Subversion of the Day- Relational Fire

Let’s just pretend there is not an eight month gap between this post and the last.

The subversion of the day relates to relationships and the darkness-defeating act of choosing to spend time with someone who may not be very much like you… or may even be a person you don’t like.  I feel like this deserves a name, maybe a working title.  Let’s call it… relational fire.  I don’t know how I feel about the term, but I will take suggestions.  The idea, ultimately, is that you intentionally build a close, personal, intimate relationship with a person who is on a completely different spectrum than you.  Why?  We’ll get to that.

The rumblings of this idea came from a sermon that I heard recently from a very eloquent, biblical pedagogue (my wife) on relationships between the young and the old in the community called the church.  She pointed out that we make distinctions too much, and gave one of the greatest examples of this- the holiday dinner table.  Adults have a place that is well prepared, nice, pleasant… while children are pushed to the basement onto toy furniture with haphazardly strewn plate ware.  Separated, and not equal.

I feel like the church, and America, has struggled with that issue somewhere else before.

At any rate, she closed her message with a call to action… in the form of little pieces of rope.  She challenged older people (and older in the faith) to seek out people they would commit to mentor, and she challenged younger people to seek out older people to mentor them.  I responded, as did others, and I felt a strong conviction to prioritize this.  Now, one person I sought out to mentor (which I haven’t done great at) and I are quite different- he is African American, raised in more of an inner-city area, without a father, and likes sports.  Just those things are miles away from me.  However, the more difficult, relational fire situation is with a person that I asked to mentor me.  We divide in some very drastic ways- I am a pacifist, he is a Vietnam veteran; I believe in operating sort of outside of government, he loves America; I like to listen to others and sometimes let others inform or change my opinions, he is committed to staying where he is; I have what some would describe (maybe) as liberal views and non-traditional theological views, he is a staunch conservative and orthodox Christian.

Anybody ever watched the Odd Couple?

There are issues that exist that we are tempted to (and might in the future) fight tooth and nail over.  However, I see him as a man who loves God and is committed to serving his community of faith, and I think there is a lot I can learn from him, and maybe he can learn a little from me (though he might not want to).  So why is this all subversive?  It is because our ‘natural’ inclination is to move away from the things that are different and difficult for us, and by natural I mean an effect of our living in a world infected by death.  We are afraid of death, and pain, so we run from anything that looks like it.  But Christ has called us to do something else to break the strongholds of this world- to walk head on into the relational fire, as a living sacrifice, and stay there with a deep trust that the consuming fire that is our God will not let us be consumed.  When we put ourselves on the line, we take a step to destroy the bonds of darkness around us, and invite light into our world.  Get close to someone very different from you, and subvert the powers today.

 

Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

Song- Where the Stars Don’t Hide

I seem to be blending more of my escapist songwriting with love songs.  I am pretty sure this is a good thing.  Here it is:

 

 

Well I’m tired of trying to look at, the constellations you know

Through all the light pollution, and the industrial glow

It’s like the neon’s are nebulae, and gas lights are galaxies

And the moon don’t shine the way we know it should be

And even in the day time, you know we can’t get far

Cause their sun’s burning out, and Lucifer’s their lodestar

We need to get going, where we can plunge our skin

Where the real heaven’s shine, as we dive right in…

 

I could float here with you, baby all night long

We could let the water drowned out the highway songs

Those lonely steel belts hum and the diesels whine

You know it will wear us out, it’s a matter of time

So grab your bag, honey, grab your coat

Grab anything you need to help you stay afloat

Just leave everything that reminds you of here

We’re going to sing a new song to heal our weary ears….

 

I want to go with you where the stars don’t hide

Where there’s only outside

And the only high rise

Is the hills we look to

To get us through the night…

I want to go with you where the earth and sky meet

Where we run in bare feet

Where we kiss under leaves

That drop the rain they’ve caught

That’s where we come alive…

Where the stars don’t hide

 

I say we go get lost back in the woods

We can help each other remember everything that’s good

About being in love, and falling in love

About love when it’s rough, when the going get’s tough

Cause even out there your life is still with out ease

You can get pecked by the birds, and stung by the bees

But we can escape in the river deep, or climb the mountain high

We’re going to look at view, to revive our blinded eyes…

 

I want to go with you where the stars don’t hide

Where there’s only outside

And the only high rise

Is the hills we look to

To get us through the night…

I want to go with you where the earth and sky meet

Where we run in bare feet

Where we kiss under leaves

That drop the rain they’ve caught

That’s where we come alive…

Where the stars don’t hide

Subversion of the Day- Have No Fear

 

With it being Halloween, I thought it fitting (like I am sure a thousand other people) to tackle the subject of the day.  Though this may end up sounding a little bit like a past post, I want to take it in a new direction.  The Subversion of the Day is to have no fear.  On Halloween, fear and fun, or trick and treat, rule the streets.  I want to be clear on the onset of this that I am not out to bash Halloween.  I think that is kind of a fool’s errand, and there are much greater, much more evil of social institutions to throw my weight against… like Christmas or Easter (I kid… sort of).  But there is that common theme of fear that is associated with this holiday, or holy day to some.  When the night creeps in, and strange noises began to tear a part your mind, thinking that some crazed maniac, some ghastly specter, some evil-possessed entity is about to descend upon you…

But how often does that actually happen?

