When average is fantastic
There is a little movie called "Little Big League" in which the owner of the Minnesota Twins dies and gives the ownership of the team to his grandson, Billy.
(For all you nerds out there Luke Edwards was indeed the same kid who played Jimmy in the in The Wizard, and owned they guy who owned a Power Glove in Mario 3 to win the championship)
Billy is a big fan of the Twins and has gone to every home game with his grandfather his whole life. When he becomes the owner, Billy fires the Manager of the Twins and hires himself to be the new manager.
The hilarity ensues.
Billy turns out to be baseball wise beyond his age. While only being about 12 years old, Billy's baseball knowledge rivals that of Tommy LaSorda.
However, before Billy was the manager of the Twins, Billy was (and still is) a fan of the Twins. His favorite player is Jerry Johnson. Johnson was/is Billy's idol and was at one time a powerhouse of a player for the Twins and in the League, despite Johnson's recent slump in production and quality of play. Johnson, has not done well for a while and everyone can see it, but Billy is unwilling to accept that his idol is no longer the powerhouse of a player he once was.
One game Billy sends Johnson up to the plate with words of encouragement and adoration. Johnson swings and connects. He makes it to first base with ease. Billy goes nuts and turns to his assistant coach, Lou, to say, something to the effect, "See Lou! Johnson still has it." Lou's response, "Hey kid, when was the last time you got this excited for someone who has just hit a stand up single, while going 2 for 25 at his last at bats?"
That was the straw that broke in Billy. He decided to let his idol go and Johnson is no longer a Twin.
I wonder if my beloved church is like Johnson? I wonder if I am like Billy and I become excited when the UMC hits a stand up single? I wonder if I am blind to a reality that others see, an organization that continues to strike out time and time again and is unwilling to admit it and move on?
I fear that I will grow into a preacher that is like Johnson and the congregation is like Billy. I fear I will lose touch so much so that when I am average it is seen as fantastic.
It is my prayer that I will work to ensure that the UMC will not settle for average. It is my prayer that I would continue to strive to bring my best and acknowledge when I no longer "connect".
(For all you nerds out there Luke Edwards was indeed the same kid who played Jimmy in the in The Wizard, and owned they guy who owned a Power Glove in Mario 3 to win the championship)
Billy is a big fan of the Twins and has gone to every home game with his grandfather his whole life. When he becomes the owner, Billy fires the Manager of the Twins and hires himself to be the new manager.
The hilarity ensues.
Billy turns out to be baseball wise beyond his age. While only being about 12 years old, Billy's baseball knowledge rivals that of Tommy LaSorda.
However, before Billy was the manager of the Twins, Billy was (and still is) a fan of the Twins. His favorite player is Jerry Johnson. Johnson was/is Billy's idol and was at one time a powerhouse of a player for the Twins and in the League, despite Johnson's recent slump in production and quality of play. Johnson, has not done well for a while and everyone can see it, but Billy is unwilling to accept that his idol is no longer the powerhouse of a player he once was.
One game Billy sends Johnson up to the plate with words of encouragement and adoration. Johnson swings and connects. He makes it to first base with ease. Billy goes nuts and turns to his assistant coach, Lou, to say, something to the effect, "See Lou! Johnson still has it." Lou's response, "Hey kid, when was the last time you got this excited for someone who has just hit a stand up single, while going 2 for 25 at his last at bats?"
That was the straw that broke in Billy. He decided to let his idol go and Johnson is no longer a Twin.
I wonder if my beloved church is like Johnson? I wonder if I am like Billy and I become excited when the UMC hits a stand up single? I wonder if I am blind to a reality that others see, an organization that continues to strike out time and time again and is unwilling to admit it and move on?
I fear that I will grow into a preacher that is like Johnson and the congregation is like Billy. I fear I will lose touch so much so that when I am average it is seen as fantastic.
It is my prayer that I will work to ensure that the UMC will not settle for average. It is my prayer that I would continue to strive to bring my best and acknowledge when I no longer "connect".
Cain and Abel: Bible and Game theory
Gifts are those things we give to another that are really symbols of ourselves. When someone gives a ring to another person that ring is more than just precious metal, but it carries with it a deep part of the giver for the receiver to hold and care for. Gifts are expressions of our very "selves".
So if gifts are symbols of the self, then in the story of Cain and Abel, is Cain jealous of Abel not at the quality of the gift Abel gives God, but the quality of Abel's character?
Regardless of what causes God to regard Abel's offering, Cain believed that God's grace and blessing was a zero sum game. In his day there would be only one birthright given (see the story of Jacob and Esau). There is only one blessing offered up. If you think of the Greek stories of special people getting blessed by the gods, such as Hercules or Achilles, then you can see how early humans might believe that if someone has special blessing of God, then that means others do not have that blessing. Cain believes that Abel gets this special blessing and thus he believes that he cannot get it. Cain sees God as a zero-sum game.
This happens around us still today. There are people who believe they have been "blessed" by God as a result of doing something (saying a prayer or giving money or thinking positive). There are people who believe others do not have the blessings of God because they are not of the right religion. There are many around us who still hold fast to the idea that God is a zero-sum game in which you either have the blessing of God or you don't.
Cain believes that the only way to get the blessing of God would be to dispatch of his brother and take him out of the equation. You see if Abel is not around to get the blessing, the Cain has a better shot at getting the blessing. So Cain kills Abel.
Cain then has an encounter with God in which God reveals in verse 11 that Cain is cursed from the ground. Notice that God is not the one who does the cursing in this story. Rather, the curse of Cain is a direct result of his actions.
