Blue Like Jazz

Right now I am going back through my papers from college and typing up notes. I am coming across many things that is helpful for me to look at again and get a feel for the thoughts and impressions that they made. Here is a paper that I wrote on Blue Like Jazz while taking a class about culture and evangelism. We were pushed really hard in the class, but as you will see in the paper I noticed something very powerful about evangelism in the book because of this:

This may not make sense, but as I started writing this I wanted to write about the ideas in the book and wrestle with them. Part of me although felt like I should look at this book through the lens of the process of contextualization. The more I started to write the more I found myself naturally drawn to analyzing the book in light of the process. So I deleted most my paper and now what I have is trying to think about how Miller is using the process and how that comes out. I could have ended up going through and using the many great quotes about being culturally relevant and how that is misguided, but ultimately I think the true value that I got from this book (only now) is how the process can allow us to grow and change our life.

            There are many parts with Miller’s ideas that I believe people would say he is compromising. One example that jumps out at me of this is when he and other Christians at Reed set up a confession booth. Instead of battling the students and the immorality in an attacking way they apologize and confess sins of Christianity. This amazed me and was not what I expected, but also could be seen as compromising. If your not condemning then are we encouraging that behavior? I think Miller shows how, especially at Reed, how he ended up going through the process with people. I would meet people like Laura and talk with her about the issues of the day and befriend her and gradually they ended up changing each other. There was a mesh of thought and out of the meeting of those two individual contexts a new one arose.

            I saw this theme repeated several, several times throughout this book. There were times he had with hippies living out in the woods. He immersed himself in that culture and learned from them and most likely shaped some of what they thought too. He had a group of fundamentalist guys one summer that he went through the process with. Then there was the community at his new house of Graceland. Here he lived with tons of other men and developed a community where he and the other men end up going through the process of contextualization. I did not notice that at first but as I write this paper all these different forms of community that he goes through and how these continue to shape him and develop him into a brand new context.

            So why is this important? I think that what I have learned from reading this book, aside from finding many concepts that challenged my thinking, is that I am going to go through this process a lot in my life. I see the great impact and revelations that can come out of continuing to engage in the process and not shutting down on a group. Some of the groups that Miller went into, such as the hippies or Reed, would have been very easy to disengage. Although if he would have done this and given up then I think he never would have realized many great things that he has. I hope too to always be able to see the process to the end and not hop off too soon. 

A day off...

I have not been in ministry long to learn that there is no such thing as a day off. It is just a work from home day. Maybe you do not dedicate as much time to work, but rest assured you will do something with work. 

There are two things that seem to bring me to work. The first is phone calls. It does not matter the day, there will probably be a phone call. Case in point, yesterday was thanksgiving. A day that you would think no one would call and they would focus on their family. Well, I received a call. 

The other thing that brings me to work is when I get ideas about church, God, or ministry. I often get new ideas to toy with when I turn my brain off from work. This is actually what brings me to work most. I think about work a lot. Ministry is not one of those jobs where you can leave it at work. There are so many things that you have to think about and try and solve. There are many people, personalities, conflicts, proposals, and other things that can not be solved simply. With so many different aspects to a problem/solution it takes some planning and problem solving. This often gets referred to as "church politics". No matter what is done there is always someone who will not be happy about it. I was congratulated by the new pastor this past week for being able to get the church behind painting, putting more furniture, and carpet in the youth room. A seasoned minister expected there to be issues with changing things. 

With these two things that bring me in often I have had to establish boundaries. Different people have different comfort levels and I have found mine. I turn my cell phone off when I do not want calls (but still should probably do it more) and sometimes screen calls. Like the call during thanksgiving. I did not listen to it until the next day because it could wait. The ideas and planning are harder to get away from. The best solution I have found for this so far is to have hobbies and things that I like to do. I play video games, read, cook,  hang out with friends and family, workout, and just watch tv. It seems simple, but it does help get away from work. 

The amazing thing is how God knew this and even put it as a commandment in the Bible.  We all need a sabbath to be rejuvenated and be able to honor God with the best work possible. This means really taking time to rejuvenate. I have found that the first day I get off is usually spent one of two ways: working on things for Kessia and my home, or trying to escape through the ways mentioned above. When there is only one day off then it usually means we work on things for home because they need to get done. I learned the importance of getting two days off in a row so that one of them can actually be a sabbath. I would encourage others to understand the importance of this time and make sure to have a day to rejuvenate. Without that we are just work in a different area. No need to be legalistic about it, just get it when you can and praise God by resting. 

   I finally made it home after a very long day at work. I know rest is coming in the next couple of days, but it does not seem to get here soon enough. This post will be short, because all I really wanted to do was post some of my favorite pictures that remind me of God.  There are many, many more where this came from. 

Starting off..

I have heard the best way to get started as a writer is to just start writing. I hope to get this blog going so that I can get the barrier broken and no longer worry about making things perfect. One thing in these non focused entries that you will notice is that I have a tendency to jump to tangents. This is going to be the first of those.

Perfection in writing has reminded me of how we often seek to be perfect. Wesley himself, wrote about Christian Perfection. While I will reserve another post for that, I think it has become something difficult for us to deal with. We often struggle with not being perfect. I know I have often wondered if I can do something I can not do it as well as others. My big Brother was the one I battled with the most. If there was something he could do that I could not then I would be devastated. Often if I was not perfect (or match my brother) in the very first try I would not want to keep trying and quit. Instead of struggling along to become better and grow, I would give in and run to the things I was better at.

I surrender now. No, I am not giving up. Rather I am owning my imperfection and pledging to pursue God. I will not have perfect grammer. Often my thoughts will be all over the place, hard to read/follow, and maybe just plain wrong. I am ok with that, because this is not about me having all the answers.

In the end I guess I do understand Wesley's pursuit of perfection. I will not be perfect, ie without sin, but I pursue christian perfection with all my heart. While I will not get into if it is possible to make it to Christian perfection, I know that is what my heart desires. It desires God and to be with God. I hope that through this process I can become closer with God.

I do not know if anyone will end up reading this blog, and in all honesty I do not care. This about my relationship with God. It always helps to reflect on what we are learning about God and try to focus those thoughts. I have often bounced things off of other friends and loved ones. This time I need to get my thoughts out there for God. If God ends up using this blog to help others than glory to Him. If not, then I know He will use it to help me draw close. I hope by the end of this I have wrestled, cried, stuggled, battled, argued, debated, understood, clarified, focused, and fallen in love with God.

To the journey.