What Pope Francis Get's Right

I recently took up a freelancing gig doing research for a graphic designer. He gives me a topic, I do a ton of research around the topic, I write an in depth outline, and he creates an infographic using the information. Here is one titled "What Pope Francis Get's Right." I did 95% of the writing and research. Eric is a brilliant artist. I love how he brought my words to life.

Source: OnlineChristianColleges.com

It's Safe Here

In the book Hurt 2.0 Chap Clark describes the state of today's adolescents. From the title, I'm sure you can tell it is a heavy book to read. In one of the appendices Clark identifies three groups of teens who are at the margins of adolescents. They are the most at risk kids.

The groups are as follows:

• Kids with special needs
• Kids who are raised in poverty
• Kids who are raised in extreme wealth

I work with the last group. Like all people, these students long to be loved and long to fit. However, in this particular group, they are only allowed to be perfect. In this group, an 85 on a test is not good enough. In this group, it is frowned upon to go to community college. The more I walk through life with these kids, the more I realize that these kids are not allowed to be human. To be human is to live in the tension of beautiful and ugly, full of life and full of pain, hopeful and hopeless, and good and evil. Simply put, we cannot escape our brokenness. However, we also cannot escape the fact that we were made in God's image.

One of the biggest problems that this world view creates is that these kids do not know how to mess up with grace. They feel every minor mistake deeply, as though it is a character flaw.  Kids all over the country are literally dieing because they cannot put up with the pressure. Kids all over the country are literally dieing because they can't be perfect enough.

The good news for these kids is that their worth is not determined by their gpa or by the prestige of the college they attend. The good news for these kids is that they don't even have to go to college to be considered persons of worth.

May we all have the courage to not project our insecurities on children and teens. May we all have the courage to create safe spaces where children and teens can thrive. May we have the courage to love.

On Community

I've been reading a book called The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace by Scott Peck. Here is some really helpful info I found regarding community.

There are four stages of community:
1. Pseudocommunity - People act like they have everything in common and avoid conflict
2. Chaos - Occurs when well intended "solutions" are not realized.
3. Emptiness -  too complex to explain here
4. Community

In the chaos section Peck writes, "Since chaos is unpleasant, it is common for the members of a group in this stage to attack not only each other but also their leader. "We wouldn't be squabbling like this if we had effective leadership," they will say. "We deserve more direction than you've been giving us, Scotty." In some sense they are correct; their chaos is a natural respond to a relative lack of direction. The chaos could easily be circumvented by an authoritarian leader - a dictator - who assigned them specific tasks and goals. The only problem is that a group led by a dictator is not, and never can be, a community. Community and totalitarianism are incompatible" (p. 92).

An Idea for a Worship Gathering

One of the requirements of my worship class is that I design a worship service that is meaningful for me. This is what I have so far.

1. Share a Meal – There is no more authentic way to get to know another person than to eat with him or her. Furthermore, this part of the service could help welcome those with little to no resources.

2. Interactive Celebration/Testimonies – I want to create space in the service where we celebrate things like birthdays and where people can talk about where they saw God at work during their week.

3. Guided Prayer Time – This would be a time to get centered. We would use this time to pray for one another as well.

4. Scripture Reading/Sermon – I believe God uses others to help proclaim his good news and to explain the Bible. This is an essential part of the service.

5. Song – I imagine this time to be prayerful and reflective. This may be a solo, a choral piece, or an “all sing” number.

6. Prayer of Confession – In order for us to live into the fullness of life we must be aware of our depravity. When we confess, we own up to our junk and we ask to be freed from it.

7. Eucharist – In John Yoder’s book, Body Politics, he writes that the Lord’s Supper was originally a natural part of the early Christians' shared life together. They would conclude regular meals by remembering Jesus through breaking bread and drinking wine. While some might think that this view of the Eucharist diminishes its holiness into something common like a meal, I think it elevates sharing a meal to something holy like worshipping.

8. Prayer of Thanksgiving – This prayer would be a response to the previous element of the service as well as a response to all that God is doing and has done.

9. Dessert Celebration – This element would be a continuation of the Prayer of Thanksgiving.

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Update: 4/28/11

Some people have emailed me some great feedback. I thought I would include one of my responses to a person who asked me my theological motivation for a couple of the elements.

First I need to let you know that I would not choose this service in all contexts. I have a pastoral motivation. I am called to help people recognize and follow the voice of God. I interpret that to mean that I need to help share the good news in a way that the people can understand it.

I agree with your definition of worship. There are plenty of passages of scripture that support that definition (her definition of worship is giving praise to a holy God). However, I think worship goes beyond that as well. Romans 12:1 seems to imply that true worship is sacrificial living. In Amos 5 God rejects the Israelites' precise worship because they are not living lives of justice and righteousness. These passages (along with ones like Matthew 5:23-24 and more indirect passages like 1 Corinthians 13 and Matthew 25:39-41) lead me to believe that the purity of our worship of the living God is very much tied to how well we are loving each other.

A more anecdotal response:
Has any of the following happened to you?
- Walked away from a conversation thinking, "Wow, I just experienced God while talking with that person."
- Climbed to the top of a peak and thought, "I am experiencing the fullness of God in this very moment."
If you have, then you at least recognize that worship goes much further beyond songs, organized prayer, and a sermon.