Catapult Thyself

There is much spoken out there and equally as much written where pastors can get into little pastoral circles and talk about the problems in ministry until the cows come home. I should probably include myself in that mix, however, I'm not a pastor, and therefore I exempt myself :-) Conversations usually follow the basic train of thought:

-spectator ethic rather than participant ethic
-they are the frozen chosen
-they won't listen and won't follow!
-holy huddles
-the culture today breeds Christians who gather together merely for social and entertainment purposes

Looking towards becoming a better leader myself I try to exegete our culture and our problems, but hopefully I pray not dwell on them all day. The answer is serving God, but what specific message will that Platonic form manifest itself this week?

The wise sage Matt Erickson contributes the following prayer thusly, "They would see that their spirituality is not about them alone, but about finding their place within the body of Christ." Individualism is at an all time high, and Matt correctly brings this to a forefront again in our minds. But individualism, how? Perhaps it's individualism because of the mode of media. Media creating islands of isolation (when I'm listening to my ipod I'm in my own little world) and therefore the natural byproduct is separation and individualism. So, doing "spirituality alone" can be connected to the problem of underdeveloped thinking of how media impacts us in the most subtle and unseeming ways.

If we see some truth in the framework of media creating us into little separate isolated islands, then isolated spiritualism is bound to follow. Spirituality alone may manifest itself in many ways. One way are ministries is heavy in "events" and "socials" but really ultimately at the end of the day weak in fellowship. How does this happen? Simple, the "events" and "socials" are merely filled with shallow "gas pump fellowship." (I coined that baby, so don't you go stealing that on me unless you give me props. That idea is part of one of my chapters in my up and coming book.) This means that conversations only go as far and as deep as a conversation you would have with a stranger outside a gas pump on a crisp November morning. A solution I propose is simply to stop planning and holding "events" and "socials" for the simple fact that they are meeting their intended purposes anyways, which is or at least should be to build confidence in a young outreach team at these are easy places to mingle with new faces or to kick start Christian fellowship at the start of each term. Stop burning the energies and simply stop that hamster wheel altogether. Go to pray until you can figure out how to listen to God's voice again in learning how to build Christian community through other means other than by putting on a sound and light show at a youth rally.

Another way spirituality is done alone is much different. In the example above, there was gathering, which is deceptive. That would give the appearance of connectivity. But as I argue, that's only "gas pump fellowship" connectivity. The other way we see spirituality done alone is by the rogue or nut job. The nut job is out to lunch as far as a holistic understanding of God's message is concerned. His personal piety in some places may be truly outstanding, but his grasping of God's message of the need to "play nice" and the need for doing theology in a community is at around a second grade reader level.

Ultimately, I see exegeting the culture of our media-centric world today useful in peeling back the curtain of reality to tackle larger issues such the tragic isolated island concept and "doing spirituality alone." I must say I am grateful for Matt and the interns at Elmbrook Church as they have been a blessing on my life as I try to wade through the mud of my over-racked brain.

I shall continue to catapult myself to think about these issues. Catapulting myself into exegeting both text and culture. Tuesday I talk on media for a college ministry, hence my media contact points here today. I remain indebted to all of you who think about me and pray for me often. Thank you friend.