Wired: For A Life of Worship December 10, 2006
Author: Louie Giglio with Stuart Hall 
One of the first things I struggled with when I first became a Christian was worship. Because I had never been exposed to any sort of church tradition or practice, I pigeon-holed the practice of worship as being the 15-20 minutes of music and singing before the sermon. (The on-going debates around me about contemporary vs. traditional, praise choruses vs. hymns did not help my struggle–it only reinforced my immature misconception of worship being only about singing.) I don’t think I was alone in that struggle in the early days of my faith. Looking back, a book such as Wired: For A Life Of Worship, by Louie Giglio, would have been an invaluable resource. In eleven succinct, easy-to-read chapters, Giglio gives the reader a complete snapshot of what true worship is. Both anthropological and theological, the result is challenging and life-changing to any reader regardless of where they are on their spiritual journey. Sleekly presented with simple text interspersed with bold color, assorted font styles and wide margins, the book itself is aesthetically pleasing. However, the old adage about not judging a book by its cover rings true. In a day and age where style is emphasized over substance, it is refreshing to find a solid combination of both. Within the pages of Giglio’s book, the reader is systematically taught a full-orbed perspective of worship beginning with a general analysis of all of mankind. Using scriptures along with anecdotal stories and practical experience, Giglio hypothesizes that every person is born with a God-given desire to worship; i.e. we are “wired” for worship. Even after the fall of man, the need and drive to worship something remains. However, stained by sin the human heart resorts to worshipping anything but God. From here, Giglio skillfully builds one point upon the other painting a beautiful picture of creation, fall, grace and redemption.Perusing many other books written on the subject work of worship, I have found that many of them erred on the side of being overly self-centered, individualistic, mind-numbingly mystical and theologically muddy. Giglio, on the other hand, emphasizes the work of Christ on the cross, the importance of sacrificial living with others in community, and a Christ-centered love of God out of response for what He has done. The result is a good balance of theological and practical applications. The headings for each chapter illustrate how the theme of each builds upon the other:
- Chapter One: That Thing We do–Everybody worships something.·
- Chapter Two: Something More–We are made to worship God.
- Chapter Three: Why Worship Matters–We need to worship God.
- Chapter Four: What God Wants Most for You–true worship begins at the cross of Christ.
- Chapter Five: Joining the Ranks of True Worshippers
- Chapter Six: For who He is and What He does
- Chapter Seven: Worship as a Way of Life
- Chapter Eight: Through Jesus, All the Time
- Chapter Nine: Lips and Lives–everything can be worship when it’s done for God’s glory.
- Chapter Ten: A Personal Path to Worship
- Chapter Eleven: Moving Beyond Me, to Us–community worship
Through each chapter I was challenged and convicted personally in all areas of life–how I think, how I serve, how I use my gifts and resources, how I work and even how I rest. Do I make every part of my life an opportunity to worship? Or do I compartmentalize them? Do I view the things that God has blessed me with as mine and that I somehow deserve them? Or are they gifts from God that I am to use for His glory alone? Do I view time as mine or a tool to use for His purpose? Tackling this book was a humbling endeavor and I doubt that I will be alone in that conclusion. Interspersed in the content of each chapter is a brief, devotional bible study which addresses the theme being discussed. This is an extremely helpful tool in supplementing the understanding of the chapter. Also, there are discussion questions at the end of each chapter which makes this a great resource for small groups or home bible studies. (Note: the book is also packaged with a devotional/bible study called “30-Day Worship Journey” which takes the reader through 30 different Psalms. With each Psalm the reader is taught how to note key phrases and words to capture the theme of each Psalm; essentially, you are taught how to study the Bible. By the end of the 30 days, the reader is able to do each exercise without any outline or instruction from Giglio. Again, this is a very effective resource especially for the newer Christian.)
Although Giglio gears his material for a younger audience in both its style and presentation, Wired: For a Life of Worship will surely challenge the most mature of reader. Having our preconceptions (which are often misconceptions) confronted, deconstructed and re-shaped is often times painful but ultimately necessary. Only when we view all of our life as worship will we be able to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1).
