Who Am I?

Lately on Facebook there have been a lot of posts helping folks identify who they are through a series of quizzes from a website called BuzzFeed.  BuzzFeed has developed a who lot of quizzes based on movies, music types, television shows, and even politics in which they ask “which character are you . . . or who are you . . . from ____________?”  The individual answers a series of questions . . . few of them very serious . . . and, at the end, the website gives a character that fits the individual answering the questions.  Now, this is not rocket science that the website is performing, but it sure is popular.

I have had a lot of friends answering the questions and discovering who they are . . . and, then posting the results on FaceBook . . . hundreds of thousands of times a day!  It seems as if BuzzFeed has a quiz for everything under the sun to help people learn more about who they are.  Inquiring minds want to know . . . we all have inquiring minds . . . and, the hope of the website is that these FaceBook postings will entice people to take the quiz and visit the website.  It is pure economics . . . the more hits on their sites, the more people who see the advertising on their website, and thus more money that they make.  Even though I understand the ploy, I must admit that my inquiring mind got the best of me . . . I had to know . . . who am I?

As a Beatle, I was Paul.  As a Muppet, I was Beaker.  From the Princess Bride, I was the Albino.  Under hard rock . . . I was Led Zeppelin.  I was a little floored by some of the people I was told that I was according to the quizzes I took.  I never saw myself as Paul McCartney . . . I thought that I was more of the John Lennon type, but my oldest son said that he saw me more as Ringo . . . Ringo!  As a Muppet , I sure did not see myself as the squeaky Beaker . . . I thought of myself as more of a Fozzie Bear . . . if you have ever heard my jokes you would understand why.  Under the Princess Bride . . . well, to be honest with you . . . I forgot all about the Albino character in the movie.  But come on, the Albino!  Led Zeppelin was the only one I agreed with . . . at least for one album anyways.  But these are the characters that I was according to the quizzes . . . these were the characteristics of my personality . . . these were who I was.

After reaching the level of disappointment that comes from not getting the results one wants from taking these online personality quizzes . . . I quit take them.  I also quit because I was scared to see who else I might be compared to.  Would I be Ross if there was a Friends quiz?  Would I be Tweety Bird if there were a Warner Brothers cartoon quiz?  Would I be Newman when I really want to be like Kramer on Seinfeld?  When taking these quizzes I think we all hope that we are the coolest characters . . . the stars . . . I know that I do.  But, it never seems to happen . . . I am never who I think I should be.  Of course, that is not the point of the quizzes . . . the point of the quizzes is to reveal who we are most like . . . to reveal our personality traits . . . to help us see ourselves through others.  But, come on . . . the Albino from the Princess Bride!  The dude didn’t even get to use a sword!  How uncool is that?

Hopefully none of us take these quizzes too seriously . . . after all, they are for entertainment purposes only.  I doubt if a trained counselor or psychologist or psychiatrist would ever whip out one of these quizzes to determine our mental state . . . unless of course our willingness to do the test in the first place is an indication of our mental state.  They are for fun.  Yet, deep down within ourselves, I think that we secretly hope that we do learn something about who we are.

I have spent over 55 years now searching for who I am?  If anyone has seen me, please let me know . . . but, I have spent a lifetime trying to understand who it is that God created me to be.  Every time that I think that I have who I am figured out . . . God or life throws me a curve ball and I am back to square one questioning who I am.  I think that is the way that God designed it . . . sort of a Holy pop quiz that is constantly changing.  Who I am today is compiled of all the experiences, thoughts, emotions, and adventures that have been a part of my life up to this point . . . tomorrow that will change because it will be a new day with all new things . . . the quiz keeps changing.

Even though the quiz keeps changing . . .even though I keep coming up with characters I really don’t like or care about . . . and, even though I am lousy at taking quizzes, I keep plugging away.  I keep searching for who I am . . . who God created me to be.  That is a big part of what God wants me to do . . . discover who I am.  Then God wants me to use that person to love God and love others so that we might eventually realize the Kingdom of God.  I think it is a life-long adventure and journey.  That is the biggest and most important quiz any of us can take . . . not who we are in some movie or book, but who we are as created by God. 

Yes, it is a life-long adventure and journey . . .