I think there could be something cathartic about the fear induced around Halloween, if we allow it to challenge our desire to flee from things that cause us fright.  But the fear I am speaking of is much more sinister, much more insidious, much darker.  Everyday we go through life carrying certain fears and doubts and uncertainties.  Fear of the unknown, fear of those different than us, fear of change.  We are often crippled by this.  And this is the realm that I think the real evil, the real darkness, the real demonic finds the fruits of it’s labors.  This Halloween stuff is chicanery, slight-of-hand.  The real powers of darkness want you to look the other way, while they are convincing you to walk through your life in fear of really living.  Because when we do that, we disconnect from relying on the God that truly loves us.

So how do we fight the real darkness?

 

I good place to start in subverting the darkness is not to wage an all out war on all things scary and Halloween-like… but maybe just take it out of your life.  Don’t watch so many movies, read so many books, think so many thoughts that relate to terror.  Instead, think about things that are good, holy, of great worth.  Think about how Jesus changes the world, and brings light to cause darkness to hide wherever He goes.  And then, when you are really ready to tackle the true strong holds of darkness, question the fear that society, and yourself, implant in you:

Fear of other nations/ ethnic groups

Fear of other religions

Fear of other orientations

Fear of other ideologies or political affiliations

Fear of failure

Fear of loss

Fear of death…

When we question fear to its face, it usually doesn’t have much to say.  When you carry the light of Christ with you, the darkness, and fear, has no other option but to flee.  Subvert the powers today.

PS:  I may talk big game, but the picture at the top of this page gives me cold chills every time I think of it, lol.

There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment.  So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love.

 1 John 4:18

16 Ways I Blew My Marriage

In continuance of the idea of consistency and commitment being an effective tool for subverting the forces of darkness, a friend told me about a great blog post by Dan Pearce.  This post, which is the above title, delves into some serious issues that create division between people, and it has helped me to look at my relationship with my wife in a more proactive, pursuing way.  Check it out:

http://www.danoah.com/2012/10/16-ways-i-blew-my-marriage.html

Subversion of the Day- Consistency

 

Is this thing still on?  Man, crazy stuff going on in my life right now- school, work, the greatest marriage ever, preparing to move away from the only state I have ever lived in.  It is like my world is falling apart, and coming together at the same time.  So please stick with me as I figure this out and deal with the Subversion of the Day- being consistent.

I love these little ideas that seem to have nothing to do with a revolutionary existence of under-throwing the powers of darkness.  But the real power is in the powerless!  So how appropriate that something as small as being consistent has such affirmative, life changing power!  If you can’t tell from my month long disappearance, i severely struggle with consistency.  I love to passionately start something, get distracted, and quickly forget about any commitment I ever made towards it.  I get the feeling that a good chunk of the world is like this.  But it is in our consistency that we see real fruit of change.

Maybe it is the only place we see real change?

Revolutions typically aren’t things that just poof out of thin air over night.  They are great events that have had long term influences.  If we really want to see darkness cast out in our lives and in our communities, then we must stick with what we start, or at least not abandon things.

Take time today to think through things you have committed to and have given up on when things were difficult, not what you wanted, or no longer interesting-

A job?A promise?
A commitment?
A relationship?
A resolution?
… a faith?

Or maybe just a blog.  Either way, in order to walk in the way of Jesus, you have to die to the sinful urge to give up.  Perseverance is key, in seeking the Kingdom, and seeing good things in your life.  Some heroes of the faith that I try to stand on the shoulders of say that real change doesn’t happen in the community until the 10th year of doing something.  You can’t expect to see real change in yourself and your life if you cant keep up with something after the 10th day.  I am taking this time to repent of my own lack of commitment and consistency by recommitting to making this blog a prophetic voice for change.  Maybe more consistent than lengthy is the answer.  Let’s find out together.  Subvert the powers today.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Subversion of the Day- Judge Not

 

It sure has been a bit.  Hopefully the next one will be more timely.

The Subversion for today simply is to “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”  I don’t know why, but there is something fun about reading that in King James Version.  Maybe it is because it is so simple to manipulate for our own power.  This is one of the most poorly used, out-of-context spouted verses in the whole of the accepted Christian Scriptures.  Most often, it is framed as- You can’t tell me what to do.  Don’t judge..  or something similar.  Maybe a modern paraphrase can help shed some light on this- “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.”

