St Patricks Day and Stockholm Syndrome

In light of March 17th - commonly known as St Patrick's Day - I thought I would blog some thoughts about why I have always appreciated the day. By the way, Kermit has nothing to do with this blog, but I love the Muppets and he is green.

Patrick was born in Roman Britain. When he was about sixteen he was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. He entered the church, as his father and grandfather had before him, becoming a deacon and a bishop. He later returned to Ireland as a missionary, working in the north and west of the island. Legend credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian belief of 'three divine persons in the one God'. St. Patrick died in 493, and by the eighth century he had become the patron saint of Ireland.

Taken as a slave into Ireland, much like Joseph into Egypt, St Patrick eventually became a catalyst for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here is a man who fell in love with his captors. Patrick was a slave for 6 years before he escaped to study Christianity and return with the good news. Its interesting how God turns slavery into salvation.

Wikipedia describes Stockholm syndrome as a term used to describe a paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express adulation and have positive feelings towards their captors that appear irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims.

While it may be a stretch to call St Patrick's passion for Ireland, Stockholm Syndrome; you can see the theme of this kind of servanthood throughout scripture. Its a theme in the Christian walk. Paul tells us in Colossians that slaves are to obey their masters with a sincere heart as if they were working for the Lord.

I had a friend who likes to say that

being a Christian doesn't mean that you are supposed to just lie down and take abuse

But yet, almost every man of faith that has done significant things for the kingdom of God endured abuse and from that place God birthed change.

Look at the life of Daniel: stolen away from his family(who were likely killed) and made to accept a completely different way of life. - and God took this 'hostage' and rocked a pagan kingdom. The same with Joseph

Most importantly we can see this trait in the instigator of salvation: Jesus. Jesus willing became a hostage to humanity. He became a servant to lead those he served into salvation.

So if you find yourself in a place where you feel used and abused, mistreated or unappreciated - I think that we can all learn from these men of faith. Being mistreated and under-appreciated comes with the territory of following Jesus. This is the kind of lifestyle that changes nations - literally. Here is a toast(of something green:) to becoming a church that would love and serve in the face of mistreatment rather than try to defend ourselves or our perceived righteousness.

The Album is coming!

I am sitting here listening to Pete Gabriel - Shaking the Tree thinking about the movie I watched last weekend. I went with my friend Dave to see the Hughes Brothers and Denzel Washington's new film 'The Book of Eli". I went without any research as to what the movie was about, so I didn't really expect much. Flash forward the 118 minutes and all I can say is - what a bold movie! If you can get past the similarities between Mad Max or a few of Kevin Costner's bombs(The Postman, Waterworld, For the Love of the Game, etc), you will find a rich subtext that provokes the questions of our current day.
Is faith the cause of pain or the cure?
Is belief just a vehicle for manipulation? Do wars rage because of people's faith or because of people who seek to profit from faith? It infers the current tension between Church and State.

SPOILER ALERT!

Eli, the super BA hero of the story, believes that the Bible, and indirectly the God of the Bible is the answer to the woe's of the day. He is led on a mission to carry what he considers to be the last remaining Bible to the West coast and by the leading of the voice of God. He is willing AND able to kill to make sure the book remains out of the hands of those who would use it for personal gain. He knows not what lies beyond the task, but he hopes to find a place where the message of the book can take root. Eli’s kills, not by choice, but by necessity and even expresses regret about it. Towards the end of the movie, Eli comments to Mila Kunis’ character about how he got so caught up in protecting the book that he forgot to live out what the book taught.
The movie’s pro-Christian story is told equally through Denzel’s character and through the villain of the movie, Carnegie -Gary Oldman. Oldman’s character wants the book for its power to give language to the deepest fears in mankind. Once he has ‘their’ ear, he can use ‘them’ to build his empire. It presents a sincere faith in a kingdom not of this world and contrasts with a cold desire for an empire of men’s fears.

Up until the end of the movie it makes no apologies for its assumption that Christianity is the way. The last act of the movie is the weakest part of the film, and the 'bookshelf' scene is no exception. It steals away some of the boldness that the movie builds. Those of you who have watched the movie will know what I am talking about. The newly printed Bible is placed on a shelf beside the Torah, Koran, and other books of religion - almost apologizing for presenting Christianity as the salvation for humanity.