I have climbed the highest mountain

I have run through the fields

Only to be with you

Only to be with you

I have run, I have crawled

I have scaled these city walls

These city walls

Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I have kissed honey lips

Felt the healing in her fingertips

It burned like fire

This burning desire

I have spoke with the tongue of angels

I have held the hand of a devil

It was warm in the night

I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I believe in the kingdom come

Then all the colours will bleed into one

Bleed into one

Well, yes, I'm still running

You broke the bonds and you

Loosed the chains

Carried the cross

And my shame

All my shame

You know I believe it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

Don't go away

I'll sing my love for you

Don't go away

Oh you know I love this place

Don't go away

I won't go without you baby

Don't go away

Don't go away

(I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2)

One Shot

In the movie, The Deer Hunter, Robert DeNiro and his friends take an annual hunting trip to hunt for deer.  DeNiro’s character is a purist . . . a real hard case when it comes to hunting.  He believes that the hunter must be able to kill his prey with one shot or the hunter should not take the shot.  It is more of a sin to wound the animal than it is to miss the animal.  It is one shot or nothing.  I am that way when it comes to photography.

I love my digital camera.  I take lots of pictures . . . lots of pictures.  I love to drive and hike around the area of Montana where I live.  I love to photograph the birds that frequent the bird feeders in our yard.  I take hundreds . . . thousands of pictures . . . in the hope that I get at least one that is worthy of sharing with other people.  In all of the years that I have been taking photographs I have never . . . ever . . . photo shopped a picture.

First of all, I do not own a photo shop program.  True, with each camera I have bought, there has been a photo shop program that has come with it; but, I have never downloaded the programs.  I have never purchased a photo shop program . . . mostly because I am too cheap and, because I do not believe in them.  Photo shopping seems like false advertising to me.

Second of all, who can improve what is already there.  If God created it as I see and photograph it . . . who am I to attempt to improve it?  I sometimes wonder if God gets a little grumpy when we humans attempt to improve whatever is there and created by God.  I know that I do not appreciate it when people change what I have written or taken a photograph of.  Makes me wonder . . . what is God’s tolerance level?

I like to take pictures . . . and, I take a lot of them . . . probably close to five hundred or so a week.  There is so much out there in God’s creation to take pictures of . . . God is pretty artistic if you ask me . . . so, I had better be taking pictures of what I see.  And . . . I do.  I take a lot of pictures.  It takes a lot of pictures to get one good one . . . one shot . . . no doctoring . . . no photo shopping.  That is what I strive for every time I take a picture.

I guess I like to deal with reality. 

Years ago, the rock group Styx had an album titled The Grand Illusion that was based on the premise that the lives that people lived were based on an illusion that was created by others . . . primarily, though they did not say it, Wall Street and its advertisers.  People were not living in reality.  When people photo shop pictures are they not changing reality?  Are they not creating an illusion?

Years ago I had the opportunity to meet Margo Kidder.  Yeah, the Margo Kidder who played Lois Lane in the Superman movies with Christopher Reeves.  It was a couple of months after her unfortunate episode with her bi-polar disease.  The woman I met did not add up to the woman that I had in my mind . . . reality was more severe than the photo shopped version that Hollywood had tried to sell me.  I was not disappointed in this down to earth individual, but I was upset that it had shattered what I thought was real.  That is the problem that I have with photo shopping.

Photo shopping in life is all around us.  What we see is not always the reality.  Be careful out there . . . one shot, one honest real shot, says more than any photo that has been altered to be more appealing.  Yeah, I believe that . . . and, my photos prove that.  If it was good enough for God the first time . . . it is good enough for me.

So, What is in a Name?

So, a friend of mine on Facebook shared a little blog that he wrote titled Hipper Handles for Churches!  He also wanted to know what I thought about the trend of churches changing their names . . . and, their practices . . . in order to attract a younger, hipper crowd.  To be honest . . . I had to laugh.  I had to laugh because he is right . . . the church is getting out of the faith business and getting into the image business . . . Jerusalem is no longer the center of the faith, Wall Street is. 

Now, I have been in the ministry for over thirty years . . . thirty-one as an ordained pastor in a denomination that was started here in the United States of America and is still hanging in there, and probably no one even knows their name . . . the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  Yeah, we have had a marketing problem for quite a few years . . . the founders couldn’t agree upon a name . . . the “Christians” just wanted Christian Church, but the “Disciples” just wanted Disciples of Christ.  Some wise guy decided to avoid arguments they would just call themselves the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  Trust me . . . it can get confusing even after nearly 200 years of existence . . . but, we haven’t changed our name to some cooler and more relevant name . . . like .the point.  But, we have jumped into the image waters with both feet.

