I grew up identifying with skateboard culture. Remember, I’m old, so this was in the 1980′s. It wasn’t like it is today when you can turn on network television and see the Mountain Dew tour of professional skateboarding as part of mainstream America and everyone knows who Tony Hawk is. It wasn’t mainstream. And that’s one of the things that attracted me.

I’ll be honest and I’ll be the first to tell you that I was never very good at skating. But I loved it nonetheless and I’ve been wondering recently why that was. Why did I love to do something I didn’t excel at? One of my favorite skaters growing up was Lance Mountain because he was good, but he just didn’t seem as competitive as some of the other guys. He seemed to truly love skating for skating’s sake. I watched the Bones Brigade videos (especially Animal Chin) incessantly and they became woven into my psyche (for good and bad!).

Last night I finally had the chance to watch Stacy Peralta‘s documentary: Bones Brigade: An Autobiography. Even if you’re not interested in skateboarding, it’s a great story of finding meaning and belonging in a world that doesn’t seem to want you. That was one of the themes throughout each of the skaters’ recollections: they just didn’t feel like they fit in until they found skateboarding. They weren’t sure about life’s meaning until they found skateboarding. I deeply resonated with that sentiment growing up. I could play sports but I just had no interest in organized sports. In fact, I really didn’t like them. I could do well in school when I tried but it just wasn’t important to me. It wasn’t until I found skateboarding that I really felt like I had found an outlet that not only provided personal growth and expression but community.

Now, many (many) years later, as a Christian, I have a deeper understanding of what I was looking for and I have found more than I ever could have hoped for in Jesus. But I’m left wondering, especially as a pastor; does the way we practice “modern-day North American ‘Christianity’” fulfill those deepest desires that we all try to fill in various ways? We all want to be accepted for who we are and the freedom to express our individuality in community that accepts us. Skateboarding has offered that for countless young people.

But I struggle with the way that so much of our practice of Christianity tends to isolate us from those “who aren’t like us.” We withdraw from culture and build our “Christian” baseball fields, football fields, bowling alleys and tennis courts, believing that we can offer a “safe” alternative to people. Yet, in practice, we’ve asked people to “become like us,” to cross a cultural boundary before they can be part of our community. We use belief to exclude people from community. Yet, Jesus flipped this on its head; he used community to draw people to belief. Christians are the worst about asking people to fit into preconceived notions and become monochrome when we should be the most beautiful of tapestries, made up of all kinds of people who preserve their differences in love instead of water them down in conformity. How is it that skateboarders can practice community and acceptance better than those who have been accepted forever by God?

Bones Brigade: An Autobiography reminded me of a time in life when I truly felt free to be myself and felt completely accepted at the same time by others who were truly being themselves. Now, many years later, I’ve come to realize just how rare that is. May our “version” of Christianity be a better treasure than a skateboard.

Watch a trailer for  Bones Brigade: An Autobiography:

 

As you may have heard, Mike Huckabee has declared today “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day.” He has called for Christians to inundate the fast-food chicken chain with their business as a sign of their support. In case you haven’t heard, the chain has come under scrutiny, even losing the support of the Muppets because company president Dan Cathy supported the traditional view of marriage in recent interviews. Furious over what they view as hate-speech and discrimination, many have called for a boycott of the famous chicken peddlers. Upset about having the boycott game turned on them, Christians have decided to eat lots of chicken, claiming this as a first amendment right and have equally thrown out the clarion call of “DISCRIMINATION!”

Barnabas Piper recently stepped in to the fray saying why he believes “Chicken Day” as I have come to affectionately call it, a “Bold Mistake.” Piper summarizes his position by saying that:

the message the homosexual community and its supporters see is “us versus you.” The event also sends a message of separatism and territorialism in the “reclaiming” of those restaurants that are being boycotted, a collective action easily seen as a shaking of the fist or a wagging of the finger.

Piper adds:

The separation of believers and unbelievers, when it happens, must be a last resort or an unavoidable result. Actions to the contrary, those that clearly promote an “us versus them” mentality, are most often unhelpful.

I think that Piper has raised a serious issue which Christians must consider. By binging on “Chicken Day,” what are we really communicating? We love to sing “Jesus, Friend of Sinners,” (Matthew 11:19 and  Luke 7:34) but do we like to live it? Now, before you say that I’m condoning sin, think about this. Something about Jesus attracted the sinners and repelled the religious people. Our cultural approach seems to be exactly the opposite. We want to dig our heels into the ground and force the divide between us and “them.” What could have been a beautiful opportunity for dialogue has now turned into another battle in the “Culture War.”

