Preconceived Notions or Why I am glad that God is not always who I think he is.

I am beginning to realize something about myself, and no it is not the fact that it is weird that I have over and over again in my head thought about the theological ramifications of the movie Ground Hog Day. What I am realizing is the fact that I have preconceived notions about God. In other words I have a picture in my head of who God is and how he acts. How this picture came to be is hard to say. I am sure that it is a combination of many different factors. It is a picture that shifts and changes over the years but there are some basic traits that stay the same. Let me be very clear about something, I do not believe that my picture of God is who God actually is, and on the flip side of that I do not believe that all of my assumptions about God are entirely wrong. It's hard to be a finite being trying to think about an infinite being. Below follows the list that makes up my picture of God.

1) God is a snazzy dresser. Flip through the scriptures and notice how many times when God appears to people in a human like form they comment on his clothes.

2) God is not a big fan of scientists. Look I am not saying there are anything wrong with scientists or science for that matter, but I have to think after all these years of these dudes committing their life to disproving him he is probably not rushing to become their fans on facebook, but don't worry if your scientist all you have to do is repeat three times that you approve of the literal 6 days of creation and God will welcome you with open arms into the fold.

3) God probably drinks coffee and has a goatee. If we were really honest with ourselves a good deal of the people that we know that are "close" to God drink lots and lots of coffee and are rocking some form of awesome facial hair. Just look at all the pictures we have of all the heroes of the Bible, name me one of them that did not have facial hair? The goatee is just todays hero beard. And for the record women this is a pretty good argument for why you can not be ministers, you can't grow facial hair duh.

4) God loves everyone (except racists). Look I realize that God is a lover of all mankind but it seems like a no brainer to me that he can not love someone who is a racist. Its an oxymoron, how can you love someone who hates something you created? I mean if I bake a cake and I feed it to you, you better bet your weathered designer jeans that if you tell me you hate it I'm going to smite you with my wrath (a. k. a I will tell you I laced it with arsenic and watch you squirm, but don't worry I didn't....or did I?) Sure its kind of a contradiction for me to be racist against a racist, but God approves of that kind of racism...right?

5) God is ok with me praying to him like I update my twitter account. If we were honest with out selves we would realize that God has a lot of requests to listen to on any given day, and the quotient goes up on Sunday. In light of this it only makes sense that God is perfectly ok with me updating him in 140 characters or less. If it takes longer than that to talk about it you probably need to rethink how your phrasing it or just write on God's facebook wall so that he can read it later.

6) God hates and I say again hate hymnals! Its a well known fact that God hates hymnals to be used in worship service for anything else but propping up my wobbly leg on my drum set, oh and flipping through when you get bored with the sermon.

speaking of sermons

7) God will bless my sermon more if I preach it sitting on a stool. Preaching while standing up is so 2007. We all know that God approves more of the sit down and have a conversation method than he does of the stand up and lecture method. Now I am not saying that God will not use his word to do a mighty work if you stand up, but just know your convert ratio will double if you stay seated...it's science...kind of. Oh and on a related note don't wear a tie everyone knows that God hates ties.

8) God cares more about the people out side of America. I mean really, what do we have to bother God about? He has already give us Starbucks, Joyce Meyers, Joel Olsteen, and Hillsong (I know technically they are from Australia but come on we love them.) What could we possibly have to bother God about? Let's all do God a favor and leave him to his latest campaign of making sure the RED campaign at the GAP is successful.

9) God loves the NIV, likes the MSG, (even though its technically not a translation) and thinks people that read the KJV are stupid.

Come on, really, let it go, God never talked like that and we know it. We all know that God has always and always will talk like either a very level down to earth James Earl Jones or a surfer dude...come on bra really!

10) God hates Christian radio. Yeah sure you may say that these musicians have poured their lives into praising God with their lips, I say they have laid down their gifts at the alter of fame and fortune just so they can have the glitz and glamour that comes with being on the road 24/7. If they really love God they will do what the rest of us do, volunteer their time at the local church leading worship on Sunday morning for no pay. I mean of course I get paid to do what I do for God, but I'm different...I'm a preacher I do the real work.

