HOPE-LESS?

I was excited and felt privileged to attend to a HSC drama performance dress rehearsal this year. It had been a challenging day with a few things that had, let’s say, “pushed my happiness scale,” but was looking forward to seeing some talented year 12 students perform their monologue and group pieces before they actually perform them for their HSC in a few weeks. While their talent was outstanding, I walked out of the theatre feeling more depressed and lacking a sense of HOPE. I have always believed (and still do) that the “creative arts” is a powerful medium to not only communicate the issues of our current culture but to also bring a voice into society in ways that other mediums can’t.

And while I know this was only a small cross section of pieces from one school, but it saddened me to think this even “might” be an accurate reflection of what our young people feel and believe as they venture into society as the next generation to bring about change.

Throughout the night the dramas and monologues sought to address deep issues of misogyny, abuse, marriage, motherhood, identity, politics, good and evil, drugs and sex. There was a lot of swearing, anger, laughter and vulgarity but no real HOPE or answers. It just left the audience with many questions. There was not ONE POSITIVE portrayal of marriage, relationships, government, youth or parenting and certainly nothing positive about God. I felt deeply disturbed as I left the theatre and still do today as I process my thoughts of why all I want to do right now is eat a kilo of chocolate and chips and cry.

The irony of it is that many of these students would possibly feel I was crazy to believe in God and the HOPE He brings to my life, much less the joy I feel when I join with others in community and worship Him. But I can honestly say I that can’t remember ever walking out of a gathering of Christians, be it Sunday or otherwise, and feeling as dirty and hopeless as I did last night.

It really does prove that what we allow into our Psyche can affect us. Moreover,  what we focus on or listen to creates a platform whereby it can effect what we believe or the choices we might make. I believe that is why God says it is important to be in the world and yet not of the world, because the world we are OF will influence who we become.

There are so many directions I could go from this point on. The questions fly around in my head as I ponder the issues last night has brought up for me.

Q: Who are our young people listening to?

Q: How important are the voices of older generations, those who have walked the road before, as our young people open up these issues?

Q: When we live in a post modern world where truth is relative, it is natural that these deep issues are expressed with no answers or real HOPE. The question is how can they be ok with that?

Q: How much do our young people need to expose themselves to this before they get pulled down into an abyss of anger and depression?

Q: How much do we protect and guide our young people without “cotton wooling” them into not being able to have an answer when these issues come flying into their face?

Q: Where are the role models of a BIGGER, healthier Hopeful story and why do we not see more of this in the Christian community as a light to the world?

But in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).

So with gentleness and respect and a heavy heart for the world I am in but not OF … I can only pray the words of one greater than all that I don’t understand. I know His response would be ...

Where there is NO HOPE and only questions, He says

I am the way the truth and the life (John 14:6)

I am light of the world (John 8:12)

I will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13: 5)

I have come to set you free, by giving my only son to pay the price of all sin (John 3:16)

I have come to bring life and life to the full (John 10:10)

I made you with a purpose, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11)

You are beautifully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)

How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing (Matthew 23:37)

There is hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began. (Titus 1:2)

But, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:37-39)

How very "un-churched"

McDonalds the restaurant has fascinated me over the last decade as I have watched the incredible changes it has made to connect with its audience and meet needs in the community.  McDonalds in Australia has changed completely in the past 10 years. I would never have imagined walking into a McDonalds, looking around and seeing mainly adults enjoying a cup of coffee and sweet snack, reading a paper on soft chairs. I would never have imagined seeing other people being served at their table, a self-created burger on a lovely wooden board with French fries in a cute stainless steel basket. I would have never imagined that if I was trying to eat something that was low in calories, I could go to McDonalds and have a grilled chicken salad and it would be reasonably heathy. I would never imagined seeing a sign saying "Maccas" instead of McDonalds. I would never have imagined that McDonalds would have an add campaign like  "How Very un-McDonalds". To even admit that, let alone make it their new catch phrase, was intriguing for me. 

