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?

Following Christ-Is Conversion a Point or a Process?

Today, I read a really thought-provoking post from @gavoweb on Twitter. The article was entitled "I love Jesus, but I'm keeping my stripping job." The article recounts an apparently true story of some Christians who protested a strip club and the dancers who responded with a protest of their own. After the smoke had cleared, apparently two of the girls had "accepted Jesus in their hearts" but were going to continue to work at the Foxhole Club as dancers.

This post hit a nerve with me because it speaks to an issue I've wrestled with over the years. In sharing Christ with others, at what point does true conversion occur? Growing up in church, salvation was always a black and white issue. Once you put your faith in Christ, "what fellowship can light have with darkness?" . But the older I get, and the more I realize how far I am from being the person that Christ wants me to be, I'm not so sure. I've shared before my thoughts on evangelism, as it relates to spiritual growth, and how I see it more as the beginning of a process of discipleship, rather than a magical change that is literally instantaneous.

To make a metaphor of it, I'll ask it this way. Is putting our faith in Christ a dot on a map, or is it merely us finding the right road we need to be on, on that particular map-the road that leads to Jesus? Paul speaks of justification-justified before God through the work of Christ-but he also speaks of sanctification-being made into the likeness of Christ.

So which is it? Is the power of the Holy Spirit so great that when we put our faith in Christ we instantaneously become a new creation? Or are we just baby disciples learning to find our way and learning to take off the grave clothes of our old lives? The Apostle Paul had a pretty profound conversion. There was no gradual process for him. But we know that some of those whom Paul brought to faith in Christ took a little longer to come around. In Philippians 4, we learn of two ladies who evidently were entrenched in a pretty stiff quarrel.

So what are we to make of all this? Well, I do know this.

1. A lot of services that are called evangelistic really do nothing more than make a bunch of baby Christians and there is not much done to follow up and help these young believers grow in their faith.

2. It's not my place to question whether or not a person's faith in Christ is true or not. Last time I checked, it was only God who knows a persons heart.

3. While I may not know whether a person's faith is real or superficial, I do have a call on my life to spur others on to good works in Christ Jesus.

So what do you think? Is following Christ a one-time miracle, or is it the beginning of a life-long process? Can a stripper be a Christian and still keep her job?

Baseball, Jesus, and Credibility with God

One of my summer passions in recent years is Texas Rangers baseball. I've even learned some things about my spiritual life from watching this sport we call America's pastime. And this one is no different.

Anyone who is even a casual baseball fan knows the Texas Rangers have never been a great team. In fact, they are one of only three teams who have never won a World Series (Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals-formerly the Montreal Expos-are the other two), and the only team in MLB who has never won a playoff series. So the case could be made that historically they are the worst team in baseball, given their 38-year history.

But something happened in 1989 that was pivotal for the organization. The Rangers brought on legendary right-handed pitcher Nolan Ryan who was considered by some to be a has-been at the end of his career. But Nolan added one thing this mediocre organization desperately needed-credibility. Having a record-setting pitcher who was as respected off the field as he was on the mound caused people to view the Rangers in a different light.

After his retirement as a player and pursuing some other ventures both inside and outside of baseball, Nolan Ryan came back to the Rangers in 2008 to be the team president. Ryan's presence in both the late 80's/early 90's as a player and in the front office of recent years were both pivotal in setting the team in the right direction. In his first year as team president, the Rangers had one of their best seasons in years, and currently have an 8-game lead over the Angels and A's in the AL West. Ryan has also partnered with Chuck Greenberg recently to purchase the ball club, outbidding Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban.

As I thought about the impact one person has had on such a large organization, I was reminded of the impact one person has had on all of us. I John 2:1 says that we should not sin. But if we do sin, we have one who speaks to God in our defense-Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Jesus gives us credibility before a God of wrath and judgment who cannot look at our sin. Please forgive me for comparing our Savior to a man who used to throw baseballs really hard. But I am reminded of the role that Christ plays in our relationship to God. Our credibility with God was earned through his perfection in life and his sacrifice in death. So we as Christians can hold our heads up, because we have credibility. We don't have to be the embarrassing excuses for people we once were, because we have someone who speaks to God in our defense-Jesus Christ, the Righteous One!

Does the Quality of a Church effect the Commitment of its Members or Vice Versa?

Summer is winding down and our youth program is gearing up for kick-off of some fall ministries that have taken the summer off. It's been on my heart to see that our students start the year off with a deep sense of commitment to the program so that we can build some momentum to get the program rolling. So as I have thought about this the last few days, I have thought not just about our church's youth ministry, but how the principle of commitment applies to the church universal.

Commitment and the BIG MO in Youth Ministry

Summer is winding down and our youth group is getting ready to kick off our Sunday small group program in the fall. This program is not a new one, but we have taken the summer off since the majority of our students scattered like cockroaches when school let out--band camp, football camp, family vacation, going to stay with grandma for a week, etc. And so now we want to start strong and build consistency and momentum going into the school year.

