Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Yesterday was Columbus day, which in itself could probably be a post of its own. But to public school students across Escondido, this meant a day off of school. I am not always the greatest at remembering the days that students have off school and I am also not the greatest at taking advantage of the hang out space that is possible on such days. However, yesterday I was ahead of the curve and got to spend time with 3 of my high school guys.

Now, if you have hung out with High School guys in the last ten years, or really at all, you will know the kind of joking and language that is commonplace. I have preached the message for the last 2 years with my students that I want them to be who they are, everywhere, and not just curbing actions to fit certain situations or expectations. The example is usually regarding language. Now, I admit that I am not someone who is pure in his speech. Curse words come off my lips every now and then, but with my high school students, I notice that this type of language seems to have replaced EVERYTHING they have learned in their English classes. It is everywhere. And it was present yesterday too. And these are my guys who have grown up in the church.

When those words were spoken, I noticed it but didn't react and just kind of let it fly. I don't want to be known as the guy who majors on the minors, and in the grand scheme of things, I think language is pretty minor. And here is why:

Thirty minutes into our time together, the boys wanted to go to In N Out for round two of carboloading. As we were pulling into the parking lot we passed a man who had a cardboard sign, looked rather dirty and had a huge beard. His sign said "Anything Helps". I drove right by, and we entered into the restaurant. The boys ordered and I found a seat as I didn't need more food on top of my already hearty helping of Yogurtland. Eventually the boy's food came. We were sitting enjoying conversation when another number was called. One of my guys got up and I said to myself, "More food? You have already eaten so much!" But he didn't bring that food back to the table, but instead took that double-double and fries out to the man with the sign.

I tried to hide my excitement. I was so proud of this young man for making such a huge, unsolicited choice to help some one who needed it. But this was the same kid who was using the poor language earlier on in the afternoon. But he was demonstrating his grasp of one the majors! He was thinking outside himself! It was an intriguing juxtaposition and demonstrated the tension that parents, teachers and youth workers have when it comes to the kinds of choices our students make.

Should we continue to harp and try to control every little thing or pray and hope for the major choices to be right? I for one will stand for those major choices to be right and pray that our actions will always speak louder than our words. That our actions will shout that we intend to have a positive impact on this world and that we are doing so in the name of Christ.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Is that a bad thing...?

I came out of my office today just as our church secretary got the mail. In that pile of mail was the new Worship Facilities magazine. On the front was one of most beautiful modern buildings that I had seen in a long time. Then I realized that it was a church building and that beauty turned into disgust and frustration.

This was a massive building. Like huge. It happens to be in Texas, which I guess means that it is taking the motto of Texas seriously. This was a huge, brand new, sterile, yet charming place of worship. It looked more like a hunting lodge to me than a church.

My mind started to spin with reactions. Is this wasteful? Is this really important? How has our culture in America influenced the church enough that we feel that this is important and necessary? The more I started to ask those questions, the more upset I was getting.

And then came the question of the day: Does God get angry with this type of building?

I think we have seen through history that God has blessed some large buildings, but he has also reacted terribly to others (i.e. Tower of Babel). But I think that those reactions were not based on the buildings themselves, but rather the intentions behind the building.

But the sheer amount of money that went into that building is flabbergasting. I don't know what it cost, but it could not have been cheap, and there seem to be some bigger issues out there than building a brand new, amazing, awe inspiring building that this type of money could have been poured into.

I share my reaction because I am not really sure what to think about it. I had my gut reaction, but at the same time, the argument could be made why this is a good thing. It will continue to be something to think about.