Confession of a Messed-Up Christian

Different people have different things they are good at.  Some people are great at seeing the big picture, others better at figuring out the details.  Some people start things but never finish them, and others can't come up with any new ideas but can make somebody else's work beautifully.  Me?  I'm good at asking questions that I can't figure out the answer to.  I see things as if from outside them, ask an impossible question, and then I'm messed up completely.

Take all the international trips I've taken, for example.  I grew up thinking in terms of mission trips.  You travel, share the Gospel, help build a house, and then return home changed by the experience.  It was powerful, and fun, and I don't regret a single trip.  But I started to get confused.  What makes a trip a mission trip?  I was exposed to many of the questions around short-term mission trips, and realized I agreed with them.  I couldn't figure out what it would mean to be a "missionary" or go on a "mission trip."  It was, at once, a category both too broad and too narrow.  I ceased going on mission trips, though I never stopped traveling with ministries.  I have volunteered several times overseas now, as a construction volunteer, a volunteer leader, a business volunteer, and so forth.  My wife and I are traveling again this summer to visit friends and family in two ministries and encourage people.

A similar sort of thing is happening with the so-called "Christian" life at home.  I used to have a clear conception of what a Christian life was.  I used to raise my hands in church, I used to have regular quiet times with my Bible, I used to be in small groups.  But somewhere along the way, I think I lost track of what these things meant.  They became facets of the life I was supposed to be living, kind of like how when you propose you're supposed to have a super-creative idea and post it on YouTube, or when you announce your pregnancy you're supposed to one-up the last couple that did it.  These were just things that you were supposed to do as a Christian.

Somehow along the way, I just kind of stopped doing most of these things.  Even though my wife is the music leader at our church, I'm more often found building a relationship in the back or serving in some little way that needed doing.  Especially since getting married, I've just never quite found out when you're supposed to do a 45-minute quiet time every day.  I don't think I've been in a small group Bible study since 2011.  I discovered that I really feel at home in life when I'm spending my evenings with my hands in the dirt in the backyard or running my miter saw in the garage.  Between hosting people in our home, enjoying life as a married couple, working on our house, and trying to get at least one really good international trip in per year, it's amazing how regularly my wife and I look at each other and just sigh, "Our life is so awesome."  We're busier than ever, but just loving all the things we're involved in.

In the midst of it all, I've discovered some different rhythms of life.  My mind is constantly on the weather, how long it's been since I watered our flowers, how the sun is going to move with the seasons and affect our growing, and so forth.  My budgeting seems to look more like finding out just how much money we can give away, and using our money in the most valuable ways, rather than saving it for later.  I can't shake thoughts of how it's just been way too long since we had such-and-such over for dinner, and rather than picking up the latest inspirational Christian book, I battle to make time to read classics of literature.  I quit listening to Christian rock radio and opt instead for classical music (I get super excited when one of my favorites comes on).  I go out of my way to build relationships with neighbors and constantly think of how my wife and I could minister to them.

I often wonder if I'm in a bad place spiritually.  I wonder if God gets angry with me for never finishing that inductive study of Isaiah, or if I've just forgotten Him in a life that is far too busy.  Then I go back to that really awful skill that I have of asking ridiculous questions.  Why is our definition of a Christian life patterned like this?  Who says church is supposed to look like this?  What did a Christian life look like through the ages, during times when Bibles weren't readily available or church was something you did in your home a few times a week with your closest friends rather than on Sundays?

My faith and Christian life is a bit unusual, but whose isn't?  The hallmarks of mine include such unusual things as having my phone interrupt me at regular liturgical hours of prayer (and usually angrily dismissing God's interruption of my busy plans, then feeling bad about it later).  I found a few devotional books that I really like and I read them over and over again.  I work at a Christian ministry and it makes some people happy to call me a missionary, but I'm pretty sure I'm just an operations director.  Some people probably look at me and say, "You don't have good small group and quiet time habits now, what are you going to do when you have kids?"  Answer: probably still not be in a normal small group or do a daily quiet time.  It's been a long and ongoing process to remind myself that this actually doesn't make God angry with me.

I ask these sorts of questions and tend to deconstruct things until there isn't much left.  I'm not very good at putting it all back together into something coherent, so I usually end up just living a life that is inexplicable to others around me.  I can rarely defend my sometimes self-contradictory viewpoints, or formulate a good alternative to what I'd like things to look like if I don't like the way they are now.  I have, however, regularly been able to find things in life that I thoroughly enjoy, and I've regularly been able to build deep relationships with people around me (Christian and not).

