Darn You, Vanilla Ice
Hang on tight this is going to be random.
In recent posts on several blogs I have seen some really interesting conversations about our lack of compassion and understanding when it comes to those who's sexuality is different from us. Frankly, I am glad that this discussion has started. If Brokeback Mountain does nothing else, it at least caused us to think and for that I am thankful. In the very near future, we as Christians are going to have to make some hard decisions about how we handle issues like homosexuality. I pray that we can make these choices with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ as our guiding principle. But, I really didn't want to blog about all that today.
Actually, what this whole conversation has gotten me to think about is the ways in which we choose to ignore certain voices in our culture simply because we do not relate to them or are not interested in what they have to say. Take a look around at how many groups and organizations there are out there in which people are trying to find a place where they can be accepted, voice their thoughts and concerns, or defend a cause that is important to them. We have Victim's rights groups, animal rights groups, grief support groups, consumer rights groups, the society for the preservation of the California avocado, and that organization so near and dear to anyone who has spent time in Abilene, Texas - The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Association. And these are just a few. I have a friend that recently had dealings with the African-American Breast Feeding Coalition, a cause that I scoffed at until I heard the very real concerns that they have about the health and well-being of African American mothers and children. These are all voices that are making themselves known in our culture.
However, these voices don't just represent particular causes or concerns. They represent the hearts and minds of the people we live around, the people that we are called to love with the love of Christ. But, if we are ever going to love them in a real way, we have to be able to stop and listen to the things that their hearts have to say. We can never love them if we never take the time to get to know them. And we can never get to know them if we continue to ignore or demonize them. This kind of love also calls us to be willing to share our lives with other people. We have to be vulnerable in our love. That is what I adore about Matt and Nikki Wallace (Insert your own shameless plug for Dry Bones here) and their work in Denver. They are willing to live life side-by-side with people whose voices we didn't even know existed until Matt and Nikki were brave enough to sound them in our ears. Now, none of us can stop thinking about or loving those kids.
But, let me be confessional here. I think what I really liked about Matt and Nikki's ministry was that it was Matt and Nikki that were doing it and that they were far away in Denver. I could live vicariously through them and not get my hands dirty. I could listen to the voices through Matt and Nikki but I didn't have to do much about it. Now, please don't get me wrong. I am not saying everybody should pack up and move to Denver. I am not even saying that you should go find homeless teens in your city. All I am saying is that there are plenty of voices that you are going to ignore today as you go about your life. They are all around you. They are all around me. I'll give you an example. As a ministry student I found it very easy to deride all those members of the Church of Christ who held more conservative beliefs than I did. In some ways we almost seemed to be practicing two different religions. I was astounded at their judgmentalism, their aloofness, their inability to change. I began to ignore their voices because it depressed me to hear them. I disagreed with them so heavily and I could not get over that.
In my job now I am realizing that I hated their voices because I thought they represented a type of Christianity that I could not endorse. However, as I work in a church where I am by far the most "liberal" component I understand that I was wrong. Their voices represent the hearts and minds of people who are trying desperatley to follow God and Christ in the best way they know how. And slowly but surely, the Gulf Coast community that once gave ear to their voices is beginning to turn on them. At one time their voices meant something because the rest of the area was predominantly Christian. But, as our culture changes their voices are getting lost in the fray. The fear, confusion, and disappointment that I see in the lives of these faithful Christians as this shift occurs has humbled me in a serious way. I, as a Christian minister, am called to live along side them and be a person who is willing to hear their voices and get to know their hearts.
Do I agree with all of their religious "doctrines"? No. Will I ever? No. But, can I continue to demonize them or make them out to be ignorant solely because we read the Bible in a different way? No way. I have to be willing to practice what I preach. I have to be willing to listen to them as they open up their lives to me and I have to be vulnerable enough to open up my life to them. I have to be willing to love them as Christ loves them. Yes, that all takes wisdom and patience that only comes from God, but it is well worth the effort if it means that I am getting to live out the crucified life of Christ.