Ain’t that the truth?

I used to think that I was doing the world a service when I would point out all of the ideas, interests, perspectives, beliefs, and preferences on anything that I thought was stupid.  I cared about them, and I didn’t want them to poison their lives with meaningless, unimportant drivel, from tearing down musical preferences to religious ideology.  And yet, it was I who was the one being poisoned all along with that unnecessary, overly critical thinking.  It repulsed people, made me ugly.  I tried to clean their face while I had a gaping wound to my forehead.  That is ridiculous.

And yet, we all do that.

Everyone is a product of their own chosen, assigned, or inherited systems, and there are many: family, friends, work, education (or lack of), social or economic status, political affiliation, ethnicity, skin tone/race, sexual orientation, gender, taste, and religious belief (or lack of).  And the truth is, none of these are better than an other.  Nicki Minaj is not better than Bob Dylan, or vice a versa.  And Christianity is not better than Hinduism, and vice a versa.  Even further, one branch of Christianity is not better than another.  There is truth in all things that we can learn from, because all truth is God’s truth.  He has a monopoly on it.  With that said, I must say the thing that may frustrate and trouble you- Jesus claimed to be the Way, the Life, and the Truth.

Jesus is the Truth.

All truth stems from His existence as Truth.  And His life was one of loving and uplifting those who feel cast out and are different.  But, he was critical when necessary.  He was very critical of death and those things that associated with death or lead to it.  Therefore, we must focus all of our energy on criticizing those things that lead to death and destruction- like poverty, hunger, homelessness, drug abuse. depression, loneliness, violence of any kind, and destroying others with even our words.  The way of the cross is one of releasing power, not coercion.  Let someone know that you affirm them, even if you disagree with them.  Subvert the powers today. 

“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.^{(A) 2} For with the judgment you use,^[a] you will be judged, and with the measure you use,^[b] it will be measured to you.^{(B) 3} Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye?^{(C) 4} Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. ⁶ Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs,^(D) or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.   –Matthew 7:1-6

Song- As Soon as You Were Finished

This is a song I wrote back in ’07 that deals with the vanity of things that promise us relief in life, and really don’t do a thing.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

As Soon As You Were Finished

Whiskey bottle, fancy seeing you around
If I thought that you could help me
I’d tip you up and drink you all the way down
Cause you smell and taste so warm
And your curves give me such a thrill
But as soon as you were finished
I’d be alone here still

Hello cigarettes, I see that all of you are here
Your telling me that I have nothing to fear
Cause I could burn all of you down
And fill the world with smoke
But as soon as you were finished
You’d burn my lips and make me choke

Hey there woman, you’re telling me it’s alright
You think I should lay back and say whats on my mind
Well you want to work your magic
Cause you say you see I’m blue
But as soon as you were finished
I would feel the same way that I do

Everything is vanity, everything destroys
I want to leave behind the scandals, and all of their loud noise
Cause nothing here can save my soul
It all washes out just like sand
So as soon as I am finished
I want to know where I stand

Subversion of the Day- Help Heal Someone’s Wounds

It’s been a long week.  Between getting settled in to this school semester, spending time with friends, trying to coordinate a big community event in Richmond, KY, and preparing for a sermon that I preached yesterday, I have been swamped.  But, today is Labor Day- and I am going to celebrate it by blogging!

Using my weekly meeting with my friend at Purdy’s (http://www.purdyscoffee.com) as a spring board, yet again, I want to talk about how you can subvert the powers of the world by healing someone, specifically those whose wounds are self-inflicted.  This is a very difficult subject, and many people don’t know the first place to go to deal with it.  I read a statistic that said 4 percent of the population self harms.  4 percent.  That may seem miniscule, but in a city of 40,000, that is 2,000 people.  And the vast majority of those are teenagers- kids.  Kids I work with.  It is a trend that has gained steam in the last few years, but one that has been around for a long time.  And usually, it is associated with depression- it is a sign that things aren’t right in someone’s life.

There are some great resources out there (which I will suggest later) to aid you in trying to help those who compulsively hurt themselves.  But first, let’s look at an old one.
People have been harming themselves for thousands of years, and in most cases, it is a gesture to connect with the deity they believe in.  But it is one that God forbade His people to do, because he knew that it harmed them physically, emotionally, and spiritually, but that also back then it could have led to further harm through infections.  There is also a biblical example of self harm being connected to demonic influence.  Jesus encountered a man with an unclean spirit.  He lived among the tombs, could not be subdued (even by chains), cried out day and night and cut himself with stones.

This must have been a teenager.

