Monday, May 26, 2008

Pursue. Original.

I look out on the current landscape of Christian thought and am a little disconcerted and more than a little concerned about where we are headed. Most specifically, I am referring to our capacity to dream and pursue that which is new and original. It seems as if everything we do is a mashup or, in some cases, a direct copy of something else we've seen someone else doing. It sometimes seems as if we are not striving for our original idea, our own unique thought, but rather for a Jesusified version of something the "purveyors of cool" within our culture are doing. The hottest Christian bands are those that sound eerily similar to whatever the hottest "secular" band is doing. We have Christian Myspace clones, Christian...well everything. It's almost like we got tired of thinking for ourselves and thought it would be easier to merely rip off what someone else is doing, saying that we're offering an alternative to the things of the world, when in actuality we are just hiding behind our own lack of a desire to dig deep and find the kernel of originality that exists within each of us.

Here's my question- we say things like God makes no two people the same. We tout the originality of fingerprints, DNA, and snowflakes as proof that God is the most creative force in all the universe. We say that God is all powerful and can do any and everything he wants with the slightest of thoughts- mountains in the sea, sun standing still, yada yada. With all this power and originality, why do we still think it necessary to fall back on ripping off those around us. IF we truly are called to be in His image, and IF we believe that God is alive and working within us, how is it possible for us to merely clone those around us? What happened to the time when Christian thought led the day? What happened to the era when Christian scientists (not the denomination) were the main ones making advancements in all manner of scientific endeavors? Where has the pursuit of original music led by the Church gone? Why have we settled for the mediocre, saying that we're attempting to be "relevant" to our culture when in actuality we're just being lazy?

Original exists. It has to. If it doesn't then it means God has run out of good ideas or has run out of ways to convey them to us. If either of those two things are true, we're in a much worse place than merely not having music that is unique, websites and businesses that stand out from the masses, thought that stands above the fracas, or advancements in science and technology that make a difference as being more than just a repackaged and often more trite version of something some "brilliant" individual came up with. I dare to pursue the original in everything. Will I always attain it? Probably not, but not finding it does not mean it doesn't exist any more than not hearing God speak the first time I ask him for help means he does not exist. I dare to dream. I dare to pursue. I dare to be original.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Beyond Blogging







In a recent article by BusinessWeek, the conversation was continued about Blogging and the future of social media and networking. I'm not just referring to how effective Facebook and Myspace are, but rather how social media and networking are creating a "bottom-up" culture within corporations where everyone can become one of the "voices" of the company. Blogs open the world up to make anyone a perceived "expert" in a particular subject and enable people to collaborate around an idea in a way they never could have before.

The "digital water cooler" enables companies to hear from and respond to its clients, customers and employees in a way unheard of until now. It means that everyone can (and oftentimes will) be a part of the development of a project and/or strategy simply by speaking into or about it. In short, our constituency is our developer and vice versa.

What does this mean for us? It means that we need to be a part of the conversation that people are having about our products. We need to pose the questions and watch as the answers come in, responding and reacting, but ultimately observing. Starbucks recently launched a social network designed solely to gather customers suggestions about how to make Starbucks better. The result, Starbucks announces that more than 12 million people will now be eligible for free internet at their locations starting this Spring. The conversation motivated and initiated by Starbucks changed the way they were doing business.

Tools like twitter,linkedin, and del.icio.us, mean that it is easier than ever to stay connected with what people are doing and have them stay connected with you. It means the world is becoming flatter and flatter by the day (and in fact- the hour) as we all end up on a level playing field. It's a new day and we're excited to be jumping right in the middle of it.

*For more info about any of the technologies listed above, feel free to email me. Trust me, they're really cool :).

Monday, May 19, 2008

Anyone else have a problem with this?

Really, a musical about one night stands?

Child Sex Changes? What's wrong with us?

So, I stumbled upon this article on FoxNews.com today and was more than a little disturbed. What is this world coming to when we are offering things like sex changes to kids as young as 7?!
I mean seriously. All of a sudden kids are capable of making decisions about their sexuality when the options to pick out their clothes or eat are still handled by their parents- how does that make sense to anyone? But yet here we are, and this crackpot doctor is actually defending his actions. How is this logical? How is this sensible? How does this even smack of anything closely resembling medicine and how is it not akin to child abuse? Ok, I'm done with this venting session, feel free to comment.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Ok, so the following series of thoughts may, on some level, sound like they fly in the face of what I wrote yesterday but just stay with me for a little bit, ok?

