Day 4: Pop Character

Tuesday morning. I saw my daughter off to school before I left this morning. She clung to my legs and said to me, “I love you Papa,” and I cried. It’s all about being the Papa.

I don’t want to talk about serious stuff today. I especially don’t want to talk about knowledge. I just want to be. I want to let it all start to sink in so that it changes me into a better Papa. My table was taken this morning by a group of chatting ladies who obviously did not know that I’m the Papa. The wind was blowing so hard that dirt from the recent burn zones blocked out the sun and moved all the Daily Grind customers inside. Wind makes for strange conversation. While waiting for Mark I joined a talk with three ladies about children, which was on my mind already. One spoke about her wild three year old boy, another about getting ready to have kids.

“I’ll probably have a red head,” she exclaimed, “because my husband has red hair and my sister has fire engine red hair.”

I told them how great it was being the Papa and they laughed with me. It was all wonderful until they started talking about contraception, then I got embarrassed. I just can’t talk about sex openly like that. {My wife thinks it’s pretty funny}.

“My brother came out the pill in his hand my mom always says,” joked Diane, the blonde with the wild boy.

“Yea,” joined Sarah from behind the counter, “my parents could name the malfunctioning prophylactic with each child.”

Woa, I’m out of this one. Look at that strudel over there. How about another cup of tea? Thank God that Mark walked in right then and I had an honorable excuse to leave the chat on that note.

Mark was holding something in his hands but I couldn’t see what it was. The smile on his face made me worried and after that conversation I had no idea what would be in that bag. 

Mark: Got something for ya.

Robert: What’d you do that for?

Mark: I was in Santa Monica a few nights ago when I saw this and just had to get it for you.

{He opened the bag to reveal a bar of soap. Okay, it was a bar of soap in the shape of Jesus.}

Mark: Hope-On-A-Rope soap! Read the back.

Robert: “Wash your sins away with Hope-On-A-Rope. Remember, only good clean living with get you to heaven so this is the perfect way to cleanse your body and soul.”

Mark: Is that great or what? Urban Outfitters.

Robert: I figured it had to be.

{Urban Outfitters somehow decided to bank on the stupid Christian products. What is better about theirs is that they are obvious that it’s a joke while some seem to be far too serious}.

Robert: I was in a Bible bookstore the other day and saw a pack of mints on the counter, Almighty Mints, named after a phrase about the breath of God breathing on you from the Psalms. I picked them up and held them in the face of the clerk and asked, “Are these a joke? Because if they are not, they are foul.” He shook his lowered head acknowledging his own embarrassment. Unfortunately, the good reputation of the Almighty God does not outweigh the almighty dollar.

Mark: Priests wear crucifixes, born-agains wear T-shirts. I don’t get it. Do they ward off evil somehow?

Robert: Something like that. The crucifix comparison is a good one. The Christian sub-culture has become so afraid of getting dirty from the rest of the nasty fallen humans in the world that they have to keep a safe distance at all times.

There was a time when Christian’s were normal human beings, interacting and participating in the culture in which they lived. In 21^st century America, Christianity has fled the culture and has created one of its own. We have our own language, politicians, music, art, scholarship, television stations, bookstores, candy, jewelry, wall hangings and toilet paper.

Mark: I was just talking about the rip-off shirts that I’ve seen. You’re saying that there is an entire sub-culture of Christian stuff?

Robert: Big time, there was $877 billion spent on the Christian trinket industry in the year 2000. But it all starts with the T-shirt. Christian culture wears clothes washed in the blood of the lamb.

That is how you know who belongs and who doesn’t.

If you are part of the Christian culture, you eat Bible Bars, food bars made from recipes found in the book of Deuteronomy. You eat Ezekiel 4:9 bread for breakfast in the morning. That one always makes me wonder. If you read chapter 4 of Ezekiel that bread is called the bread of affliction. It is what you eat when the city is under siege and there is no other food to be found. Now, we buy it like some Biblical health food. Hello!

Mark: I’ve had that bread, I kinda liked it. It was real nutty.

Robert: Me too. I’m not talking about the taste, I’m talking about christening it with a Bible passage.

Mark: I know there have been Christian bands for a long time. Some are on major labels.

Robert: I love that some really good bands cross over, but its never gone over well with the general Christian culture.

So, the Christian culture listens to Christian music only because a “c” cord sounds different when played by a Christian musician. They read Christian fiction by both authors. And they watch Real Videos on TBN instead of the Real World on MTV.

Mark: I always know the Christians around by the WWJD tattoo they wear on their forehead. Can you imagine an Orthodox Jew with WWMD across his yarmulke or a Buddhist monk with WWBD on his orange robe? I am not sure why Christians are the only ones who do that. But it seems like the trivialization of God if you ask me.