Over thirty years of ministry I have seen a whole lot of things happen in the church in order to draw certain crowds.  One of my favorite was to create a coffee bar in the narthex of the church in which people could buy their favorite coffee drinks and go to worship.  Of course, the churches that did this suddenly needed to have cup holders installed . . . sort of like at your favorite sports venue.  I thought they could do even better . . . rip out the pews and install recliners with cup holders . . . also throw in a remote control for each chair that when they get tired of listening to the preacher they can click away!  I know of a lot of churches that have coffee bars and allow people to bring in beverages to the worship service . . . but, the question is whether we go to church for the beverages or the service.  I don’t know, since I am the preacher, I don’t get a beverage . . . I have to work.  Seems like discrimination to me . . . clergy abuse.  If I read my statistics correctly . . . coffee in worship hasn’t increased attendance, nor has it cut down on the amount of snoring the preacher has to preach through.

Like any business, churches get caught up in the latest fads.  Contemporary worship . . . electric guitars and drums in worship . . . rock and roll invading the sacred space . . . slide show or PowerPoints . . . glass pulpits . . . more entertainment than worship.  Has it increased the number of people filling the pews or recliners?  Nope . . . research and statistics show that there are just as many people going out the back door as there are coming in the front door.

Social media?  Hmmmm . . . I am guilty of this one . . . or, I could be.  Social media . . . Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and many more . . . are called the link to the people . . . millions, if not billions or trillions, are networking through social media.  Every church worth its salt is involved in social media.  Shoot, even my itty bitty rural congregation in Montana has a Facebook page . . . our weekly newsletter is delivered through email . . . we have embraced social media.  And, it has helped us . . . we are more connected to one another; but at the same time, we have not seen an increase in our attendance.  And, to be honest with you, I never intended it to be a means of increasing our attendance at church.  I wanted it to be a means of connecting with those who are already attending and giving people resources that they could choose to share with others.  Our subscription rate for the Facebook page has increased, but our worship attendance has remained the same.  Social media is only good if you understand what you are using it for . . . increase worship attendance . . . draw in a younger crowd . . . I doubt it.

There are a lot of other faddish things that the church has jumped into, including changing its name to attract people.  It doesn’t work.  Changing the name of a rose to dandelion does not change the fact that it is still a rose . . . it just has a different name.  Its shape and context and content is still the same.  Changing its name does not change who it is . . . only changes who you are calling to the table come supper time.    I remember over twenty-some years ago that a lot of the churches in the community where I was serving as a pastor started changing their names to attract a different crowd and to hide the so-called negatives associated with their denominations.  The Assembly of God churches were the leaders in this name change movement.  One of them changed their name to New Life Church, but they were still an Assembly of God congregation . . . did the same things they always did, but with a new name.  A name change by itself does not change the church or what it does or what it represents.  To be honest, I think it is lying . . . and, I think lying is one of those things that God told us not to do.

If a church is going to change its name . . . well, go for some gusto . . . show a little bling.  One I think that would draw in a few people would be “Sin and Save” . . . at least there is some truth in that advertising.  The problem with church advertising is that secular society has already beat them to the best . . . Nike has “just do it”, AT&T has “reach out and touch someone” and Verizon has “can you hear me now?”  The congregation that my friend mentioned, .the point, is way out there in la la land.  What in the world does that mean?  There is not a whole bunch of theological reflection in that name . . . not a whole lot of biblical thought into it . . . did Jesus say something in the New Testament that I missed about putting the “dot” anywhere?  What the hell is the “dot”?

I think that the “church” . . . yes, I used quotation marks around the word church to connote that I mean the whole church everywhere . . . is getting caught up in silliness and wasting its time.  The “church” needs to get back to what the “church” should be about.  “Church” should be about being a safe place where diverse people can gather and feel safe to explore who God created them to be . . . to live out their lives as God would desire them to do . . . and, to encourage everyone to be faithful to who God created them to be despite the fact that God has called everyone differently.  I think that the “church” should be a place where people can come to love God and one another despite being created differently.  The bottom line . . . the foundation of it all . . . is that people feel safe to be themselves.  God loves us for who we are.

God loves us for who we are . . . not whether or not we have a fancy coffee bar in the narthex . . . that we have the hottest rock and roll band leading our worship service . . . that we have the hippest or coolest name in the community . . . or that our recliners are Lazy Boy and have cup holders, we can pay our tithe with a credit card swiper in the foyer, or that our remote controls actually silence the preacher.  God loves us for who we are . . . not the name we use to lure others into the sanctuary.

For my friend, that is what I think.  Thank you for the inspiration to rant and rave!

Since When?

The governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, vetoed State Bill 1062.  Bill 1062 was called a “religious freedom” bill that would allow business owners in Arizona to refuse service or business to any person who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender based on their religious beliefs.  Shortly after the governor of Arizona did this the state legislature in Ohio removed their version of the same bill from consideration.  Though I was not surprised by the governor’s veto, I was surprised that it had even gotten to the governor’s desk in the first place.  It was stupid.

