what does it mean in the grand scheme of things? Do we honestly live a life that puts Christ first in all we do? Do we live out the example of sacrifice and service that we saw in Jesus’ life? Do we embrace the challenge of the example Jesus gave us? Are do we produce a form of clean well intentioned entertainment serving to make people feel better about who they are, as opposed to who they can be in Christ? People do not tend to embrace challenge when it can be avoided. Jesus, on the other hand, did not seem to avoid tuff situations.

Learner v. Learned

In times of change learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exist. I heard that statement at a conference, I don’t really know who to attribute it to, but the guy who quoted it credited Pastor of Northpoint Community Church, Andy Stanley’s assistant. I was impressed, pretty astute observation for an assistant. I am thinking maybe that person will not be an assistant long. I very much took note of the quote. I have found it to be true. History is replete with examples of complacent organizations and individuals who find that the world changed around them. Poor individuals and organizations, it is either too late to adjust or too cumbersome to try.

In that statement the importance of the letters “r” and “d” are utmost. Learned types apply yesterday’s rules to today’s equations. Resulting in poor form. Now, it is important to note that yesterday’s rules will many times apply to tomorrow’s equations, resulting in a false sense of accomplishment. However, yesterday’s rules will almost never apply to next week’s equations; that is the “gottcha”. To make matters worse, by then you are a week behind.

We very easily find ourselves sitting, comfortable with our knowledge and the equations before us. We do very well in the beginning, and then we start experiencing difficultly, we let a few equations go unchecked. Then we conclude in a state of frustration where we blame the equation for being different than the one we learned.

To be the “r” is very important to personal and organization development. Learners must always be learners. We must work, we must think. We at Parkway are in a time of change, been so for quite some time. It is quite exciting in both an exhilarating and terrifying sort of way. We must accept this challenge and move forward. Learn and think to the very best of our ability.

I will leave you with a quote I find get pleasure in, comes from a quite creative piece of film making and is somewhat pertinent to the topic at hand, “Madam, we must have waffles! We must all have waffles forthwith! We must all think, and we must all have waffles, and think each and every one of us to the very best of his ability...” Granted it is a little more humorous in the context of the film, but I kept thinking about that scene while I was writing. Oh, if you have never had the occasion to watch the movie it comes from the 2004 Cohen brothers comedy “The Ladykillers”.

The Blog from Camp

Yes sir, I am at camp, sitting at a table in the cafeteria pondering my thoughts. I felt that it might serve well to let you know a little of what is happening here. First, let me say that our kids have impressed me. We arrived at a parking lot among church buses and vans unloading church kids into the parking lot and we unloaded our rental cars. Immediately, we felt some how “different”. So “different” has been a constant theme for the Parkway kids this week. But, tarry not, if you did in fact tarry. We have been discussing the fact that we feel different and exactly what that means. It has been interesting what we have learned from this, and it is good.

In 2006 The Barna Group of Ventura, California (www.barna.org) released a study that indicates that 61% of twenty-some-things that were involved in church as teens have become disengaged from church. It is sad, and very troubling, to think that of the 500 or so kids at this camp this week, statistics indicate that 305 will disengage from the church when they graduate their youth group. Leaving 195 of the 500 still active. NOT GOOD! That is the same as making a 39 on a test.

This week at camp we have determined that we must challenge ourselves. The metaphorical bar must be raised; too many people are tripping over it. We have discussed that this will not be easy, it will very likely be painful, require discipline, and a concerted effort of prolonged focus. Not things that come naturally to our group, or people in general for that matter. We have discovered that the natural state of groups of people and individuals themselves is homeostatic (the tendency of a system to maintain internal stability or equilibrium obtained when tension or a drive has been reduced or eliminated.) Some times a homeostatic state is good, for example your internal organs rely on system stability. But for groups of people that wish to see change homeostasis is bad. Seems Jesus says grow, be better than you were, be more like me. It is far too easy to avoid challenge, to not make an effort to change or be better. Christ has called us to follow, not sit.

Yes, we feel different. Not just because we rode in rental cars, there is a lot more to it than that. We have decided that 61% failure rate is unacceptable. We want to be challenged, to grow, to continually work out what this means for Parkway Students. We are learning and growing. Hoping that we don’t get lazy and forget, working hard to not become homeostatic.

Changes and Upcoming Events

So, it is pretty obvious, the blog changed a bit. It was not where you thought it would be and it looks different. Not to mention, if you were looking for the Get Closer or Youth blog you found that they no longer exist. Instead, it seems the Get Closer and Youth Blogs got married, had a baby blog, then both abruptly died, leaving one orphan blog that looks and acts kind of like the old blogs. It was very tragic, a fiery calamity with my delete button. It was horrible, but if we all band together, we will pull through this, stronger in the long run.
Yes, things have changed. But, it is for the better. You folks know me, I don’t multi task well, I should have seen this coming from the beginning. Two blogs is one too many blogs.
Enough history, know these things:

Upcoming Events

The folks going to M/Centrifuge at Mississippi College in Clinton, MS leave Monday morning at 7:00 am. We very much look forward to this trip.

The college ministry has a Wakulla Springs day trip planned for June 30 (10:0 am to 3:30 pm). If it doesn’t rain. We where supposed to go in June 2, but it rained for the first time in 2 months that day. Free Food, but you need to RSVP if you plan to go, so I can buy enough groceries. There is a Facebook event for this with more details. All college students are invited to this event.

The students of Parkway have been challenged to a pick/up softball game by Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana. Help us take the world cup of softball on Sunday July 15 at Optimist Park. More details are on Facebook. All Parkway students are invited to this event.
So, there you are, info.