Chazown: A Different Way to See Your Life November 13, 2006
Author: Craig Groeschel
The prospect of finding one’s ultimate purpose in life is simply unfathomable to most people. With so many throughout history and today on an existential search for something beyond the mundane, it is easy to become discouraged with the day-to-day. We all struggle with this, even as Christ followers. Thankfully, as Craig Groeschel details in his book Chazown: A Different Way to See Your Life
The clarity exhibited in Chazown is refreshing. There are times and places for deep philosophical wanderings on one’s purpose, but there is also time for simplicity. Beginning with three circles, Groeschel explores how one’s core values, spiritual gifts and past experiences intersect to find the center of one’s Chazown. Personally, I found this very helpful and somewhat enlightening. It becomes easy to disregard certain parts of life, especially tainted pasts, as something that can actually enhance one’s effectiveness. Scanning the memories of my life, I found myself understanding how I can uniquely use both the good and the bad to realize God’s ultimate purpose for me. Visual guides allow for the reader to tangibly understand the possibilities. The book functions as a sort of journal to jot down answers to key questions that Groeschel presents throughout the book. To further the experience, one can log on to Chazown.com and continue their journey more deeply, creating a sort of webpage to write and better understand how God is working in their lives.
The most introspective area of the book is the Five Spokes of Chazown. Groeschel challenges one to probe deeply into five areas of life that must be examined in order to continue on with the Chazown established in earlier chapters. These spokes, relationship to God, relationship with people, financial health, physical health, and life’s work, are all particularly important for Christians in today’s society. Groeschel emphasizes the importance of accountability in the area(s) where one may struggle, thus allowing for one’s dream to become a healthy reality. With a simple in-book quiz, one can identify which of the five areas may be of the most concern. This part of the book was truly humbling. It is easy to walk through life and not question how something as simple as my eating or spending habits may effect how I live out God’s purpose for my life. While Groeschel suggests that people move forward through the book to the areas where they may struggle, I found it more helpful to read through each spoke, even those that may not have been as applicable. In each spoke, there were areas where I discovered I could better myself even more, and give myself more whole-heartedly to God.
While the information and assistance that Groeschel presents in the book is certainly helpful for a person at any point on the journey through life, the writing style and information seem particularly suited for a younger crowd. The format is not traditional. The pages are often short, with artwork and quotes added in for emphasis. Throughout the book, certain words or quotes are highlighted or even capitalized to emphasize a particular point. It is definitely a book that is relevant to today’s youth oriented, emergent culture.
Although the book is a great bedside read for younger folks, it is universally applicable to Christians and non-Christians. Following a similar pattern to The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, readers are encouraged to seek out Truth, a Truth that is most satisfied in God. Bible verses are used occasionally, but the concepts are simple and helpful for anyone trying to navigate their way. In fact, this book seems to be even more appropriate for those that may still be exploring what God and faith are all about, and how those intertwine with their walk. As I read this book, I thought of several people that may find encouragement in the detailed plan that Groeschel lays out. When there is so much confusion in life, especially in times of spiritual discovery, it is helpful to have a starting point, a workbook, or just a voice that is expressing similar dilemmas and thoughts, as Groeschel does. His humor about his own foibles and accomplishments are helpful at reminding one that we are all fallible, but all valued and desired by God for a unique purpose.
People are usually skeptical when it comes to the “personal growth” section of the bookstore, which Chazown would fall under. But this book is a valuable tool. Rather than focusing simply on “self”, it reiterates the necessity to make our ultimate vision God. We are all tempted to force a vision that may not be what is truly suited to the unique vision God has for us. God places marvelous value on each of our lives. Once we begin to see ourselves as God sees us, as unique masterpieces to do His good works (Ephesians 2:10), we become able to see our true Chazown and bring it to fruition.
Preparing Him for the Other Woman
Moms wield great power with their sons. As a mother of two small boys, I often forget the powerful influence I have with these future men. When my oldest son gets hurt, he wants me, even if his father is right beside him. When he has emotional pain, he makes a bee-line straight for my arms because he knows he’ll be comforted and it’s safe to cry. Moms shower their boys with love. We have a unique power to comfort, encourage, listen, pray with, and instruct our boys toward God and his awesome plan for them as men.