McDonalds has changed so much that now it is a place where not only you can take your kids for a cheap meal and a play in the playground, but the whole family can come and there is something for everyone. In effect, it has extended its clientele to just about every age group. This is very clever in business terms and I dare say in terms of profit as well, but ultimately it means more and more people, and different types of people are coming through the door. 

I have to be honest. I would very rarely choose to eat at McDonalds over other options, unless I am on a long road-trip and have no other options (now there's another blog) but I went into a McDonalds the other day, because quite frankly I was intrigued with the new advertising and the ability to create your own burger. McDonalds still has the Big Mac and happy meal, the original menu has not changed and neither has the heart of McDonalds changed and yet ... it has become "very un-McDonalds". I was surprised to see very few children and mostly adults in there at the time.

I may be crucified in saying this, but I couldn't help think that the church has a lot to learn from McDonalds. When the facts are clear that Australians are decreasingly NOT going to Church any more, and many churches are ageing and decreasing rapidly, surely we need to be asking,  as I am sure McDonalds did many years ago, how can we attract a wider clientele and meet the needs of the community, so more people will come, taste and see that the Lord is good? The church’s mission and heart has not changed over the years, but what if our new catch phrase was "How very un-churched"? 

What would that look like? What would need to change in the church, for young people to walk in and meet Jesus? What would need to change for a struggling, broken family to walk in and meet Jesus? What would need to change for someone who has all they need and can provide for themselves and their household, but still feel that they need to belong to something bigger than themselves, who long to serve and make a difference in life? What would need to change for someone who had preconceived ideas of what Church is like, for them to be open to coming into the house of God again or maybe for the very first time?

For like me just recently, I just HAD to go in and check out what was "very un-Mcdonalds" about McDonalds NOW, and I was pleasantly surprised and impressed. I just HAD to order my own 'Create your own burger' and it was a good experience. What would the Church need to do to create an environment that was "very unchurched" so that many more people would be open to walking toward Jesus's love and not stay away because of their preconceived ideas, valid or not, about the "church"?

It was very enlightening to chat to a McDonalds employee, who when asked about the new "create your own burger" promotion, crinkled her nose and said "oh, everyone hates it at work because it is too much hassle".  I can understand that feeling when the process has been a certain way for so long, to make such a change is a hassle. It is why "change" rarely happens. The thing is if the Church doesn't change there are many that simply won't exist as they are now for very long.

Jesus calls us to change, to reach out, to open doors, to do what ever it takes that they might be saved. Surely this is our calling, our mission, our quest, as leaders of the Christian faith, to do whatever it takes to break down the walls, the assumptions, the negativity that stops people from meeting Jesus firsthand, to taste and see that the Lord, (God's love) is good. I long to see people who have not been into a Church in long time, if ever, walk into a church environment and say "wow, how very un-churched". To me this means walls and assumptions and negativity are beginning to break down.  This is when people can be more open to His saving grace, love and forgiveness which has never changed, but has often been lost in translation, packaging or the communication of the church today.

If you asked these questions in your church/faith community...what would need to change?

To live out loud, walk tall, breathe free

We set of for a weekend of camping with dear friends for a lovely “Father’s Day weekend” and there would be many that might of viewed it as the weekend from hell. We set off and got caught in deep conversations and missed the turn off to Newcastle, which sent us into the city before we could get back onto the right road to head north. But that was fine by us because we were happy to be away together and we were to busy chatting and laughing to watch where we were going.

We arrived later than expected and had 50 minutes to set up before it got dark. One of the teenagers opened the car boot and two boxes of stuff feel out and smashed all over the ground. We all laughed...The boys went to put their tent up and they had no poles.... they smirked and decided to sleep in the car. Deep down I think they were happy not to have to set up a tent at all. The other family brought one chair...luckily we brought 5, we forgot a table to cook on, luckily they brought a large one for us all to share.

 

We got the main tents up; just in time to watch the sunset, then to discover that the light we brought didn’t work and the light the other family brought was nearly out of batteries with no charger.... we laughed. But by this time, a nice cup of tea would have helped. We set up our primus to find it would not work either and the other family didn’t bring anything to cook on because they were going to use the camp kitchen at the camping ground that we just discovered we should have got the key before office hours closed.  So we would have to wait till tomorrow to use the kitchen. The other father is a chef, but he didn’t bring a sharp knife, luckily I brought two. What can you do but laugh. We did have power...but nothing much to plug into it!