Robert: The trivialization of God is always a terrible thing. I see the problem as being when we think that this is what Christian living is. It would be sad if we mistook pop culture for true character, all we end up with is pop character.

Mark: I’m as sarcastic as anybody, Robert, but I think you’re being too rough.

Robert: I hear ya. I know it. I want to be. I’m not saying Christians don’t do any good in the world or even that the culture Christians have created doesn’t have some positive aspects {Even though I don’t personally think it should exist at all}.

What good do you see coming out of it?

Mark: Care for the poor & homeless. Aids relief. Promoting family values.

Robert: God bless Wordvision and Bono, but I wish I could say that these were the mainstream of Christian culture.

Social concern for the Christian culture is all about protecting the middle class status quo and their version of family values. They pray in school, even when the pagan administration says not to. They mock the science teacher any time the name of Darwin is mentioned. They don’t drink, smoke of have sex in front of the pastor. They watch rated R movies only late at night on home video and they never, never, never listen to Metalica, that is right out.

Mark: Dude, you’re doing it again.

Robert: I can’t help it. My point in being so obnoxious not to mock, but that you would know that these things are not what we are called to be as Christians. I don’t have any problem with Christian T-Shirts. I certainly don’t have problems with family values. Actually, I have a lot of respect for the guys doing the pro-family thing, all of them. But if we begin to think that that’s all there is, then we are missing what that comes first. We are missing the development of Christian character and a true heart that everything else flows out of.

{I was beginning to realize something here with Mark. We insiders have more trouble with the cheese that is produced in the name of Jesus than others seem to. He was just fine with whatever they wanted to do, Buddhists wear orange robes and Christians where stupid T-shirts.

Robert: I was reading GQ one day. I get a subscription sent to me, I have no idea how I got it. My name isn’t even right on the front. So, I was reading the issue and there was an article called, What Would Jesus Do? The premise that the author would live inside the Evangelical Christian sub-culture for one week. He only watched TBN and the 700 Club. He listened to Christian radio and he hung out at the Bible Bookstore. His kids began to think he was nuts. Towards the end of the week he was waiting in line at a grocery store when he glanced over and read the headlines to a tabloid. Nearly seven whole days away from the hardcore filth that society piles on us everyday made him a little more sensitive, he was sickened and felt like he understood the point of withdrawing from culture.

I get it too, I really do. I just want it to be clear that what matters is who you are, not what you wear. Your heart is important.

Mark: I’ve always understood God to be concerned that I be a person who loves. Isn’t that it? I mean, love one another as I have loved you, right? I would expect Christian people to love. That where I want to begin. I want to be part of something, a church, where the love that we have for each another would be so close to that of Jesus Christ, that people would walk in and say, “There it is, that’s what I’m looking for.” No argument, no words, no explanation needs to be given.

Robert: Yes, yes, yes. Before we open our mouths to speak about the goodness of Christ and salvation through the cross there ought to a context set simply by who we are and how we interact. You are so right. God is concerned that we become people who love. Not just in an emotional sense, not just that we have nice feelings for each other, but as I have loved you. We are to be people who regularly lay down our rights for each other.

If we would show this kind of love to one another, it would not matter what we wear or eat or listen to. This is what God is concerned about. I need to become a person who loves.

Mark: I think that would be enough. That is all that I want.

Robert: Don’t leave out the creeds.

Mark: No, I’m trying to take that and move past the information part and get into who I am going to be. Change. That’s what I’m getting at.

{There is something inside every one of us that longs for self-improvement. I believe that is part of the image of God that is in us. Mark and I found an intimate connection at this place. But in this discussion, only I had a good solution.}

Robert: That’s exactly what Paul is getting at in his writing to the Galatians. He explains how the gospel of Jesus Christ ought to produce change in our lives. There is a consistent pattern of living for one who believes the gospel and there is a way of living that is contrary to it.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

{I have this old Bible I keep in my jacket pocket. I cut the corners of years ago so that the pages wouldn’t bend up on me. This one is sacred to me. Its not a tool, its more like a private note for quite moments. Bringing it out here was an opening of my heart, though Mark didn’t know it yet}

Mark: I can’t do rules; I’ve already told you that.

Robert: Wait a minute, look at what Paul does with the list. He offers the list of behaviors and said that people who live like this will not inherit the kingdom God. But why? Because they are actions that come out of a heart that does not have faith in Christ. He is judging the fruit to determine the health of the tree. How I live reveals my heart.

When Julie and I moved into our new house, there were four fruit trees in the backyard. We were fairly certain that one was lemon, one apple and one apricot. There other was a mystery. So we looked at the leaves and examined the blossoms as the budded in the spring. However, we could never be certain until the fruit appeared in its nice round purple juiciness. I was so thrilled to have a plum tree; I had one in my yard growing up as a kid.