In her book, Preparing Him for the Other Woman
From a mother’s perspective, Shepherd emphasizes the importance of using every opportunity we have to train our sons while they are living in our home. Only a mother can teach her son:
ú to understand a woman’s heart
ú how to express his love
ú the power of purity
ú what God says about being a man of his word
ú the importance of providing for his family
ú how to be a godly leader
ú how to be accountable
ú how to be a hero
ú how to learn the art of affirmation
ú to resolve conflict
ú to find a good wife
ú to have a real relationship with God
Many boys are confused about the role of a man. This is why our impact as mothers is so pivotal. In the culture we live in, our sons get their information from television, radio, magazines (your Victoria’s Secret catalog or the fashion magazines in the grocery store checkout stand), video games, internet, etc. The ability moms have to shape our sons by pointing them to God and living that out will directly affect the man he will become. Boys love their moms and we have a great influence in their lives. Shepherd understands this well and uses God’s great wisdom to guide us in guiding our sons.
Shepherd’s heartfelt stories and examples are right on. I found myself laughing and crying while reading her stories. She even breaks down age groups in each chapter and gives specific methods for training our sons with great practical examples, like: when your son does something to show that he loves and understands you, affirm him by telling him how much it means to you. Or, “make it a priority to be available to your son whenever he is willing to open his heart to you. Your availability to your son is an important way to affirm your love for him.” Also, don’t be afraid to say you’re sorry. “If you embarrass your son or hurt his feelings, offer him a sincere apology.” These are just small glimpses of Shepherd’s examples and wisdom for mothers. This is a must read book that I’m certain mothers will pass from one mom to another. It is clear that God has given Sheri Rose a great insight into raising boys that we all can learn from.
TWO GOSPELS - Rick McKinley’s Beautiful Mess November 7, 2006
“What do you mean ‘two gospels?’” you might be saying to yourself. You might be expecting me to go into some weird new (or actually not so new) heresy of there being more than one gospel.
What I am speaking of is an interesting observation, explained more fully by Rick McKinley in his recent book This Beautiful Mess (Multnomah Publishing, 2006). McKinley, pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon, writes of the gospel of Jesus and the gospel about Jesus. McKinley explains it like this:
• The Gospel of Jesus–this is the announcement of the kingdom and his loving actions in his earthly ministry. Traditionally practiced in more liberal churches with a high emphasis on social justice, mercy ministry, political activism, social work and community service.
• The Gospel about Jesus–his work on the cross, his resurrection and how we can receive forgiveness through faith. Typified by most conservative churches with a high emphasis on proclamation of the gospel, personal conversion and obedient living.
McKinley proposes that a synthesis of these two gospels together are the actual true gospel: you cannot have one without the other and have it be the true gospel. Imbalance on either end leads to bitterness, despair and division—one needs only to look at the political battles waging as election day looms near. On one side you have liberals proudly proclaiming themselves as progressives, sensitive to the lower and middle class, against the war on terror and characterizing their opponents as “the religious right.” Against them are the conservatives, the flag-waving, Bush-loving, war-supporting, Bible-thumping rednecks who pit their “family values” against “the religious left.” What remains is not only a fractured country but a divided kingdom. What you are left with is no gospel at all.
The gospel that Christ himself lived and preached is a seamless combination of both “gospels.”
McKinley writes:
“If all we value is the salvation gospel, we tend to miss the rest of Christ’s message. Taken out of the context of the kingdom, the call to faith in Christ gets reduced to something less than the New Testament teaches. The reverse is also true: if we value a kingdom gospel at the expense of the liberating message of the Cross and the empty tomb and a call to repentance, we miss a central tenet of kingdom life. Without faith in Jesus, there is no transforming of our lives into the new world of the kingdom.”
The reality of the kingdom, however, as described by Jesus is not one or the other. A full-orbed perspective on the kingdom, how it has been ushered in and how it should advance is the ongoing work of His people in “this beautiful mess” we call the kingdom of God. It’s about proclamation but it also about reconciliation. It’s about conversion but it also about showing mercy. As a means of helping the kingdom advance, the redeemed live in tension between the perfect world to come and the present world that is in need of redemption. Until that day of consummation arrives, the church plows ahead in kingdom living–serving, loving, ministering and living out the faith we have been given.
Rick McKinley’s new book is out, This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God
Book Preview-Confessions of a Pastor September 8, 2006
“In acts of mutual confession we release power that heals … humanity is no longer denied, but transformed. The followers of Jesus Christ are given the authority to receive the confession of sin and to forgive it in His name.’’–Richard Foster, The Celebration of Discipline
“Confess your sins one to another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”-James 5:16
The concept of confession of sin to one another in most Protestant circles is meet with, at the very least, indifference. At its worst, it is met with outright rejection. “That sounds Catholic to me,” they may argue. “I don’t need to confess my sins to anyone but God.”