One thing I think I have put together, however: I don't think God scripted out a "Christian life."  It looks to me like He created a bunch of unique people and called them to be Christians.  As somebody said, "Christian" makes a great noun but a terrible adjective.  Living my life as a Christian rather than trying to live a Christian life has been a challenging and confusing journey, but one that I'm enjoying traveling.  I'll let you know someday if I figure out the answers, but don't hold your breath - that's not something I'm good at.  I'll be happy to ask unusual and impossible questions with you, however.  Give me a call anytime.

Good Guys Wear White, And So Do Bad Guys

Last month, I was deeply troubled by the report that the CIA tortured prisoners during the decade since the 9/11/11 attacks on the United States.  I can't say I was surprised, but I was troubled.  Primarily so, I think, because although they admitted that some practices may have been illegal, the primary defense from the top was that it was fair because it led to the capture of top Al-Qaeda leaders.  Since when was "the ends justify the means" a valid moral argument?  If this is becoming a valid and acceptable moral argument, then we as a people are in deep trouble.

Of course, the argument isn't a new one.  After all, our own United States joined the group of nations who have used weapons of mass destruction against civilians when they killed between 129,000 and 246,000 people in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Of course, the primary argument was to end the war sooner.  This may have been true, but does it justify the bombs?  Regardless of the outcome, an enormous number of noncombatants, including of course women and children, were killed and maimed.  I have a fundamental problem with the argument that the ends justify the means.  If the process of getting to a goal is tainted, is not the goal tainted as well?

Integrity is a notion that can't be overstated.  We think of integrity in terms of doing the right thing, but the base meaning of the word has to do with consistency and a whole mass working together as a whole.  Integrity means that the outer shell of a spacecraft doesn't have the smallest seam in it.  It means that the prison doesn't have a single unlocked door.  And it means that all of the actions taken to get to a goal are just as praiseworthy as the goal.  The ends do not justify the means.  First, because we never know the exact ramifications of our actions - what if no good comes of our evil means?  Then we're stuck with evil.  Second, because just how evil are we allowed to be in pursuing a good?  Who is to judge at what point the good outweighs the evil?  Third, because it's probably more accurate to think of life as a constant journey, not as a series of ends...where do you draw the lines between means and ends?

It didn't terribly surprise me that there was a lack of morality in the decision to torture prisoners.  It's a common misquote that "America is good because she is great, and if she ever ceased to be good, she would cease to be great" (Tocqueville is claimed as the author, but he did not write it).  Nevertheless, I think it's telling that the quote continues to be so prevalent.  People want the USA to be a "good" and upright nation.  They want to look to America as a bastion of freedom, liberty, and good morals.  Unfortunately, they're looking in the wrong place.  Please don't immediately assume that this is an America-bashing post - that isn't the point.  If you don't believe me, read to the bottom.

America isn't exactly the standard-bearer for the ethical high road.  While the point of this post isn't to accuse the USA of all sorts of moral failings, it requires a great deal of amnesia to ignore them.  Here in Texas we can't forget 1846, when American troops forcefully claimed a disputed territory with Mexico after the Mexican government refused to sell it.  After claiming that the Mexican army had attacked them on American soil, a declaration of war allowed American troops to invade and capture all the way to Mexico City.  Of course, we also can't forget how in 1776 we declared that "all men are created equal" and eleven years later declared that black people only counted as three-fifths of a person.  It took us 21 years to ban the slave trade, 78 years to officially end the practice of slavery, and 133 years for women to get the right to vote.

Today, we still have 122 inmates at the Guantanamo Bay prison, of which 46 are slated to be detained indefinitely because they are dangerous but there isn't enough evidence to bring them to trial.  Clearly, habeas corpus only applies within the United States.  The USA also provides unconditional support to Israel, despite their continued apartheid against the Palestinian people (opinion), possible illegal occupation and settlement, and possible war crimes.  This support angers nations worldwide that either support Palestinian statehood or are more impartial.  Americans have long been active in meddling in foreign affairs, to questionable moral standing.  Politifact analyzed 20 instances within 30 years of American military intervention and found that 3 clearly qualified as invasions because ground troops entered another country without international backing.  The number of apparent CIA attempted assassination attempts has been claimed to be as high as 50, and a number of them are public record.  Of course, we also know today that the government spies on its own citizens and even those of friendly nations.

