The Scourge of Superficiality

Although there are plenty of problems in our society and culture, one of the greatest of them is what I will call "superficiality." We are a society that would rather deal with surface issues than the heart of a particular problem. We are more likely to put a bandage on a symptom, than we are to address the cause of that very system.

A friend of mine says that people put labels on things so they do not have to think about them. It is easier to pigeon-hole a person, a product, a problem than to identify and examine it. We are content with what we are fed by others. Our lives are simpler this way. But it was Socrates who said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." So many of us- including you and I, I am afraid- go through life without examining anything.

This problem of superficiality manifests itself in many ways, but some of the more significant are as follows.

• Materialism. Marketing and advertising have caused a lot of our superficiality. We are buying into whatever Madison Avenue is selling at the moment. We have to have the latest brands, the best gadgets and the coolest stuff. By the way, not only is your VCR obsolete, but now your DVD player is too. (Don't get to attached to your Blu-Ray equipment.) One of my favorite questions in life is, "How did we ever get clean before there was Bath and Body Works?"
• Reality Television. There is nothing real about reality tv, but the contestants become wealthy celebrities and we watch their every move. It is not the real world, but for some reason we want it to be. Most of the people I know are not reality tv material. We are all normal looking, boring people. There is not a single model in my crowd of friends.
• Celebrity Worship. I said a lot about this issue in a recent post. Suffice it here to say that celebrities are superficial and the constant concern with the latest celebrity gossip is even more superficial.
• Vanity. This one strikes home to almost all of us. We like ourselves. We want to look our best at all times. We want the best stuff, the best home, the best car, the best vacation. We love ourselves more than anyone else. In fact, some people love themselves so much that they change their appearance surgically or cosmetically. Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

Are these results of superficiality, or the causes of superficiality? You be the judge.

Celebrity Worship

Right now it is the children of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, but you and I both know that in 15 minutes it will be some other celebrity romance, addiction or meltdown that will monopolize the attention of the US. We have become so obsessed with celebrities that we get gossip updates more often than Iraq war updates. In fact, we often think that they are more important.

A perfect example of this phenomenon is the morning "news" programs. There is less news than ever on the program and even more gossip. Today, on NBC, is a perfect example. Now lasting four hours, it is loaded with the latest celebrity news, scandalous behavior, human interest stories and concerts. You can get a few minutes of news once each hour.

Although I believe this celebrity fascination to be a generally bad thing, I am coming to believe that it could be a good sign. People crave the latest news and gossip about scandal for several reasons.

• We secretly desire to be famous ourselves and are looking for pointers.
• We are always on the lookout for ways in which we are better than famous people.
• We truly believe that celebrities are better than us and this is our way of venerating them.
• It is easier to pay attention to celebrities than to deal with the real news.
• This news is always out there, so we might as well pay attention.

But I think there is one more reason. There is one thing that causes me hope for humanity, and American culture in particular. This pre-occupation with celebrities and gossip is a sign of the human need for worship. Did you catch that? People want to worship someone/ something bigger and greater than themselves.

Hollywood fascination is a sign that people have not forgotten the need to worship, to venerate the "other." Now, we need to get the focus back on God, where it belongs.

Once More on the Arts

A recent article in the Indianapolis Star (July 27, 2008) gave some interesting statistics on the arts and specifically on arts in education. The resource cited is Americans for the Arts.

People who participate in the arts are...

• 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement.
• 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their school.
• 4 times more likely to participate in a math or science fair.
• 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance.
• 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem.

Young artists are likely to...

• Attend music, art and dance classes nearly three times more frequently than others.
• Participate in youth groups nearly four times more frequently.
• Perform community service more than four times as often.

Art does make a difference.

Weekly Prayer Thought

When you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. Matthew 6.7

Sometimes, when my daughter was younger, I hated taking her shopping. Not only did she always want something no matter where we were shopping (her favorite store is still Menard's, the hardware super-store), she was consistent, and persistent in her pleas for the desired item. After a while it became tempting to make the purchase just to get her to quit begging. I could only take her being on my nerves for so long.

Many people view prayer in the same way. We think that if we do not get what we want the first time, we should ask God again, and again, and again... Eventually we will wear down the Lord's defenses and give it to us, whether we should have it or not. So we pray. And pray. And pray. It is sometimes discouraging, but we count it as faithfulness.

This is not what God wants, however. Before you think that I am against faithfulness or persistence, hear this: Trust in God. He knows what you want. He knows what you need. And most importantly, he knows his will for your life. It is not easy, but we are called to offer our prayers to him, and trust that he will answer. It could be- and often is- that our repetitions in prayer are a sign that we know we are out of God's will, or that we do not have faith in his ability. Give your needs to God and let him take care of them.

PRAYER: It is hard for us to feel that we are not in control, Lord. We want you to act, and to act now. We feel like if we tell you, over and over, our chances are better. Forgive us those sins, Jesus. Fill us with faith to know that you are in charge and taking care of us. Amen.

A Different Kind of Entry

There has been a conversation brewing in my denominational area. I have very deep feelings about the issue of church camp. I want to share in this space my entry into the current conversation of the North Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church. Much of what follows will make no sense without the context of the other participants, but you should be able to get the gist of my point.

