Author: Dave Burchett

I was rummaging through various news sites and I found that I missed the happiest day of the year. Totally missed it! Last Friday was the happy day and I was clueless. Here is the too late (for me) story from USA Today.

• According to a scholar in seasonal disorders at a British university you should have felt happier than you have all year last friday. Cliff Arnall has analysed such factors as outdoor activities, nature, social interaction, childhood memories, temperature and holidays — data gathered over a period of 15 years in interviews with 3,000 people around the world. His conclusion: June 23 is the happiest day of the year.  “People across borders experience happiness when they meet with friends and family and establish close social relationships,” the University of Cardiff academic reported. “We need some close emotional ties.” He used what he considers a “simple equation” to reach his conclusion — O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He. O stands for outdoor activities, N for nature, S for social interaction, Cpm for childhood summers and positive memories, T for temperature and He for holidays and looking forward to time off.

Because I have written a lot about civility I am trying to be kind about this formula. Would it be in indelicate and impolite to suggest that I also have a formula about trying to determine the happiest days of the year? Mine would be something like this. P (H) = BE.  P for predicting, H for happiness, BE for Bovine Excrement. I guess the grumpy old man factor came out there. I can understand how summer time, family, memories, and so on would lead to potential happiness. I also realize this is not hard science and a fun argument so please hold your cards and letters.

• Arnall has already figured out the saddest day of the year. It was January 23 — a Monday. “Surprise, surprise”, he quipped.

So at least grumpy old man has this day to not look forward to next year. Why I am a bit skeptical of circumstance based formulas for happiness? Because I am beginning to figure out that you can have joy even when circumstances wouldn’t necessarily reflect that emotion. We are going through a difficult journey with Joni’s breast cancer treatment. Circumstances might dictate that every day is January 23rd on the “simple equation”. But we have found daily joy in this formula. J + P + (F x L) + T = Joy.  J is for Jesus, P is for Prayer, F is for friends, L is for laughter, and T is for trust. The formula works for us.

The Psalmist wrote these words.

This is the day the LORD has made;
       let us rejoice and be glad in it.

He has made both June 23 and January 23. He also has made today, June 29th. So this is the happiest day of the year for me. Because I am choosing to follow the instruction of Nehemiah to Ezra. You might remember these words from a Sunday School song.

For the joy of the LORD is your strength

It is an odd day to proclaim that truth as Joni undergoes a chemotherapy treatment this morning. But we have found it to be true. Circumstance will too often rob you of joy. Choose joy in the Lord. As my dear friend Mike T. often proclaims, “That’ll work!”. And he has proved that it does when he had every reason to choose otherwise.

 

 

I know that when you signed up for these humble ramblings I told you there would be no homework. Well, you do have an assignment before you read today’s efforts. America’s Funniest Home Videos featured a hilarious clip of a toddler throwing a tantrum. Dear friend Sue sent me the link this week and I realized it fit perfectly into my Grumpy Old Man series.

Click here to watch the Toddler Tantrum.

If you didn’t detour to watch the video I will give you a brief description of the clip. If you have finished your homework skip to the next paragraph. The clip is called “The Crying Game” and it features a toddler who is intent on getting attention. He throws himself dramatically on the ground and wails loudly. When the Mom walks calmly by and ignores him, the child picks himself up and goes looking for Mom. As soon as he rounds the corner and spots her he throws himself dramatically on the ground and wails. Mom moves away again. Kid picks himself up and wanders off in search of her. When he spots he…yeah…you got it.

The video is hilarious. The child’s rage is so phony. His actions are so transparent. He is not fooling anyone. How childish and silly. And then I realize how many of us do the same thing nearly every Sunday. The difference is that we do the reverse. When we are spotting we quit throwing tantrums and start behaving. We are angry during the week or even on the way to church. When our church friends are not watching we are wailing about others, gossiping, and mean. As soon as we walk in the church door we are smiling like the homecoming queen during the parade. Just like that toddler, our spirituality is so phony. We are not fooling anyone. But in this case it is tragic, not hilarious.

We go to a place where honesty should be encouraged. Where shortcomings ought to be accepted. Church should be the place where you can say without fear, “I am struggling, I hurt, I need help”. But for some reason the opposite happens far too often. Two people who are really in pain could have this conversation every week in church.