It's beneficial for many to claim that the United States is either a "Christian nation" or that it was founded on "Christian values."  If these values included the forceful taking of land from the native inhabitants in the name of God, then I suppose that could be true.  After all, we're still taking and consuming everything in our paths today, but it's for ourselves rather than for God or destiny (quote).  We were founded not as a Christian nation, but as a nation of religious freedom.  However, it's helpful for Christians who are waging a culture war to claim a central place in American society, and it's helpful for political figures to claim that they are fighting to restore America to a Christian, moral place.

These arguments, however, are not only based in fiction, they are troubling.  Equating America with Christian values would mean that the rest of the world would view American actions as Christian, from those listed above to media lewdness.  Furthermore, waging a culture war to claim America as a Christian nation is a fundamental misunderstanding of our place in society as Christians.  One of Martin Luther's less-known doctrines, but one that apparently underlay his entire theological structure, is that of two kingdoms.  He argued that we are simultaneously citizens of two kingdoms, which he called the "right hand" and the "left hand."  In the left, it's a realm of active righteousness (doing good through works), government, law, and society.  In the right, it's a realm of passive righteousness (being good through grace), spirituality, and worship.

How do these three items fit
together, again?

We live in both of these realms at once.  As an author blogged recently, "Why on Earth would a Christian at any moment of history expect anything other than difficulty at combining faith and citizenship?"  Our role has never been to live in perfect harmony with society, and to expect that is to misunderstand the Bible.  I've always taken great meaning from the role of God's faithful in exile as Jeremiah exhorted - seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which God has sent us.  Not to consume or copy society, but also not to uselessly condemn and critique it.  Cultivate it, just like God originally commanded us in Genesis 1 (Andy Crouch).

My objective in working through this post, where I consider American moral failures, is to make the case that our proper citizenship is to stand with one foot on both sides.  It's not unusual for people to accuse me of being un-patriotic, but I'd like to think it's because I only have one foot in American citizenship.  My other foot is in God's kingdom.  From that perspective, I have no qualms about criticizing the actions and attitudes of my own nation.  America is not a Christian nation, it is a nation.  There's no doubt that she has done an enormous amount of good in the world, and that she has often stood for the right things.  There's also no doubt that she has often messed up big time.

When it comes to my citizenship in America, I choose to fight for and support the nation even though I often have sharp differences with it.  This is the nation of my birth, and I will defend it.  It's not a defense that overlooks wrongs, it's a defense that looks to right wrongs, make amends for mistakes, and go on a path for good going forward.  Sometimes it seems like we're moving the right direction, sometimes it seems like we're falling backward.  Regardless, however, my hope is not in the American government.  I want the nation to do right, but it's only half of my citizenship.  I don't expect the nation to become a place that I am in perfect alignment with.  I won't even fight for that, because this nation is about "e pluribus unum", not my way or the highway.  My more important citizenship and home is in the kingdom of God.

Ultimately, my freedom is not found in the stars and bars of the American flag, it's found in the cross of Jesus Christ.  He alone is freedom, and when I exchange His freedom to cling to American freedom, I'm exchanging something of true value for something that will let me down.  America screws up because of sin - the same reason people shoot up schools and commit acts of terrorism.  Our world needs a hope that comes from the Gospel found in the Bible, not the hope that comes from the white stripes that stand for "peace".  An earthly kingdom will always disappoint, but a heavenly kingdom will always save.  Come, Lord Jesus.

Growing Up in Faith

This post will be a followup to my previous post on growing up in our society.  In it, I discuss the disappearance of adulthood, why growing up is still valuable, and a few thoughts on how one might go about growing up.  In this post, I'd like to consider the same principles as they apply to Christians and the Church.

How do we grow up in faith?  What's the road map for spiritual maturity in our Western churches today?  For the most part, there is a pretty consistent formula that is presented to us.  Come to church regularly, develop a personal devotion time at home, give more tithes and offerings, volunteer more at church, and be part of a small group.  These things are all excellent steps to growing up as a Christian.  But are they all that we have as a Church?

I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure it
never works like this.