Several years ago there was a shift in philosophy in the camping ministry of North Indiana. While the traditional program had been led by volunteers, pastors and local church lay people, it became apparent that there was a lot of inconsistency in this approach. Conference groups, led by the 4C's and then later the Board of Camps and Conferences, were developing programs, writing curriculum, supervising staff and making plans. There was a lot of ownership in the program among the churches, volunteers, pastors and laity.

However, camping began to shift from a volunteer-led model, to a professional staff model for our programs. This provided for quality, excellence and consistency across the program. There is little doubt that the kudos for Matt Poorman and others in recent days are a direct result of this change in philosophy. Our curriculums, programs, camps and staffs are generally better than they have ever been.

The biggest problem with this transition was that we never had a conversation about the implications of the change. (If there was a conversation there were a lot of people who missed it.) There have been several unintended consequences of this transition. Some of the more significant ones are:

• Because of a shift to staff-directed programming, local church ownership of the program has dropped dramatically. I believe that this is a significant cause of the decline in campers over the past several years. Fewer people are involved in the planning and implementation of the programs.
• Because of a shift to staff-directed programming, pastors and other volunteers were discouraged from participating. One way that this has significantly impacted many pastor-directors, including myself, is starting camps on Sunday rather than Monday. This means that preparations for camp must be made at the campsite on Saturday afternoon/ evening and Sunday morning. This is very problematic for pastors and other church leaders.
• The shift to staff-directed programming has also led to an increase in fees. A larger staff requires more money. The increase in fees for all camping levels has caused even more parents to choose other options for their children during the summer. (An interesting note: In 1989 one week of "classic" camp at Pine Creek cost $90. In 2008 that same event was listed as costing $365.)

We have an excellent, staff-directed program. We need to either come to grips with that and all it entails- including fewer choices, higher fees and further professionalization, or begin to ask some hard questions and make some changes.

There is No Escaping

There are televisions everywhere! And I am a little put out about it. What is the deal with this, anyway? Can people not live for a few minutes without the artificial stimulation of television? I do not care if you have multiple televisions in your home, but they are now turning up everywhere in public places.

Here are some of the worst offenders:

• Restaurants are filled with televisions. It seems to me that the art of dining and conversing is going away. It is hard to have a conversation when Chris Mathews or Bill O'Reilley is screaming at you from the other side of the room. Who can focus on people when there is a perfectly good football game going on just a few feet away? The thing that gripes me is when I take my newspaper (or a magazine, or a book) to a favorite restaurant for some time alone, and I am bombarded with noise! I understand the culture of the Sports Bar, but fast food, Mom & Pops and family restaurants do not count as a sports bar.
• There is a television set in the waiting room at my doctor's office. There are magazines on tables all around. I make it a habit to carry my own reading material. But who can focus when Malcolm in the Middle is in trouble once again?
• There is a TV in a local bank. Apparently it helps people lose track of how long their wait is. I do not know which is worse, the fact that the bank staff uses a distraction to disguise how slow they are, or that their customers are so dim-witted that they do not notice.

I am sure that I am probably a minority on this issue. The televisions keep popping up so someone is watching them. Some people are enjoying them. But, I am not one of them.

What I Believe About Salvation

Where to begin on this topic? It would be fairly easy to rely on the “evangelical subculture” and its history of the last 50 years. I could focus on the “Four Spiritual Laws” of Bill Bright and the success of his Campus Crusade for Christ. It would be pretty simple to regurgitate the words and works of a personal hero, Billy Graham, who has devoted his life to getting people to accept the message of salvation. There are literally millions of Christians in the world today because of the work and ministries of these two men.

It would be easy to follow the “Romans Road” or do an exposition of John 3.16 and any of those would be a good view of the doctrine of salvation. Let me give you the basics:

• People are sinful and separated from God. Every human has the natural tendency to sin. We have inherited this from Adam. This is called “original sin.”
• The only way to be reconciled to God is through the initiative of God. You and I are incapable of avoiding or eliminating sin. We need God to take action for our salvation.
• God’s plan includes the gift of his son, Jesus Christ. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus we have the opportunity to be “saved.” Through his death on the cross, he took our sins so that we could be forgiven.
• As we commit to live for and with Jesus, we experience salvation in our own lives. This is a personal decision that each of us makes.

Historically speaking, the experience of “being saved” has been a part of the typical church and family experience. However, over the last 100 years or so, things have changed. In the early part of the last century camp meetings across the United States emphasized personal salvation, in a particular way. Altar calls were instituted for the first time. Mourner’s Benches were used for individuals to pray and grieve over their sins. The Sawdust Trail became a metaphor for repenting and turning to God.

In the last 50 years evangelicals have formalized these modifications. In many congregations today the “sinner’s prayer” is required for holding office or assuming any type of leadership. The assumption is that if a person does not repeat a sinner’s prayer, answer an altar call or jump through some other specified hoops, he cannot be truly Christian. I want to help bring a different perspective to this conversation.

I believe that salvation, the act of sinners being rescued and changed, is a completely sovereign work of God. That means that even if you answer an altar call, the saving comes from God. But, we cannot limit God to working only through the sinner’s prayer. It is possible, indeed probable, that God often works without the assistance of a specific set of words. God does not need a formula to save people.

I believe that there are occasions when people get saved without the benefit of a sinner’s prayer. When an individual is seeking truth, trying to live a “good life” and being influenced by God, she may find herself “saved” without ever making a conscious decision. God is bigger than my definition of salvation, or my requirements for it.