“How are you doing?” (Insincere query…too busy to really care)
“Great, how are you?” (Dishonest reply…perfunctory courtesy question)
“Fantastic…great to see you.” (Really dishonest reply…safe dismissal salutation)

Am I advocating dumping our woes on everyone we meet? Of course not. But my fear is that we have created a culture where we feel there is something wrong with us if we are hurting. If I am struggling I must be doing something wrong spiritually. Shouldn’t God meet this need? What is wrong with me? The fact that God created us with a desire to be in community tells me that part of His plan to for us is being helped by other members of the body of Christ. I have quoted the lyrics of Stained Glass Masquerade by Casting Crowns in a previous post. They fit here again. Allow me to interject between the brilliant lyrics of Casting Crowns.

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they’ll soon discover
That I don’t belong

 How many times I have felt like that. If my walk right now was exposed I would be excommunicated from the faith. I am so dry that any spark sets my anger and emotions aflame. But do I confess that? Dare I confess that?

So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the heart again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

And there you have it. Most of us, at one time or another, have played this stupid game. Maybe I will believe it too if just tuck it all away.

Is there anyone who’s been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who’s traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Satan would have us believe that we would be rejected if we dared to let other see the truth behind the person. Perhaps some would reject that. But I want to be willing to take a chance to be real. I want to be authentic and see where that takes me. I can’t find that authenticity with a painted grin and phony reply.

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

That is the giant that we face, isn’t it? That if we let people know what we really are that they will turn and walk away.

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Can we trust Jesus enough to close the curtain on the Sunday Morning Masquerade? Can we trust him enough to be authentic? Not needy and demanding. Just honest and real. There is so much more available to us in the body of Christ if we can let down the charades. Want some more homework?

Look up the “one another” verses in the Bible. Here is an example from Hebrews (10:24–35).

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  NIV

Implementing these “one anothers” into daily practice would go a long way toward eliminating Sunday Morning Masquerades.

 

I am embracing my new found role of grumpy old man. I suspect others have viewed me as a grumpy old man for some time but I am just getting around to embracing it. I am on the record as a huge fan of the Muppets. Two very underrated characters were Statler and Waldorf, the two grumpy old guys who sat in the balcony and criticized the show every week. I loved those guys. Here is a sampling of the sarcastic stylings of Statler and Waldorf.

Statler:  What would you do if you were a rich man?
Waldorf:  I’d buy the network and cancel this show!

Statler: Wake up you old fool. You slept through the show.
Waldorf: Who’s a fool? You watched it.

Statler: I wonder if there really is life on another planet?
Waldorf: Why do you care? You don’t have a life on this one!

Okay, I will concede that the Muppet faces and voices made the lines funnier.

I am thinking of auditioning for a grumpy partner to sit in the blogosphere balcony with me and critique the culture. Any takers?

Today’s topic for the still solo grumpy old man? Hypocrites. There is no more damaging name to lay on a church goer than the dreaded title of hypocrite. Sometimes it is used unfairly. Often it is a smokescreen used by folks who want an excuse not to examine faith in their own lives. You have heard the line I’m sure.

“I used to go to church but it is full of hypocrites.”

The temptation is always to remind them there is room for one more hypocrite in the building. The more mature response as followers of Christ is to examine that charge seriously in our own lives. The word hypocrite comes from a Greek word that means actor. How appropriate. People are watching. And we too often give Oscar caliber performances on Sunday morning. They see that on Sunday you’re a saint and on Monday you ain’t. And that does damage. It is time to look in the spiritual mirror and drop the masquerades. If we are following Jesus it will make a difference in our lives. I am not talking perfection or even close to it. But there should be ongoing changes and growth in your journey with Christ. Look up synonyms for hypocrite and you will find words like fraud, phony, deceiver, fake, impostor, pretender, and sham. Not pretty words. But if you think those are rough how about the words of Jesus on this topic?

I found sixteen times that Jesus used the word hypocrite in the New International Version of the Bible. Jesus did not pull any punches in his disgust for the “religious” types who were Sabbath saints only. We tend to read the words of Jesus that are directed at the Pharisees almost like we watch the boss chew out a co-worker. “Whew,” we exclaim, “I’m sure glad that is them and not me.” But the warnings of Jesus to the phony Pharisees are also directed at me…and you.

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 
 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” 
 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”  

I am learning that God is not impressed by my showy words or worship. He is glorified when I take care of the widows and children without calling attention to myself. He blesses me when I give without expecting return. God does not want my eloquence in prayer, He wants my heart in prayer. He honors me when I serve without expectation. 