I want to talk about the flip side of community. What I'm talking about is the side of community that keeps us cloistered in our Christian ghettos (I mean that in the classical sense, not the more modernized sense)with little reason to poke our heads out of spiritual clouds unless we are "evangelizing." What I'm talking about is the idea that in order to remain a strong Christian, you must surround yourself with only other Christians. I'm referring to the moments in our lives when someone tells us (directly or indirectly) that we need to befriend the sinner so that we can win them to Christ and save their soul from a burning Hell. I'm talking about love with strings attached.

How much do I like it when I can tell that someone is befriending me simply so they can have access to something I have, or something I can do for them? How much do I hate it when someone knows I have access to a certain thing and all of a sudden they're interested in my life when in moments past they had absolutely no desire to know anything substantive about me? But, sometimes I have found myself guilty of the same thing. I seek out certain friendships with other people because of what I have to offer them, namely Jesus. Now, don't get me wrong, Jesus is definitely someone that should be woven through the fabric of our lives, but not in such a way that we don't hear people's hurt or stand with them through their pain simply because all we see is their sin and need for salvation.

How many times have we been standing with someone who may or may not know Christ, and the entire time they are talking about whatever faces them, we are thinking about how we can use what they're saying to point them towards Christ? How often does our desire to be a friend become contingent on whether or not we can "convert the soul?" I would venture to say it happens far too often. People don't always want the gospel. Sometimes they just want an ear that listens and a shoulder that catches tears. Sometimes they just want someone to be there when they're needed. Sure, God can open up opportunities for the gospel to be shared, but shouldn't that in a lot of ways be His deal? Ultimately , shouldn't the moment of decision for someone come about, not because of a calculated plan of attack against the sinners of the world with salvation but as a result of designer... I'm tired and losing coherence. I'll try back when my eyes aren't closing and sandmanic thing are not wafting past my eyes. Yeah, I'm really tired. I'll finish this later

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Breathe deeply

What happened to the idea that life was not supposed to be lived alone? I'm not talking about being in some sort of relationship or anything as cliche as that. No, I'm merely talking about having people alongside you that "do life" with you. We have become so focused on "personal growth," and "personal development" that we forget that the healthiest part of life is lived alongside our friends, our family, and those others who remind us that there is more to the life that we live than the existence of our individual goals.

There's a huge push right now within certain Christian communities towards this whole thing called "community," but I would venture to say that few of us really understand what that is or what it looks like. To be honest, I don't know that there is any one thing that it should or does look like. Community is the thing that enables you to let your guard down. It's the safe place that means that no matter who you are, and no matter what you've done or where you've gone, you are accepted for who you are and loved for who you are becoming. Community is the place where you realize fully who you are, because society has stripped away your essence in its attempt to make you into the carbon copy of everything they think is acceptable. Community is the place of safety that compels change. Community is where true "personal development" and personal growth can happen. Community is where we were all intended to be.

If it's true that we were all intended to find a place of community, why is it so often that we run from it? Why do we eschew the very thing which will lead us closer to being who we actually are? Why do we continually seek to foster an environment of individuality, and why is our faith as guilty of it as anything else?

Why do we think that "personal" and "intimate" quiet times with God are the ways in which we will find true development? Why do we think that spending 30 minutes to an hour reading the bible alone and quietly reflecting on what we've read is the way to true spiritual fulfillment and growth? Why do we think we can do this alone? Jesus, in every trying time of his life surrounded himself with those that could build him up and support him. After his 40 day/40 night fast and temptation- the angels; at the Garden of Getshamene- the disciples (albeit sleeping); on the cross- mom, friends, and other family. If Jesus saw fit to surround himself with community, what makes us think we can handle this thing on our own.

So, what am I saying? Live life together. Enjoy each other's company. Argue and debate. love and be frustrated. Breathe in all the flavors, bitter and sweet that life has to offer and remember that the life we live is more than just not for ourselves, it's meant to not be by ourselves either.

Live. Laugh. Love.

An update

I'm gonna post some blogs I have from my myspace page. I think I'm moving my blogging over to here for now. At least I'll double up the posts on both places for a while.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Dare to dream. Dare to find the fantastic.

When did we lose our desire for wonder? When did it become acceptable to simply adopt the reality that is presented to us as fact, never questioning, never wondering, never hoping that there might be more. What happened to the child-like nature of the imagination that enables us to believe in spite of whatever is immediately before us? I'm still processing this one...

Blogging from the road

So, I'm thinking about a bunch right now and the thing that keeps sticking out to me is the idea of pursuing creativity. I'm working on this idea, "dare to find the fantastic.". More later.