There are some great discussions taking place with regard to the Church and how there seems to be a transition taking place. I know that personally, I have sensed and experienced the tension of being a Christian moving out of "church".
By "church" I mean whatever this thing is that has become largely social, political, and completely disconnected with people. It is the monolith of meetings with no measurably significant depth or breadth. The following are links to these discussions:
http://www.kinnon.tv/
http://www.theuneditedlife.com/
http://www.theviewfromher.com/
http://livewithdesire.typepad.com/
Each one of these sites has a number of other links that can lead you to a vast multitude of thoughts that are a consistent whole - there has to be a better way of doing what many of us have felt is not significant and rewarding - to ourselves and others.
I hope that your journey is not in neutral. I hope that you are moving forward and hanging around others who are trying to make sense of this life and our higher purpose in being here. I do not want my life defined by the amount of carbon that I use and try and offset that with some financial remuneration. There has to be more...
WH
4.21.2007
Blue Collar, White Collar
My two vocational worlds collide every day.
In one I work at UPS - a LARGE corporation that is mainly blue collar, union backed workers who deliver packages all over the world, and I dare say has drawn the ire and/or admiration of each person reading this post - depending on whether or not UPS was able to keep their on time delivery promise. I am part of management, technically white collar but in reality I am more a part of the blue collar workforce. These people are the backbone of the company. If I could take you on a tour of our unload process that occurs five EARLY mornings each week you would be impressed with the sheer immensity of the task as well as the off-color atmosphere we live in. Most of these people live paycheck to paycheck and have a limited or interrupted education. Most are congruent - you know how they feel on the inside because they tell you. They commiserate together and provide support to each other in a variety of ways - some illegal some not.
The other world is very white collar - I am a REALTOR. The company I work for is the oldest in the State of South Carolina - Eulalie Salley. In this world I brush shoulders with the movers and shakers of the community and those who are financially secure or moving in that direction. I have clients who are millionaire developers as well as struggling young couples trying to buy their first home. I am in this venue from 11 am to 4 or 5 pm each day. The environment is elegantly decorated and being constantly massaged to appeal to the "first impression" of those seeking a real estate transaction. Typically, these people are NOT congruent. They do not tell you how they feel on the inside. In their world, to be that transparent would invite attack and overthrow. There is usually no support from your closest acquaintances and you deal with your shit in private - it seems to be a lonely place.
Funny thing - I exist in both worlds. My greatest challenge is to try and be redemptive in both worlds. How does a person bring the Kingdom to these worlds? How did Jesus do this? I can tell you that it is easier for me to communicate the basic values of respect and mutuality in the Blue Collar world. In fact, as I read the early writings if the first century, I find that Jesus seemed to have an easier time connecting with the Blue Collar World that the Professional and Rich. Interesting.
Here is the dilemma - I am actually trying to work my way out of the UPS world and into the REALTOR world. There are many reasons for this, good reasons actually. Once this transition takes place how do I maintain a "Blue Collar" mentality in a White Collar environment?
Lord have mercy.
WH
In one I work at UPS - a LARGE corporation that is mainly blue collar, union backed workers who deliver packages all over the world, and I dare say has drawn the ire and/or admiration of each person reading this post - depending on whether or not UPS was able to keep their on time delivery promise. I am part of management, technically white collar but in reality I am more a part of the blue collar workforce. These people are the backbone of the company. If I could take you on a tour of our unload process that occurs five EARLY mornings each week you would be impressed with the sheer immensity of the task as well as the off-color atmosphere we live in. Most of these people live paycheck to paycheck and have a limited or interrupted education. Most are congruent - you know how they feel on the inside because they tell you. They commiserate together and provide support to each other in a variety of ways - some illegal some not.
The other world is very white collar - I am a REALTOR. The company I work for is the oldest in the State of South Carolina - Eulalie Salley. In this world I brush shoulders with the movers and shakers of the community and those who are financially secure or moving in that direction. I have clients who are millionaire developers as well as struggling young couples trying to buy their first home. I am in this venue from 11 am to 4 or 5 pm each day. The environment is elegantly decorated and being constantly massaged to appeal to the "first impression" of those seeking a real estate transaction. Typically, these people are NOT congruent. They do not tell you how they feel on the inside. In their world, to be that transparent would invite attack and overthrow. There is usually no support from your closest acquaintances and you deal with your shit in private - it seems to be a lonely place.