The Bible has a few places where it talks about "growing up" in the faith.  Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3, talks about growing up from being infants to eating "solid food."  The author of Hebrews 5 may have borrowed this language, if he isn't Paul also, to talk about growing up from milk to solid food as a mature spiritual adult.  Other places that talk about spiritual development, such as Ephesians 4, tend refer to issues of good works.  Does growing up in faith and practicing these good works of the life of a disciple, then, refer to things like tithing and being active in serving the local church?

I don't believe so.  Just as our society may have traded a child/adult divide for a world in which adults act like children, is it possible that our Church has allowed spiritual maturity to be optional and even forgotten what it means to be a spiritual adult?

I was talking the other night with a youth worker who helped parents understand that their children having doubts about their faith wasn't a thing to fear.  Many of our spiritual forefathers struggled with great periods of doubt and pain and even anger at God.  Doubts may be one of the first, and most recurring, stages of spiritual maturing.  If we are afraid to enter even these stages, our growth will probably be stunted.

Sometimes churches may inadvertently limit the possibilities for spiritual growth by failing to offer sufficient challenges.  Most churches try to keep Sunday morning services approachable for new believers and guests of members.  Where, then, does the growth come?  Small groups are the obvious answer, but many churches struggle to find enough qualified small group leaders to lead groups, and many small groups focus on the common need for community as much if not more than the need for deep growth in spiritual maturity.  The new movement in small groups is to make them missionally-oriented, which is also valuable, but still not places for emphasizing the "solid food" of spirituality.

And what exactly is that "solid food" of spirituality?  I'm inclined to think that tithing and volunteering are more likely traits that Paul and the Bible authors would have considered infant prerequisites, not qualities of a mature disciple.  What other paths might be available for spiritual growth that aren't highlighted in our churches?

Spiritual maturity
probably requires great
amounts of facial hair.

My first instinct is to look to the past for examples of spiritually mature forefathers.  The giants of the faith that we think of, such as Ignatius, Hudson Taylor, St. Francis, William Carey, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, St. Patrick, Hildegard, and so forth are all quickly noted.  They were marked by radical devotion to the faith, prolific authors and musicians, fearless missionaries, and more.  They are excellent examples, and of course Hebrews 11 gives us a great introduction to the faithful even further back in history.  What types of paths do they show us?  Here's a few that jump out at me:

• Monasticism - When's the last time you heard that term in your church?  Have you ever heard your church encourage a young person to spend an extended period of time in isolation and devotion to rules to grow in spirituality?
• Liturgy of the hours, Celtic and Puritan prayers - Throughout history, people have taken "pray without ceasing" to mean to regularly interrupt yourself to pray.  The Celtics and Puritans have a great tradition of having prepared prayers for various occasions.  One could imagine having prayers printed above the coffee pot to pray every morning!
• Heart prayers - Some spiritual fathers have described meditating on simple prayers such as the "Jesus prayer" (Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner) to the point that they actually become as natural as breathing, and that each breath literally reminds them of the prayer.  Now that's praying without ceasing!
• Prophetic and charismatic - While many are afraid of charismatic gifts, I can't help but think that 1 Corinthians 12:31 is a key part of spiritual maturity.  Eagerly desire more spiritual gifts, even the scary charismatic ones!
• Friars and Clares - Founded by St. Francis, these orders emphasized poverty as necessary for discipleship.  We think that's extreme, but it sounds a lot like what Jesus taught...and yet voluntary poverty is never considered a virtue in our churches.  We don't even really challenge people on stewardship!
• Mysticism - Some Christians may fear cultish behavior when getting into mysticism and spiritual experiences, but they've been a part of Christianity for two thousand years.  Under proper guidance and spiritual authority, they could be incredible parts of Christian discipleship.
• Contemplation and Examen - Spending time in meditation can take all sorts of different forms, whether contemplating Scripture or, as in the case of Examen, contemplating oneself.  Self-awareness and charting one's own spiritual growth would fit in well with our society's love of to-do lists and strategic plans.

These are just a few - it's not meant to be an exhaustive list, and one is not more right than another.  They are all different paths, and people can go down separate paths and still walk with God on each of them.  My point is that they are all paths that we've largely forgotten in our modern Church, with its emphasis on "morning quiet times" as the primary objective in spiritual growth.  Many of them are challenging and audacious, but then again when has the easy route been the best one?  Those challenges that are hardest are often the ones that we get most excited about, and the ones for which we most rise to the occasion.