But there is more. This passage knocks me to my knees.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

That is what scares me so much about my Sunday morning masquerade. I can clean up the outside real purty. But God knows what lies beneath. It is scary and painful and ugly to allow the Holy Spirit to start cleaning out the dirt, the dead bones, and everything unclean. But we will never experience God the way He desires to relate to us unless we are willing to do just that. Frankly I don’t see the point of being a Sunday Christian. If this is real we need to pursue it seven days a week. The hardest truth I have had to admit as a husband, father, follower of Jesus is that I make time for those things that are a priority to me. There can be short time diversions for work or circumstance. But over the weeks and months where I invest my time reveals my heart. That is a hard truth.

 

 

 

Warning: This blog contains no obscenity. There are no references to sex or violence. No ethnic groups will be demeaned. However, according to a recent decision by the Motion Picture Association of America I feel I must post this warning. Parental Guidance suggested. Some material may not be suited for children. Why do I feel compelled to warn you? This article may mention…(cue dramatic music)…Jesus. 

 

I have done a couple of recent articles in my “Grumpy Old Man” series. I wrote about civility being on life support in two recent blogs. I have written about how lawsuits have caused product manufacturers to desperately try to protect us from ourselves. For example…a real warning label that said…

Warning: Do not use lawnmower to trim shrubbery

Now I read that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is slapping a PG rating on a movie because it “it heavily laden with messages from one religion and this might offend people from other religions.” Sounds like a job for Grumpy Old Man! But before I began my rant I decided to get the rest of the story.

Terry Mattingly  is one of America’s best journalists on religious issues in our society. Mattingly does an excellent job of backgrounding the story with this report he filed with the Scripps Howard News Service.

The Motion Picture Association of America is crystal clear when it describes why its “PG” rating exists –  it’s a warning flag.

“The theme of a PG-rated film may itself call for parental guidance,” states the online explanation of the rating system. “There may be some profanity in these films. There may be some violence or brief nudity. … The PG rating, suggesting parental guidance, is thus an alert for examination of a film by parents before deciding on its viewing by their children. Obviously such a line is difficult to draw.”

Disagreements are a given. The Christian moviemakers behind a low-budget film called “Facing the Giants” were stunned when the MPAA pinned a PG rating on their gentle movie about a burned-out, depressed football coach whose life, on and off the field, takes a miraculous turn for the better.

“What the MPAA said is that the movie contained strong ‘thematic elements’ that might disturb some parents,” said Kris Fuhr, vice president for marketing at Provident Films, which is owned by Sony Pictures. Provident plans to open the film next fall in 380 theaters nationwide with the help of Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Which “thematic elements” earned this squeaky-clean movie its PG?

“Facing the Giants” is too evangelistic. The MPAA, noted Fuhr, tends to offer cryptic explanations for its ratings. In this case, she was  told that it “decided that the movie was heavily laden with messages from one religion and that this might offend people from other religions. It’s important that they used the word ‘proselytizing’ when they talked about giving this movie a PG. …

“It is kind of interesting that faith has joined that list of deadly sins that the MPAA board wants to warn parents to worry about.”

Overt Christian messages are woven throughout “Facing the Giants,” which isn’t surprising since the film was co-written and co-produced by brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick, who are the “associate pastors of media” at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. In addition to working with the megachurch’s cable-television channel, they created its Sherwood Pictures ministry, collecting private donations to fund a $25,000 movie called “Flywheel,” about a wayward Christian used-car salesman.

“Facing the Giants” cost $100,000 and resembles a fusion of the Book of Job and a homemade “Hoosiers,” or perhaps a small- school “Friday Night Lights” blended with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association movies that used to appear in some mainstream theaters. Sherwood Pictures used local volunteers as actors and extras, backed by a small crew of tech professionals.

The movie includes waves of answered prayers, a medical miracle, a mysterious silver-haired mystic who delivers a message from God and a bench-warmer who kicks a 51-yard field goal to win the big game when his handicapped father pulls himself out of a wheelchair and stands under the goal post to inspire his son’s faith. There’s a prayer-driven gust of wind in there, too.