That last comment was not really meant to be a joke.  I see kids all the time that suffer under the same darkness- they go in and out of the tombs, either literally by spending time in a cemetery, or figuratively by thinking about and idolizing death on a regular basis.  They are trapped in a culture of death.  Many teenagers cannot be held down or made to think a certain way- if any shackled are placed on them they typically refuse them and shake them off.  And many, many adolescents cry out night and day from the pain they feel, and do not know any other way to deal with it, so they cut themselves.

But what can we do?

To begin subverting this dark power, we have to care enough to step into the pain of others.  Not tell them to suck it up.  Not say they are just wanting attention.  And definitely not just ignoring them.  Learn about what they are dealing with.  You can get some knowledge about this from To Write Love On Her Arms (www.twloha.com) But, beyond these things, it is important that people who self-harm know that they do not have to hurt themselves to deal with their pain- someone else has felt their pain, and He has stepped in front of the blade for them.  Subvert the powers today.

He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from;
He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.

Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.

Isaiah 53: 3-5

Subversion of the Day: Get a Tattoo

 

Now before you run out and say I told you to get all inked up: take a breath, read past the title, and decide for yourself, not because some moron on a blog said to do something or not to do something.

A friend of mine and myself have begun to routinely meet during the week at a coffee shop in Richmond, Ky (Purdy’s- check it out: http://www.purdyscoffee.com) to talk about major issues that are on the forefront of predominant youth culture- good stuff like drug abuse, self affliction, and pre-marital sex. 

Fair warning: these meeting may shape future blog posts.

So, the first topic was the inherit goodness or badness of getting a tattoo.  Now, because of a misreading of a verse in Leviticus, I have always had a disdain for tattoos of deceased family members.  To me, you could get pretty much anything, like a turtle riding a motorcycle in a hurricane on the small of your back, whatever, just as long as you were not memorializing the dead.  I was convinced that was what the Bible said.

That was, of course, until I actually read what the Bible said on the topic.

So, we came to the conclusion together that the Hebrew Bible injunction against tattoos does not necessarily pass over to the life of the subversive Christ-follower.  But, we still wondered what the purpose for one was, if there was one.  This lead us to two principle ideas in the New Testament that shaped our thinking.  One, paraphrased, mentioned that all things are allowed for Christians, but not all things are beneficial.  What is amazing about this is it in a way releases you from certain legislative bonds, and yet chains you to something greater- responsibility.  We become responsible for what we do.  So, the desire is to then do the most beneficial thing. 

Is getting a tattoo beneficial?

For the culture that I live in, yes it is.  I am more likely to spend time with a tattoo-riddled drug dealer than a CEO.  I am also more like to spend time with artistic types who express themselves in that way then reserved, evangelicals who think tattoos are a sin.  So simply, the benefit of the tattoo is that it can help me become “all things to all men (or women)”, which is another idea from the Bible.

Getting a tattoo is subversive because it is frowned upon by the dominant culture, and if you are a being that can shift in and out of the dominant culture, you show that the mentality of the “tattoo-riddled, food-stamp using masses” is an often unfair stereotype, and assumes that poor people cannot ever have anything nice if  they receive any kind of assistance, when in fact, many tattoos of the poor are done by a friend or relative for fairly cheap.  When you have a tattoo, you become more open to a certain set of folks, and that openness can lead to pointing them to Christ, which leads to ultimate, lasting life change.

So, in light of this, I am planning to get my first tattoo this year.  But I have some stipulations- to make getting a tattoo more subversive, I am trying to contact a local tattoo parlor to see if they would donate a portion of their proceeds the day that I get my tattoo to The Salvation Army, so I also know that actually purchasing my tattoo goes to creating change and helping others.  Think about getting a tattoo with me.  Subvert the powers today.

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

New Song- The River’s Where I’m Going to Be

Sometimes it is good to sing the blues.  Sometimes not.  This is a blues song I wrote a while back.

The River’s Where I’m Going to Be

Black Water, send me on down, cause i don’t want to be around
Black water, send me on down, to somewhere i won’t be found

Cause the earth has become too dry
And its taking my life from me
Well this ain’t how i want to die
So the River’s where i want to be

Hard Rain, wont you fall on down, and lift me up off the ground
Hard Rain, wont you fall on down, and lay me where there ain’t no sound

Cause the earth has become too dry
And its taking my life from me
Well this ain’t how i want to die
So the River’s where i want to be

Deep Flow, wont you drag me on down, where no one can come around
Deep Flow, wont you drag me on down, and in your muddy arms ill be bound

Cause the earth has become too dry
And its taking my life from me
Well this ain’t how i want to die
So the River’s where i want to be

I know, that if maybe i try
This fathomless blue won’t cover me
But now i am too tired to fight
So the River’s where I’m gonna be.