Archives For church

American Churches and “Craft Time” Christianity

May 13, 2013 — 14 Comments

Daily-Foam-Crafts-2012-CEB-adRemember craft time in Sunday School?

Or church camp.  You know how it goes.  The teacher or counselor guides the kids, color this, glue that.  Add some glitter.  And at the end of the hour, a bunch of kids have completed the project.  They all have uniform little bookmarks or light-catchers, or some other trinket that tied neatly into the Bible lesson of the day.

Crafts from church or camp are tangible things that kids show off, which prove to the parents that they are getting their money’s worth.  What kid comes home from camp empty-handed?

One of the ironies of my occupation as an art teacher is how much I cannot stand “craft time” at church, camp, or Vacation Bible School.  I’ve always avoided leading these activities as much as possible (though I’ve still found myself roped in from time to time.)  But it’s not just that I’d rather not lead craft time.  I think all the craft times your kids will enjoy this summer are actually a very appropriate metaphor for the broken Christianity they will be expected to embrace when they are adults.

It’s time for American churches to let go of “craft time” Christianity.

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In church, doubt, faith
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Why No One Is Offended By Jesus Anymore

May 8, 2013 — 19 Comments

Screen shot 2013-04-29 at 4.54.50 PM.png.CROP.rectangle3-large.54.50 PMThe apostle Paul called the cross “offensive.”

He said it was a “stumbling block.”

It’s easy to see what he meant.  No one had contemplated the idea of worshipping a man who died disgracefully.  A slave’s death.  A notorious death.  The cross was a symbol of “Pax Romana,” the peace that Rome enforced by executing enemies of the state.

But I wonder…are people really still offended by the cross?  (Not just because we are inundated with violent entertainment.)

Are people really stumbling over the gospel?  Are they tripping over Jesus’ words?

Jesus said that people would hate us, his followers, on account of him.

I’m not sure Jesus’ words are all that true anymore.  People aren’t offended by the cross or stumbling over the gospel or hating us on account of Jesus.  The fact is most people can’t get close enough to Jesus to be offended by him…

…They’re too offended by us. Continue Reading…

In church, culture
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What If Kermit Gosnell Came to Your Church?

April 24, 2013 — 10 Comments

imagesThe thing about monsters is that they don’t hide in closets or under beds like we thought.

They hide in plain sight.

Think about it.  Monsters stay well hidden not because they live in the dark, but because they are masters of disguise.  They build ordinary looking lives.  They hide in workplaces, in churches, neighborhoods and civic clubs.  They live in plain daylight with you and me and everyone is so surprised when they are found out.  They are always the person everyone least suspected.

Kermit Gosnell hid in plain sight for a while before he was caught.  He built a halfway house for people trying to get clean from drugs and a teen aid program.  He was an upstanding citizen in his community.

So, what if you found out that some respected citizen and professing Christian at your church turned out to be a monster in disguise? Continue Reading…

In church
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Everyone’s Orthodoxy is Someone Else’s Heresy

April 8, 2013 — 75 Comments

imagesLast week, my friend Emily Wierenga wrote a story for Prodigal Magazine.

It was a personal story about herself and her husband.  It was a story about what she felt God had shown her.  It was about the complicated, messy business of marriage and repentance.

I don’t want to talk about the content of Emily’s story.  I want to talk about the reaction it caused.

The reaction was huge.  It was swift.  And much of it was downright visceral with hundreds of comments from people who suddenly cared very passionately about Emily’s relationship with her husband.  It became an emotionally taxing day for Emily herself and my friends who run Prodigal.

Another friend, Bryan Allain, has poured a ton of effort into launching the Killer Tribes conference the last two years in March.  Obviously, the word “Killer” is meant in a completely fun, non-murdery context.

But I wonder if we as modern, educated, worldly, connected Christians – as bloggers, as culture-makers - really are becoming more tribal, more primitive, more warlike and more eager to kill people in other tribes, instead of more welcoming, more understanding, more inclusive.

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In church, relationships
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Why We Must Redefine Christian Unity

March 27, 2013 — 20 Comments
UnityIcon3

Before Christians invented side-hugging, they expressed Christian unity by awkwardly hugging and nuzzling each others’ faces. Thankfully, expressions of Christian unity were redefined.

Just a few more days until Life After Art releases on April 1!  Pre-ordering is open, but remember that starting April 1, forward your receipt to LifeAfterArtBook.com to get the deluxe ebook, the Life After Art Field Guide, and The Art of Storytelling from Moody Publishers.

I spent two years at a small Christian college…

…before I had to get out.  I transferred to a state school to finish my art degree.

The first reason was because a Christian college isn’t really the place to learn art.

But honestly, those two years at Christian college was one of the spiritually darkest times in my life.

Now, how could a small town Christian college, with its chapel sermons and curfews and the guys playing exactly three guitar chords all over the quad, be one of the darkest places for my spirit?

It was because of how a place like that defined Christian unity. 

And the further I get away from college, the more I realize how many Christians define unity in the same way – a definition that actually creates disunity.  I have realized our desperate need to change how we think of Christian unity.

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In church, philosophy, relationships
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Why the Church Is Losing the Mental Health Discussion

January 14, 2013 — 37 Comments

One in four Americans.antidepressant_pills

That’s how many of us have been treated for some kind of mental illness.  Many of us, it was probably some rather minor, temporary thing.  Others have much more serious situations.  I’d be surprised if there were many of us who don’t have some kind of connection or family history that includes some sort of mental illness.

Thanks to recent events, mental illness has also become a national topic of discussion, though it seems to be getting trumped by guns right now.

And yet, for as important a topic as mental health is, the church is just not doing a very good job addressing it.  As I searched for what church leaders are saying about mental health, it became clear that the church is not having the conversation it should.  Jamie the Very Worst Missionary wrote last week about having Jesus, but sometimes just needing a Zoloft, and it was one of the most honest things on mental health I think I’ve seen a Christian write in a long time.

Why is the church losing the mental health discussion.  I think I have a few ideas.

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In church, faith
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