reyes-chow :: FAITH

Dating Jesus

This has been on my "That's Blog" list for a while . . . someone sent me this article a few months back from Christianity Today, "Dating Jesus: When Lover of My Soul Language Goes to Far."  This particular article pokes fun at some Christian music and imagery that makes Jesus just a little too close.

I don't question the devotion of anyone who says she loves Christ intensely, whatever language she uses to express it.
But I have little patience for taking biblical metaphors too far and giving one's relationship with God an air of irreverent chumminess. Somehow, the scenario in which "his princess" shaves her legs for a date with Jesus seems to leave little room for fear of God.

I have always been a big proponent of "inclusive" or "expansive" language that helps us gain a broader understanding of who God is but I have always felt a little weird about a romantic Christ. 

There is one thing to love Jesus, but quite another to LUUUUUUUUUV Jesus.

When God gives you weird looking lemons

These lemons were delivered to our home via Robin's dad's lemon tree.  Either there is some kind of toxic clean-up that needs to happen or there is something profoundly simple and wonderful about the complexity and beauty of God's creation.

Should the church be a trusted "Brand?"

Thanks to LT over at American Born Chinese Pastor for pointing me to this article about Gen Y's Most Trusted Brands.  Got me to thinking about the church.   Shouldn't we be trusted more than In-N-Out?  Now until we consistently serve organic communion, I can understand being ranked below Trader Joe's, but . . .
Now of course I do not expect a church to show up on a marketing survey, but I suspect even if the questions where framed to ask about community spaces, non-profits, etc.  we would not be in the list.

Shouldn't we too be able to exhibit the same kinds of characteristics that invite trust?  It seems that the very things that the church should be are talked about in the survey: real, stripped down, non-adorned, environmentally sound, etc. A few weeks ago in my post "3 Rules of the Naked Pastor" I ranted on this a bit, and this yet again makes me even more convinced that the church, regardless of tradition, needs to be more real.

Over where I hang my pastoral hat we are trying to to this - and occasionally succeed if you read our Yelp Reviews - but every time I begin to believe the hype and our own PR, I fall right back into being the old church guy.  I hide behind catch phrases and church sound bites, I tell folks what I think I want them to hear, I basically reinforce the inauthenticity that is so much part of the institutional church as we know it.  To tell you the truth, when I am in efficient pastor mode, it is easier.  It is much more difficult and scary to be real all the time, during worship, over coffee, online, etc.  This posture of DOING church rather than BEING church is so much a part of me that I don't even know when I do it until it is too late . . . usually after a blank stare or a snarky comment.

But I press on and rely on the GRACE of GOD to comfort me when I know that I was an unhelpful dork or to poke me in the eye when I don't even realize it, but just keep on talking!  Thank you Jesus!

And in case you were wondering here is the list of the The Most Trusted 15 brands of the Gen Y folks.  

1. Apple  
2. Trader Joe's
3. Jet Blue
4. In-N-Out Burger
5. Ben & Jerry's 
6. Whole Foods  
7. Adidas  
8. American Apparel  
9. Target  
10. H & M clothing stores  
11. Levi's
12. Volkswagen
13. Converse
14. Vitamin Water
15. Red Stripe Jamaican beer

National Korean Presbyterian Council Response

For the past few days I have been struggling with my own reflections on the Virginia Tech tragedy.  My draft post right now is just a mess of personal reactions, big picture thoughts and everything in between.  Sometimes a simple word of encouragement is all that is needed.  This painful time in our culture has brought forth issues of violence, mental health, safety and race.  Then today, I was sent this letter.   I find it profound that the National Korean Presbyterian Council felt the need to write the following letter to the president of Virginia tech.
The unspoken words are that the shooter was one of their own and there is deep sorrow for that reality.   Not that it would have been better if it were a person of another culture, but as an Asian-American I too have this great sadness that the person who did this was part of my ethnic family. I feel in some ways betrayed because whether or not we want to, the burden of this act now falls on the shoulders of Asian American (especially immigrants)  who must deal with the looks, the suspicions, etc.  This is not a new feeling for my African American and Latino American brothers and sisters, I know.  While I am not as naive to think that we are beyond the culture jumping on issues of race when it comes to events such as this, there has been a great deal of focus on his ethnic background, his social skills, his immigration status, his mental health, etc. It seems that in our trying understand how this can happen - and to give ourselves some security that it can't happen again - the picture is being painted that he was not "normal" (white, healthy, American, sociable, middle class, etc.) - I suppose a natural reaction to try and make sense of such an abnormal act.  Not sure what to do with that, other than continue to try and be faithful in a word that sometime will just not make sense no matter how hard we try.

Blogging as spiritual discipline/practice

I supposed this is a continuation of my post a few months back, Why Do I Blog, You Ask?  Call it justification for escapism or just an excuse not to interact with real live humanoid units, but I am standing strong . . . there is something spiritually life-giving about this whole blogging thing.

For me, a spiritual discipline or practice are those thing we do to acknowledge God in our life and the world and to connect with God both personally and communally; with a hoped for outcome of growing in our understanding of and relationship with God.

This may change and grow with time, but Blogging as spiritual practice holds the following gifts;

• blog posting offers me a dedicated reflective time to gather my thoughts and reflect on how I have seen (or not seen) God active in my life, the city, the church and the world;
• the nature of blogs allow me to look back at where God has been for/with me, where I am now, where I thought I would be headed and where I may be going now;
• the blogosphere makes real this idea of geographic boundary free connectedness of the Body of Christ;
• blogging is an unobtrusive offering of ideas and perspectives to the larger community, a kind of open source theologizing;
• blogging allows for the possibility that one small thought, action or response can have rippling transformative effect far beyond our own imagination and ability;
• it is one more form of public prayer . . .

And all God's people say, AMEN.