Some people lately have been kicking around the idea of the "Dones" as a subset of the "Nones" - as in those Christians who are quitting churches and not looking for new ones because they are "done" with church.  Nones as a whole are those who have no church affiliation or religious beliefs for whatever reasons.  This article is an example (although it blames "dones" on a lack of community).  I believe that part of the desire of those in my generation to quit church is because we aren't being challenged enough.  Even if the community is nice, it does eventually get tiring to keep hearing the same basic sermons over and over again, and keep getting solicited to volunteer for the same programs over and over again.  After a while it just gets boring.

If we're having the challenge of lots of Christians walking around whom our church fathers and apostles would consider to be spiritual babes, and we're having the challenge of Christians leaving churches and wandering on their own, perhaps it's time to revisit the idea of spiritual growth.  Perhaps churches could take a look through history at the ways that Christians have experienced spiritual maturity, and present some of them to their members.  I'd like to see church pastors and growth leaders becoming experts in leading spiritual growth.  Too many spend all their days planning church services and doing the logistics of small groups.  These jobs are of course critical and good, but where's the actual spiritual growth leaders?  If Christians aren't challenged, we will never grow, and we are likely to get bored and wander.

Time To Grow Up!

Growing up is hard to do!  I'm 29 years old and somehow it doesn't feel quite like I could be old enough to be a grown-up.  Am I really an adult?  Surely I am, but it must be something peculiar about our society that someone who has lived nearly three decades can not quite feel like an adult.

If you're up for a longer, more academic read, I'd recommend The Art of Manliness' recent blog post on "The Rise and Fall of the Secret Society of Adults".  For the majority of you who won't read it, here's a quick summary.  For much of human history, childhood didn't entirely exist - kids were simply miniature, deficient adults until they were fully capable of doing all the things adults can do.  However, at some point, children began to be seen as something to be nurtured and taught, and there became a separation between children and adults.  Adults dressed differently, talked differently, and understood things that children couldn't.  In very recent times, however, things have reversed to where once again there is little distinction between children and adults, but this time it's the other way around: adults now are just like kids but bigger and older.  The author has a point - adults now dress like kids, talk like kids, and rarely grasp at complex subjects.

It's hard to say whether people are right who say that adolescence is a 20th century invention, but the term certainly seems to be.  Once upon a time, however, a child who had hit puberty was basically an adult.  Teenage years are now spent in school and under the authority of parents.  Many youth now spend up to age 22 or 23 in school, with college, few living what could be seen as a marginally independent or self-sufficient life.  The rise of "boomerang" kids who continue to live dependent on their parents after college and the growing confusion of my generation as to exactly what we want to do with our lives means that it's not uncommon for people nearly 30 to be still unmarried, on a murky career path, financially insecure, and largely immature.  I'm certainly not blaming anyone or even saying that there's anything inherently wrong with this system.  After all, when life expectancy is 50 you have to grow up much faster.  When it's 80 you can take your time.  I merely want to point out that growing up is vastly delayed in our society from where it was even 100 years ago.

I do feel, however, that there is still inherent value in growing up, whenever it does happen.  I don't believe it makes sense to bring down all of society to an 8th grade level.  Who doesn't recognize a certain bit of beauty in the powerful orations of history from men who spoke at a highly educated level?  Isn't there still some reverence for those who can read and learn from works of literature more advanced than Hunger Games?  I ought to take the moment to tangentially say that I don't mean to venerate adulthood at the expense of having a youthful heart.  It was just last week that my coworkers and I took a break to invent games involving a miniature soccer ball and an empty trash can in our office.  You can grow up without giving up fun and frivolity.

Why grow up, however?  What's the value to society in having adults who are grown up?  In other words, why shouldn't all of society dumb down to the lowest common denominator?  Firstly, I believe the qualities of adulthood are highly valuable to society.  A developed sense of personal responsibility, greater self-control, a desire and capacity to contribute meaningfully to the world, and expanded maturity for leadership and wisdom are just a few of these qualities.  Secondly, as the aforementioned wisely note in another post (most of the way down), you can't have an entire society dumbed down - somebody still has to get things done.  The world of childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood is only possible because of the world of adulthood.  Thirdly, because although we have all sometimes remembered our youth fondly and longed for days when we could relax without a care in the world, being an adult is immensely satisfying.  Making a positive contribution to the world, taking care of business, learning about and mastering complex subjects, and serving those around us are benefits of adulthood that we miss if we remain in the comparatively "easy" world of childhood.