Flaws aside, the movie is a picture of what is taking place within the church today. The lines are being drawn between those who would use the gospel for their own gain and those who are living it. In an era where Jesus has been more polarizing because of His politics than because of his practices, we are seeing an un-muddying of the waters.
As a Christian who is neither red nor blue, nor bound by the moral majority, I can only hope that more movies at least wrestle ideas of the day under the presumption of Christianity’s truth. I think we could all do with less of the End of Days – spawn of satan, tears of blood, old lady demons, God is pissed at the world bullcrap like this weeks opening movie ‘Legion’.

Chocolate Rain.

Let me preface by saying I started this blog to express experiences, frustrations and thoughts that I have and have had. However, I don't know very much. I absolutely did not start it to say that I am correct in the way that I think or observe. I am very well aware of many of my shortcomings, perhaps over aware. However at this time in my life, I have decided to stop harboring and trying to edit them. Okay, disclaimer done.

CHOCOLATE RAIN.

I read an article today about a shortage of pumpkins due to what's called a 'wet harvest'. The commonly known chocolate company NESTLE, who also produces many of the nations pumpkins products said there would be a pumpkin shortage. This comment was released - "Heavy rains made it nearly impossible to pick the pumpkins during this year's harvest. The longer the pumpkins sit in the muddy fields, the more they deteriorate."

Because I have been thinking about the church a lot lately, it made me think of the different streams of Christianity and their emphasis. I tend to roam the charismatic realm of Christianity. Why? is a question for another time, but within this realm is an emphasis on rain. For any of the following to make sense, you must understand there is also a huge emphasis on symbolism and likening things spiritual to those in the natural. Depending on who is preaching, Rain signifies a refreshing/renewing/reviving and sometimes even revelation-all coming from the Holy Spirit. Let me say, I am down with all of that. I need it and embrace it.

But within the charismatic realm there are what I would call 'Rain Chasers'. This group communicates a belief that there is no other season but refreshing/renewing/reviving/revelation. They chase the rain as if there were no other season.

I thought of all of the friends and people I know who have literally rotted in these circles and "fields" underneath banners of constant rain, and it made sense.Most times they are just looked at as not 'getting' the deeper refreshing. But without the appropriate amount of sun, or time to dry out as well as absorb nutrients, the harvest rots. Not to mention, you can't work in the rain. It's miserable to work in the rain, especially labor intensive jobs!.! The earth needs the rain. We need the rain. I personally need the rain. It gives me time to recharge. I usually stay inside and read, write, or watch movies guilt free(thanks for that Luke S.)

People who want to live and work in constantly muddy fields don't bother me, but when they make it out to be the best and only way, it digs at me like a swiss army knife under my thumb nail. Our mission as the church should be to connect people to Jesus and any method or emphasis stressed above that, becomes worthy of a good old fashioned Nintendo RE-start.

LukeDOWLER.com

The Superimposed Church of Michael Jackson

There is a thought in the back of many church leaders minds. That lie goes something like" People just aren't hungry for God". Some are investing tons of money into multimedia and church branding with the idea that people will respond to cool advertising. In fact I saw a sign on an old church building that said "You can't judge a church by its cover, just like people." There was a superimposed teenager playing an electric guitar on the sign with cool graphics. I don't think marketing is wrong. I read recently a blog that used this phrase " Marketing is the currency of communication". I agree. But this sign made me feel sorry for the church. People outside of the church are not stupid. They do not look at a sign with a teenager and an electric guitar and think"all my life this is what I have been looking for. acne and fenders". It seemed superimposed and somewhat desperate.

The last year I have been thinking about, like that sign, how superimposed the church feels most times. Are we really communicating what we are hoping to communicate? Or are we trying to hard, by dubbing ourselves relevant. The 'sign' church was trying to communicate, "we are cooler than you think", self dubbing themselves cool. The problem is you cannot self-dub yourself. Only Michael Jackson got away with self-dubbing when he claimed to be the King of Pop. But he had the voice and the moves to back it up. Figure out who you are and what your strengths are. Then you can determine who you reach and who you want to reach. If you, as a church have Michael Jackson's voice, sweet! Sing away. But people are weary and wary of churches trying to sing like Michael Jackson with the voice of Bob Dylan.