The need of an outlet for confession is the motivation behind mysecret.tv, recently featured in the New York Times:
The LifeChurch founder, the Rev. Craig Groeschel, said that after 16 years in the ministry he knew that the smiles and eager handshakes that greeted him each week often masked a lot of pain. But the accounts of anguish and guilt that have poured into mysecret.tv have stunned him, Mr. Groeschel said, and affirmed his belief in the need for confession. (read the article)
Pastor Groeschel has written a book of his own confessions appropriately titled Confessions of A Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real With God. Described as “the dark side of a pastor’s life,” Groeschel states bluntly “I have to work hard to stay sexually pure, I hate prayer meetings, sometimes I doubt God , and I can’t stand a lot of Christians…”
Unlike the users of mysecret.tv, Groeschel writes without the protection of anonymity–a bold and refreshing move considering how we tend to forget that pastors are real men who share the same struggles, face the same temptations and have the same dark secrets that we all have.
Lent & Our American Style Fasting March 15, 2006
Now that Easter is approaching, a lot of people are observing Lent, and looking for something they can fast from that will feel like somewhat of a sacrifice, but whose absence won’t impact their lives too negatively. At the same time, there are those who are earnestly seeking God, and their fast serves the purpose of helping them focus on their need for redemption and their abhorrence of sin. Lately, I have been meditating on Isaiah 58, and thinking about what fasting ought and ought not to look like and what should flow from the practice of this spiritual discipline.
First and foremost, fasting is a way of humbling ourselves before God. Going without food for a more sustained period of time forces us to acknowledge that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4) Isaiah wastes no time in pointing out that even this can be twisted into a selfish act:
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?
One might see the outward acts of contrition such as a dour, mopey face, and some other obvious tokens of sacrifice and self-abasement (“Oh, no, I’ve sworn off eating 5-course meals at my favorite expensive restaurants this month; I’m fasting, don’t you know”) and think a couple of different things about the nature of my humility. It’s possible that I might sincerely be offering those things as sacrifices to God, or I might be doing it so that others will take note of my elevated level of personal holiness. But if you were to see those things Isaiah mentions in my life before, during or after my time of fasting, you would be justified in wanting to see God lay the smackdown on me.
Smackdown is precisely what Isaiah lays on Israel. He says:
Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways , as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgement of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?
Of all the things that ought to make me stop to check, recheck, and recheck my motives again, one of them should certainly be the fact that even going through all of the motions of fasting and humbling ourselves, and seemingly delighting in God, it is still possible to not do righteousness and to forsake the judgement of my God. Even in the most intimate moments of worship, self can still rear its ugly head and refuse to relinquish anything to God, and find some way to turn everything to my benefit. This is kind of life looks no different than the unregenerate one, except that it has a veneer of Christian moralism obscuring the the true depth of my wickedness.
But compare this with the results of the kind of fasting that God told Isaiah he wanted to see:
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
When fasting is done with closer communion with God as the goal, self is increasingly pushed aside, and we are now able to see those around us, their needs, and what we need to do to meet them; as Paul says in Philippians 2, “… in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
In America, there will always be the tendency to find excuses for why the recipients of this kind of care don’t deserve what Isaiah proposes we should be giving. We have become more and more white-knuckled to “our” wealth, as though it wasn’t God who gave it to us, and God who continues to allow us to enjoy it, all the while forgetting that Christ died to give us something that not a single one of us deserves. Even the church can exemplify this stingy spirit; we spend millions on new church buildings, facilities and the latest pet ministry, yet we don’t seem to want to get them dirty by actually using them in the sometimes messy way that kingdom living requires of us. It’s not unlike the guitar collector who spends a couple hundred grand on a ’54 Strat, but won’t take it out of its climate-controlled box and play it, and letting anyone else even touch it is out of the question. In his book Under the Overpass, Mike Yankoski describes one such church where he and his homeless partner-in-crime Sam were asked to leave. The church was having a breakfast function of some sort, and despite having a tailor-made opportunity to share their bread with Mike and Sam, they threw them off the church grounds because “The fact is, they’re not for this…” The obvious question as to what they are for is never answered.