I'm interested in what kind of things are part of this growing up process.  There aren't a lot of resources available for people to learn how to grow up.  You kind of have to go searching for it.  For example, I decided a couple of years ago that it was worthwhile for its own sake to dress like an adult (getting married and actually having the money to buy real clothes was elemental to this point, as well).  I "dress up" for work, parties, and events without anyone expecting me to, and you'll probably have a hard time seeing me in public without a collared shirt of some sort.  Why?  I am an adult, and my clothing both has an impact on me and on the people who come into contact with me.  When I'm dressed like an adult, I behave like an adult, and people perceive me as an adult.  Dressing like an adult doesn't make me an adult any more than sitting in a garage makes me a car, but these sorts of details are like individual puzzle pieces to a great collage.

What other things are helpful to the growing up process?  Trying to spend more time in the company of people older than I am is probably a key part of it.  Trying to learn how to have adult conversations is necessary.  Reading literature and following current events are two other things that I'm trying to do.  These things, I believe, help to reclaim a bit of the "secret society" of adulthood.  I'm also conscious of how I spend my free time.  While many in my generation are playing video games, I am learning things, working on my house, volunteering, and spending time socially.  I'm ready to grow up and start to work on a new definition of what it means to be an adult in our new Western society!

Outsourcing Christian Responsibilities

Blunt post coming...sometimes I feel like writing a quality piece, and sometimes I just feel like saying something.  This is the latter.

Is it possible to outsource the responsibilities of a Christian?  I'm not sure, but I think we Americans are sure trying.  Let's see if I can situate the scene: we've got a culture that encourages taking the easiest route to things, a church culture that encourages a wide gulf between "professional" Christians and other Christians, and a church culture that rarely teaches the harder parts of discipleship, preferring to allow anyone in.  Every once in a while you find exceptions (the Art of Manliness blog comes to mind for the first, Watermark Church comes to mind for the third where I understand they revoke your membership if you are not involved beyond Sunday morning).  I think most people would agree with these three qualities of our society, so if we connect them, we get...outsourced responsibilities.

Okay this picture isn't really related, I just think
it's funny.  And maybe hitting a bit too close to
home for "incarnational" types.

I believe that it is possible, today in our broader Christian church, to hire missionaries and pastors to do the jobs that the Bible calls all Christians to do.  There are pastors out there making a full-time job out of being part of their neighborhood associations, school PTAs, volunteering to lead community activities, and write blogs.  We call it "incarnational" ministry and extol the value of being part of the community and cultivating what is already there, which is excellent and beautiful.  Except...this isn't a special calling for missionaries and pastors.  These things are the general responsibilities of all Christians.  This isn't a criticism of missionaries who are raising support and making a full-time job out of this.  I hope that their extra free time enables them to take these activities to the next level and develop something strong and sustainable.

No, this is more an observation that we all need to be involved in our communities.  We may not have all the free time to do ten fun things in our community every week, but we can all do one or two.  Ten people involved in two things each every week is better than two people involved in ten each.  If we cannot get involved, maybe we have gotten ourselves too busy for our own (and our community's) good.  Since moving into a new neighborhood this fall I am trying to figure out a variety of ways to get involved and get to know people.  I'm no expert but I know that this is a non-negotiable, and it's not part of my job...it's part of my responsibility as a Christian.  Thank you to the pastors who are leading the way in this...now let's go find one and join them in what they're doing!

Where is All the Quality Journalism?

What is the role of a journalist?  It's a rapidly-changing world these days - every word is up for grabs for re-definition.  Journalism is a blurry field right now.  Just where are the distinctions between formal news, alternative news, and amateur blogs?  People have long been upset that the formal news services are owned by big-business interests and tend to lean a bit partisan, but I think we have a bigger problem today.  This blurring of the lines has led to a confused and misinformed population, which I think is a very dangerous thing.

I'll take two examples from current events.  First, the big one everyone knows about - Ebola.  This was a crisis in Africa, then we got a few cases here in the USA and media coverage exploded (this act in itself is a bit shameful, but that's another topic).  Sadly, despite the very clear and repeated coverage from the formal news services that Ebola is NOT a very transmissible virus, and despite the fact that we've known about this virus for almost 40 years, alternative news sites and independent bloggers are continuing to spread confusion and panic.  The sign that they're having an impact is that even pretty respectable people believe that the formal news services and the government are withholding key points of information to intentionally deceive us.  This is so absurd it doesn't even warrant continuing.