It just did not make much sense to me.  How were they going to determine the gender of someone who walks into their business or restaurant?  Were they going to have people fill out forms before seating them or doing actual business?  Were they going to use stereotypical profiles of the various genders to determine whether or not someone should be allowed in for service?  Or were they going to ask for a credit card, hold it up to their foreheads, and declare the individual acceptable like Carnac the Magnificent?  How exactly were these businesses and restaurant owners going to determine the gender of the people using their businesses?  Was Arizona going to start requiring people to wear badges declaring their gender?  I understand money is what makes the business revolve . . . and, money does not care what gender the spender is.  It all spends the same way.  So, what does gender have to do with doing business or eating in a restaurant?  Doesn’t this go against the real religion that governs our lives and the world around us—economics?

Besides, this sure did not sound much like the United States of America.  Using one liberty to take the liberties of others away.  Nor does this idea of religious freedom sound much like the teachings or ways of Jesus . . . I don’t remember him excluding anyone from his presence if they were not of the same faith persuasion as he was.  Nope, he welcomed everyone to take a seat at the table.  So, as I stated above, I was pretty amazed that SB 1062 even made it to the governor’s desk.

I also did not understand all of the ruckus surrounding two athletes—Michael Sam and Jason Collins, who happen to be gay.  Michael Sam is the first highly rated college football player to come out as openly gay before the National Football League draft.  Jason Collins is the National Basketball Association player who came out as being gay at the end of last season, and had been sitting out much of this season until he received a ten-day contract from the Brooklyn Nets.  Since when does one’s gender determine whether or not he or she is a good athlete?  Prior to their announcements about their gender no one seemed to have any problems with them as athletes . . . they had both proven themselves as exceptional on the playing field and court.  It is pretty ridiculous that gender enters into the picture in the first place . . . they are playing a sport.  Making tackles. Setting picks. Scoring points.  What does gender have to do with that?  Not much . . . but you would think with the media attention these pronouncements have generating that it was a big deal.  A gay football player?  A gay basketball player?  Who cares as long as they can play the game.

Since when did the Declaration of Independence, our nation’s founding document, have hidden agendas to keep others out?  Did it not say, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  Since when did the Constitution and Bill of Rights have little exclusion clauses when it came to “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”  It seems that we as a nation have had a real difficult time living up to our ideals as presented in the Constitution and Bill of Right.  Our own history plays against us in that arena.

We live in an age of “isms” . . . racism . . . ageism . . . sexism . . . gender bias . . . ability/disability . . . poor/rich . . . religious preferences or no preferences . . . politics . . . and, on and on the list goes.  We have all encountered bias and prejudice in our own lives, even if it has been as simple as being a Bobcat fan in Grizzly Country.  It is never fun to be judged by these so-called “isms”.  But, the sad thing is that we all have our own biases and prejudices even when we think that we do not.  We still have a long way to go as demonstrated by a state trying to pass a prejudicial bill or professional sports having to explain why a person’s gender makes an individual worthy of playing a sport.

If a person can do the job . . . who cares whether or not the person is straight or gay?  Young or old?  Rich or poor?  Black, white, or Indian? Able-bodied or has a disability?  Male or female?  Presbyterian or Jewish?  What does any of that have to do with sitting down in a restaurant to eat a meal or being able to make a tackle on a football field?  And, for that matter, what does any of that have to do with whether or not those people have a place at God’s table? 

I know that there are lots of arguments against what I am saying, but I can handle that . . . after all, we all have our opinions.  Yet, my understanding is that the Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16)  Nowhere in that statement or following do I find a list of exclusions that exempt anyone . . . God loves the whole world . . . God loves the diversity . . . and, God desires to be in a relationship with all of it.  Because of that there is one simple question: Who are we to deny anyone a place at God’s table?

God has room for everyone . . . men, women, pirates, acrobats, giants, androids, aliens, ninjas, gamers, gangstas, invisible men, zombies . . . blacks, whites, Hispanics, Indians, and any other race . . . Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Mormons, Muslims, and any other religion . . . old people, young people . . . rich, poor . . . abled and disabled . . . smart and dumb . . . Republicans and Democrats . . . everyone.  Everyone is welcomed to the table . . . God always has room.

Since when do we allow our biases and prejudices . . . our ignorance . . . to determine God’s will?  Shouldn’t we at least give God’s way a try before we condemn the rest of the world . . . after all, we were all created in the image of God.  That should be reason enough for all of us to love one another.