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The Violence of Competition: Gladiators, Guards, & Government.

June 2, 2009 in arrogance, community, consumption, empire, giving, global, government, humanity, justice, love, relationship, service, thought with 32 Comments

In a communicative speech given only minutes ago this first day of June, two-thousand nine anno domini, the United States empire’s president Barack Obama stated the government’s defense for the bankruptcy filing by the automobile manufacturer, General Motors. Evident by the majority shares purchase, Obama, his automotive task force, and the Department of the Treasury support the bankruptcy and the suppossed coming rise of a "new, leaner and stronger GM." Obama remarked toward the end of his address that the ultimate end is for American business to compete globally.

So…

If U.S. businesses are intended to "compete globally" then is the U.S. government ultimately seeking to send people who function within the economic system of another nation into the same type of jobless recession that the U.S. is currently experiencing? Is the drive to compete in business fueled by the longing for self-absorbtion, self-fulfillment, and self-gratification while promoting oppression of others? There are those who think that the people of the U.S. "deserve to be on top." Does such a philosophy reveal an ever-present racism?

What ever happened to loyalty? To friendship? To mutual respect and sharing? Why do our lives center around having more and being the best? What ever happened to Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream? Did that only apply to Americans?

And while I’m at it, why are we so dependent on automobiles?

Competition is violent. Just ask the gladiators in the Colosseum. Ask the guards on the offensive line. Ask the economically oppressed nations.

“Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.”
Henri Nouwen

King James: LeBron and the 1611 Version Redefined.

May 28, 2009 in arrogance, Church, community, Ecclesia, entertainment, kingdom, leadership, people, sports, worship with 4 Comments

The only time I watch the NBA on television is during the playoffs. I’ve never been to a game nor do I ever care to go to one. I actually get a bit perturbed at Cleveland Cavaliers fans. Only about 2% of those "fans" that I’ve met here in north-central Ohio were "fans" prior to the LeBron James show. LeBron hit the scene and it was instant Cavs mania.

LeBron James is not the best the player in NBA. "Then who is?," you might be asking. And I might respond, "There is no such thing." There is no single player who is "the best." What does it mean to be "the best?" Is it whoever scores the most points? Is it the flashiest player? The one who appears most athletic? What about the silent leader on the bench who holds the team together? Is it the most arrogant player who commands attention from the camera? Is it someone who encites emotion by throwing powder up into the air?

Here is a blog post that I entered in June of 2007 that will further explain why there is not a best player:

"The team prevailed over the individual. The San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Finals over LeBron James. LeBron has been compared to Michael Jordan but at least Jordan demonstrated that his championships were not his. The Bulls did not win only if their best player scored 25 of the final 30 points. They were a solid team . The community always prevails over the individual. The church will always prevail over the god of self. Defense helps, too."

"King James" is no "king" at all except to those who elect to pay homage to a person who seems to know how to throw a sphere through a circular ring mounted 10 feet in the air. Misdirected worship toward another "King James" is also evident in church history. The version of the Bible authorized by King James in 1611 has been an idol for many conservative church congregants. Continued research and education within the church community has produced other translations which are more accurate for promoting a truer and more genuine understanding of the message contained within the original Hebrew and Greek texts (I recommentd the NRSV for the TNK^ and the NASB for Matthew-Revelation).

Community is the way in which humanity was created to live and breathe. Just ask the animals…

(TO BE CONTINUED).

^ "TNK" is Hebrew for what "protestant Christians" unfortunately call the "Old Testament." The letters "TNK" in Hebrew with vowels inserted is pronounced "tanakh" (teh-nock). The initials stand for the sections of the Hebrew Bible (referred to as the tanakh). T: Torah (Teachings); N: Nevi’im (Prophets); K: Ketuvim (Writings) — TaNaKh.

Decemberists are Good?