When you kill someone, people get angry. Some believe the only way to have justice when you kill someone is to "kill you back". You know, eye for an eye. So there will be people who hear about what Cain did and will want to kill him so Cain becomes a "fugitive and a wanderer on the earth" (v.12).
In case you missed it, Cain is a farmer. And while I do not know much about farming I do know that it is difficult to be a farmer and a wandering fugitive at the same time. You cannot stay around long enough to see your crops mature and thus you must eat of the early fruits and you will not longer see the ground give you its' strength and mature fruits.
Cain's curse is not from God but as a direct result of his actions. His actions are rooted in understanding God as a zero-sum game in which you either have it or you don't. Then God does something to overturn the ideas of Cain's zero-sum.
God protects Cain.
In fact God's protection (blessing???) is so much so that Cain is no longer a wandering fugitive as he goes toward the land of Nod because as we read in chapter 5, Cain builds the first city!
I don't know much about city building, but I do believe that you cannot build a city and be a wandering fugitive at the same time.
Even though Cain never repents of or seeks forgiveness for murder, Cain still receives the blessing from God!
God is not a zero-sum game.
We are all blessed by God.
Even the unrepentant murderer in all of us.
So if gifts are symbols of the self, then in the story of Cain and Abel, is Cain jealous of Abel not at the quality of the gift Abel gives God, but the quality of Abel's character?
Regardless of what causes God to regard Abel's offering, Cain believed that God's grace and blessing was a zero sum game. In his day there would be only one birthright given (see the story of Jacob and Esau). There is only one blessing offered up. If you think of the Greek stories of special people getting blessed by the gods, such as Hercules or Achilles, then you can see how early humans might believe that if someone has special blessing of God, then that means others do not have that blessing. Cain believes that Abel gets this special blessing and thus he believes that he cannot get it. Cain sees God as a zero-sum game.
This happens around us still today. There are people who believe they have been "blessed" by God as a result of doing something (saying a prayer or giving money or thinking positive). There are people who believe others do not have the blessings of God because they are not of the right religion. There are many around us who still hold fast to the idea that God is a zero-sum game in which you either have the blessing of God or you don't.
Cain believes that the only way to get the blessing of God would be to dispatch of his brother and take him out of the equation. You see if Abel is not around to get the blessing, the Cain has a better shot at getting the blessing. So Cain kills Abel.
Cain then has an encounter with God in which God reveals in verse 11 that Cain is cursed from the ground. Notice that God is not the one who does the cursing in this story. Rather, the curse of Cain is a direct result of his actions.
When you kill someone, people get angry. Some believe the only way to have justice when you kill someone is to "kill you back". You know, eye for an eye. So there will be people who hear about what Cain did and will want to kill him so Cain becomes a "fugitive and a wanderer on the earth" (v.12).
In case you missed it, Cain is a farmer. And while I do not know much about farming I do know that it is difficult to be a farmer and a wandering fugitive at the same time. You cannot stay around long enough to see your crops mature and thus you must eat of the early fruits and you will not longer see the ground give you its' strength and mature fruits.
Cain's curse is not from God but as a direct result of his actions. His actions are rooted in understanding God as a zero-sum game in which you either have it or you don't. Then God does something to overturn the ideas of Cain's zero-sum.
God protects Cain.
In fact God's protection (blessing???) is so much so that Cain is no longer a wandering fugitive as he goes toward the land of Nod because as we read in chapter 5, Cain builds the first city!
I don't know much about city building, but I do believe that you cannot build a city and be a wandering fugitive at the same time.
Even though Cain never repents of or seeks forgiveness for murder, Cain still receives the blessing from God!
God is not a zero-sum game.
We are all blessed by God.
Even the unrepentant murderer in all of us.
I disagree with the Church, which is why I stay.
If you have not picked up anything in the "New-Monastic" movement, then I want to encourage you to do so.
I have been given the gift of the Prayer Book called "Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals". It has quickly become my favorite devotional each day.
Each month takes one of the 12 marks of New Monasticism and explains it just a bit. The "mark" for April is "Submission to Christ's Body": the Church".
I will not post the entire entry, but I think this is one of the more profound essays related to the '12 marks' in the book. This is the first paragraph of this wonderful essay, and I share it for all those who have left the Church, those who disagree with the Church, and those who do not understand why some of us stay in the Church to ponder. I would love any responses to this opening paragraph:
"Discontentment is a gift to the church. If you are one of those people who has the ability to see the things that are wrong in the church and in the world, you should thank God for that perception. Not everyone has the eyes to see, or to notice, or to care. Bur we must also see that our discontentment is not a reason to disengage from the church bur a reason to engage with it. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Our invitation is to "be the change" we want to see in the church. There are things, worth protesting, but we also have to be people, who "pro-testify," proclaiming the kingdom that we're for, not just the evils we're against."
I have been given the gift of the Prayer Book called "Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals". It has quickly become my favorite devotional each day.
Each month takes one of the 12 marks of New Monasticism and explains it just a bit. The "mark" for April is "Submission to Christ's Body": the Church".
I will not post the entire entry, but I think this is one of the more profound essays related to the '12 marks' in the book. This is the first paragraph of this wonderful essay, and I share it for all those who have left the Church, those who disagree with the Church, and those who do not understand why some of us stay in the Church to ponder. I would love any responses to this opening paragraph:
"Discontentment is a gift to the church. If you are one of those people who has the ability to see the things that are wrong in the church and in the world, you should thank God for that perception. Not everyone has the eyes to see, or to notice, or to care. Bur we must also see that our discontentment is not a reason to disengage from the church bur a reason to engage with it. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Our invitation is to "be the change" we want to see in the church. There are things, worth protesting, but we also have to be people, who "pro-testify," proclaiming the kingdom that we're for, not just the evils we're against."
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.