A lot of people are trying to “detox” from evangelicalism.

That means that people are taking a second look at our previous “assumptions” about the Bible.  People are not so sure the Bible says what we thought.  People are trying to create a gentler Christianity, one that’s not so fundamentalistic.  People are trying to build bridges, break stereotypes, and avoid (or remain vague about) topics like sin and hell.  We’re trying to stop making people mad at us for being Christians.

We hope all this makes us more attractive to “seekers” and outsiders.  We’d like people to think that it’s easy to become a Christian.  We don’t have to agree on much, just one or two really important things.  The rest, well, who can really know what the Bible says?  It’s all up to interpretation.  Sounds good to me.

But while a lot of young evangelical Christians are comfortable staying in this cloudy, Brian McLaren / Rob Bell kind of Christianity, branded as a perpetual “conversation,” who is actually winning the hearts of this generation?

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Part of being an American is saying that you love freedom.

We sing songs about freedom.  We worship freedom.  We wear denim jackets and bandanas and say “freedom isn’t free.”  We all love freedom, and we’ll fight tooth and nail anyone who tries to stomp on freedom.  We fight terrorists because terrorists are enemies of freedom.  We’re also certain that the political party we don’t belong to is out to take our freedom.

But we don’t really love freedom.  I used to think that the differences between American political parties were deep and cavernous.  But they aren’t.  Every Federalist, Jacksonian, Whig, Democrat and Republican has not really loved freedom.

I used to think I was a libertarian.  But then I realized that I hate freedom too.  (more…)

Did you watch the Oscars?

Some people are really into the Oscars.  Some of us just see it as a night full of back slapping and ”atta boy” giving among a bunch of self-absorbed millionaires.  Of course, if you don’t like the Oscars, you can always watch the “Razzies” the night before to see the worst films and actors “honored” for their work.

Most of us don’t have jobs where we get trophies for doing good work.  We just get a cost of living wage increase.  There’s no awards for best parents, or best mechanics, or whatever.  There’s also no real-life Razzie awards for useless people, which I think is a glaring omission of our culture.

But most of the jobs that capture public attention do have their own awards – films, music, games, teachers, books, to name a few.  Except there’s one industry that’s been capturing public attention longer than any other, and yet doesn’t give out any awards: the church.

Christians get kind of sweaty about the idea of giving awards to people, since our focus is supposed to be on Jesus.  Also, like Crash, a few years ago, a lot of great pastors aren’t well known.  Popularity doesn’t equal quality.  Plus, Christians have a hard time agreeing on whether a pastor is a great communicator or a total heretic.

But let’s put that aside and just have a little fun.  I’ve got a list of a few of my “Best of Ministry” and “Razzie” awards for the last year. 

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Have you noticed all the Christians apologizing for the church?

I have.  It’s kind of the thing to do.  We assume everyone out there has been hurt, wronged, isolated, burned or ostracized by the church.  It’s almost the battle cry of my generation.  “We’ve been emotionally wounded by the church!”  Just yesterday, I read yet another Christian apologizing for all the other awful Christians out there.  Ever since Donald Miller made it popular, some Christians just can’t resist telling everyone what jerks we’ve all been.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s some things to apologize for.  (And I’m not talking about cases of serious abuse.)

But when you stack up all the apologies, it makes you think that maybe the church is just an agent for pure evil.  It’s almost like we’re inviting people to say, “Christians suck and I demand an apology!”  I’m not here to apologize or take back apologies.  If anyone should be pissed off at the church, it’s me.  I’m here to ask why does it happen?  Why does the relationship people are supposed to have with the church break down?

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No, I haven’t sold out the blog yet.

Sometimes last year, I lamented the fact that the church used to make art. 

The church was the center of culture.  Now we just make advertisements, and we’re usually pretty lousy at it.  Most of it amounts to questionable church marquees. 

Before I went to seminary, I studied design.  And the more I think about it, the more I’ve changed my mind.  The fact is, I like advertisements…when they’re awesome and clever.  Advertisements really can be modern art.  It’s just that most of them aren’t.  Most of them are irritating cartoons of bears talking about how amazing Charmin toilet paper feels.  Great.  I’ll remember that next time my talking pet bear needs to poop. 

I’m still sad that the church doesn’t make art anymore, but even moreso that the same apathy seems to go for our advertising efforts.

 Check out some of these amazingly compelling advertisements, crafted by master artists.

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Jesus said “Let the children come to me.”

Yesterday, I was watching a news story on bullying in school.  The report featured a few bullies and a few victims.  The victim who got the most airtime was a gay male student.  He had come out to his family and classmates.  He displayed unmistakably effeminate mannerisms.

And he is twelve years old.

Now, I felt like a complete jerk saying to myself that it’s no wonder that a skinny, lisping, openly gay student would be the target of bullies.  I had a tough enough time with bullies.  Even if I had been gay, I knew I didn’t need to announce it and add fuel to the fire.  And far be it from me, as a pastor and teacher to mock an obviously bright and compassionate child who must surely have a tough road ahead of him.

It was the fact of a twelve-year-old who has come out as gay that got me thinking.  We live in a time when the church is deeply divided over what rights adult gay men and women have.  Two-thousand years ago, the disciples tried to keep the little children away from Jesus.  Makes me wonder how today’s disciples would treat the children trying to see Jesus…if the children were gay.

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