Thankfully, that particular man repented of his actions, but what is distressing is that given the fact that in evangelicalism the Word is supposed to be the final authority in our lives, we shouldn’t even have to argue for the idea of pursuing mercy ministries for the poor and the homeless. All it should take is one look at the many scriptures dealing directly with the issue, and people should be asking, “Where do I sign up?” Instead, living out a consistently merciful life is rationalized away in the interests of comfort. After all, dealing with the kind of dirty, disheveled, smelly, speed fiends that Yankoski did during his five months of living homeless is kind of scary, and not always very convenient.
But if we truly, humbly pursue God for his own sake, as someone valuable in and of himself, and perhaps even fast before him from time to time, so that we would learn to live by every word that comes out of his mouth, we will regain an eternal perspective on life and realize that when we are preoccupied with material blessing we are settling for far less than God can give us. Isaiah paints a compelling picture of what that would look like:
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Does anything more need to be said?
AUTHOR: Jay has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from San Diego State University, and is an aspiring school teacher, filmmaker, and all-around adventurist. He attends and plays guitar in the worship band at Kaleo Church, and occasionally blogs his travel stories and culture-related musings at www.thereandbackagain.blogware.com/blog.
Holy (wholly) Hypocrite March 1, 2006
At a recent gathering, I sat down with a relative who is not a believer. This man has been three times divorced, he left his first wife to fend for herself and raise three kids and avoided child support. His children now grown, two have kids out of wedlock, one is a former drug addict and that’s just the beginning. Anyway, as we sat down, he preceded to give me advice on how to have a good marriage and how to raise children. With my head cocked to one side, I thought, how do I respond to this guy? What gives this guy the right to lecture anyone on either of these subjects, when he’s failed so miserably in the very areas he’s suggesting. I ended up listening to him and not pushing the point of his track record. Later, I felt a certain self-righteous, “who does this guy think he is attitude” about the circumstance.
It was only later I saw how wretched a sinner I am with my judgemental, self-righteous attitude.
The Church Reaching to the Margins February 24, 2006
Recently I have been joining my friends Paula, Thomas and Suzanne on their weekly Sunday afternoon visit to a nearby convalescent home. To be honest, it can be pretty depressing and a little gross at times. When you first walk into the ward, you are greeted by the scent of human urine and an almost palpably desperate silence, punctuated by the occasional quiet murmur of nurses speaking into telephones. As you continue down the hall, you pass by some of the residents as they sit in wheelchairs positioned somewhat randomly in and around doorways and walls. Some sit with heads down, dozing lightly, while some nod to themselves, and others look up and smile even as their neighbor struggles with an uncomfortable restraint, letting out a pitiful scream of both pain and confusion. This last Sunday Paula and I stopped by Doris’s room, where she sat alone, clutching a stuffed polar bear, no light in the room but the fading glow of afternoon. While Doris was glad to have visitors, all attempts at engaging her and cheering her were met with dismay at her circumstances. When Paula asked if Doris had been out with her family recently, her response essentially damned not just her family, but our whole culture, and by implication the church as well. Doris’ answer was, “I don’t have any family; if they loved me they wouldn’t have left me.” For most Americans who aren’t taken by death at a tragically young age, this will be our collective fate: withering away from a life of vitality and promise to one of decay and regret, isolation, and for some, madness, in the human dumping grounds we euphemistically dub “convalescent homes.”
Not long ago I read the book Jesus in the Margins, by Rick McKinley, and the idea of bringing Christ to all those who inhabit the margins of life has been bubbling and stewing through my thoughts as of late. McKinley describes some of the characteristics of the marginalized as being a sense of isolation, aimlessness, emptiness, vulnerability coupled with defensiveness, and a disconnect from themselves and those around them. The people McKinley describes are people we all know, or he is simply describing us, and the book resonates with so many because it feels like it’s written to me and for me.
But therein lies part of the problem; the reason why there are people who are feeling left out on the margins in the first place, is that we’re still thinking about me. As much as those of us who have been saved out of the margins of life may still have a lot of work that God needs to do to clean up the mess that is our lives, and dig up the roots of our old worldview from the soil of our hearts, that does not free us from our responsibility to be conduits of grace to everyone God has place in our path. As I was driving to the convalescent home on my most recent visit there, the connection between this fact and the state of the people I was going to visit finally hit me in one of those “No kidding, Sherlock” epiphanies. Is there a group of people in our society that is any further out into the margins than the elderly? In the elderly you have a group of people who, first of all, need love from someone, anyone, it really doesn’t matter who, as long as someone is filling that need, and secondly, despite urgent physical problems, are often ignored by the very people who should care the most. This sort of love, going out and being with someone who is alone, and doing for someone the things he or she can’t do for themselves can be a tool that the Holy Spirit uses to crack open the hearts of stone that many elderly have spent a lifetime hardening, and it can soothe the fragile and desolate souls of those who have been abandoned. However, our fixation on our own pleasure and pain makes it pretty tough to address the needs, spiritual, emotional, and otherwise, of those who aren’t like us and aren’t directly involved in our social circles.