And think about what’s been done to Chick-Fil-A in the process. Instead of creating an environment in which everyone feels welcomed, they have been put in the position of playing the role of cultural beacon for Christendom. I wish Chick-Fil-A had closed today and said: “Our president expressed his views, Huckabee et al, we appreciate the idea but we’re just chicken sellers. Please leave us alone.” But now they’re the “Christian Chicken Sellers!” If you like the “secular” KFC, try the “Christian Alternative Chick-Fil-A! While many believe this is a great thing, I think it will ultimately hurt Chick-Fil-A in the longrun, even if Huckabee and others think “Chicken Day” is an important statement. It might be, I just worry it’s sending the wrong message.

There is a way to humbly but confidently share life with “sinners” (and please let’s remember that sinners are sinners are sinners and we’re all sinners – there is no “us vs. them” it’s become “I’ve been forgiven of my sin and I think your sin is the worst of all!) while speaking the truth in love, while pointing to the truth. Jesus did it every day. The very fact that he ate and drank with “the tax collectors and the sinners” prompted the Pharisees and the Scribes to grumble and complain, leading in to perhaps Jesus’ most famous parable (Luke 15).

I worry that “Chicken Day” is taking us in the exact opposite direction. I understand that Huckabee’s Chicken Crew believes that they are standing up for biblical convictions but I just worry that they are creating the “Pharisee Meal With A Side of Separatism” in the process. Do we really want to separate ourselves from the very people Jesus made such efforts to hang out with? What biblical conviction does that speak advance? What if our posture was one of humble, confident, loving dialogue and service to those with whom we disagree rather than heels-in-the-ground division? Maybe we need to see the cultural chiropractor?

I know I’ll hear from you on this one and I look forward to your respectful dialogue.

•  Read my previous thoughts on this issue.
• Read Barnabas Piper’s piece.

I used to do a podcast with a great friend of mine. It was called the Habañero Hour and we played a lot of music we liked and interviewed some of the people who made that music. We focused a lot on the relationship between Christian faith and artistic expression.

Then we stopped doing the podcast and started hosting house shows. If you’re not sure what a “house show” is; it’s exactly what it sounds like: we host concerts in homes. We’ve been able to meet lots of those people whose music we played and interviewed for the podcast but since then, the focus has become much broader. We want to help promote the arts in suburban Arizona. Good luck, right? Actually, we’ve been tremendously blessed to host some tremendous house shows (and we want to start partnering with all kinds of other artists as well but we’re not there yet).

In fact, we’re working on scheduling house shows for the Fall right now. We’ve already announced the return of David Ramirez and watch for more announcements soon. In the meantime, here are some great moments from past house shows:

Here is Seryn performing “So Within”

 

Shawn Skinner: “Charlie and William”

 

 

 
Chris Bathgate: “Big Ghost”

 

Aaron Spiro: “Are You Coming?”

 
What have been your favorite Habañero Collective house show moments?

As I mentioned on Monday, I seem to find myself having variations of the same conversation over and over again. I’m not complaining. In fact, I enjoy being forced to present ideas in a variety of angles, being forced to whittle them down until they’re concise and clear.

One of the reasons the Church of the Cross family organizes itself around missional communities, or as we sometimes call them, “gospel communities on mission” (which we’ll talk more about today) is that we are convinced that we should, as much as possible, place people in contexts where change is likely to occur.

By no means are we saying that we can really make people change. God does that. However, we do believe that local churches should do as much as possible to encourage and facilitate that change in people’s lives. We believe that this change is more likely to occur when we place people in the “sweet spot,” the intersection of Gospel, Community and Mission.

I’ve never been a big sports guy, but I did play tennis for several years growing up. In tennis, as with several other sports involving making contact with a ball, there is, on the racquet, a “sweet spot.” There is a spot on the tennis racquet where, you know it when you make contact. The ball responds better. You have more power and control. You can hit the ball across the net with just about any part of the racquet; even the frame. But when you make contact with the sweet spot, it is better. You’re still playing tennis if you’re just getting the ball over the net, but you’re not experiencing the fullness of the game without learning to connect with the sweet spot.

Likewise, in envisioning what a missional community is, it helps to envision another sweet spot. This time, it is not a place on a racquet, but the intersection of three life-factors: Gospel, Community and Mission. It might look something like the overlap of three circles. As much as possible, we are looking to facilitate the life of the missional community within that “sweet spot” (the little white space where all three factors intersect).

This means that each factor is not negotiable and, as much as possible, all three at the same time are necessary. If we take away just one factor, the entire dynamic changes and it is no longer what we’re looking to foster. For example, if we remove Gospel, leaving Community and Mission, we have the possibility of some good being done in the world. We might have something like the Peace Corps or the Scouts. We have people coming together to serve but but not out of gospel motives so it can’t produce the sweet spot missional communities strive to exist within and we’re less likely to see real, lasting life change.