February 16, 2009 in arrogance, art, college, culture, dialogue, friends, good, humility, labels, language, music, people, perspective with 8 Comments

A conversation had in the lobby of Oakwood Hall at MVNU . Some alterations may or may not exist toward the end of the conversation for the purposes of communicability:

Ryan Walker : Do you like the Decemberists?
Travis Keller : I don’t know. Are they post-rock instrumental?
Ryan (hereinafter called "Toast") : Have you ever listened to them?
Travis : Yes, I think so. But I have listened to many musical things so sometimes I cannot specifically recall who sings what and if it is good. Are they good?
Toast : Yeah. They’re good.
Travis : How do you know?
Toast : It’s an opinion.
Travis : So they really might not be good?
Toast : To some people.
Travis : So it’s just your perception and musical taste or flav’a that defines what is good? Then how can one know if anything is ever really good? What does it mean to be good anyway? For example. I loathe country music.
Toast : Yeah.
Travis : Country music is not good. Or is it? Who am I to think that I can authoritatively say what is good and what is not good? Maybe country music is good. Maybe all forms of music are good and I’m just too arrogant or self-absorbed to value the person(s) creating a certain type of music. What if all music is good and I simply don’t appreciate it?

What does it mean for something to be good?
What is goodness?

Please comment.

Dependence Day.

July 7, 2008 in arrogance, book, culture, deconstruction, dependency, quotes, reading, Theology, thought with 13 Comments

I’ll be honest. I’m not a fan of Independence Day. I’m trying to sort through whether that opinion is fueled by the despicable taste in in my mouth when I see red, white, and blue waving as a symbol of national allegiance and empire worship or simply by my struggle to intellectually and philosophically value independence. Freedom is good and necessary but cannot exist through the supposed provision of an earthly empire. Freedom is in the person of Jesus Christ and is quite different from that with which it is quite often confused, “rights.”

My reading on July 3rd proved to be rather timely for the upcoming day celebrated by most citizens of the United States. From Free of Charge by Miroslav Volf:

“Here is roughly how sin works in relation to God the giver. All things are from God and through God, and yet we want to be independent of God, standing on our own two feet, claiming God’s gifts as our own achievement. The young Karl Marx, barely twenty-six years old, put this sentiment as boldly as possible. In a text that remained unpublished during his lifetime, ‘Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts,’ he gave an expression to the heart of his rebellion against God:

‘A being only counts itself as independent when it stands on its own feet and it stands on its own feet as long as it owes its existence to itself. A man who lives by grace of another considers himself a dependent being. But I live completely by grace of another when I owe him not only the maintenance of my life but when he has also created my life, when he is the source of my life. And my life has necessarily such a ground outside itself if it is not my own creation.’

Marx held firmly to human independence. It almost seemed to him a value that lies at the bottom of all values. Because the reality of God as creator is incompatible with human independence, he denied the existence of God.

Most of us, especially the believers among us, won’t deny God’s existence in order to secure our independence. Instead, we thing that we can have it both ways. We believe that we can stand on our own two feet, independent of God, and still affirm that God is the creator of everything. But that doesn’t make sense. We can be both dependent on God and free; dependence on God is the source of our being, and therefore, our freedom. But we can’t be created by God and independent; God sustains creatures in being and in freedom. When we assert our independence, when we ascribe to ourselves what comes from God, we wrong God – at least as much as I would wrong an author whose ideas I would peddle as my own. That’s our main sin against God the giver. If, like Raleigh Hays, we see ourselves as more or less honest, hardworking citizens, we may believe that we deserve what we have, and even a bit more because an evil world is cheating us of our proper reward. We might not feel particularly grateful for what we have because we think that, rather than receiving it, we earned it. And we want to dispose of our hard-earned goods the way we please; they become not so much gifts given to us to enjoy and pass on, but rather our exclusive possessions.

