The Comic Book Collector - A Parable

There was once a man who collected a particular comic book. He buys the newest comic book each week it comes out and faithfully puts it into one of those clear bags to help preserve it. He has been doing this for years and his collection is almost complete. Every edition except #3. He has never been able to find issue #3.

In all his travels, he visits every comic book store he can find. He attends festivals and conventions in an effort to find issue #3. No matter where he turns, no one has issue #3.

After a while, the man brings his entire collection to the publisher. He speaks with archivist of the publisher and shows off the entire “almost complete” collection. Even the archivist has never seen such a compete collection of this comic and is impressed. The man asked the archivist if it is possible to have a copy of issue #3 from the archives. To which the archivist says they will look into it.

Two weeks later, the archivist called the man and said, “Good News my friend! Your collection is complete!”

The man became confused and said, “Thanks for the call, but I still am missing issue #3. How is my collection complete?”

“At the time of these early editions, the typesetter made a mistake and it turns out that your issue #4 is technically issue #3! The whole printing system is off by a number and so that makes your collection complete!'“ exclaimed the archivist.

At the sound of this Good News the man grew angry and said, “I have searched high and low for issue #3 and everyone has kept me from getting it. And now even you are in on these efforts to thwart me! I know there is an issue #3 out there and I will not let you keep me from getting it.”

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Maybe you can understand the reaction of the collector. Maybe you too have heard someone say to you, ‘you are complete and beautiful!’ but you refuse to accept or hear it. Many of us, myself included, are convinced and addicted to a sense about ourselves - that we are incomplete. We cannot accept that who we are is loveable and complete. We believe that there is an issue #3. That there must be something “out there” that we are missing, and that only if we had it, then we would be complete. When we are confronted with an idea (the Good News) that we are complete, we resist and even reject the idea. We are dependent on the story we have told ourselves that we are incomplete. So addicted in fact that any news to the contrary is not “good” at all.

What Comics Have That Preachers Do Not... and vice-versa

I love stand up comedy. I love the art and the grind. I wish that I could do it. I have a little theory that goes like this.

• Preachers want to be a comics (to be funny)

• Comics want to be musicians (to be cool)

• Musicians want to be activists (to be influential)

• Activist want to be preachers (to be meaningful)

Many preachers desire the comic’s ability to be funny, but there is something the comic has that the preacher does not have. It is not timing, impressions, or a two drink minimum. It is freedom.

Comics have the freedom to say just about whatever they want, however they want and in whatever formats they want. If the comic has a joke they can build the bit into a segment of the set or they can tweet it out and move along. They can use just about any word they want to, so much so that sometimes a comic has to say the are a “clean” comic just to address that they will not use some words or touch some topics. Comics can roast people, deliver self-deprecation, deal with hecklers, proclaim they have cancer, and even quit comedy all on stage. Comics have a freedom and that is what facilitates the funny.

Ironically, Christian preachers proclaim a freedom in Christ but as restricted on what they can and cannot say. It is not just that certain words (cuss) and phrases (vulgar) are off the table, but also topics (partisan politics) and contexts (bar) are out of line. I once saw a preacher step up to the pulpit, crack open a beer, did not drink it and then preach. At the end of the sermon the preacher said, “I am guessing there are more people here scandalized that I opened a beer than by the number of innocent people who died due to bombs made by our tax dollars.”

What the preacher lacks in freedom, the preacher makes up for with authority. The preacher’s authority is a direct result of lacking freedom. Conversely, the comic lives under such a tyranny of freedom that people do not take them seriously - even when they have something meaningful to say. Comics have freedom and lack authority, preachers have authority and lack freedom.

This tradeoff is not limited to preachers and comics but also has implications for societies and cultures. One could imagine a culture that puts authority as the highest virtue just as easily as one could imagine a culture that puts individual freedom as the highest virtue. In the U.S.A. we continue to put individual freedom on a pedestal (idol?).

If being a preacher has taught me anything it is that when I (we) lack restraint of any kind, I (we) lose any authority to speak change in the world and I (we) become a laughing stock.

For all the things that we reflect and hope for the new year, perhaps the freedom/authority trade off is worth considering as an individual and as a nation.

Success Is for An Other

I was visiting with a friend of mine the other week and he use the words accomplishment and successful interchangeably. He wanted to be more successful in life so that he could provide for his family. This struck me as notable because my friend is in his mid 30’s and is already making decent money. He is more than providing for his family.

This exchange reminded me that success is always for another person, an other. You can be the richest person in the world and still not feel successful, because there is another’s approval you are seeking. And it is not until that “other” sees you as successful that you feel successful. My friend did not feel successful (even though by all standards he is) because he is trying to prove he is successful to an other. We spent the rest of the time exploring who the “other” person is.

If success is for an other, then accomplishment is for your self. When we brag about our accomplishments, we really are in the realm of seeking the approving eye of the “other”. Put simply, talking about our accomplishments means we are seeking success.

Jesus talk about two types of prayer. The one who prays on the street corner and the one who prays in the private room with the door closed. Jesus casts shade on the one who prays in the public square (for they have received their reward Jesus says). Jesus instructs us to pray in private with the door closed and the work of prayer will be accomplished. Accomplished prayer is not for an “other” who is always disappointed in how often or the depth of your prayers. If we feel that we are not good enough or not comfortable praying, we may be seeking the approval of an other. We may be seeking success.

Let me be clear, many of us are motivated to be successful, but we must be aware to whom the success is directed. While success is done for someone, accomplishment is done on behalf of someone. And this is the intersection of compassion and achievement. When we accomplish something we do so on behalf of another.

My friend wants to be successful to provide for his kids, but what he was describing was a desire to provide things for his kids that they could not do for themselves. His kids are too little to get a paycheck and “produce” things for the world. He works and meets goals in his work on behalf of his kids - this is what motivates him to work hard. His compassion and love for his kids drive him forward to accomplish goals.

God is not very successful, but God is very accomplished. There is no “other” that God is working to impress or woo over. God is able to rest at on the seventh day because of all that was accomplished, those seeking success shun rest or see it as a way to be more productive. Jesus said on the cross “it is finished”, which is something you only say when you accomplish something. Those are seek success are never content with being finished.