If your like me, than when you take a really honest look at who you think God is you probably fall down right there and thank him that he is not! I find that I am in good company with this type of thinking though. As I read through the Bible I realize that many of God's children had ideas about who he was only to find out later that God is more than they could ever hope to imagine.

So how about you? What are your preconceived notions about God? I would love to hear them.

What is truth? Or sometimes I really want to use South Park as a sermon Illustration.

In the book of John there is a passage of scripture that has for a very long time resonated with me. We find Jesus in the last hours of his life standing before Pilate, who is questioning him about who he is and what all the fuss is about. In verse 37 of chapter 18 Jesus says, "Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." To this Pilate responds, "What is truth?" This is one of those sayings that stops me in my tracks every time I read it, because it really is the question that everyone, even if they do not know it has been asking and continues to ask. The asking of this question really gives the reader a glimpse into the cultural climate of the time. When the leadership starts doubting about where to find truth, people should start to worry. This is a question that I really connect with because through the years it is one I have struggled with. Like I have said before, I grew up in the Church. I had always took it for granted that I was right and the rest of the poor souls that were walking around who were unfortunate enough to not have grown up with the truth were pretty much doomed to hell, unless of course they were lucky enough to stumble upon the truth one day. Looking back I am realizing that this is a very narrow view of the grace of God. Don't get me wrong I still believe the basics. Jesus is God's son, he is the only way to heaven, and people need to hear that. But as far as my other pre-conceived notions about what it means to be in relationship God go, I am starting to realize that maybe they are not all true. Please hear me before you start sending me angry comments, I still believe baptism is essential, communion is essential, and fellowship with other Christians is essential I just think a lot of us are going to be surprised when we get to heaven and find out who our neighbor in the next mansion is, that's all. For the record I want mine to be beside Bill Murry (don't ask). But I digress, I look at the question Pilate gives to Jesus 2000 years ago and I find that I ask the same question only with a slight twist. Instead of "what is truth?" I find myself ask "Where is truth?" Here is what I mean by that. The other night I was watching South Park (yes that vile show that will send you straight to hell, but bare with me before you click the x on the top left hand of your screen). The episode was about the Jonas Brothers and the whole gist of it was that Disney sells sex by selling purity. The Jonas Brothers made a huge deal out of wearing purity rings, and since they did that parents would allow their daughters to go to the concerts where the dancing and lyrics of their songs were all sexually driven. After I was done watching that I thought to myself, "That is the best way I have ever seen the concept of Christians allowing themselves to jump on a band wagon with out researching it just because it had a "Christian" symbol slapped on it." My next thought was, "That would make a really good sermon illustration." And that thought was followed by, "If I wanted to get fired." This is a concept I have struggled with for awhile, I find truth from many different sources not just the Bible. Again before you send me the angry comments let me clarify. I believe all truth is found in the Bible and I believe that any truth that is found out side of the Bible is in fact in someway rooted in a Biblical concept. But here is my question. Do you believe that truth can be found anywhere? If so how do you feel about using that source in your teaching and ministering to others? When is it inappropriate to use a source even if it contains truth? Do Christians shy away to much from using "secular" sources of truth?

I Hate My Church or I Hate the Church of Me.

Ok so let's get one thing out of the way before I go any farther, I love the Church. I have grown up "in" the Church. Ever since I can remember I have been attending Church services. With that being said I have to admit I hate the Church. Don't get me wrong I don't hate it all the time, only some of the time. A lot of you probably know what I am talking about. You get that feeling when your sitting on that pew, (or if your in a hip cool church, that plush chair that has no arms and is connected uncomfortably close to the chair and person next to you) and the thought hits you and you get that gaping hole feeling in the pit of your stomach, "Is this all there is to this?" As a minister that is a bad feeling because of course the only logical ending to that train of thought is, "Your kind of responsible for all of "this" that you are hating on so much right now." I have been getting a lot of those feelings lately. At first I thought it had something to do with the format that I was apart of, or as its better know as the "culture" of the Church. If we were honest with our selves congregations fall into only a few basic categories.

1) There is the ultra conservative, never changing, most likely dying a.k.a "old church." I think thats all that really needs to be said about that category.

