I was just mentally inserting this blog into the pen umbrage of the "meat and potatoes" blog. It is sometimes easy to be hard on the things that I view as dippy: insert Testamints, Bible bags (especially pink and baby blue with lace), Precious Moments, etc here. It is so easy to be critical of the simple, and yet how are these things different from the "faith of a child." Where is our compassion toward those who are, sometimes annoyingly, outspoken about their faith in very "simple" ways, i.e. not "on par" with major theological works (Orthodoxy, Mere Christianity, anything Ravi Zacarius, Dante, etc).

The book that presently comes to mind is "the Great Divorce." Each character has its own flaw and their flaws are, surprisingly, all virtues which have been perverted into vices. --Seth

And my response:

Seth-
Thanks so much for your words! I am personally convicted by your thoughts. In my attempts to challenge the Church to love well, I often get too fixated on my complaints about what we aren't doing or how we are missing the mark. I needed your gentle correction to remind me to extend that same compassion to those who are my brothers and sisters in Christ - ESPECIALLY to them!

I have been convicted lately about my attitudes toward the Body of Christ. Sometimes my disappointments turn to cynicism, and I get angry or bitter - hopeless. When I lose hope, I turn to blame instead of grace. And I admit that some of my blogs reflect that hopelessness. I hope I have not added to the cynicism of others. That would be a terrible offense!

I think that, like in Lewis' "Great Divorce" and also highlighted in his "Mere Christianity," any God-given gift, which is inherently good, can be perverted, twisted and used to hurt rather than heal. However, that was not my intent with the latest blog. I simply wanted to represent some viewpoints outside of the Church to help us gain some perspective and possibly learn from our "target audience" how we can better target them. I hope that the views represented by any believer OR non-believer would be taken to heart, knowing that their viewpoint - even when cynical or negative - could hold an element of truth to further renew our minds and draw us closer to God. After all, a God as big as ours can certainly use anyone and anything for his purposes!

Thanks so much for your thoughts, Seth! --Scott

P.S. I also agree with your sentiments about how our search for depth or "valuable" art often comes from pride (or the desire to appear deep) rather than a genuine motivation to search and taste the ultimate mysteries and depth of God. That, too, was a grouding thought for me to chew on.

Question: Why do you think Kierkegaard said this? Was he just attacking the religious? Or did he have a point? How does this relate to compassion?

“If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Question: Is it possible that an "unbeliever" could make a point worth pondering? How does this relate to compassion?

“Make no judgments where you have no compassion.” - Unknown

Statement: This one kind of rocked me.

“Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.” - Henry Ward Beecher

Question: How can the Church learn from this?

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” - The 14th Dalai Lama

Chris writes:

Scott, very thought provoking as much of what you write is... one question, for those of us who are "professional" ministers, how do we begin to introduce "meat" music to our congregations? As the Christian sub-culture has encouraged mimicing secular music, it has also removed us from not only engaging God through good music that works through the mysteries and wonder of Him and His work in the world, but has caused us not to seek him in anything (i.e. listening and thinking on the struggle that a secular artist sings/writes about as he/she searches through the meaning and mysteries of life). I deal with this daily as I long to help our students see and seek God and His movement in the world and in their lives.

My response:

Thanks for your honesty Chris. I struggle with the same thing - even when I lead congregational music its easy to default to the songs I know...the easy songs, the oldies, or even the "popular" songs. Not that any of those are bad in and of themselves - I can just get lazy and not really try to search for truly relevant and meaningful music. Sometimes I don't want to teach a new song because it takes up too much time. And time is precious in a church service. Start at 9:30am sharp and end at 10:30, just in time for the next herd to corral itself into the weekly production.
So for me, it comes down to laziness. I fail to take the time to look for quality (or to produce it), and I settle for comfortable and/or convenient (or I people please and do what I know to be safe). And as a leader, I model that laziness or cowardice to the laypeople who, in turn, become lazy and demand the comfortable and convenient - the easy to digest. It becomes a vicious cycle. Back in the day it happened with the Israelites, many of whom would have gone back to a life of slavery and abuse in Egypt in exchange for their newfound and uncharted freedom, which required effort to maintain. Even then, the leaders did their best to lead by example into the unknown - by faith. Now in the present day, it can get even worse when leaders allow themselves to get lazy or afraid of the unknown. Then it definitely comes across in a community. Its amazing to travel across our country and see how much congregations reflect the attitudes of their leaders.
Chris, my advice would be to remove yourself from any religious tendencies to use only music or writing labeled "Christian." There are many secular artists and authors whose searching and longing for experience with God are completely relevant to a believer who also struggles with doubt and unbelief. Of course, there are a good bit of artists and authors who can lead us astray if we're not careful. The trick is to stay engaged with the Spirit who lives inside you. Listen to your discernment, watch for red flags, pray for strength and wisdom, and watch God reveal himself to you in the art of those who don't necessarily carry the Evangelical Contemporary Christian stamp of approval. God works in many ways that the American church at large cannot seem to accept.
Case in point: As I write this a Disney movie is playing in the living room. Little Simba the future lion king has just been rescued from the hyenas in the elephant graveyard by his father, Mufasa. As his father processed Simba's mistake with him, Simba said "I just wanted to be brave like you, Dad."
And Mufasa replied, "That doesn't mean we should go looking for trouble."
So I was just gently reminded (by a "secular" piece of art) that though I need to be courageous as I lead others into the mysterious unknown, I should check my motives. Am I doing this because I believe I need to be bold in my leadership, or am I just picking a fight to be difficult and argumentative? Thanks Mufasa.
The church needs bold leaders who are willing to push past our pseudo-pious religious boundaries and watch for God's presence outside of popular or traditionally accepted practices. Its time to accept our place as facilitators, not experts, and let God be God.