New Blog Venture-The J-Listers

There are some of you who follow this blog and others who just follow my Twitter account. This blog at times can be somewhat random. I write when the inspiration hits me. It may be something I thought about in my free time, or it may be something someone said or did that challenged my way of thinking and through this blog I share that process with readers. While I try to post at least once a week, it doesn't always happen that way.

But recently, I was invited to be a part of a different kind of blog. It is a blog where every day of the week will be written by one of six people-we take Sundays off. All of us are followers of Christ, but we all come from different faith traditions and backgrounds. We also do not know each other personally, but we follow each other on Twitter. So I'm excited about seeing what comes from such a unique dynamic.

The blog is called "The J-Listers" (as in A-list, but with a J for Jesus). It is also known as the #Superblog in Twitter hashtags, which was the name for the original concept before we had a name. The plan is that each week will present a different theme or Christian idea and the posts for that week will be our individual thoughts and comments on that particular issue.

I will still be writing posts for this blog, but I'm excited about each week having a theme and purpose over on the J-listers blog. Please check it out and add it to your blog roll.

Fantasy Football? What about Fantasy Christianity?

It's fall again and pre-season football is in full swing. We've even gotten through the recent annual tradition of waiting on Brett Favre's decision to return to football. It's like a $16M professional sports version of Groundhog Day, waiting for Punxsutawney Brett to see his shadow. And while I'm excited about the pre-season hype for my Dallas Cowboys, I'm also excited about another season of Fantasy Football. This is my third year playing and I'm hoping for a great draft.

If you're not familiar with Fantasy Football, it's pretty simple. I have a "team" made up of a number of offensive players (quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, tight ends, and kickers (sorry linemen)) who are all from different NFL teams. As these players play each week, I get points for their performances-6 points for a touchdown, 1 point for every 10 yards of rushing or receiving, 3 points for a field goal, etc. There are more players on your roster than what you are allowed to play each week. So the trick is to play which players you think will perform well in a particular match-up. And with the miracles of modern technology, the computer automatically tracks the stats and points for you. Each week you go head to head against one of your buddies and at the end of 12 weeks, the best fantasy players make the playoffs.

But as I contemplated all things fantasy sports, my brain wandered to the idea of "Fantasy Christianity" and what that would look like. And the more I thought about it, the more I think it's something that unfortunately already exists. I've not played a down of football since 9th grade, but through Fantasy Football, I live vicariously through "my" players without ever so much as putting on a pair of cleats. Just as I am not actually playing football, I think many of us sit on the sidelines of the Christian faith, letting others do the work, while we miss out on the blessings of serving others. What I mean by this is that we live our Christianity out vicariously through our pastors, staff members, and missionaries whom we may support in various ways. All the while there is work to be done all around us. We go to church on Sunday and see how our fantasy team has been performing. Our pastor reports that he had a great visit with a new family who is joining the church soon-that puts some points on the board. A missionary comes to thank the church for the support we give monthly and shares of all the great things going on in a different part of the world, and our fantasy points just keep rising! Some youth lead the church in worship and we are swooning because of our connection to all these fine ministries.

But is that what the church is all about? Just show up on Sunday and see how our "team" is doing? What about all the opportunities during the week to love and serve others? James says that actions must accompany our faith. I know I do not do all I can to make the most of every encounter I have with people. I also know even as a staff member, that I sometimes guage my spiritual health based on my church's fantasy points, and not on my individual performance. So how do we avoid Fantasy Christianity?

I suggest these three things.

1. Don't compartmentalize our lives. In other words, try not to have church friends, work friends, family friends, etc. We will all have different circles with whom we interact, but it is important that we don't act differently around each group. This allows our faith to impact everyone we encounter, not just our "church friends."

2. Determine our spiritual gifts and find ways to implement those in our daily lives and in our church lives. The Bible lays out numerous spiritual gifts in the New Testament that are personality traits we all have. Once we understand how God has wired us, it makes it easier for us to serve others in ways that are natural to us.

3. View Sunday as a celebration of what God has done in the rest of our week. Hopefully God has placed people in our path that we can help or impact. Let Sunday be a day when we can pray about these relationships and celebrate the ministry we have in them.

Have you ever caught yourself playing Fantasy Christianity? What would you do to help people get off the sidelines and into the action?

Faith or Fake-What Does Our Faith Look Like to the World?

The other day I put my foot in my mouth in a pretty big way. It was the first day of church camp and I was sitting at the dinner table with a group of counselors and I noticed one lady had a very pretty ring on her finger. I made the comment, "That's a pretty ring" to which she replied, "Oh, it's fake. My real one is at home, but I didn't want anything to happen to it, so I got this one at Walmart before I left. See how it's turning my finger green?" Anyway, it was a funny moment as everyone at the table quickly found out what a horrible eye I had for jewelry. But what I thought after it happened was that the ring did exactly what it was made to do. That cheap immitation ring passed off as the real thing to the untrained eye.

I grew up in the age of Christian propoganda. I remember growing up and seeing shirts that read "Don't get caught dead without Jesus!" or spoofs of popular commercials like Reeborn instead of Reebok, or "Life is short, pray hard." And we had (still do have) Christian bumper stickers, music, movies, jewelry, stationery, books, and even breath mints. And for a long time I thought that these were the marks of a true Christian. I mean, what Christ-professing individual wouldn't want to advertise his or her faith in the most poignant, and fashionable way possible? But the older I have gotten I've not been as eager to literally wear my faith on my sleeve, despite the fact that it's a multi-million dollar industry. Because I know how I act sometimes and that I do things that wouldn't make my God proud--I mean, we all do. (Now, as a side note, I do have a closet full of free t-shirts that I've received from going to youth ministry events over the last 15 years). But would I wear a shirt that professed that I was a "bible-totin', scripture-quotin', devil-bashin'....(you get the idea)...believer, and proud of it?" Probably not. You see, it's not that I am not that way in the victory Christ has given me, but I am still very much aware of my humanity. I am a sinner saved by grace. And so while I may walk through life as a child of the King, I must remember that to the rest of the world, I am still that same sinner saved by grace. Honestly, I think it is narcissistic to think that people want to know how spiritual we are.

Galatians 5 says that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That's a pretty steep list. I hope that I can try to be more like God in my heart rather than just promoting him on the outside with all of my Christian paraphernalia. It's my hope and prayer that we all reflect God with our attitudes and actions even more than we reflect him with our t-shirts and bumper stickers.

A Bible Lesson from NASCAR

I've been following NASCAR on and off for the last 8 or 9 years. I get really into it when team sports are lacking, then I really lose interest when football season returns. However, one driver I've always watched and admired is Jeff Gordon. Although disliked by many fans because he is from California and not North Carolina, Tennessee, or Georgia and his last name is not Earnhardt, Petty, or Waltrip, he has consistently been one of the best drivers on the tour for a number of years. Another reason I've admired him is that he has been open about his faith in Jesus Christ and has used his celebrity status to share his testimony with others.

An interesting thing to note, though, about Jeff Gordon is that he finished 2nd in the points standings last season and is first in this season's point standings despite not having a win since the 2007 season. That means that while he has not been the best driver in any one race in over 18 months, he has consistently been ONE OF THE BEST drivers throught that time.

In Hebrews 12, the writer comes off of a list of people in chapter 11 who displayed great faith in God. He says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Perseverence isn't about being the best on one day. It is about consistently being very good. The whole idea of Methodism is that we are to be methodical in our approach to our faith. Anybody can have a mountain-top experience and be a one-day champion for a short period of time, but the Christian life is about consistency. Let's pray that we have that consistency to run the race so as to with the prize, every day of our lives.