2) Then there is the congregation that thinks they are progressive and contemporary but really they are just cheesy, the congregation who's Church sign out front doubles as a motivational speaker for people driving by i.e. "Prevent burning use Son block," the congregation that is excited because they just now got drums in the Church and they are going to start "contemporary" services next week which really means they are going to sing My Life is In You Lord for the first time ever and not well I might add. Let's for simplicity sake label this congregation the "unprogressive progressive Church."

3) Then we have the really cool hip Church. You know what I am talking about, you have seen them, go to one, or in fact may be the minister of one (for the record I'm jealous of you if you are.) As soon as you walk in you are handed a double shot mocha frappachino (fair trade of course), an organic T-shirt, and a guide on how to grow the perfect goatee. You step into the sanctuary, ahem excuse me I mean, "worship center," sorry my old Church roots were starting to show there, and you are immersed in a sea of savvy video clips, a Bono look alike singing the latest John Mark McMillian song, and a not overly dressed but just dressed up enough to know that he is in charge minister preaching to you sitting on a stool on a stage that looks like something straight out of the latest Urban Outfitters store set up. Minus the over priced clothes I mean come on now we are a social justice minded congregation.

Now it does not matter what culture you find your self in because I have found that the more people I talk to who attend all of the above mentioned Church styles, the more I realize that every single one of them gets that same pit in the feeling stomach as I do sitting in the congregation that I work for and worship at. By the way for those of you that are curious my congregation falls somewhere in between unprogressive progressive and some nether region that can not be placed in a category. We have John Mark one Sunday and the Old Rugged Cross the next. I have been thinking about this problem for awhile now. Why is it that no matter who I talk to it always seems that they are a little bit unimpressed with some aspect of their Church culture? Some people say, "Well people will always complain about something." Yes this is true, but the people I talk to are not complaining. They are not leaving their congregations to find something else, they are not screaming at the congregational meetings (OLD CHURCH ROOTS ALERT!) for better music or more Thomas Kinkade paintings in the foyer, they are simply searching for the authenticity of the Church they find in scripture. Could it be that no matter what Church culture you find yourself in we are all missing the point? When I look at the scriptures and observe how Jesus did ministry I notice something very interesting, he does not have to try very hard at all. People came to Jesus, people looked for Jesus, when Jesus was not around people wondered where he was. Jesus was so important to them that they would hike out for days and sit for days just to hear him speak. Why? Jesus did not have any cool church signs, savvy videos, mocha frappichinos, board meetings, drum sets, pulpits, organic T-shirts, organs, buildings, church growth conferences etc, and yet people flocked to him. How is it that Jesus was able to do ministry so well with so little? I think in a word it's authenticity. I have a feeling that the people that came and listened to Jesus never walked away going "Is that all there is?" I doubt they sat on the ground while he was teaching with that gaping pit feeling in their stomach like they were missing something, because when Jesus spoke the people knew that what they were hearing was most important words they would ever hear in their entire state of existence because they were hearing the very words of God. Could it be that we as a Church universal are trying to hard? Are we trying to hard to cater to the culture of people that we find ourselves in? Are the hipsters trying to hard to be hip and the unprogressive trying to hard to be progressive? I don't have an easy answer for that, but what I do know is that when I say that I hate Church it is not the Church in the scriptures that I hate, in fact it is not the Church at all that I hate, what I hate is what I have tried to make Church be. I hate that I have gotten so wrapped up in putting on a good program, making things fun, and making sure the same apathetic group shows up next week that I have lost a love for the Church that I once had. I have allowed my Church to taint God's Church. I have substituted the authenticity of the scriptures for flashy count downs and cute little sayings and I pay for it on Sunday morning when I leave unfed and disappointed. For the record I do not think any of the above mentioned techniques for carrying the gospel are wrong. If you want to use signs, use signs. If you want to have videos and t-shirts, and coffee, and goatees have them. But maybe you are where I am right now, if you are I would suggest that you step back for a moment and ask your self if you have allowed all of this stuff to snuff out the authenticity that the simple gospel message brings to a persons life.

So what do you think? How do you bring authenticity of the gospel message back to a Church culture that has allowed itself to lose it? How are you doing it in your congregation? I would love to hear your feed back.