Funny thing - I exist in both worlds. My greatest challenge is to try and be redemptive in both worlds. How does a person bring the Kingdom to these worlds? How did Jesus do this? I can tell you that it is easier for me to communicate the basic values of respect and mutuality in the Blue Collar world. In fact, as I read the early writings if the first century, I find that Jesus seemed to have an easier time connecting with the Blue Collar World that the Professional and Rich. Interesting.
Here is the dilemma - I am actually trying to work my way out of the UPS world and into the REALTOR world. There are many reasons for this, good reasons actually. Once this transition takes place how do I maintain a "Blue Collar" mentality in a White Collar environment?
Lord have mercy.
WH
4.12.2007
Formerly Known as "The Pastor" from SCP
One of the blogs that I read regularly had this post today:
Formerly Known as "The Pastor":
In a post entitled, The People Formerly Known As “The Pastor”, John Frye writes the following:
There are thousands of us. You probably know many of us now as insurance sales agents, real estate agents, or doing anything besides "church." We started with idealism about being voices for the kingdom of God and soon realized we became mutated forms of USAmerican business leaders. Even Jesus became a CEO. We traded immersion in the Bible for hyped-up seminars and books about good management, strong leadership and slick public relations. We learned that the size of our church parking lot mattered more than the size of your hearts for God...
The People Formerly Known As The Pastor discovered somewhere in "doing church" that they were being paid as surrogates for the congregation's spirituality... People seem to tell others more about their pastor(s) than about Jesus, their Savior. Of course, this made pastors feel good and loved and valued. Then it dawned on us, we were feeling good for all the wrong reasons...
The People Formerly Known As The Pastor wrestled with conflicting ego issues. Some felt the rush of power over people. Some even said that in order to get to God, you had to go through us... We were "the Lord's anointed." Don't touch us. Being charged with the eternal well-being of souls is heady stuff. And, sadly, it went to our heads. We became commanders rather than servants. We liked the feeling of bossing people around...in the name of the Lord, of course... On the other hand, others of us were scared to death of you. You gave us our paycheck. You gave us benefits. Unknown to us, you called us to your church in order to get your way... We became people-pleasers at the cost of our own dreams. Eventually the commanders among us got kicked out of the church and the fearful among us got scared out. Selling shoes looked mighty appealing.
The People Formerly Known As The Pastor ran up school bills, too, going to college and seminary. It's costly learning Hebrew and Greek these days. Our peers in the "market place" were making twice, sometimes 3 and 4 times the salary we were offered. We were told to live by faith... We officiated at very high-priced weddings and worried how we would get our own kids married. Spring Break meant Disney-World for you and your kids and a trip to see relatives for us...
The People Formerly Known As The Pastor were angry people. Not that you would know it. Our spouses and children knew it. We lived in glass houses. Our kids had to be angels while yours were smoking pot and having sex. And, God forbid, that anyone in the church say anything negative about your kid(s)... You wanted to drop them off in a very safe environment with very safe people and then you could forget all about them and do your church thing. You would listen to "Focus on the Family" and then pay church staff to focus on your kids.
The People Formerly Known As The Pastor began to smell something rotting in the whole "church" thing. Only once in the New Testament is the term for the service of pastor used as a noun (Ephesians 4:11-12)... Having accepted a corrupted image and Christendom model of "the pastor," we finally began to see that corruption infiltrating the church. In its current expression, "the pastor" certainly isn't biblical. And don't get some of us started on the injustice of limiting the equal status of women in ministry.
These were the highlights for me. You can read the whole post here. I love this because John is still serving as a pastor... which makes him a better man than me. Even after all he has written here, he still is in the thick of things. Good for him (I think). Oh, but there is one thing he told me he wouldn't do... and that's give away a car. But he did say he'd have me a free bagel ready if I ever visited his church.
-------------
I can say "been there, done that, got a t-shirt".