When contacted by ABC News the the MPAA said the uproar was simply a matter of miscommunication on both sides. Its spokesman doesn’t deny that the world “proselytization” may have come up in the conversation between the filmmakers and the ratings board. “It may well have come up, but it wasn’t the reason they got that rating,” said John Feehery, executive vice president of the MPAA. “The reason they got the rating was because of some of the more mature themes that were in that movie.”

I took a detour to get the definition of the PG warning directly from the website of the MPAA. Here it is…in their words.

This is a film which clearly needs to be examined by parents before they let their children attend. The label PG plainly states parents may consider some material unsuitable for their children, but leaves the parent to make the decision. Parents are warned against sending their children, unseen and without inquiry, to PG-rated movies. The theme of a PG-rated film may itself call for parental guidance. There may be some profanity in these films. There may be some violence or brief nudity. However, these elements are not considered so intense as to require that parents be strongly cautioned beyond the suggestion of parental guidance. There is no drug use content in a PG-rated film. The PG rating, suggesting parental guidance, is thus an alert for examination of a film by parents before deciding on its viewing by their children. Obviously such a line is difficult to draw. In our pluralistic society it is not easy to make judgments without incurring some disagreement. As long as parents know they must exercise parental responsibility, the rating serves as a meaningful guide and as a warning. 

I love the line “in our pluralistic society it is not easy to make judgments without incurring some disagreement”. In my circles that would be called “covering your backside”. So what is my take on this mild controversy?

• I suspect this is just an example of knee jerk PC over-reaction on the part of the film board but I understand their desire to CTB (cover their backside) in the current cultural climate. I happen to believe that all films need to be examined by parents before they let their children attend. There would will be some who will be offended by the message of the gospel of Jesus portrayed in this movie. I am often offended by the message of movies. I chose whether my kids could go to certain movies or not. That is called parenting. If no parenting is available there are worse things the kiddos could see than a story of faith and overcoming adversity.
  
• I attended several movies like this growing up. Billy Graham films used to release movies that played in mainstream theaters and even offered a call for action to accept the Christian faith. To be honest, I was not persuaded by the movies. I was persuaded to examine the claims of Christ when I encountered a few people who were actually living a changed life. They told me it was because of Jesus. That is what sparked my interest.
  
• I don’t think this is a battle worth getting exorcized over. I went back and checked some other religious themed movies. Chariots of Fire received a PG rating. For the life of me I cannot remember what was in that movie that I needed to be concerned about with my kids. Fiddler on the Roof got a G rating. That movie had pretty strong religious content, scary ghosts in the dream sequence, and some really bad dancing by Tevye. But I don’t remember being threatened to abandon my Protestant faith. On the other hand, I don’t remember not being threatened. On the other hand…
  
• If you decide to voice a concern to the MPAA or other organization please be intelligent and grace filled in your comments. Suggesting their eternal destination with directions is not a good way to win hearts. See my recent post on how to win friends and influence people.
  
• Every movie has a message. That is the point of telling a story in a visual format. Without a message or story you have, well, the movie Gigli.
  
• Go to the movie. Christians need to support efforts like this. Start taking ownership of what you can control. If you are not a movie goer buy some tickets and give them away. We need to support efforts like this with our prayer support and especially with our wallets. It does not matter if the rating is G or PG. You can take your kids or send your kids. Maybe they will think it is cooler to go to a PG movie anyway. And it does not matter if it is not an award winning production. Financial success of projects like this will lead to others with bigger budgets and greater impact in the marketplace. That is how it works. While you are at it why not go to your local video or bookstore and buy Michael W Smith’s movie The Second Chance and Every Tribe Entertainment’s End of the Spear. Those efforts deserve a little financial love as well. Or you can click on the movie links and order online.

For me this ratings “controversy” is a non-starter. On my Grumpy Old Man Meter this registers only a One …for mild political correctness over-reaction.

Terry Mattingly noted that the scene that caught the MPAA’s attention may have been the chat between football coach Grant Taylor, played by Alex Kendrick, and a rich brat named Matt Prader. The coach says that he needs to stop bad-mouthing his bossy father and get right with God.

The boy replies: “You really believe in all that honoring God and following Jesus stuff? … Well, I ain’t trying to be disrespectful, but not everybody believes in that.”

The coach replies: “Matt, nobody’s forcing anything on you. Following Jesus Christ is the decision that you’re going to have to make for yourself. You may not want to accept it, because it’ll change your life. You’ll never be the same.”

