Trivia Crack the American Dream and the Gospel

Trivia Crack is a game that is like words with friends but with trivia questions. You answer questions to get "crowns" and the first to get six crowns is the winner of the game. The game gives you a sense that the smartest ones among us will win and that, theoretically, if you study you will win the games you play. This game is, in many ways, the American Dream in game-form. Those who work harder than others will win and those who lose are less deserving of the top prizes. Underlying the game, and the Dream, is that there is mobility that can be achieved. 

What is less obvious is the inherent advantages some people have in both Trivia Crack and the American Dream that make it easier to "win". In the game, you can use coins to increase the odds you can answer the question correctly and thus gain crowns faster. The way to get coins is by winning games (or by using real money to purchase them!). You see the feedback look that is created. Those with coins tip the game in their favor to win and those who win get coins to tip future games in their favor to win more coins, ad nauseum.

This should sound similar to those who see the feedback loop that America has. Those who are successful get advantages, but in order to get those advantages you have to be successful. For instance, a college education can boost lifetime income by a lot. But to get a college education these days also costs a lot, outpacing all other sectors. Additionally, the average college graduate has about $30,000 of debt which, by the most estimates takes 15-20 years to pay off. That is 15-20 years of potential savings growth that is lost. Those born into money, who can graduate debt free, have a massive advantage in wealth accumulation over time to their peers. And the gap between rich and poor widens exponentially faster with each generation.

We are surrounded by images, stories, and even games that feed into the notion that we live in a meritocracy and that social mobility possible and that we are all playing by the same fair rules. The Gospel of Christ confronts this narrative in a way that say it is all an illusion. In fact, in the Kingdom of God the first will be last and the last will be first (Mark 10:28-31). Those who have little will be given more and those with enough will be given less (Luke 6:24–26) . Those who worked all day will get the same pay as those who worked an hour (Matthew 20:1-15).

Retributive Justice is not Restorative Justice

I was reminded in Richard Rohr's book Breathing Underwater: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps there is a difference between retributive and restorative justice. Retributive justice is something that most of us most of the time think of when we think of "justice". It looks something like this:

sin -- punishment -- repentance -- transformation 

We see this pattern in the American Justice system. There is a crime and then there is a punishment (prison) and we will let you out if you show remorse (repentance) and once one has "paid their debt" or "served their time" we hope they are transformed. While this system may bring about a sense of satisfaction to those who have been wronged, it does not lead to reconciliation or wholeness. This is why we see so many repeat offenders in the system. On some level we know this pattern does not work because we have become suspicious of anyone in prison who has "found Jesus". Even if the offender has been transformed, the offended and society wit large has not. 

Restorative Justice looks a bit different and it is the way God deals with creation:

sin -- unconditional love -- transformation -- repentance 

Notice that with every infraction, the response from God is always grace and love - not punishment as we often were told and/or treat one another. If you are given grace after an infraction, then there is a chance for transformation. It is not guaranteed that love will transform a person in just an instant. The person has to receive that grace/love and see that it really is grace and love - not a trap for manipulation. If transformation happens, then there is repentance. The person realizes that they cannot go back to being the way they were and they live a new life. 

This may be why, in part, the musical Les Miserables has had such staying power. One of the main characters was caught stealing from a priest and when the police apprehend the thief, the priest does not press charges and thus send the thief back to prison, but instead says, that there was no way the man could have stolen the silver because the silver did not belong to the priest. Additionally, the priest said, "you left in such a hurry that you forgot these candlesticks." The priest was working for restoration while the police were working for retribution. And it was the restorative work of the priest that changed Jean Valjean forever. 

Justin Bieber and Sarah Palin have love child

Not really.

As you know, this title is an example of what is called "click-bait". A tag or headline that is so shocking that it "baits" you to click the link thus driving up traffic. Since the risk of missing the story is greater than the energy it costs to click the link and be duped, we click the link. 

Click bait is what many people use to attract attention on a noisy internet. It is difficult to be heard on the internet and thus using headlines like this or "ten ways to..." or "3 reasons that..." or "23 pictures of ..." generally are the types of headlines we see on the internet. It should be no shock that the most visited post in the history of this site is titled - 10 WEIRD THINGS KIDS DO AT COMMUNION I WISH MORE ADULTS WOULD DO

If you attend churches you will see a church form of click bait in two places - Church signs and sermon title.

I don't have to point out all the sites dedicated to church signs and the crazy stuff that is put up on these marquees. Just google it any you will find all sorts of slogans. From the cheesy (Sign broken, message inside) to the appalling (Christmas: Easier to spell than Hanukkah). The point is that the roads, like the internet, is noisy and you "need" a church sign that stands out and gets people's attention. You need click bait! I guess?

The other and perhaps more frustrating to me is the click bait sermon titles. The idea for some is to have a sermon title that people will remember. So you get sermon titles like "Wait Watchers" or "You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith too" or "You Can't Win if you Don't Begin". What I don't understand is that if someone is sitting in worship, they are choosing to listen to the preacher. They can leave at any point. We preachers don't need to "warm up the crowd" or "get a joke in early" as a way to "engage the masses". So preachers, let us remember that if people are in the pew, they are choosing to be there. Lets stop giving fluff and start giving substance.

Finally to the non-preacher types:

On behalf of the church I am sorry for click bait in the church. I am sorry that we treat people like drones who need us to come up with quirky, silly or lame titles of things just to encourage you to visit/listen. 

Finally, I present - Justin Bieber and Sarah Palin's love child