Bothered

Last Saturday night bothered me. More importantly, concerts in February bother me. Brainwashing bothers me. Winter Jam bothered me.

Well, I guess it's pretty clear that I'm bothered. Last Saturday night I took a group of my youth to the Winter Jam concert in Charlottesville. We went up early and stood in line. We got in and got our seats. We were looking forward to a great concert. We enjoyed the opening bands. (I especially enjoyed the Sidewalk Prophets.) I was irritated by the amount of "he" language that was being used as well as referring to "Father God" over and over in prayer. As the evening went on, it came time for a "message" of some sorts. The speaker was introduced and came to the stage with a youth. He offered the kid a $50 bill in exchange for a penny. The message was, who wouldn't want a large amount of money in exchange for just a little. The speaker tried to tie this to how accepting Christ is. The guy said that when one accepts Christ they get all the ever needed or wanted. He said, "Girls, it's like when you walk into a mall and you see the shoes and clothes and you can get EVERYTHING you ever wanted." That's what believing in God is like. He then followed up with, "And guys, if you are worried about the clothes and shoes, then I'm worried about you." Everyone sitting around me took that as a snide remark towards gays.

After this intro, he turned to trying to scare the youth into believing in Christ. I was thoroughly disgusted and he wasn't even five minutes into his sermon. The hell, fire, and brimstone message was in full swing and continued on for what seemed like forever. I physically felt sick. The youth were texting me continuously...asking what is this dude talking about. One texted and said: "I'm not drinking the kool-aid." As the speaking went on, the more fed up I got. Finally I thought he was done and he prayed to "Father God" even more.

When it was time to collect the love offering the speaker got back up and gave a message about how it was just a "drop in the bucket". He tied this into the scripture of the boy with the loaves and the fish. He gave all he had, and before Jesus multiplied it, the disciples said his donation was just "a drop in the bucket." I wasn't buying his crap.

I was seriously turned off. It was as if after the glorious picture was then turned to scaring the youth into believing. I grew up with the hell, fire, and brimstone messages and I never wanted to hear another one again. When we left the concert that night, I felt as if the youth needed to debrief what had happened. I was so thankful that they had many questions. I was thankful that they could put into words their disgust for what they heard. I was thankful that they had been taught the message of God's love and that they know what a true relationship with Christ is like, instead of being scared into one.

As the week has gone on, I have had plenty of time to think about why I'm bothered and what I wanted to write about it. While there were many details of the evening that I chose to forget, I remember the speaker saying how the message being offered was one of hope. Just a couple days ago, one of the adults that went on the trip with us emailed me some of his thoughts. He shared that at the concert, we could interpret that as hope for the moment. He felt the youth were being scared into believing and with that belief would come hope for the moment. He then said that at our church, we are teaching and experiencing a lifestyle of hope. It is important for us to all remember that there are many ways to bring people to a belief in Christ. However, the scare tactic doesn't work. It may work for a week or two, but there is no follow through.

After this experience, I've decided that what God is calling me to do is preach the truth. The truth is that God loves all people. God loves. God made us to love and be loved. Instead of scaring people into believing, it's time for Christians to love like Jesus did. That love will preach. That love doesn't take many words. That love is saving grace. There's no need to scare...there's just a need to love.

Walking the Labyrinth

Today we set up a 45 foot canvas labyrinth in our sanctuary. The sanctuary is open the first Tuesday of every month for walking the labyrinth. During Advent the labyrinth was out once per week. During the hustle and bustle of the Advent season, I didn't find the time to walk, though I knew I needed to.

So this afternoon, when all was quiet, I went into the sanctuary, removed my shoes and began to center myself. I hadn't walked a labyrinth in years and so it was refreshing as I began my walk. As I walked, I pondered the following quote:

"Let nothing disturb you. Nothing dismay you. All things pass. But God never changes. Whoever has God lacks nothing. If you only have God, you have more than enough." -Teresa of Avila

On the journey inward, I prayed. I cried out to God offering all of the things that have been holding me back. When I made it to the center, I stood looking at the cross and remembered the many reasons I believe. After spending time in the center, I began my outward journey. On the outward journey I just listened for God to speak and God did speak through the quiet.


I share this experience with you because I want to encourage anyone who can make it to the next labyrinth walk in February to do so. If you have never walked a labyrinth and are wondering what it might be like, here are some thoughts:

"Your life is a sacred journey. And it is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. You are on the path... exactly where you are meant to be right now... And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love."
Caroline Adams

We are all on the path... exactly where we need to be. The labyrinth is a model of that path.

A labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. The Labyrinth represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world. Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools.

A labyrinth is an archetype with which we can have a direct experience. We can walk it. It is a metaphor for life's journey. It is a symbol that creates a sacred space and place and takes us out of our ego to "That Which Is Within."

Labyrinths and mazes have often been confused. When most people hear of a labyrinth they think of a maze. A labyrinth is not a maze. A maze is like a puzzle to be solved. It has twists, turns, and blind alleys. It is a left brain task that requires logical, sequential, analytical activity to find the correct path into the maze and out.

A labyrinth has only one path. It is unicursal. The way in is the way out. There are no blind alleys. The path leads you on a circuitous path to the center and out again.

A labyrinth is a right brain task. It involves intuition, creativity, and imagery. With a maze many choices must be made and an active mind is needed to solve the problem of finding the center. With a labyrinth there is only one choice to be made. The choice is to enter or not. A more passive, receptive mindset is needed. The choice is whether or not to walk a spiritual path.

At its most basic level the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are.

I encourage you to take some time to center yourself. Taking 45 minutes out of my day to center myself, pray, and listen was just what I needed to lift my spirit.

Labyrinth thoughts taken from: http://www.lessons4living.com/labyrinth.htm

Challenge for 2010

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Happy New Year! It's 2010. New years always excites me because it reminds of of new beginnings. There are always things that I had wanted to do, hoped to do that didn't happen in the year prior. As I thought about goals/resolutions for myself this year I came up with two: I want to start running, and I want to live like Jesus. As I thought about the second goal, I thought about how those around me could be involved.

Tonight I challenged the youth to a new goal or resolution for 2010. We are committed to living like Jesus did. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

I often hear horrible statistics about what other world religions think of Christians. It is quoted that the greatest single cause of Atheism today is Christians that acknowledge Jesus with their lips, but deny him with their lifestyles. So many times we get caught up in worldly things that we forget about the message of Jesus to love others.

The challenge is to live like Jesus did. Jesus loved all people, lent a listening ear, helped a person in need, never condemned, always forgave.

What are your new years resolutions? How does the message of Jesus align with them? Will you accept the challenge to live like Jesus did?