That is the bottom line. Nobody is forcing anything on anybody. My agenda is just to tell others what God has done in my life. Following Jesus has changed my life. I am not the same. That is a decision you have to make for yourself about who Jesus is and what that means to you. Some are offended by that message. That is cool. It is no surprise to Christians that some are offended. Jesus said in Matthew told His disciples to go and tell John the Baptist what they had seen and heard. He told them to tell John…

And tell him: `God blesses those who are not offended by me’.

May God bless you in your journey.

 

 

This week I confessed my depression over the decline of civility in our culture. I had just posted that grumpy old man rant and hopped in the car to run some errands. The radio tuner was on the Mavericks radio station (ESPN 103.3 FM) because I had listened to game 6 on my home the previous evening. I started to change the channel but I realized that they were discussing the Mark Cuban blog controversy. I decided to see if they agreed with me that Cuban’s blog comments were over the top given that it is linked from the Mav’s site. Co-host Steve Dennis seemed to feel that Cuban’s language and demeanor were a bit of an embarrassment. Co-host Jennifer Floyd Engel plunged me back into depression. I will paraphrase her comments. She informed Dennis (and me by agreement with him) that such sensitivity was a “generational” thing. A caller noted that the “f-bomb” was merely a synonym for love making. He did a lengthy bit that concluded with the comment if you don’t like it…”love-make you”. Engel enthusiastically supported this “clever” dialogue and made it very clear that only my uptight generation had a problem with such language. (I never dreamed that a child of the Woodstock era would be called uptight)

One caller complained that his child could go to Cuban’s blog and read “f-bombs” and other language. I don’t know if Engel is a parent or not  but her answer stunned me. “Everybody knows that parents need to supervise when their kids are on the internet. Anyone who has watched Primetime stories about the danger of the internet should know that.”

I completely disagree with Engel’s assessment. Most parents try to monitor internet usage. Here is what I did as a father of three sons.

1) I installed a filter. This prevented easy access to sites I did not want them visiting.
2) I checked the browser history daily to see where they had been.
3) I searched the hard disk for video/image downloads to make sure they were not viewing inappropriate things through other sources like email, etc.
4) Now I would monitor sites like myspace.com and others like that. That was not an issue when my guys were surfing under my roof.

Here is my point. None of my precautions would have worked in keeping my kids from reading the crude comments that Cuban wrote to sportswriters. Why should I have to “monitor” my sons visiting the Dallas Mavericks site? Shouldn’t that be a safe place for youngsters to visit? It is ridiculous for me to have to stand over my child as they visit an NBA website. You can easily link to the blog right from the Mav’s home page. In his latest blog Mr.Cuban says he has been called more names in the last week than even he thought possible. And that makes my point about the lack of civility in the public forum. I don’t dislike Mark Cuban because he uses what I consider vulgar language in his very public and accessible blog. I have not called him any names. I simply disagree with him. I wish he would reconsider and realize the broad reach he has.  That is it.

I don’t consider myself to be a “generational” prude. I am just asking for civility in the public arena. As for me, what is happening in the culture does not change my responsibility. As a follower of Jesus I have pretty clear marching orders. Jesus was addressing the “religious” guys when he said this.

“If you grow a healthy tree, you’ll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you’ll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree. You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It’s your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.”

I cannot influence Mark Cuban to change his language. I can control where I spend my time and treasure and what I listen to and view. The question of civility in language is an individual question. Mark Cuban just happens to be a flashpoint for you and me to consider our roles in this debate. The bottom line is that I can only be responsible for me. I want to produce good words and deeds. Part of that is being graceful in communication. Even if it sometimes feels like a losing battle.

Yesterday was a culturally depressing day for me. I was listening to the Michael Medved Show on my way to the real job. His guest was the controversial author Ann Coulter. Medved was trying to solicit conversation on the questions that Coulter raises in the book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism. Then I got depressed. A caller began his “discussion” with this little jewel.  “Hey Michael, why are you lowering yourself by having this Elsa Erich on your show?” Elsa Erich was a brutal, sadistic matron of a Nazi death camp who was guilty of horrifying cruelty to Jews. That caller could have been Gandhi, Einstein, Jefferson, and Lincoln rolled into one and I wouldn’t have listened to another word he said. This was a random but sadly typical example of the lack of civility that has become far too commonplace in our culture. I guess he thought he was funny or clever. To compare a controversial author to a woman who oversaw the brutal and horrible deaths of thousands of women and children in Nazi concentration camps is irresponsible and ridiculous. How can you begin a conversation with a comparison like that? Medved asked the caller how interviewing the author of the top selling book in American (at that point) could be considered “lowering” himself. He also rebuked the caller for his comparison. But I was done. Why should I waste my time on a “discussion” with that tone?

