Nation of Rage

Have you ever heard the term "the framing effect?" If not, what it all boils down to is that people tend to rate the value of information they receive from others, by the way that it is presented, rather than by its actual content. So if someone communicates a message negatively with hatred and anger, they won't likely consider a word you say. They can't get past your hateful rage in order to look at the message objectively. Yet, this methodology of using anger in a vain effort to give our words power is being used quite often, especially in social media. However, people are not seeing how they are in reality having quite the opposite impact that they want in swaying the opinion of others. The illusion that they are producing positive results is very real in their eyes though. Since negativity can seem very positive to those who share the same feelings of anger over a given subject. It gives a voice to their anger, and people very much feel validated when their emotions are acknowledged. So anger often just becomes a rallying point, so people can gang up on the people with differing opinions that threaten us. So we don’t feel all alone in our opinion. In the end, anger is ultimately increased and intensified to dangerous and explosive proportions this way. Yet, the intended message or reasoning behind that anger just gets all the more lost and obscured, regardless how valid it may be.

Of course, when we believe we are right, we think it excuses us from having to listen. But, how are we supposed to convince anybody without anger, if we don't first seek to understand their point of view? Since they just might think that they don’t have to listen to you either. Someone has to step up and do the right thing first, if not the disciple, then who will? Of course, you have to have true understanding of your beliefs to talk about them reasonably. Then again, maybe this is why many are so prone to resorting to anger, it is all just a feeling for them.

So let me ask you this, what methods do you present your message of truth?

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. -James 1:19-20

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, -1 Peter 3:5

The Visual PARABLEist

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Idleness

But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. -I Corinthians 12:18

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. -Colossians 1:18

They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. -Colossians 2:19

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The above drawing was inspired by a story that a pastor told me. About a person who walked into his office unannounced, and opened with the phrase "what are you doing to build up this church?" While he offered no specifics or even a name. It was obvious he had some concerns over this person's attitude. Yet had even greater concerns that this attitude is held by more than this one individual. In all honesty, I have every reason to believe his concerns are warranted.

Granted, all believers want their church to be strong, but to what end? For God's sake, for the sake of the unsaved? Or just so that it will always be there for them, to fulfill certain needs. While the church should do what it can for its members, especially for new believers. But let me ask you this, how is the body of the church supposed to do that for many people with so many inactive parts? The church body seems very much crippled with most of its parts only there to receive, and very few parts wanting to give. But is that realistic, should so many parts of the body of the church be as willfully paralyzed as it is?

Maybe we need to have a closer look at Paul's metaphor for the church as a body, with Christ being the head of it. If Christ is truly the head of the church, he can still be active within this world if we are truly connected to him, and responding to that connection. As active as the many parts of his church body is. While Paul never explicitly says who the heart should be, many in the body put that burden upon their ministers. Not that I am saying that is how it should be, just that is how it is often applied. I'm sure I could make a better argument for the Holy Spirit being the heart of the church. Unfortunately, for many churches, the pastor is often one of very few conduits of the spirit, so the drawing works either way. The heart is certainly a critical part of the body, but it does not have the ability to bear the weight of the body. Yet, it is through heart that the body has the strength to bear its own weight. It is through strength of heart we keep from being idle. Let's face it, bodies do not thrive in idleness. Yet, ultimately this attitude I am trying to address wants their church to thrive despite their own idleness. They want to feed off of the labor of others. They want to ride on the back of the work of someone else. If that is how it really worked, Paul would have used a very different metaphor than a living body.

What seems the norm for many churches these days are that 80-90% of the work is done by 10-20% of the people. That's a rather poor power to weight ratio. I'm sure many want to believe that Jesus can pick up the slack. Well of course, he could, but why should he. If we are counting on that just so that we can take and receive, yet never have to give in a loving Christ like way ourselves, then he would be blessing selfish behavior. Enabling a behavior that drains the body of the church, rather than build it up. What we often refer to as negative reinforcement. God certainly knows better than to encourage that. Granted, it can be very hard knowing where to draw the line between our part and God's part. Knowing how faith in God, and trust in his sufficiency really apply. So let me throw these ideas out there to consider.