That is the real gift of the gospel. It's not just that we are forgiven or that we get to go to heaven. It's that we get to live like Christ lived. Right here. Right now. We get to love those around us with a love that is incomprehensible. We get to listen to the voices of this world with compassion and mercy. I pray that you hear a voice today that you have neglected in the past.
P.S. You want to know what really got me thinking about all of this? This weekend I listened to one of my favorite rock songs of all time, "Under Pressure". If you don't know the song you at least know the bass line because years after it was released Vanilla Ice stole that bass line and used it as the intro for "Ice, Ice, Baby". I have not forgiven him.
The original was done by David Bowie and Queen. As I listened this time I made a point to hear the lyrics. As I did I realized that this song contains one of the best definitions of love that I have heard in any song before. Here is a sample:
Why can't we give love that one more chance?
Why can't we give love give love give love?
Give love give love give love give love give love give love?
Cause love's such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care
For the people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way
Of caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves under pressure
Strange, isn't it that I would learn something about love from David Bowie, an androgynous glam rocker, and Freddie Mercury, a flamboyant rock star and drug addict that later died of AIDS. With everything I would probably disagree with them about, they at least had a pretty good idea of what real love could potentially be.
In recent posts on several blogs I have seen some really interesting conversations about our lack of compassion and understanding when it comes to those who's sexuality is different from us. Frankly, I am glad that this discussion has started. If Brokeback Mountain does nothing else, it at least caused us to think and for that I am thankful. In the very near future, we as Christians are going to have to make some hard decisions about how we handle issues like homosexuality. I pray that we can make these choices with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ as our guiding principle. But, I really didn't want to blog about all that today.
Actually, what this whole conversation has gotten me to think about is the ways in which we choose to ignore certain voices in our culture simply because we do not relate to them or are not interested in what they have to say. Take a look around at how many groups and organizations there are out there in which people are trying to find a place where they can be accepted, voice their thoughts and concerns, or defend a cause that is important to them. We have Victim's rights groups, animal rights groups, grief support groups, consumer rights groups, the society for the preservation of the California avocado, and that organization so near and dear to anyone who has spent time in Abilene, Texas - The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Association. And these are just a few. I have a friend that recently had dealings with the African-American Breast Feeding Coalition, a cause that I scoffed at until I heard the very real concerns that they have about the health and well-being of African American mothers and children. These are all voices that are making themselves known in our culture.
However, these voices don't just represent particular causes or concerns. They represent the hearts and minds of the people we live around, the people that we are called to love with the love of Christ. But, if we are ever going to love them in a real way, we have to be able to stop and listen to the things that their hearts have to say. We can never love them if we never take the time to get to know them. And we can never get to know them if we continue to ignore or demonize them. This kind of love also calls us to be willing to share our lives with other people. We have to be vulnerable in our love. That is what I adore about Matt and Nikki Wallace (Insert your own shameless plug for Dry Bones here) and their work in Denver. They are willing to live life side-by-side with people whose voices we didn't even know existed until Matt and Nikki were brave enough to sound them in our ears. Now, none of us can stop thinking about or loving those kids.
But, let me be confessional here. I think what I really liked about Matt and Nikki's ministry was that it was Matt and Nikki that were doing it and that they were far away in Denver. I could live vicariously through them and not get my hands dirty. I could listen to the voices through Matt and Nikki but I didn't have to do much about it. Now, please don't get me wrong. I am not saying everybody should pack up and move to Denver. I am not even saying that you should go find homeless teens in your city. All I am saying is that there are plenty of voices that you are going to ignore today as you go about your life. They are all around you. They are all around me. I'll give you an example. As a ministry student I found it very easy to deride all those members of the Church of Christ who held more conservative beliefs than I did. In some ways we almost seemed to be practicing two different religions. I was astounded at their judgmentalism, their aloofness, their inability to change. I began to ignore their voices because it depressed me to hear them. I disagreed with them so heavily and I could not get over that.
