Serenity.

Serenity. How beautiful a word. How much more beautiful a concept.

As I get older the memories of my Granny’s & Grandpa’s home become further and further away. Slowly and inevitably, some are even losing their vividness, like the fading sunset as it resigns to its ritual replacement every evening at the emergence of the moon.

But there are still a few memories that are as vivid and present as ever, so much so that I can close my eyes and hear the sounds, smell the smells, and feel the velvet-like material on the designer floral couches that my Granny was so proud of under the tips of my fingers. I remember how I would obsessively rub the material because it had this inexplicable comfortableness.

I remember vividly Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer hanging in the downstairs bathroom. I couldn’t tell you at all what color the walls were in that bathroom, but I can decidedly tell you the exact location of the hanging, and that the carpet was green. Yes, green carpet. In a bathroom.

I think of it often. The prayer. Okay, and the carpet too.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

There is no doubt that I and many in the church have done a magnanimous job praying for, embracing, and living out the courage required to change oneself, others, and institutions. There is no doubt we have been doubly faithful in our pursuit of wisdom in knowing the difference. But how faithful have we been in receiving the serenity to accept the things we cannot change?

This hits home. I’m a fighter. A non-conformist who is often passionate, to the point of recklessness in the pursuit of my passions. A visionary that has a gift, or a handicap, for never seeing obstacles. A dreamer that lives on adrenaline and romance, and is thrilled in the midst of the epic meta-story within the manifest and incarnate story of God. To some extent this is all of us.

But perhaps Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer hasn’t been given the right attention. Perhaps in our greedy God-Complex driven desires for change and justice, we’ve missed the most critical piece in this prayer. Serenity.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Grant all of us such serenity.

Loving Each Other is Hard

“What then shall we conclude but that as the Samaritan loved the wounded man, we as Christians are called upon to love all men as neighbors, loving them as ourselves. Second, that we are to love all true Christian brothers in a way that the world may observe. This means showing love to our brothers in the midst of our differences-great or small-loving our brothers when it costs us something, loving them even under times of tremendous emotional tension, loving them in a way the world can see. In short, we are to practice and exhibit the holiness of God and the love of God, for without this we grieve the Holy Spirit.
Love-and the unity it attests to-is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world. Only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians and that Jesus was sent by the Father.”

— Francis Schaeffer, Mark of the Christian

I wish it was called “I Have A Dream Day”

Many anthropological experts, including those within the church, have suggested that the Millennial Generation’s boldness and activism is the result of naiveté and youthful rebellion. Some radicals have even go so far as to say it’s the mass-media’s fault for lifting up and idolizing some of the successful liberators and thought-leaders in the last several decades, like the great, late, and rightly celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., suggesting that young people worship these activists and resolve to become like them. I recall even hearing one argument comparing it to the young basketball enthusiast that wants to “be like Mike.”

Then there’s the exhausting argument that has yet to be proven, but could have some validity; they simply haven’t lived “long enough yet” and their faith hasn’t really been challenged because they’ve been over-protected, over-sheltered, over-affirmed, over-praised, over-you-get-the-picture. And to some extent, perhaps that is true. Respectfully however, I have an argument that many people might not like to hear.

I strongly believe in this generation. There is something about their naiveté and core belief that they can change the world (and they are by the way: TOMS, Invisible Children, Libya, charity:water, Haiti, @hope, etc.) that inspires me and gives me hope that the church can once again find it’s place as dare I say it… RELEVANT in American/Global culture again, something Dr. King paid the ultimate price for.

The real problem isn’t the Millennials’ naiveté, but rather the fact that the church hasn’t been the center of their community nor has it been very intentional about raising them as disciples who have any theological vocabulary and understanding of the world around them. There is a deep, theological desire pouring out of their hearts like the rivers of justice we hear about in Scripture and sing about in church, but they don’t know it. They are largely ignorant to the why-behind-the-why; they know they want to change the world and restore it, but they can’t tell you why save for saying “it’s broken.” What’s worse, they can’t usually even tell you why it’s broken.

I believe that the MLK Jr. Holiday provides a great opportunity to reflect on our (their?) hope for the future. Has anyone ever considered that perhaps the reason why the Millennial Generation is so bold and so willing to act is simply the fact that they are the first generation to grow up in a world/society in which black men and women are in positions of leadership, equally influencing society? Is it possible perhaps that, for the first time in a long time (perhaps for the first time in American History at least) the future leaders of the world have reclaimed their role as a prophetic voice, calling out the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law on things both unorthodox and heretical? With today being MLK Jr. Day, I have been reflecting on this a lot. I’ve also been reflecting how this impacts the role of the church, how Dr. King Jr. himself impacted the church, and the anomaly that I find it to be that we have created a day called MLK Jr. Day – something I believe Dr. King Jr himself would oppose, just as John Calvin would oppose the term “Calvinist”. Perhaps a more fitting name for today would be “I Have a Dream Day”.

Perhaps then, the church could celebrate this prophet, saint, and unfortunate victim of a hate crime with some true boldness and theological significance. Perhaps then, instead of celebrating the man, minister, and civil rights leader that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was, we could begin to celebrate the vision he fought for and that we desire to achieve, one that I believe was a vision deeply and prayerfully discerned by a man who knew God intimately, and was indeed ordained and consecrated by God. Perhaps then too, churches all over America, and the globe, could begin to dialogue and digest the real need in our culture today, and that’s simply admitting that we too have a dream… that one day soon the church would be the vibrant, relevant and trusted center of the community again, instead of a tired, rundown community center.

So there’s my dream… what’s your dream?