This is why I'm a UK fan ...

I'm sure some of you have seen this picture before but it makes me smile, so I wanted to post it here, especially since I haven't had time to do much lately. I'll have more time once the semester's over in a few weeks, so for the three of you that actually read this, you can expect more then. For now, I'm going to be taking a break from the REOG posts, as they're not as funny as I hoped nor particularly insightful. You might see one pop up every now and then, but I'll probably just go back to ranting and raving.

And just to ensure some controversy, I will promise at least one political post before election day. Should be fun!

Real Evangelicals of Genius #3: Rhetorical Question Answerer

For other posts in this series, click the label at the bottom of this post.

Today we salute you, Mr. Rhetorical Question Answerer. You know better than to sit quietly during a sermon. No, you narrate the subtleties for all those within four rows of you. After all, why do people ask questions if they're not meant to be answered? They don't, and you won't let them. Inner monologue? Who needs that? Not you. Even if there is no question asked, you've always got a "That's right!" or "Amen!" or "Tell 'em, now!" in your back pocket, ready to be said in a voice audible only to the guy next to you ... or shouted in a distracting manner. So here's to you, Mr. Unsolicited Sermon Feedback Person, 'cause no one states the obvious in a somewhat annoying manner quite like you.

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OK, quick disclaimer. I don't have a real problem with this, nor do I think there is an underlying issue that is dangerous or destructive. I just think it's kind of funny. In fact, I love Rhetorical Question Answerer because they can make any sermon entertaining, no matter how boring or ridiculous the speaker is. This is the guy/girl that is really into the sermon, and loves providing feedback, even if it's not audible to anyone but the people around them. It's not really insightful, or necessary, but it apparently helps them, so hey ... go for it. I'm just not much of a responsive person, so I find it fascinating.

While Rhetorical Question Answerer usually just makes me smile or occasionally feel a little uncomfortable (something about social norms being ignored just makes me cringe sometimes), the real gold is when a rhetorical question is answered incorrectly. You know what I'm talking about. RQA isn't paying a ton of attention, mishears or misunderstands the question, and murmurs a "no" when the speaker is obviously hinting at a "yes" (or vice versa). They quickly realize their mistake, get embarrassed because everyone heard them say the wrong thing, and good times are had by all.

But occassionally, if you're lucky, you'll see a rhetorical train wreck. This is when God has shown favor on your congregation, because nothing beats the awkwardness and hilarity of this moment. A quick story to illustrate my point:

I spent a year in Texas after graduating college to go through an intensive discipleship program, covering Old Testament and New Testament Bible study, systematic theology, church history, apologetics, hermeneutics, homiletics, etc. One day, our church history teacher, John Brown (one of the smartest guys I've ever heard), is lecturing on some of the early church Christological controversies. He was trying to illustrate the difficulty for the church fathers to understand a man who was both 100% man and 100% God. Admittedly, it's hard to get your mind around, even when studying the texts of the New Testament. So he asks a rhetorical question to get across the gravity of the situation. "So what do you do with the incarnate, pre-existent Son of God come to Earth?" Most of us understood his question. One of us, apparently, did not. This anonymous person (let's call him "Wes Ffolkes") answers loud enough for everyone to hear, "You kill him."

I cannot overstate how awkward this was. Everyone turned with mouth agape, shocked at the near blasphemy just uttered. John Brown stammered, "What???", then burst into maniacal laughter, as did the rest of us. "Wes" was trying to imply that the Pharisees and religious leaders, when confronted with Jesus, responded by killing him. Which is true, of course, but not ANYWHERE CLOSE to what was being discussed. RQA strikes again. (I should note that "Wes" is a great guy, was liked by all, and this was not the norm for him. But he will never live this one down.)

So, the moral of the story is: if you answer a question, just be sure it's the right one. Or people will blog about you three years later. If you have a funny RQA story, please share in the comments, it could be great fun for all.

The "born again" fad?

I came across this entry in Dr. Mohler's blog the other day, and found it to be very interesting. It seems being "reborn" is the cool thing to do in Thailand. Give it a read.

Real Evangelicals of Genius #2: Super Cool Youth Pastor Guy

For other posts in this series, click the label at the bottom of this post.

Note: I don't know if this guy is a youth pastor or not, as all the images I could find were real people, and I'd kind of feel like a jerk if I put someone's staff bio picture on my blog to make fun of them. Instead, this is a picture that made me laugh, from www.larknews.com, a very funny site you should check out sometime. I'd like to think he's a youth pastor, though.

Today we salute you, Mr. Super Cool Youth Pastor Guy. You know what it takes to reach the youth of America: a fo-hawk, some tight jeans, and a cool tat of some Greek word. You know better than to bring any of those lame "senior pastor" jokes into your sermons. No, your sermons are decked out with references to "The Hills," as you sip your triple venti latte and show YouTube clips to "illustrate spiritual truths," or to watch a skater fall on his man parts. The youth are the future of America, and they're not going to come to church if it's lame! Your totally rad (is that word still cool?) youth ministry is here to eradicate lameness, complete with haze machine and electric guitar worship solos. So here's to you, Mr. Guitar-Hero-Master-For-Jesus, because no one can relate to the immaturity of an adolescent quite like you.
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Perhaps I'm being harsh with Super Cool Youth Pastor Guy. I'm not trying to be, it's just that I find it funny sometimes how much like a high school kid a high school pastor can act. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but I wonder what kind of implications lay behind the actions of many youth ministries around the country.

Let me first start out by saying how much I respect youth pastors. They're vitally necessary in most church models, and what they do can have an enormous positive impact. They're also frequently pressured to get as many kids in their youth ministry as possible, so even well intentioned youth pastors can be somewhat forced to tweak their presentation (and even content, at times) for the sake of being "relevant." So I understand where they're coming from. Plus, I know several guys that do it right. But that's not who this is about.

That said, I think "relevance" has become something of an idol in many churches today. We have to make church relevant to unbelievers so they'll come and hear our message. Without going too deep into why I see this as a potential problem, you can see that at some point this can have a spiral effect, until even the content of the gospel is altered in some (extreme) cases. Most of the time, though, our strive for relevance just sends subtle messages.

It seems that by catering to the pattern and the culture that the world sets, we set the church in competition to the world by trying to provide all it offers in addition to the spiritual side of things. Christianity then becomes somewhat of a "good deal." Perhaps you will see why I think this is incorrect. Following Christ is nothing short of a total renunciation of the world and its ways. It doesn't mean that we have to live like Quakers or something, but it does mean that the church is not the place for entertainment -- it is the place for the edification of the body and the teaching and preaching of the Word of God. It doesn't have to be boring. But if we're concerned that the only way our church members will sit through a service is if it has enough bells and whistles, then perhaps we have a larger problem than relevance. Perhaps the problem lies in the health of our congregation.

You can see how this larger issue relates to Super Cool Youth Pastor Guy, but specifically my question for him is this: does a high school kid need a peer he can relate to a model he can look up to in his youth pastor? No, they're not necessarily mutually exclusive, but I can't help but wonder if we're out of balance here.