In my job now I am realizing that I hated their voices because I thought they represented a type of Christianity that I could not endorse. However, as I work in a church where I am by far the most "liberal" component I understand that I was wrong. Their voices represent the hearts and minds of people who are trying desperatley to follow God and Christ in the best way they know how. And slowly but surely, the Gulf Coast community that once gave ear to their voices is beginning to turn on them. At one time their voices meant something because the rest of the area was predominantly Christian. But, as our culture changes their voices are getting lost in the fray. The fear, confusion, and disappointment that I see in the lives of these faithful Christians as this shift occurs has humbled me in a serious way. I, as a Christian minister, am called to live along side them and be a person who is willing to hear their voices and get to know their hearts.
Do I agree with all of their religious "doctrines"? No. Will I ever? No. But, can I continue to demonize them or make them out to be ignorant solely because we read the Bible in a different way? No way. I have to be willing to practice what I preach. I have to be willing to listen to them as they open up their lives to me and I have to be vulnerable enough to open up my life to them. I have to be willing to love them as Christ loves them. Yes, that all takes wisdom and patience that only comes from God, but it is well worth the effort if it means that I am getting to live out the crucified life of Christ.
That is the real gift of the gospel. It's not just that we are forgiven or that we get to go to heaven. It's that we get to live like Christ lived. Right here. Right now. We get to love those around us with a love that is incomprehensible. We get to listen to the voices of this world with compassion and mercy. I pray that you hear a voice today that you have neglected in the past.
P.S. You want to know what really got me thinking about all of this? This weekend I listened to one of my favorite rock songs of all time, "Under Pressure". If you don't know the song you at least know the bass line because years after it was released Vanilla Ice stole that bass line and used it as the intro for "Ice, Ice, Baby". I have not forgiven him.
The original was done by David Bowie and Queen. As I listened this time I made a point to hear the lyrics. As I did I realized that this song contains one of the best definitions of love that I have heard in any song before. Here is a sample:
Why can't we give love that one more chance?
Why can't we give love give love give love?
Give love give love give love give love give love give love?
Cause love's such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care
For the people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way
Of caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves under pressure
Strange, isn't it that I would learn something about love from David Bowie, an androgynous glam rocker, and Freddie Mercury, a flamboyant rock star and drug addict that later died of AIDS. With everything I would probably disagree with them about, they at least had a pretty good idea of what real love could potentially be.
posted by Spruce at 5:26 AM
5 Comments:
Spruce, 1st of all, thanks for your kind words. I so often (particularly today) have such a hard time loving the kids on the streets. The kids, like most people, can often be hard to love - even when you really really want to.
My most recent post (a week or more old) connects with your's here. I like what Jarrod had to say about basing our primary instincts on faith and love. To me, here's the bottom line as I wrote in my post: We've got to start viewing people - ALL people - like this- "How can I, right here and right now, affirm the unsurpassable worth of this person for whom Christ died?" That's it. period.
NOT - how can I fix them/ make them look like me/ make them look like a white, middle-classed citizen/ brush out the sawdust in their eyes, etc.?
On a side note: I read a new word the other day that describes your blog. . . Seriocomic. It means: combining the serious and the comic. Really, it's in there.
dum, dum, dum, da da dum dum (thanks for letting THAT be stuck in my head for the next 48 hours!)
Spruce,
Good post. This was something I needed to hear right about now. Same for you Jarrod, "the sea engulfs us and the light goes out..." that is a great quote, people (myself included) need to hear about the colossal peril we can create by simply breaking faith...
I guess what disturbs me about the whole discussion is that these concepts seem so basic to Christianity. This type of love should be the manifestation of our obedience to the primary call of the gospel: to become like Christ through self-sacrifce and surrender. Yet, somehow we have found it incredibly easy to turn away from it.
Spruce, that was wonderful. Amen brother. I hope to start really putting it into practice. I'm tired of all the arguing everywhere I turn: tv, radio, internet, blogs, friends, etc.
Amen!
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