Assertion of independence, pride of achievement, sense of entitlement, and absolute right to dispose with our goods – these are the ways in which we live in contradiction to who we actually are in relation to God. And in these ways, we, decent citizens, live as inveterate sinners. To live in sync with who we truly are means to recognize that we are dependent on God for our very breath and are graced with many good things; it means to be grateful to the giver and attentive to the purpose for which the gifts are given.” //

// Miroslav Volf. Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace. pp. 35-6.

LORD, save us from your followers.

June 4, 2008 in adoption, arrogance, art, Church, community, compassion, Conference, confession, conforming, consumption, culture, dialogue, direction, Ecclesia, entertainment, film, giving, global, good, government, hate, hope, humanity, humility, issues, jesus, justice, kingdom, life, love, media, missional, mvnu, peace, people, perspective, Philosophy, politics, relationship, religion, sociology, teaching, theater, Theology, thought, video with 5 Comments

I had the pleasure of meeting with Dan Merchant briefly this evening at the ACSD conference. Dan is the writer/director/producer of the documentary, “LORD, save us from your followers.” I also attended the viewing of the film. I was entertained, confronted, and reaffirmed all at the same time. I am definitely going to be purchasing the film and hosting a screening as a part of the film forum of Oakwood Hall. I will also be meeting with Dan hoping that he may visit our community at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

The following trailer is somewhat vague and does not come close to providing a full representation of the movie. Please visit the website to watch more video clips and read more information.

 

A Confession for the Church.

April 17, 2008 in arrogance, compassion, confession, conforming, consumption, jesus, leadership, people, relationship, religion, service, sociology, thought, vision with 7 Comments

There were about 70-80 well-dressed, “appropriately adorned,” monetarily secure and even affluent individuals conversing, smiling, and mingling while circling the San Diego Bay on a dessert cruise. Cheesecake and chocolate truffles had been served along with coffee and much remained to be eaten. The cruise was a type of celebration or at least a designated time to relax and enjoy company after several days of meetings and meals in dialogue about leadership, strengths, and vision for student leadership in the way of Jesus on college campuses. After consuming the freshness of the crisp air, the sweet flavored delicacies, the lights of the city, and the warmth of relationship the boat docked.
Upon descending from the ramp connecting the boat to the city sidewalk and proceeding to the shuttle for the return trip to the hotel, there were about 70-80 well-dressed, “appropriately adorned,” monetarily secure and even affluent individuals conversing, smiling, and mingling while three individuals prepared their separate “beds” on cold, hard, street-side benches. One had a shopping cart with some blankets and cardboard. As he laid down and covered up there were about 70-80 well-dressed, “appropriately adorned,” monetarily secure and even affluent individuals conversing, smiling, and mingling who WALKED RIGHT BY.
The “religious elite” composed of student leaders and staff members from a theological seminary and eight “Christian” colleges WALKED RIGHT BY.
I… WALKED RIGHT BY.
Not a word spoken.
Only a glance.
I… WALKED RIGHT BY.
I thought for only an instant… “I should stop. I should ask if there is something I could do to help. I could catch a cab back to the hotel after having a conversation with this man.”
“But everyone will see me. I don’t want to appear hyper-religious or provide a poor representation of engaging people with the love of Jesus.”
So I continued on.
I was part of the “religious elite” who had better things to do or at least a certain image to maintain. Meanwhile, I was hyper-religious and provided a poor representation of engaging people with the love of Jesus.
On behalf of the Church.
To the church.
I apologize.
Grace.

Non-Conformist.

February 22, 2008 in arrogance, conforming, culture, humanity, humility, people with 8 Comments

I was just browsing Shelfari and came across a member whose screen name is “nonconformist.” Isn’t it somewhat conformist to claim oneself as a nonconformist? There are enough people claiming the label of “nonconfirmist” that it is now conforming to do so. The pattern toward which conforming is really taking place is that of arrogance. There exists a certain connotation toward pride of self when one labels oneself as a person who does not “conform” as if everybody else does conform to some measurable standard or cultural norm. So to all self-proclaimed “nonconformists,” I say, “Quit conforming” to the patterns of this world.
May we seek humility.