Smile, You Are On------on what? On the stage and in the spotlight of those who differ with you on your religious stance or belief. You are on more than Candid Camera, you are on the list of those that others are watching. You are in the spotlight of those who envy you. You are in the spotlight of family members. Smile------because others are trying to figure out what you believe and why you spend time doing the things you do, especially in the church setting.
Are there major religious differences between generations today? A whopping 79 percent of respondents said "yes."To a recent poll taken by "Pew" publications. Just 30 years ago the percentage was 60%.
Are we really experiencing a return to the times when the tug-of-war between the generations included the "younger generation" at one end of the rope and the "older generation" on the other? Perhaps.
Perhaps not. Few of the respondents of any age who said "yes" to the generation gap in this year's Pew survey stated that the differences represented a lack of open-mindedness or tolerance, and political differences got fewer votes. If political discrepancies aren't driving this generational chasm that Pew's survey found, what is? The largest chunk of respondents said that today's differences among the generations concern morality, ethics, values, beliefs, and religion.
Ah yes, religion--something that has been at the heart of conflicts for thousands of years. Apparently, the old adage that one should not talk about religion or politics with family members still holds true.
If you don't have religious variations in your family, you almost certainly know someone who does. I've heard from many families who have differences of religion and spiritual beliefs and have experiences such as the following:
A teenage child rebels against the religion she's been raised in, causing her parents to withdraw financial support for her education and to send her out on her own.
A Jewish wife and her Methodist husband are following the reformed Jewish tradition of raising their four children in their mother's faith, but they have the dilemma of wanting to celebrate the Christian holidays with older family members.
Grandparents worry about their grandchildren because they are not being raised in the faith in which their parents were raised and are unable to integrate the grandchildren into their religious lives.
Older generations say they feel that the comfort of religious traditions seems diminished by younger family members who don't value those traditions.
Family gatherings can make some family members feel deeply wounded when discussions about religious, moral, and spiritual beliefs end in angry arguments.
These are but a few examples of the kinds of generational conflicts that arise in families when religious and spiritual beliefs come into play.Smile------your family is watching you!
One of the dilemmas facing the mainline churches today is that the next generations don't seem to have the same values and needs that we do. How do we respond to that? Do we stand our ground? Do we back off?
Here are some tips for families dealing with contrasts in religious and spiritual beliefs among the generations:
Find common ground. Can you agree that you are all seeking meaning in life and celebrate that fact together, accepting that you don't all seek it in the same way?
Use positive communication skills. Be available to your family members, respect them as you wish them to respect you, and really listen.
Set compassionate boundaries. You may not want to engage in discussions about religion, because they always seem to lead to arguments and pain, or you simply may not want to participate in religious practices with other family members. Try to come from a point of compassion for the reasons they want to involve you, but be clear about your boundaries and communicate with your relatives diplomatically and lovingly.
Agree to disagree. In my experience, most families with gaps in religious views ultimately realize they are not going to change their relatives. They see that continuous discussion of their differences only leads to repetitive-stress injury of the heart. These families begin to "agree to disagree," and they try to avoid the subject of religion at family gatherings.
Is anyone watching you? Smile, you are on------someone's camera
Th is the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Your entire life is documented constantly by photographers known as paparazzi. Paparazzo (the singular form) originates from an Italian word for the annoying buzzing that a mosquito makes in one's ear.
It's an appropriate metaphor for the photojournalistic assault these rag-mag contractors unleash upon celebrities. In 1997, Princess Di was killed in a high-speed car crash while her driver was trying to evade four paparazzi following them through a Paris tunnel. But there are many more recent examples. Last spring, Madonna claimed she took a tumble off her horse when paparazzi spooked it.
For most of us it's actually a bit unnerving to be watched so closely.
But for the truly narcissistic person with money to spare, this is a cool idea. You can hire a full tabloid entourage to follow you, including photographers and reporters, along with a publicist and bodyguards to keep them at bay. It's an expensive way to look important, but it might get you VIP treatment at most events in town -- no questions asked.
A typical wedding photo shoot would include a couple of staged family portraits to keep Grandma happy, but young couples want candids. Spontaneous shots capture moments and emotion. They want their wedding photographed from a third-person perspective, like a wedding guest retelling the day's story through pictures.