This inflammatory rhetoric has debate in America on life support. I wish I could be more optimistic about its recovery. Hopefully the majority of the readers of these humble ramblings can actually define civility. But just in case, here is the definition of civility listed at dictionary.com.

   1. Courteous behavior; politeness.
   2. A courteous act or utterance.

Such a simple concept. Just common sense. Yet it seems like we are tilting at windmills and warbling the “Impossible Dream” when you hope that two people on opposite ends of an argument can have an intelligent and civil debate. Guests on talk shows yell over one another. Hosts interrupt. Debaters mug with condescending smirks in the other TV box while a guest makes his or her case. I suspect the problem is that these shows tend to attract the 5 to 10 per cent on the extreme end of each position. Ratings show (apparently) that such “debate” makes for better television or radio. Heaven forbid that we be attracted to those might gracefully disagree and make an actual point. Tragically, this ugly level of discourse has made its way into the debate within the body of Christ. Go back and check some of the comments directed toward Every Tribe Entertainment during the discussion over casting Chad Allen in the lead role of End of the Spear. Not always civil. Or very helpful. Certainly not graceful. Paul wrote this to the church at Colosse.

Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.   Colossians 4  The Message

In Ephesian we find this exhortation.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  Eph 4  NIV

How often do we hear someone defending their ungracious attitude with the disclaimer that they were just proclaiming the truth. We have a higher standard as followers of Christ. We are called to proclaim truth. We are not called to proclaim “selected’ parts of truth. We are not called to water down the truth. But we are also not called to be like Terry Tate, the infamous office linebacker, who leveled anyone who stepped out of line.

                                                       

It is easy to blindside an unsuspecting target. I have been guilty. But I am determined to find a blend of grace and truth in my communication. That should keep me busy for a couple of decades.

Part two of my mildly depressing day was stumbling on the blog written by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Cuban has gained a lot of capital with Dallas fans (and with me) after the spectacular success he has overseen with the NBA team. But he spent a lot of that capital with his behavior in the recent days surrounding the NBA Championship. But his far less than gracious responses to the media and others was not the only source of my dismay.  Here are some other comments that bothered me. The topic was obscenity.

I cant think of anything funnier than a 3 year old cursing.  I mean come on, does it really matter if we say Poo Poo or s*%^ ?  Of course not. Unless of course your married and your wife tells you it matters. She doesnt want to be the one who gets phone calls from teachers and other parents getting blamed for all the 3 year olds in the little gym class screaming “Kiss My A&% you Mo Fo”… Me, i couldnt think of anything i would rather see and hear. but thats me.

Yeah. That is you, Mr.Cuban. But because of your enormous influence it is more than just you. Because you are rich, powerful, famous, and a rebel you have the respect of a lot of people and a lot of young men in particular. Yes, like it or not, you are a role model. And that is why I think that comments like that are depressing. I don’t have a big issue with cursing. I am around it all the time in my job in television. I have chosen not to use that language. Regular use of profanity makes you look, in my opinion, less intelligent. I dislike second hand vulgarity as much as second hand smoke. I hate being in public and having to listen to a string of invectives invading my space from a cell phone rant or a loud discussion. At that point it is not just you being you. It is you being rude. I guess this is just part of my inexorable march to grumpy old man. It does matter which words we say. Sometimes it is helpful to be an adult. Words do matter. Examples do matter. Even though I am not rich nor famous nor powerful I am still an example to others. I take it seriously. But thats me.

 

WASHINGTON – Gritty rats and mice living in sewers and farms seem to have healthier immune systems than their squeaky clean cousins that frolic in cushy antiseptic labs, two studies indicate. The lesson for humans: Clean living may make us sick. That was the AP story that caught my attention yesterday. And I pondered the odd theory that these disgusting rodents may offer a clue to ineffectual Christian living as well. Let us explore.

Associated Press Science writer Seth Borenstein writes about the recent research.