The men decided to go out to the beach and find a communal BBQ to cook the meat and we made some salads by a torchlight that we knew would go out at any time. We did find one torch that could be charged so it sat charging waiting for its turn to light our space.

The boys came back and we had just finished eating and the lights went out...so candle light it would be, which set a lovely mood, we sat and chatted and laughed together. The stars were so beautiful that night, there was no wind and the candlelight was peaceful. The teens wanted to play silly “rhyming games”, the conversation was loud and the laughter was real.

The forecast was for rain all weekend so we were ready for it with a waterproof tarp over the communal eating area.  When we got up in the morning the sun was shining...so we were all excited, but we really wanted a cup of tea. We had to wait till 8.15 am to get the key, so my girlfriend decided to go knocking on caravan doors and find a jug to boil some water. She was successful, as I went to get the key to the camp kitchen, she made us all a cup of tea and then she went to give the jug back.  The chef decided to get everything ready for us to go and cook a BBQ breakfast and in his excitement, he knocked over her cup of tea. It went everywhere...through the eskies, all over the table and the breakfast ingredients...She got back and we were all laughing as we drank our cup of tea and she had none.

In all this time I can honestly say that there was no tension, mean conversations, yelling or crying. Two couples with two teenage kids each, 8 of us were simply happy to be there, together, relaxing.... no rain, sun shining, the sounds of surf in the background and two days to do nothing but relax and be together.

I am sure this should/ could be a reminder of the importance of being prepared. I know that much of what was happening didn’t need to, if we had been better prepared. But what struck me on this weekend was that it didn’t seem to matter. I loved to watch the teenagers going with the flow, problem solving on the spot with us as adults and quite frankly being quite happy without.

The day was perfect and relaxing and as night fell so did the, as promised rain. I actually love being in a tent in the rain. It feels so snugly and with the chef and his snoring next door...the rain meant that we couldn’t even hear him.  So all was well…until the rain started to drip on our head.... 2am in the morning.... the sprinkles began. The flood was coming into the front of the tent, the seams over our bed were too old to handle the heavy rain and no matter where we moved the bed to escape from the rain it found us. My husband dammed the front door, we stacked everything on top of each other to prevent as much as we could from getting really wet...put the doona over our heads to mask the drips and waited it out till morning. What else could we do? We couldn’t escape to the car; the boys were lovely and dry in there.  We couldn’t escape to the other car; the chefs’ wife was in there to escape the snoring. . Oh well, “Happy Father’s Day”.... I say! We smiled at each other and tried to get a little more sleep.

The sun rose and there was a break in the weather enough to give the men their presents, for the kids to go and cook a beautiful breakfast for us all, as we madly pulled down our dripping wet tent and threw it into the trailer. We got most things packed, before it bucketed down again. We left it all there and went and had a lovely breakfast...why not!

“Happy father’s day weekend” wasn’t quite as we planned, maybe that’s because we should have done more planning.... or maybe it really didn’t matter?

When you are with the people you love, when you don’t have an agenda, but to be together, maybe then the adventure of whatever happens is actually the fun bit! It was quality time with my family, in close quarters and not much else to distract us from being together. It was a chance to be in nature, in God’s creation, where walking, swimming and discovering is all we needed/wanted to do. The kids were saying, “Do we have to leave?” I know the feeling...life is way to full and hectic. When you get the chance to NOT plan and just GO with the flow, for me it was actually refreshing. I think that was why no one was worried about all the things that we didn’t have

Brian Mclaren says it better than I ever can:

.              “What we all want is pretty simple really. We want to be alive. To feel alive. Not just to exist but to thrive, to live out loud, walk tall, breathe free. We want to be less lonely, less exhausted, less conflicted or afraid, more awake, more grateful, more energised and purposeful.”(We make the road by walking, B. Mclaren, pg xiv, 2014.