I think we’re all familiar with James 1:27, which says that “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” At best they are visited by our money, but not our selves. Even in the church, it seems that we are bent on achieving the same level of materialistic success that our culture tells us we must have, which means we have basically committed ourselves to spending an ever-increasing amount of our time on the achievment of that success. Practicing genuine Christian community becomes a nuisance, a drain on an already busy schedule, or something we’d love to get around to someday. The return on our investment towards material success comes with diminishing spiritual returns, though. The more time we spend in this quest, the less time we have to invest in others, and practicing a pure and undefiled religion before God will
end up on the backburner. Besides ignoring a large segment of our population that desperately craves human care and interaction, we’re setting ourselves up for the exact situation we are so intent on tuning out or pretending will never happen to us. Someday when it’s our turn to be old, who will be there for us with the time and the interest to take care of us? Probably no one, if we’re honest with ourselves.
The first time I went to the convalescent home, I recall going with Thomas into a room with a couple of gentlemen whose Alzheimer’s disease had reduced them to laying in bed and staring at the drabness of the walls, or the television as it sat there chattering narcissistically to itself. As Thomas spoke with one of the men, I went over to chat with his roommate. Above his bed were pictures of someone’s (hopefully his) kids and grandkids, along with some faded portraits of a young World War II airman. I shook the man’s hand and began talking with him about the photos, but he was unable to speak even so much as his name in a coherent fashion. His grip was strong, though, and he did not let go of my hand. I realized that that was probably all he needed, was for someone to talk to him and hold his hand, so I plowed on ahead. As Thomas and I prepared to go look for some other folks that he wanted to visit with, I told the man that I had to leave, but that it was good talking with him. Still clasping my hand, he shook it vigorously and as his glazed and clouded eyes searched my face, he repeated again and again, “Don’t forget me, don’t forget me, don’t me…”
I don’t think I ever will, but I pray that the church hasn’t forgotten yet.
Under the Overpass – A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America January 23, 2006
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a street person? What is life like begging for spare change, living in shelters and interacting with other homeless people? Mike Yankoski lets the reader experience being a homeless person first-hand in Under the Overpass. Over the course of 5-months, Yankoski and his trusty partner Sam Purvis wandered the streets of five cities (Denver, Washington D.C., Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix and San Diego) in a journey of faith.
The most striking observation is how the church respondes to Yankoski and Purvis when they came into contact. The book provides several stories of churches forcing them off their property or Christians giving them a cold shoulder because of their disheveled appearance. At one church in Phoenix, the man who kicks them off the church property turns out to be the deacon in charge of homeless ministry! (Thankfully, the deacon runs into them later and with a tearful apology asks their forgiveness.) Yankoski does a great job of not over-simplifying the complexity of homelessness and what the church should do about it. The book weaves a number of highly entertaining stories that gives you insightful glimpses of the underground community, desperate drug addiction and the territorial nature of street life. One character that I enjoyed was the “Sugar Man” in Portland who fed, cared for and witnessed to the homeless at one moment and would light up a bong with them the next. This is not something many churches could handle.
The good news is the increasing volume of conversation from believers that seeks to tear down the four walls of the American church. Christians are dissatisfied with the programs and isolation felt in modern churches and desire to experience something more. Part of this conversation must include our role as bearers of the whole ‘gospel’ and not just a message of individual salvation. The good news is not simply that a person is spiritually forgiven of their sins, but that God plans to renew the whole world and establish His Kingdom here for eternity. It is in our pursuit of social justice and alleviating suffering that we serve as a reminder that God will one day restore all creation to its rightful place.
About the author: Drew Goodmanson lives in San Diego and is a Pastor at Kaleo Church. He was a weekly column writer for the San Diego Reader. He currently spends his time as a church planter, a tent-maker, a church technology strategist, a husband and father. You can view additional writings on culture, community and the church at his blog goodmanson.com.
I’ll be posting soon…
I’ve launched the blog, I’m working on a bunch of writing which I’ll post soon…..
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