The studies give more weight to a 17-year-old theory that the sanitized Western world may be partly to blame for soaring rates of human allergy and asthma cases and some autoimmune diseases, such as Type I diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. The theory, called the hygiene hypothesis, figures that people’s immune systems aren’t being challenged by disease and dirt early in life, so the body’s natural defenses overreact to small irritants such as pollen.

The new studies, one of which was published Friday in the peer reviewed Scandinavian Journal of Immunology, found significant differences in the immune systems between euthanized wild and lab rodents.

When the immune cells in the wild rats are stimulated by researchers, “they just don’t do anything they sit there; if you give them same stimulus to the lab rats, they go crazy,” said study co-author Dr. William Parker, a Duke University professor of experimental surgery. He compared lab rodents to more than 50 wild rats and mice captured and killed in cities and farms.

A rat at a Brooklyn subway stop – AP Photo

Also, the wild mice and rats had as much as four times higher levels of immunoglobulins, yet weren’t sick, showing an immune system tuned to fight crucial germs, but not minor irritants, Parker said. He said what happened in the lab rats is what likely occurs in humans: their immune systems have got it so cushy they overreact to smallest of problems.

Challenged immune systems — such as kids who grow up with two or more pets — don’t tend to develop as many allergies, said Dr. Stanley Goldstein, director of Allergy & Asthma Care of Long Island.

Human epidemiological studies have long given credence to the hygiene theory, showing that allergy and asthma rates were higher in the cleaner industrialized areas than in places such as Africa. Parker’s studies, looking at animal differences, may eventually help scientists find when, where and how environmental exposure help protect against future allergies and immune disorders, said Goldstein, and Dr. Jeffrey Platt of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota., both of whom were not part of Parker’s studies.

Parker said he hopes to build a 50-foot artificial sewer for his next step, so that he could introduce the clean lab rats to an artificial dirty environment and see how and when the immunity was activated.

That may be the biggest thing to come out of the wild and lab rodent studies, Platt said: “Then all of a sudden it becomes possible to expose people to the few things (that exercise the immune system) and gives them the benefit of the dirty environment without having to expose them to the dirt.”

A couple of thoughts immediately come to mind. First, how do you sell your boss on building a 50 foot artificial sewer? Second, I remembered the house that eldest and second sons lived in during their college years. Squeamish parents would stop at a gas station to use the bathroom before visiting the guys. We wondered why they were not sick all of the time. Now I realize that they were probably healthier than I ever could have hoped. These men utilized the brilliant strategy of creating an artificially dirty environment to stimulate a healthy immune system. It is always great when science validates slothfulness. And it is even greater when you can figure out a way to incorporate slothfulness into a sentence.

But how does this relate to an ineffectual Christian life? I think that the average Christian in America has also compromised our spiritual immune system by choosing a cushy and safe Christian experience. We have tuned our immune system not to fight crucial sin in our lives, but minor irritants. When you talk to fellow Christians are you passionately concerned about communicating the gospel to the world or about some minor irritant (person or program) at your church? Do we agonize over injustice in the world or petty injustice in our lives? Have we programmed our spiritual immune systems to battle pride and selfishness? Not likely. And by the way…I did not fare well in the pop quiz posed in this paragraph.

And the rats may hold another clue. I recently read a quote from an excellent book called Organic Church. The author noted that to reach the world for Christ we have to be willing to sit in the smoking section. I don’t mean to imply that all smokers are not Christian. The point is we have to be willing to get out of our “comfort bunkers”. 

Paul wrote this to the Roman church.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Paul is not saying that we are to avoid being conformed to the world by isolation from it. We are instead to be transformed by the Holy Spirit renewing our mind. Isolation does not transform us at all. If anything, isolation makes us lukewarm. Because we can’t have a robust spiritual immune system if we live in a sterile sanctuary environment only. And that may be where the rats can teach us the biggest lesson. Our tendency is to stay in the sterile lab (church) and never venture into the sewer (lives of hurting people). We have too often chosen the safe route of turning on the light and praying those in need will come to the light. Some will. But most will not. Instead we are called to take the light to those in need. Jesus noted that in the Sermon on the Mount.

 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. 

When Jesus says to let your light shine before men I think He was talking about Monday through Saturday as well as Sunday. I am sick of Sunday Christians. I have spent too many years putting my light under a bowl. I have too often chosen the safe and antiseptic sanctuary over the authentic and often dirty sewer of people in need. I want my spiritual immune system to attack real threats and not minor irritants.

That scares me. But not as much as not pursuing that scares me.