•Strength that is not put to use, is of no more value than idleness.
•How will we know where to apply God's strength if not for the wisdom the head of the church body offers?
•Separate, we are all imperfect, and in need of something, but we all have something to give as well. If we all focused on giving what we could to the rest of the body in love, rather than selfishly demand that our needs are met, we just might find that our needs will be met without demanding. We just might witness the church grow in strength.

The Visual PARABLEist

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.  Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.  And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. -1 Thessalonians 5:12-15

Mere Appearances: John 7:24

It can be very easy to get caught up in the obvious things that glare out in front of our faces, in how things appear. Since that is what is easy to discern about others and situations, and what we know that other people can discern in us. However, Christians who live by scripture, should know better than to merely succumb to human nature on this one.

"Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead, judge correctly." - John 7:24 (Jesus)

When we judge and condemn by mere appearances, or on the surface, to put it another way. We are falling victim to the legalistic mind set, much like the Pharisees did two-thousand years ago. Unfortunately, many in the church are still doing this today by getting all caught up with people's behavior, but never looking any deeper. Granted, behavior can be a reflection of where our heart is at, but it doesn't tell us the whole story; it is often a symptom of a larger problem. Which is precisely why We shouldn't judge by mere appearances, it's an incomplete assessment; regardless the situation or context.

While people often sin for rather selfish reasons; there is often a lot of hurts, emotional scars, and brokenness behind our selfish and ultimately sinful actions. There's often a face behind every scar as well. So if we correct in a way that is just as unkind, rude, and critical as the faces behind their scars; it is unlikely they will take your words seriously, or see them as constructive.

As disciples we need to keep in mind what Jesus told us about righteousness, specifically, that true holiness must come from the heart. (Matt. 23:25-27) Leave out the heart and all you are doing is whitewashing yourself. If it is foolish to do that to self, how much more foolish is it to whitewash others against their will. To force people to change their behavior, but never address what lies at the heart of their actions. For example, if you pointed a gun at someone and demanded that they say "I love you" they probably will. But, if you honestly think their words are sincere, you are only kidding yourself. Such is the nature of forced obedience. That is not the kind of followers Jesus wanted. The question is, why do we?

Sin isn't any more surface than righteousness is. (Matthew 15:18-20) So if you judge someone by mere outward signs, and never consider the emotional wounds behind them; we are essentially saying, I don't care about your pain; I only care how your actions affect me. Is that how Jesus corrected, by dismissing people's pain in favor of a pleasant camouflage? No it was not. So why do we?

Consider this, psychologists will tell you that the desire for unconditional love is one of our primary motivators. So many of these obsessive, compulsive, and self-destructive behaviors are misguided attempts to manufacture those feelings. Yet, we as believers have access to the ultimate unconditional love, but when we judge people harshly and critically by mere appearances, we are misrepresenting that love as conditional. We are pushing people away from the very thing they need most. So ultimately we are leading people astray by poisoning people to God's love.  Jesus had some stern words for such people, do yourself a favor and don't be one of them. (Matthew 18:6-7)

Let me ask you this, how do you respond to people judging you with impatience, unkindness, rudeness, criticism, and disrespect? Does it inspire you to change or just resist and lash back? If it does inspire you to change, is that change sincere, or is it merely based on fear? Other people will not likely respond any differently when you use said tactics on them. Keep all this in mind the next time somebodies mere appearance rubs you the wrong way, and you are tempted to alter their surface behavior for the sake of your comfort. 

The Visual PARABLEist

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You can't move forward by looking backward

In Thom S. Rainer's book Autopsy of a Deceased Church the author mentions several symptoms of a sick church. One of which is an attitude that the churches best days are in the past. A symptom earmarked by constantly reminiscing about previous generations, or a desire to recreate or relive former days. Often at expense of the present, and ultimately the future.