WH
Formerly Known as "The Pastor":
In a post entitled, The People Formerly Known As “The Pastor”, John Frye writes the following:
There are thousands of us. You probably know many of us now as insurance sales agents, real estate agents, or doing anything besides "church." We started with idealism about being voices for the kingdom of God and soon realized we became mutated forms of USAmerican business leaders. Even Jesus became a CEO. We traded immersion in the Bible for hyped-up seminars and books about good management, strong leadership and slick public relations. We learned that the size of our church parking lot mattered more than the size of your hearts for God...
The People Formerly Known As The Pastor discovered somewhere in "doing church" that they were being paid as surrogates for the congregation's spirituality... People seem to tell others more about their pastor(s) than about Jesus, their Savior. Of course, this made pastors feel good and loved and valued. Then it dawned on us, we were feeling good for all the wrong reasons...
The People Formerly Known As The Pastor wrestled with conflicting ego issues. Some felt the rush of power over people. Some even said that in order to get to God, you had to go through us... We were "the Lord's anointed." Don't touch us. Being charged with the eternal well-being of souls is heady stuff. And, sadly, it went to our heads. We became commanders rather than servants. We liked the feeling of bossing people around...in the name of the Lord, of course... On the other hand, others of us were scared to death of you. You gave us our paycheck. You gave us benefits. Unknown to us, you called us to your church in order to get your way... We became people-pleasers at the cost of our own dreams. Eventually the commanders among us got kicked out of the church and the fearful among us got scared out. Selling shoes looked mighty appealing.
The People Formerly Known As The Pastor ran up school bills, too, going to college and seminary. It's costly learning Hebrew and Greek these days. Our peers in the "market place" were making twice, sometimes 3 and 4 times the salary we were offered. We were told to live by faith... We officiated at very high-priced weddings and worried how we would get our own kids married. Spring Break meant Disney-World for you and your kids and a trip to see relatives for us...
The People Formerly Known As The Pastor were angry people. Not that you would know it. Our spouses and children knew it. We lived in glass houses. Our kids had to be angels while yours were smoking pot and having sex. And, God forbid, that anyone in the church say anything negative about your kid(s)... You wanted to drop them off in a very safe environment with very safe people and then you could forget all about them and do your church thing. You would listen to "Focus on the Family" and then pay church staff to focus on your kids.
The People Formerly Known As The Pastor began to smell something rotting in the whole "church" thing. Only once in the New Testament is the term for the service of pastor used as a noun (Ephesians 4:11-12)... Having accepted a corrupted image and Christendom model of "the pastor," we finally began to see that corruption infiltrating the church. In its current expression, "the pastor" certainly isn't biblical. And don't get some of us started on the injustice of limiting the equal status of women in ministry.
These were the highlights for me. You can read the whole post here. I love this because John is still serving as a pastor... which makes him a better man than me. Even after all he has written here, he still is in the thick of things. Good for him (I think). Oh, but there is one thing he told me he wouldn't do... and that's give away a car. But he did say he'd have me a free bagel ready if I ever visited his church.
-------------
I can say "been there, done that, got a t-shirt".
WH
4.08.2007
What a Great Weekend...
What a great weekend for a number of reasons. Allow me to extrapolate.
First, it's Easter. I am not one who focuses on the death of Jesus Christ as much as His life, and His resurrection. Don't get me wrong. His death was necessary and the Perfect Sacrifice had to be offered in order for the end of our vain attempts and rituals of atonement to occur. BUT, without His life and resurrection I have no hope. Paul wrote too many really good points in 1 Corinthians 15 for me to repeat, so you can read for yourself. In light of this I think that focusing on the cross is to emphasize the wrong aspect of Christ's life. It is however easier to have crosses hanging in our churches than to have empty tombs. I mean, if Jesus had been put to death by lethal injection would we have empty surgical tables hanging on our church walls and on chains around our necks? I focus on His life.
RLP does it again. Here is a link to Real Live Preachers latest post - Oh the Humanity. This is why I love this guy.
Finally, the weekend was especially special since I was able to take my Dad to the Master's Tournament at Augusta National yesterday. One of my co-workers called at 1 pm and said that he had 2 badges available for the rest of the afternoon. We were dressed and ready to go in minutes. It was cold and windy BUT for my Dad, who was an avid golfer for years, it was like a pilgrimage. I mentioned in previous posts that my parents just moved down to Aiken (It was actually 3 weeks ago today), and it is so good to have them here. I have seen them more times in the past 3 weeks that in the previous 3 years. I am happy to have them close and happy to be able to be a part of enabling my Dad to experience things that he has wished for but never had the opportunity - like seeing the Master's.