Personal paparazzo and photojournalistic wedding shoots say: "This is who I am." They're natural, authentic, organic.
In our media-saturated culture, the lens is always watching.
Proverbs offers advice for people who want to look good
Proverbs is a collection of wisdom thoughts. It contains sage advice for those who would listen and respond. But throughout the book, there is an assumed Lens upon our life. An Eye that watches every human move. A Camera documenting an album of our life.
As the author of wisdom, God watches over the decisions of women and men. God has designed us to live one way -- according to wisdom -- and warns us against living outside of that design.
In the divine chronicling of our lives, Proverbs implores us to be people whose personal photo album can go on public display.
Specifically in this text, three images emerge that should shape what we look like.
Our Reputation: Mae West, the flamboyant and scandalous actress of the 1930s, reportedly said, "It's a story I wrote myself, about a girl who lost her reputation and didn't miss it." The writer of Proverbs says that a good reputation is something we should miss if we lose it.
The question of our name is a eulogy question. If we were to die, what would our funeral feel like: merely a somber sense of loss or a celebratory recognition of a life lived? What would mark our life? What would be said in our memory?
Sports headlines provide a picture of what happens when that name becomes tainted.
You don't have to be a baseball fan to know the MLB steroids scandal. Bonds. Clemens. A-Rod. These pro players spent years basking in the glory of their astronomical success. But steroid use smeared not only their accomplishments; it fouled the entire sport.
A record and a reputation with a giant asterisk on them prove the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, who wrote: "It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it."
The concern of Proverbs is that we remain people without asterisks.
But why all the hype about our standing with others? Who cares? Why does someone else's opinion of us matter, especially when Christian ethical standards are usually higher than cultural ones?
It has to do not with our standards and our image but with God's standards and God's image. God is intimately concerned with his own reputation. God's name. God's glory. God's fame. They are called holy, worthy and exalted. God is perfectly good and wants to be seen as such.
Because God's reputation among people is so important, he is concerned about our reputation as well. God has chosen to connect the two, welcoming public evaluation of his followers as a means for outsiders to know what God is like.
Our Riches: This text also envisions financial modesty. Riches -- silver and gold -- are literally set in contrast to a good name. Run that idea by your average American dreamer!
Both rich and poor are subject to God's sovereignty (v. 2), but God's sovereignty is expressed throughout the canon in commandments regarding money. Summarizing a biblical theology of wealth and possessions, New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg says neither excessive poverty nor excessive wealth is tolerable among the people of God. The former should always be covered by the latter so that neither extreme exists.
The photo album suggested by this proverb is challenging. We should be hard-pressed to find pictures of the rich or the poor in the church, only of the blessed generous and those blessed by the generous.
Our Regard: God is a God of the marginalized who cares for the widow and orphan, the stranger and the alien, the poor and the infirm. These are the people who are often overlooked or forgotten.
Out of sight, out of mind ? out of existence.
If we're honest, most of us lack object permanence in issues of social justice. If the poor and sick and widowed and disadvantaged aren't in our sight, they aren't really an issue.
One thing we can do in response to God's call to share his concern for the marginalized is to take steps to eliminate our object permanence toward social justice. The Next Level Church in Denver suggests four steps we can take in that direction:
? Aware: Educate ourselves regarding issues of poverty, oppression and human rights.
? Care: Begin praying for our hearts to be changed by what we're learning.
? Share: Financially support Christian movements that are engaging in justice issues.
? Go There: Personally enter into situations where you can be used by Jesus to bring redemption into injustice.
Because God regards the cause of the overlooked, we are to share his regard.
Like celebrities under the constant eye of the camera lens, the Christ-follower is always being watched. Our God sees all that we have done and all that we have left undone. And our culture has an eye turned toward us as well, wondering if our lives will match our words.
Be respectful of others and their beliefs, but stand your ground and live your belief that Jesus Christ is Lord. That is the church in action!
What images do others see in us, SHUMC? When we're captured at our most natural and authentic moments, are we a picture that makes Jesus famous?
Sources: Blomberg, Craig. Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1999. On paparazzi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paparazzi http://people.whatitcosts.com/paparazzi-pg2.htm time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1704698,00.html wired.com/culture/lifestyle/magazine/16-10/st_paparazzi.