Well it seems to me that this is a characteristic that we see in most American churches at the present. For example, why else are we continuously bringing up the faith of our fathers? Granted, our founding fathers were Christians who wanted to build a Christian nation based upon Biblical principles. But can we really just go back to that moment by a simple willingness on our part? Perhaps we should look at the idea a little closer before we set those days on a pedestal. Let's face it, when one belief system is the dominate school of thought for decades upon decades, it is very easy to just go with the flow. One does not have to worry about building an in depth faith when there is little risk of it ever being challenged. So many generations later when people did start to question Christian ideals, church people didn't have very convincing answers in response. It's not that they didn't exist; it's just that their depth of knowledge didn't provide for that level of understanding. The American church has suffered greatly ever since.

So let me ask you this, what are your really sentimental about concerning the past? Is it that they possessed such a strong faith built upon a wealth of knowledge? Or is it that they didn't have to endure routinely being challenged and questioned as we do today?

Christians and non-Christians alike are putting so much effort into petitioning the government to take their side in the war of the world views. So it seems to simply be human nature to want to be in the comfortable position of being beyond reproach; rather than go to the effort of building up our confidence in our own ideals.

What would our founding fathers say about this attitude? While we cannot bring back the past, we can make ourselves equal or even better than the founding fathers through education and prayer. By moving forward, not looking backward as we wish for the return of the good ol’ days.

Ecclesiastes 7:10 -Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.

The Visual PARABLEist

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Adventures in Self publishing

Three years ago I self published my first book Visual Parables. On the anniversary of its release, I thought I might share a little of what I have learned for the sake of those considering trying this for themselves. There is no denying that the publishing industry has changed drastically over the past few decades. Changes in technology as well as society as a whole have brought book sales to an all time low. With bookstores across the nation closing their doors left and right, publishers are unwilling to take risks in favor of sure things. Which is one of the first challenges I faced in seeking publishers for an atypical type of work. One in particular told me "We like it, but we just don't know how to sell it." Which is what ultimately lead me to try self-publishing.

With technologies like print on demand and e-books, self-publishing is easier than ever. So easy that it wouldn't surprise me a bit if there were more self published books made available each year than industry published works. Which makes competition fiercer than ever.

When you get down to it, publishing a book is one thing, selling it is another. Which is one of the first things you should consider very carefully before seeking publication of any type for yourself. Do you have the skill set to sell it to the public? Let me put it this way. It takes an introvert to write the next great American novel, but it takes an extrovert to sell it, and most publishers expect you to be both. I say this because many publishing companies, especially the smaller ones are run by a bunch of book loving introverts, so they expect you to sell and promote your book yourself, mostly because they don't have the know how to do that themselves. While the really big companies do have separate staffs to assist you in that, but unless you have already made a name for yourself and come with a built in audience, they probably won't even give you the time of day. So my advice to you on that is, if you are an aspiring nonfiction writer, focus on your message, and making a name for yourself first. People often think that they can do that by writing a book, but in reality you probably won't even get a serious publishing deal until you are already in the public eye.

It's also been said of Christian publishing that if you don't promise something on the cover, nobody is going to buy it.  I discovered this is very true the hard way. It’s such a sad commentary on the state of the current church. Believers buy books to seek a specific answer, or to fulfill a certain need. They want easy answers just handed to them in a cut and dry fashion. Many won't buy a book that challenges them to be better people, because they find life challenging enough as it is. Little do they know that if they seriously sought to be a better disciple, they would find the growth that they need across the board, not just the short lived quick fixes that we perceive that we need in given moments.

If you are a fiction writer, I would suggest that you promote yourself by giving one of your books away. E-books make it rather easy to do that via services like book bub. People will be more willing to try an unknown author if they don't have to invest anything in it. If you are any good at all, they will be back for more. I can honestly say some of the more enjoyable series' I have come across lately were by independent writers who had given their first book in the series away for nothing, and they hooked me well enough that I did come back and pay full price for the rest of the series. A series I may have never even heard of, if it weren't being given away for free. Not that many are becoming millionaires that way, but their story is being told.