The second case is a smaller one, and it concerns a recent news story that the mayor of nearby Houston was forcing a group of pastors to turn over their sermons for inspection.  This was so rapidly pulled out of context that even my own church sowed some fear yesterday that we're nearing the point when the government will be snooping on what we say in church.  The truth is so far from that - in fact the lawsuit began when Christians sued the government related to the government's claim that churches had misled citizens in signing petitions.  The city has clearly stated that they never had any intention of scrutinizing the church's sermons, but merely wanted any information related to how they promoted the petitions.

Alternative news services are a dangerous curator of content in a social society, where people rapidly and easily share media among each other.  Although it's often recognized that this rapid sharing also comes with a benefit - a very short memory - it's still dangerous to see journalism that is so sharply and intentionally one-sided spread so widely.  It seems that the formal news media, who once upon a time attempted to be nonpartisan, have been forced to share the stage with overtly partisan services.  And it's then further compounded by independent bloggers expressing their unfounded and uninformed opinions (the fact that this would include me is an irony not entirely lost on me).  Sadly even the formal news services, bowing to this pressing competition, often prefer to exert a competitive advantage through rapid-fire soundbites and quick-response breaking news, which can reduce them to poorly-researched articles, mistakes arising from speculation, and more.

Where is all the quality journalism?  Where are the writers who are producing long-form articles that attempt, in an unbiased way, to analyze issues and events and present a more thorough understanding of them?  Why are we, as Western news consumers, so short on attention span that we can't process journalism like that?  Back to my question - what is the role of a journalist?  I believe that their role today is to strike a balance between presenting the breaking news and disseminating understanding to the population at large.  They must be able to clarify things and communicate them concisely and accurately.  Specialization will be needed so that journalists can actually understand the issues they are reporting on.  The industry needs a new code of ethics. The citizens of a developed and educated nation deserve better.

People Weren't Meant to Live this Way

I was especially inspired the other week by a phrase I heard on TV.  To catch up, watch this video about a man's journey to find his mother.  She was from the jungles of southern Venezuela before she married an American and moved to New Jersey.  After some six years, on a visit back home, she decided she couldn't go back to the States.  She said, "People weren't meant to live this way." (2:45 in the video)  In particular, the isolation and unfriendliness of the people stuck out.  Indeed, most of the people in the world today (and especially throughout history) live communally.  We modernized Westerners are a bit unique in that we don't.

Take security, for example.  In Dallas, if you want to secure your belongings, you lock them up and get an alarm system.  Last summer living on the outskirts of a city in Peru, when some youth were harassing our compound, our security guard urged us not to be afraid, saying "I know their families."  Or how about finances.  For my family, if we want to ensure that we'll be financially taken care of later in life, we open IRAs and sock money away.  In a community mindset, you raise your kids well and be a blessing to many people around you, and nobody will let you struggle.  What about people around us?  In my apartment complex, the number of patios with never-used furniture signals our desire for something we never make time for.

I'm interested in the community we might be missing.  I don't think the issue is intellectual - we know we're missing it.  Loneliness is rampant in the States.  As I mentioned, we all have patio furniture.  We do say hi to people when we walk the dog.  We're frequently encouraged by videos that remind us to notice those around us.  As of today, 38 million people have seen that video.  But we won't change.  Culture is accelerating around us, there's too much pushing us away from each other.

There's nothing wrong with any of these developments, most of them are beautiful and useful and meaningful.  But they are rapidly sweeping away an entire way of life that even survived industrialization...but has succumbed to technologization.  We won't return to an older way of life, and I'm not suggesting we try to.  But somehow I long not to allow it to be forgotten.  There's too many valuable artifacts from it.

Are there ways in which we've built our lives in ways that people just weren't meant to live?  I think there may be.  This post isn't going to change anybody's life.  That's fine.  Mine hasn't entirely been changed yet either.  But I'm thinking about things, at least.  Maybe that's all we need to do - just be conscious of what has gone before and what is happening now.

Paying attention is a good start.  Reading books is another.  Being willing to think about other perspectives, in a both/and mindset rather than an either/or, will get us a long ways.  Simply interacting with people who live differently will transform us.  I suspect that, although David Good's mother (in the CBS video) probably largely returned to her life at home, she was forever changed in some ways.  And I guarantee that David is forever changed by experiencing her life.