rather than

“The degree to which you are concerned for the common good, rather than for your own good, is the criterion by which you can judge how much progress you have made."

– Augustine

concerned for the common good RATHER THAN my own good.

that feels so not intuitive or natural or what we want to do.

it feels that way because... that's just the way it is.

and i guess "progress" is going against the grain. moving away from human nature and cultural norms that we are held down in and expected to operate with.

actually, i can't even remember where i read this quote. i can't remember where or when i wrote it down. i don't know the context Augustine wrote it in or specifically what he was even talking about.

i hate when people rip quotes out of context and bend them to say whatever, so i will say no more about it.

but go back and read it again.

feel the weight of that.

those words should stir something in your soul.

i hope it changes you.

those words are changing me.

maybe they can change the world too.

I hate all your show

Below is just a chunk of Isaiah 1... God talking to His people saying:

“The multitude of your sacrifices—

   what are they to me?” says the LORD.

“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,

   of rams and the fat of fattened animals;

I have no pleasure

   in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

Stop bringing meaningless offerings!

   Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—

   I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals

   I hate with all my being.

They have become a burden to me;

   I am weary of bearing them.

When you spread out your hands in prayer,

   I will hide my eyes from you;

even if you offer many prayers,

   I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood;

 wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds

   out of my sight!

Stop doing wrong,

 learn to do right!

Seek justice,

   encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

   plead the case of the widow."

wow, that's pretty hard core.
is it possible that God could feel this way about us?

here's Jon Foreman's updated take on that passage from his song "Instead of a Show":

I hate all your show and pretense
The hypocrisy of your praise
The hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stomp on my ears when you're singing 'em
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show

Your eyes are closed when you're praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There's blood on your hands
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don't fit in your plan
Quit playing religion games
There's blood on your hands

Quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can't love at all
Give hope to the ones who got no hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can't stand at all, all
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

sometimes i think it's possible that we're kidding ourselves. singing our songs but closing our eyes to the more important things God cares about.

just a reality check.

new volunteer

there's this church on the corner of our neighborhood. It's a big, stately looking brick church. it's called Oak Grove United Methodist Church.

i dropped in once on a Sunday morning (back when Ridge was meeting Sunday nights). it's the opposite of our style. opposite of my preferences. i didn't even stick it out the whole way through their service.
(but that's OK, if they came to Ridge they might not dig it either.)

i don't even know that much about the Methodists. i know John Wesley and think he's pretty cool. one of my seminary profs was a big shot with the United Methodists. that's about all i know AND that our styles are very far apart.

i guess that's why it's kind of funny that Crystal and i are the newest volunteers at the Oak Grove United Methodist Church!

yep. we're hanging out with the methodists. and they're actually pretty cool.

i didn't quit my job at Ridge or anything... we're volunteering on Wednesdays when a team from the church simply comes together to make about 500 sandwiches for the homeless people who live in downtown Charlotte.

They have a pretty sweet system for making the sandwiches and then they have a couple huge coolers we pack them in and then deliver them to an urban ministry shelter in the heart of uptown Charlotte.

i love that the church is literally in our neighborhood. Crystal and i walk to it. there's something kind of cool about that.

one thing i did know about the Methodists is that they're all about social justice. that's like their "thing". and i'm all about that.

it's a beautiful thing hanging with these people who worship in a radically different way on sundays... but we're worshiping together and in the exact same way on Wednesdays making these sandwiches.

so here we are. the newest volunteers at the Methodist church on the corner. we look a lot different than the rest of the volunteers, but it's all good.

what do YOU care about?

(This was originally posted on January 29, 2009.)

I sat down to read Proverbs 29 today after stuffing myself at the Penguin with a Big Block burger & some fried pickles. (You can read my thoughts about reading Proverbs HERE.)

1 sentence STILL will not let me go & hopefully it will do the same to you:

"The righteous care about justice for the poor, BUT the wicked have no such concern." - Proverbs 29:7

Whoa. This theme runs throughout Scripture. You can pretty much separate righteous people from wicked people based on their relationship to the poor (sounds like a story Jesus told in Matthew 25). Pretty crystal clear. plain and simple.

So, what do you care about? Justice for the poor? Or do you have "NO SUCH CONCERN"???