If after reading all this you still want to utilize a self publisher, keep this in mind. These services are typically designed to make sure they make a profit, even if you don't. So be smart about your investment. Books don't sell themselves after all.

With my tax person informing me that after 3 years of financial loss, the IRS will not likely be accepting my deductions any longer. So come September when my distribution renewal comes due. I have a choice to make. Do I keep going as I have, or do I take what I have learned and adjust my sails to the shifting winds. (John 3:8) Let me put it this way, if you have any interest in my book at all, I would order it right now while you still can.

With that being said, let me assure you that Visual Parables will go on in some fashion, however, the book may no longer be a component of it. My ultimate mission remains the same; it is only my strategy that has changed. Sometimes you got to take a step back and take a long hard look at things as they are. Consider why they are that way, and address what you find. Only then can you find yourself in a position to inspire people to seek to be where they need to be.

The Visual PARABLEist

A related article I found after this was first posted. Ten Awful Truths of Publishing (3-26-17)

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Wanting to fail

You probably read the headline and said to yourself, what an absurd idea; who would want to fail? Don't be so certain. When it comes to succeeding spiritually that often means taking on more responsibility, getting involved, letting go of emotional security blankets, stepping outside our place of comfort, being honest with ourselves, facing the past, and dealing with mental scars. Now do you see how we might want to fail. One of these things may lie at the heart of why we keep making the same mistakes.  Consider this the next time you are confessing, repenting, or seeking forgiveness. Until we address the reasons we may want to fail, we will likely never succeed.

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ -Matthew 25:23

Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” -Exodus 4:10

The Visual PARABLEist

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The two sides of Christianity

Some would argue that Christianity is man made. However, I contend that it is not the kind of religion that humanity would ever create for itself, at least as it should be practiced. How it is sometimes practiced is a different story. That is where the drawing comes in.

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You might have noticed I always portray Jesus with a two colored robe. The red side represents the love and forgiveness side of Christianity. The white represents the holiness and discipline side of it. Sometimes people will twist Christianity to our liking by forsaking the side of it that they don't find favorable, or too hard to live up to.

If we make it all about discipline and no love, it becomes heartless legalism, which leads to criticism, judgement, contempt, and condemnation. People would create this kind of belief since they are so fond of complaining, finding fault, and exalting their own sense of superiority. Not to mention it's a cut and dry, easy to understand, cause and effect theology. While righteousness is the goal, we cannot forget that holiness is not simply a list of rules to follow, because God says so, and if you don't you're in trouble. It is meant to be an expression of love towards God (John 14:23) as well as a reflection of God's very character. (Ephesians 4:24) By following it, our knowledge of him can turn into understanding of him, if we do so in more than a merely obligatory way. When legalists try to promote righteousness via impatience, unkindness, rudeness, or any other unloving behavior, our understanding and emulation of him is way off. Not to mention our righteousness is completely missing the mark since critical Christians are in fact, sinful Christians.

Make it all about forgiveness and no discipline, it becomes self-indulgent and permissive. Which leads us to rationalizing our bad self-destructive behavior. Which people would naturally gravitate towards and would want to follow, since humanity has never been at a loss for making excuses to avoid change. If we embrace that clean slate that God freely gives us, yet make no attempt to build a holy and meaningful life with our new and forgiven status; obviously we do not understand God's role of father in our lives. Such people are diluting themselves by claiming all the privileges as heir to the kingdom, but none of the responsibility of it.

This is why Jesus is saying to them "You are both half right, yet you are both completely wrong." While mankind would create half of true Christian doctrine, humanity would never unite these concepts together, and leave us absolutely no room to indulge our sinful nature in some fashion. That is what makes it unique, and impossible to live up to without supernatural assistance that only God can provide. Which he will do if we worship more than just half a God.

Let me leave you with one last thought; most people tend to judge a belief system by the people who claim to follow it. The problem with that is, no matter how good a belief may be, people are still people, imperfect and prone to error. I've just pointed out two ways how Christians make errors with their faith. The worst part is, many have no idea just how shallow their pursuit of their beliefs really are by forsaking half of it.

The Visual PARABLEist