Life is good:) Oh, and each day brings another opportunity to work my way out of a job at UPS by working hard at real estate. It looks like I will have at least 3 closings in the next month.
I hope that your Easter weekend is a good one. The rest of my day will probably be spent relaxing, watching golf, hanging out with my family, and being thankful for the Kingdom of God.
WH
First, it's Easter. I am not one who focuses on the death of Jesus Christ as much as His life, and His resurrection. Don't get me wrong. His death was necessary and the Perfect Sacrifice had to be offered in order for the end of our vain attempts and rituals of atonement to occur. BUT, without His life and resurrection I have no hope. Paul wrote too many really good points in 1 Corinthians 15 for me to repeat, so you can read for yourself. In light of this I think that focusing on the cross is to emphasize the wrong aspect of Christ's life. It is however easier to have crosses hanging in our churches than to have empty tombs. I mean, if Jesus had been put to death by lethal injection would we have empty surgical tables hanging on our church walls and on chains around our necks? I focus on His life.
RLP does it again. Here is a link to Real Live Preachers latest post - Oh the Humanity. This is why I love this guy.
Finally, the weekend was especially special since I was able to take my Dad to the Master's Tournament at Augusta National yesterday. One of my co-workers called at 1 pm and said that he had 2 badges available for the rest of the afternoon. We were dressed and ready to go in minutes. It was cold and windy BUT for my Dad, who was an avid golfer for years, it was like a pilgrimage. I mentioned in previous posts that my parents just moved down to Aiken (It was actually 3 weeks ago today), and it is so good to have them here. I have seen them more times in the past 3 weeks that in the previous 3 years. I am happy to have them close and happy to be able to be a part of enabling my Dad to experience things that he has wished for but never had the opportunity - like seeing the Master's.
Life is good:) Oh, and each day brings another opportunity to work my way out of a job at UPS by working hard at real estate. It looks like I will have at least 3 closings in the next month.
I hope that your Easter weekend is a good one. The rest of my day will probably be spent relaxing, watching golf, hanging out with my family, and being thankful for the Kingdom of God.
WH
4.04.2007
Jason Is Home!!
I just received a call from my son! He arrived back in the States last night at 10pm ish. It was great to hear his voice and he said it was great to be home. He gets 30 days leave and will probably not take all of the days at once. Hopefully, after April 20th he and Candace will be heading this way for a visit.
Even though Jason is stateside, others are still serving their country. Continue to pray for the families and armed forces.
WH
Even though Jason is stateside, others are still serving their country. Continue to pray for the families and armed forces.
WH
4.01.2007
Jessie's Ethic...
My daughter has written poetry over the last few years and she is REALLY GOOD. The following is one that she has on her MySpace:
fight ignorance.
reach for clarity in the pitch black.
dwell where secular and sacred collide.
speak for the voiceless.
let scars fade into tales of redemption.
find where passion meets desperation.
This could be an ethic for life.
GREAT NEWS! Jason, my son in the Marine Corp, will be stateside Tuesday. We are very excited and relieved. Hopefully he will be able to visit in a few weeks once he gets his leave. Please remember to pray for and support the entire armed services as they serve this country.
My parents are settled in here in Aiken. I am glad that they are close and I am able to spend more time with my Dad. We are planning on having breakfast every Saturday morning just to talk and hang out.
I hope that your Easter is full of life and hope. Please do not confuse following God with religion.
WH
fight ignorance.
reach for clarity in the pitch black.
dwell where secular and sacred collide.
speak for the voiceless.
let scars fade into tales of redemption.
find where passion meets desperation.
This could be an ethic for life.
GREAT NEWS! Jason, my son in the Marine Corp, will be stateside Tuesday. We are very excited and relieved. Hopefully he will be able to visit in a few weeks once he gets his leave. Please remember to pray for and support the entire armed services as they serve this country.
My parents are settled in here in Aiken. I am glad that they are close and I am able to spend more time with my Dad. We are planning on having breakfast every Saturday morning just to talk and hang out.
I hope that your Easter is full of life and hope. Please do not confuse following God with religion.
WH
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