That is the point here. If we see these things immorality, jealousy, envying then there is evidence that your heart is still not in the right place. On the other hand, there is fruit born from the heart that possesses the Spirit of God:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control

The first lists things to do. The second details things you are. It’s not as simple as “stop doing that” and “start doing this.” God requires that you be one who, from a heart that trusts in Christ produced this kind of life.

{Mark sat back w little. He exchanged a few words with Sarah, who was mixing flavored coffee right next to our table. French Vanilla. The smell was so strong that they had to open the doors. This was a polite way for Mark to slow down the conversation and bring it back where he wanted it to be. I’m good with that.}

Mark: Who you are cannot be faked. I especially want to know who you are when things are not going well for you. That’s when your most basic character is revealed. When I insult you, do you insult me back? Who are you at home when the door is closed? Are you patient? Or do you fight with anger and lose yourself in a drunken stupor?

Robert: Yes.

Mark: Yes, what?

Robert: Yes, I do all of those things. I far too often act differently than what I believe says I should.

Mark: What?

Robert: I do not live what I believe. My heart and my faith don’t always look the same. The only solution I know of is to come back again to hope of forgiveness in the cross of Christ. Yes, I am guilty, but Jesus has carried my guilt on the cross. Jesus will cleanse me and restore me again. While at that cross I beg God, “God change my heart, I don’t want to only change on the outside. I want to be a different person. I want to be like Jesus.”

Mark: Being like Him is much more that just doing what He did. I mean, if I take care of people the way Jesus did but its bogus, just religion, then I can’t say that I love as Jesus loved.

Robert: I struggle with that sometimes. What is my motive? What is the state of my heart? Who am I really?

Mark: That’s what I’m getting at. No hypocrisy.

Robert: Now, I wouldn’t go that far. I think we are all hypocrites, some of us are just better at hiding than others.

Mark: Which one are you?

Robert: Oh, I wear it on my sleeves. I can’t find it in me to pretend like I have it all together. I am always something short…

Mark: You said it, not me.

Robert: Very funny. What I’m saying is I never live up to what I believe.

Mark: Then why do you keep going? I think I would just give up.

Robert: Because of the hypocrisy factor.

Mark: The hypocrisy factor?

Robert: The hypocrisy factor is built into following Jesus. When I follow Jesus, I begin by admitting that I don’t have it together. So really, falling short only supports my trust in Jesus. I guess its only hypocrisy then if I try to say that I don’t fail all the time.

{Mark liked the hypocrisy factor. I do too. Actually, I depend on it everyday}.

Mark: When I drove that guy home the other night, I was just moved to do it. It was me, really me, who helped him. I thought about it, I wanted to, I felt for him…

Robert, honestly, there have been many times that I didn’t do something that maybe I should have because I didn’t feel it. I didn’t want to be a hypocrite. I’m not sure about that. It can’t be right that good things don’t happen because my heart is not right.

Robert: Hmmm. Well said, my friend. I don’t think that we can ignore the incredible number of commands in the Bible. And those aren’t conditioned on but only if you feel like it. No, we have to obey just because God said so, because we trust Him, while we pray that our heart might be changed to correspond.

Mark: Obey? You mean 10 commandments and all those.

Robert: You don’t want me to start a Bible study right here, but take the time to read Acts 6, John 15 and 1 John 2 when you get the chance. Jesus expects three stages obedience. I’ll point ‘em out as simply as I can.

The first stage of Christian obedience begins when you first believe. Here’s a description of those who believe the gospel from Acts 6:

The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

In response to the command to trust in Christ, you obediently trusted in Christ.

The second act of obedience you perform as a Christian comes from John 15:1-4.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. John 15:4

If your first act of obedience is to believe, then the second is to stay with the gospel, keep your confidence in Jesus’ death and not in yourself.

The third act of obedience is actual, positive following of the commands of Christ.

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 1 John 2.

Keep ‘em as you learn ‘em. His way will always be the best.

Mark: So no contradiction with being authentic and doing good just because Jesus said?

Robert: Not necessarily, but of course each of our hearts is incredibly complex. I personally want to make sure that my do it anyway actions are because I believe that Jesus is right about this too.

Mark: This is far more intense than wrapping yourself in Christian pop culture. But it resonates with me.

Robert: Even if it doesn’t, its still true. The sub-culture has become the Christian’s pop character. True character takes time and practice. You can’t find character in a book like you can knowledge. And you can’t buy it on a shelf like a T-Shirt. But it’s absolutely necessary for following Jesus.

Walk this way, Mark. Take the knowledge that your gaining here as we talk and go with it. Add a little more knowledge to your little knowledge and your will become less dangerous too.

Mark: I still think you’re a little nuts.

Robert: No, I’m a little Christian and that’s far more dangerous.

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