I've been a player and fan of sports my entire life. The concept of momentum (the Big "Mo") is one that is debated among people in the sports world. Some will say that key plays during the course of a game have no effect on that team's ability to make more critical plays. Others, like me, though, believe that one key play can be a turning point. One key play can be what causes a team to realize they can actually score on the next possession, close the lead, and/or pull off the upset. Momentum is what makes it easier to push a rolling car than it is to push a car that is setting still (and is hopefully in neutral with nobody's foot on the brake!). So how do we get a new program rolling from a dead standstill? The answer is simple. Commitment.

I thought about how important it is that parents and students who participate in our program be committed from the beginning. For the first 4-6 weeks, we need to have everyone there. This is not the time for one last trip to the lake or that family vacation. (These things aren't bad, but they are detrimental to the re-establishment of any ministry program). I also examined the climate of the program, with and without the commitment of the students.

No Commitment:

Worship feels small, worshipers are timid

Adult volunteers are frustrated (waste of their time)

"Where is everybody?"

Discussion groups have little to no discussion

"Who else is coming?"

Boring

With Commitment:

More friends=more fun

Group discounts

Inviting visitors

Fun with friends

Discussion groups have more discussion

More relationships built

Worship is exciting

Students don't have to wait for the next big event to enjoy youth group

"I can't wait for Sunday/Wednesday night"

Synergy--The whole is greater than the sum of the parts

We live in a culture that doesn't honor commitment. With celebrities being known for being flakes and professional athletes whining over getting $4.5 million instead of $5 million, it's no wonder that commitment is not a mainstay of our students' lives. Some kids sign up for a sport or activity and decide halfway through the season they don't want to do it, parents often let them drop out. Or the kids join an activity only to have their coach or volunteer bail out because he or she doesn't have time. But I think commitment is important to God and should be to us.

In Exodus 16 the Israelites have been in the desert for several weeks and are running out of food. They miss the "pots of meat" and abundant food they had in the oppressive land of Egypt. So God provides manna (bread) from heaven that he requires them to gather daily. The crafty Israelites soon try to outsmart God and decide they will gather a surplus so they don't have to gather it daily. The Bible says that it became rotten and full of maggots. God wanted their daily dependence on him, and their daily commitment to trusting him.

Commitment in any ministry program can be a catch 22. You need active kids to get them committed and you need commitment to have active kids. So let's start this school year off as youth workers, parents, and students with expectations of being committed to our youth ministry this school year.

You Don't Have to Guess What I'm Against if You Know What I'm For

Last Friday night, my wife and I went to see Pat Green in Crockett, TX. While I have several of his CD's and have been a big fan of his music for a long time, I spent that afternoon raking hay on the tractor with his songs stuck in my head. While I like just about every song he's done, his most recent radio single really stuck with me. It is one of the few songs that he has recorded that he didn't write. The name of the song is "What I'm For" and here is what he has to say about recording it:

"One of two songs on the album that I didn’t write. It’s by Marc Beeson and Allen Shamlin. When my record company sends me songs -- and they literally send thousands -- my usual reaction is to throw up a little in my mouth. But both this song and “Let Me,” my producer brought to me. What stuck me about “What I’m For” was that it was all wheat, no chaff. I thought maybe the song was too perfect – I remember thinking anyone could have a hit of this song, but I really hope it’s me. "

Here is how the part of the song goes:

I'm for dusty pawn shop guitars
And boxers passed their prime
I'm for soakin' up the wisdom
When an old man speaks his mind.

I'm for laid off factory workers
When the wolf is at the door
You don't have to guess what I'm against
If you know what I'm for

Growing up in church, for some reason, I kind of took on a legalistic approach to Christianity. I kind of grew up with the mentality that following Christ was more about a list of "don'ts" than a list of "dos". You know, good Christians shouldn't swear, drink, smoke, gamble, (insert your favorite vices here). And somewhere along the way it clicked for me that following Christ is more about the things that we should be doing in the world, not the things we should be abstaining from. Likewise, the Christian community, unfortunately, has become a sounding board for all things negative. One thing liberal media has a heyday with is the way Christians are known for protesting, boycotting, and some who claim to be followers of Christ acting violently to express their opinions.

If you don't carefully read this post, it sounds like I'm saying that Christians should not be opinionated when it comes to immorality in the world or that Christians should be silent. Absolutely not! However, we need to be sure that we don't take a "fight fire with fire" approach to expressing our concerns. In Ephesians 4:1-16 Paul tells the church at Ephesus to be humble, gentle, patient, and to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. He then says that God appointed some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and become mature attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. "¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

Unfortunately, I think we as Christians have taken on the world's philosophies in dealing with things we don't agree with. Where is the love in a boycott or a protest? More often than not, I've found that these expressions are more attempts to reduce revenues for businesses and make certain people groups know where they stand in the eyes of "the church" and do very little to further the cause of Christ.

