Is it OK to Get Paid to be a Christian?

I am a Christian...I believe in a dude named Jesus and I try to live my life like him...I am also a Pastor, which basically to me means that I get paid to...believe in a dude named Jesus and try to live my life like him.

I am increasingly uncomfortable with that idea. I often wonder if it cheapens my christianity, or if it makes who I am unauthentic.

I remember when I volunteered to work with young people I would often say things like this to the young people, "I just believe in this so much, I really love you guys, I don't get paid to be here, I do it because I truly care." I can't say that any more. I do believe that I do it because I love it, and I can't imagine doing anything else.

I guess I just want to be authentic in my beliefs and in sacrificing for those beliefs...I am not sure how I do that in the situation I am in.

Does it Surprise us When Homeless People do Something Good?

There was a story that caught my attention a little while back in my city. At first I was happy about the story because it isn't often that homeless people are painted in a positive light. Here is an excerpt from the story:

Faron Hall, 44, was given a medal of valour by Mayor Sam Katz at a ceremony not far from the riverbank where Hall often sleeps. Hall saw a boy fall into the river last weekend and dove into the chilly, fast-moving water to pull him ashore. Now the man who has been homeless for about seven years has become the talk of the town.

I was excited to see that people would see that homeless people have heart, courage and respect for their fellow man. However, when I saw the same thing on the national news a few days later, as the story seemed to take off around the country I began to wonder...is it really that surprising to us? Is it so shocking that people who live on the street care about people?

In the time I have spent around homeless people that is the thing that sticks out to me more than anything. People who live on the street or in poverty tend to be more generous and caring about one another than anyone else I have ever met.

Reminds me of a sign I saw at a church I was driving by one day:

Poverty is a problem
Riches is not the answer

Jackhammer

We are renovating our upstairs bathroom...so I am going to jackhammer in my basement...makes sense to me. It definitely is something I don't get to do everyday:

Church

I work at a church, I have attended a church my whole life and if I were completely honest I love church (probably a bit of a love/hate). I am scheduled to preach on March 29th and I was thinking about speaking about the church. However, I am not sure that I completely understand what church was intended to be, in fact, I think there are many times when I think that I have completely misunderstood what church is supposed to be about.

Sometimes church seems to be misunderstood, sometimes people within the church do not represent it well, sometimes the way it is set up just does not work, sometimes the church does not seem to be at all close to what it should be...

I have some thoughts on these questions, but I am more interested in yours.

...but what is church supposed be? What is it that church is supposed to accomplish? What is it that church is doing well? What is it that church is not doing well? Why is it that church is misunderstood? What can be changed about the way it is set up?

I am curious about your thoughts on this. What has been your experience with church...what do you like? What don't you like? What would your dream church look like?

I See People

Seeing people is at the same time simple and difficult. I remember when I preached a sermon about 1 1/2 years ago. I spoke on the story of the good samaritan and talked about how we should learn from the people we normally look down on (those on the margins - for me...the homeless). I remember that someone talked to me afterward and challenged me on it. He said he knows a lot of people in the inner-city who are not good people at all, in fact they do a lot of evil things. What are we supposed to learn from them? At the time I said that the evil things are not what we are to learn from them, but that we can find some good. I have always felt uneasy about that conversation because I did not think I answered well.

At the end of Tim Huff's book, Bent Hope, Steve Bell writes a Benediction. In it he says that Tim has an innate ablility to really see people. Not their problems and tragedies, not their lies, not the external decoys, but truly see who they are and that they are a person of value. That is really what I meant in my sermon 1 1/2 years ago, but did not really know it. That is how I hope to live. I hope to be someone who really sees people, I want to see my children, I want to see my wife, I want to see the people I (or most people) usually don't notice, and especially don't see.

So, you would think that this would be fresh on my mind as I went to volunteer at an inner city - drop-in mainly frequented by homeless adults this past week. I was there with a few people from our church. I met George (name changed) who I talked to for a long time. He told me all about his beliefs, his hopes, his dreams...many of which I thought were really wrong, but did not know how to respond to. As we were driving home after the evening, some of the people in my car were telling me about their experiences and the joy they took in really connecting with people. They didn't see drunk, or homeless, or unemployed people, they truly saw people, and were filled with love. I, on the other hand, told them about George and said, "I just didn't know how to counsel him."

This morning as I thought about George some more, I read Acts where it talks about Peter and John walking into the temple to pray...
"Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴Peter looked straight at him, as did John. (Acts 2:2-4)" They saw him, they looked straight at him and truly saw this man, this man who everyone passed by his whole life. I realized that I had only seen George's problems, his "wrong theology," his misunderstandings, I wished that I could go back and truly see George.

Going back to my conversation about my sermon, I wish I could have been wise enough to say, "It is not about what people do or the kind of things you can learn from them, but moreso it is about seeing past the problems, the evil, the garbage, the facades and looking straight into their eyes and actually seeing them."

I hope to look to see more often.

Brett Favre Rookie Card

3 years ago Ben received a prize from his preschool teacher. It was a small bag full of a number of little things. There were little toys and trinkets, but the thing that immediately caught my attention was an unopened pack of Score Football Cards from 1991. I couldn't figure out why the pre-school teacher would be giving these unopened packages of football cards away. I cracked them open to see what was inside, it was a collection mainly of unknown (to me) football players.

There was one that caught my attention, it was a Brett Favre rookie card. One of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game! I couldn't believe it. Ben took the other cards and played with them and eventually they were all worn out and in the garbage. But I took Brett Favre and placed him on my bedside table thinking I might have my children's college fund right there.

Brett sat there and sat there, through the time I spilled a cup of water all over my bedside table, shoved under whatever I happened to put on this table. It collected much dust, and a few minor nicks and bends. A few weeks ago I didn't have a bookmark and stuck Brett into my book. Now I use him all the time in this way, I am sure Brett "college fund" Favre really enjoys being used as a bookmark.

So I thought I would advertise here, anyone want a Brett Favre rookie card? Mint...ish condition. I just discovered that there is one on eBay being sold for $5...probably not in as good condition as the one I have. I'll take the first $1000 offer.

My Work Against Homelessness

I have been thinking quite a lot about homelessness (over the last two years especially) and have come to all kinds of conclusions about myself and the things that I (and the church) need to do in order to help people who are in that situation. I have been involved in a few organizations who work with homeless people and met with many people to discuss what I/we should be doing to help.

I finally discovered something very important that I can do right now. I am reading this book called Bent Hope which is a really interesting read. The author is a Youth Worker who works with young people who live on the streets in Toronto. He walks the streets and hangs out with them and helps when he can. He basically just tells the stories of his encounters with people and talks a little bit about what he has learned from them. I am loving it!

So, I know what I am supposed to do to help homelessness. In his book, pretty much everyone he encounters he mentions how they come from a family situation that is very messy...abusive, broken, hurting, manipulative, etc. My conclusion is this. One thing that I can do to fight homelessness is to be a good Father and husband. If my kids grow up in a home that they experience real love, then they will not have to experience homelessness.

My fight against homelessness has taken a bit of a different angle, but I believe it is incredibly important. I realize that this does not solve the whole issue of homelessness, but I know that it could for three little kids that I care a lot about!