Take away Community, leaving Gospel and Mission. We might have a street preacher, “out in the world preaching the word” but it is often removed from daily life and it is often done in isolation. Or we might have a great short-term missions trip. You and your friends are going to change the world in a week and you come back with the church-camp high and you feel on top of the world but as the rhythms of real-life begin to pull you under again, chances are that most of those relationship you thought would last forever have deteriorated; that long-term shared communal life is just not there so it can’t produce the sweet spot missional communities strive to exist within.

Or take away Mission, leaving Gospel and Community. We might have a truly moving gathered worship experience or a moving and challenging group bible study. But if mission is removed, the external-focus is taken away, it will, by default, be inward focused so it can’t produce the sweet spot missional communities strive to exist within.

Gospel, Community and Mission are non-negotiable for missional communities. But it is not enough simply to have all three; we are looking for their intersection and the space it creates, you cannot have a missional community without all three Gospel, Community and Mission being present. When all three are present and the “sweet spot” of their intersection opens up, we believe that people are more likely to be changed into maturing and multiplying disciples.

In days to come, well flesh out a bit more how some of this might look in the life of a local community but for now, I just want to paint some very broad strokes of what a missional community (as we understand and practice them) is and isn’t. Though it may look different for different missional communities, I have come to believe that some attempt to place people within this sweet spot is part of what a missional community is always aiming for.

Kristi and I had the chance to go see Radiohead last night. We didn’t think we were going to be able to make it (it was the last night of our foster care training course) but that’s a different story.

Going to concerts is always an interesting experience (as I noted seeing Mumford and Sons in a tiny club). Especially bands people are passionate about. You know, the ones where they know every word and they close their eyes and really get in to the music and sometimes even raise their hands.

It’s interesting that people can get more excited about about a concert than actual worship sometimes. I mean, I’ve seen people moved to tears by seeing their favorite bands and I’ve seen people sing about the greatness of God like it is a funeral march.

The bands that seem to create the most (genuinely) emotional experience tend to draw the larger crowds. Whether it be slow, building music leading to cathartic crescendos or personal, connecting lyrics. This should lead us to suspect something that seems pretty obvious: people are looking for a spiritual experience.

This is something I’ve been thinking a lot about as I meet with pastors and church planters in my area who are striving to lead missioanl churches. I’ve been thinking a lot (it’s probably a bit too strong to say that I’m worried but it might be OK to say I’m concerned) about a trend I’ve been seeing in lots of missionally-minded churches. There seems to be a trend to downplay the worship aspects of a weekly gathered worship. Sometimes it is framed in the idea that the weekly gathering should primarily be about hearing what God is doing in people’s lives so sharing and dialogue take the center spot. Other times, it seems to stem from a concern that unbelievers won’t feel alienated. As missional community churches shift their “organizing principle” away from Sunday morning to missional communities throughout the week, I am concerned that we are downplaying gathered worship.

Our Church of the Cross family often tries to publicly find that balance. We tell people that Sunday is not a production, so there will be times when everything doesn’t seem to flow as smoothly as at other churches. Prayer is not a time for the band or pastor to “magically appear” so that we can stick to our stopwatch. Prayer is talking to God and since it’s not a production, it’s OK if there’s a minute or two of “awkward silence.” And, since prayer is talking to God, the emotional keyboard or guitar noodling in the background is actually a distraction, so we don’t do it. And since worship is not a production, we don’t have fog machines and fancy lights. But at the same time, worship is a key part of the Christian life, even emotionally-stirring worship (even though emotional experiences may or may not actually be worship but that’s for another time).

People are looking for spiritual experiences. That much is evident from simply going to a concert. But what happens when our churches downplay that experience? How do we find that balance of not being a production while not responding to God like the “frozen chosen” (the answer probably has something to do with faithful, clear and regular proclamation of the Gospel, don’t you think?)?

Though worship should be a part of everyday life, there is also something special about Gathered Worship and I want to see our missional churches not lose sight of that. Thank you Radiohead for prompting these thoughts.

We are super-excited to welcome Bill Mallonee for another house show. Join us at the Skinner house, Friday, October 14 at 7:00pm. This is a great chance to help support awesome live music. Paste Magazine ranked Mallonee as one of the top 100 living songwriters.

Billboard says:

Dylan-tinged vocal and introspective lyrics that spin out big-picture stories imbued with chilling small details.

Rolling Stone says:

Bill Mallonee… [has] remained fascinated with the shadowy emotional toils and struggles inherent in the American experience, compelling, insightful, [he] continues to probe through Americana rock an roll proving that sometimes the only story worth telling is that of the journey.

After fronting Vigilantes of Love for many years, Mallonee has traveled the world telling his stories through music. If you’re in the Phoenix area, don’t miss this show.

• Visit Bill Mallonee’s official site
• RSVP for the house show (via Facebook)

Here is Bill with Vigilantes of Love in England. “Solar System” gone electricy-good:

Here’s a more recent live version of “Skin”