So what do we do? How do we combat the forces of evil in our world if it's not through picket signs or picking which stores we should give our business. Well, here's an idea. My wife works at a pregnancy center. She has never stood in protest at an abortion clinic. She's never sent hate mail to a doctor who provides abortion services. But she works for a center where they give counseling, education, maternity clothes, diapers, baby formula, and lots of other great stuff to young mothers and mothers-to-be. Maybe those of us who are concerned by the rise of the Gay/Lesbian movement and it's fast progression into what our culture views as normal, should be more like the people in this article.

I think the song says it all. If Christians support the things that Christ said we should be about, people will not have to worry about the things we are against, because we are spending all of our time and resources doing something about the issues at hand rather than making sure a negative voice is heard. "You won't have to guess what I'm against, if you know what I'm for."

What is Our Motivation for Making a Difference in the World?

We are coming to the end of our summer blitz at the FUMC youth ministry. We have had two major mission camps and one church camp. Sunday morning during Sunday School, we talked about two types of mission projects. Hypothetically we said that we were going to do the exact same good deed for two different people. The first person would be grateful and excited about the work we were doing and the second could care less and would show very little interest in what we were there to do. So we made a chart with each job on one side and asked the students to tell how they would feel. So here is what we decided.

Should Christians Be Patriotic?

I know this post is late since America's 234th birthday was 4 days ago. But I've been seeing blog posts here and there (like this one and this one ) questioning patriotism. People also question whether or not it is right for us to sing patriotic hymns in church services and to celebrate our freedom. And maybe the overall climate of our country and our Christianity is changing. Maybe it's because many of us would rather riot in the streets over a soccer game than peacefully cheer for our team at a baseball game? Maybe it's because we would rather get our theology from U2 and Bruce Springsteen rather than those who have been more up front about their faith, rather than putting it under the guise of pop culture. Maybe we've become so politically correct that we are not being good global citizens if we think we live in the greatest country on earth?

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.

Hats Off to Freedom in Worship (And My Friend Russell)

My friend Russell Martin just posted one of my favorite blog posts I've read in a long time about the issue of kids wearing their hats in worship at church camp and the bad taste it leaves with a student when he is reprimanded, or corrected at the beginning of a service for wearing a hat. I really encourage you to read his post. As he was asking for our thoughts on the issue, mine were more than I could contain in a comment, so I am commenting in the form of a blog post of my own.

Russell makes the following quote in his post, "The biggest change in my life happened when I stopped doing the good things I was doing because that was what I was “supposed to do” as a Christian, and started doing some of the same things because I wanted to please God." I can really relate to this because I had the same change of heart in my own life.

The Scripture I discovered a long time ago was in I Corinthians 8 regarding food sacrificed to idols. The Apostle Paul was dealing with a church that was located in a pretty godless city-Corinth. Corinth was a port city and was a "what happens in Corinth stays in Corinth" kind of place. There were many temples to pagan deities, many offering encounters with temple prostitutes as an act of worship to the fertility gods. Many foods offered in the local markets were foods that had been offered to many of these pagan deities and then sold in the streets after the worship services were over. Paul is giving the Corinthian believers freedom to eat these foods as long as brothers and sisters of weaker conscience or who are less mature in their faith are not witness to this. In other words, if it causes someone to think you are sinning by eating it, don't do it. Your witness is more important than your personal freedom.

I grew up learning that we didn't pray with our hats on and that we didn't wear hats in church. Wearing a hat in the house was not a big deal like it was when my parents were younger. But it stands to reason that as culture has changed since my childhood, the issue of hats in worship is often lost on younger believers but may still be a bigger issue to those of my generation and older.

I think Paul's advice about food used in idol worship applies here. I think for a mature believer who is aware that wearing a hat in a worship service may be a distraction, he should remove his hat rather than practicing his freedom in worship. But to the 7th grader at camp who is pouring out his heart in meaningful worship with his head tucked beneath his Texas Rangers ball cap, who are we to interrupt his communion with God so we can force him to remove his hat? I think we are grieving the Spirit to make the student feel uncomfortable (and hinder his worship of God) over what is really not that big of a deal.

I've had some great worship experiences indoors and out with a hat on. I've had some great prayer times indoors and out both hatted and sans hat. But when I am with my youth group, I always try to set the example of removing my hat during worship times because I know there are people that will be distracted by it and if I don't set that example for the students, then they may become a distraction later for someone else. But I think it is equally absurd to teach them a legalistic mentality that if they worship or pray with their hat on that somehow their prayers never make it past the bill of the cap.