Archive for January, 2011

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#21 – Worship Technologies

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , on January 31, 2011 by scotthiga

I spent this past weekend at winter camp with my church’s youth group. It was a great weekend to get away with four other churches and have camp with almost 300 people. The campground was great even though it wasn’t the most state-of-the-art facility. The chapel in which we held our large group meetings offered few of the amenities that most churches consider standard these days. The chapel had a sound system and projectors but that was about it. There weren’t any stage lights, fog machines, moving backgrounds on slides or elaborate stage and lighting designs. Yet, in spite of those missing components, we were still able to worship God through music.

I love worshipping God through music; it’s one of my very favorite ways of connecting with the creator of the universe. For some time now, though, I’ve noticed that worship services have moved away from simplicity toward complexity. I am not one of those who thinks that moving backgrounds and elaborate lighting designs have watered down our worship of God through music; I think that any way we can help usher people into God’s presence is worthwhile. Ambiance and setting have an impact on how easily people can let go of themselves and truly worship God. Sometimes, though, the techie inside of me feels like I can’t really worship God unless I have all the trappings of a modern worship service.

Then I spend a weekend worshipping in an old building, under fluorescent lights, and I’m reminded that worship has very little to do with me or the ambiance, but so much more to do with God and his glorification.

It is weekends like the one I just had, hearing 300 voices filling a room praising our one and only God, which remind me that worshipping God through music is not as complicated as we make it out to be. God gifted us with the ability to worship him through music; music allows our hearts to connect with his in a different way than reading the scriptures or hearing a sermon. And that’s all worshipping God through music is: our hearts connecting with his through the medium of music.

It’s a simple thing that we can complicate with everything else we add to it. Lights and sound and moving backgrounds and lasers and fog machines – all of those aspects of a modern worship service are secondary to the primary goal of drawing nearer to the heart of God. If all the aspects of a modern worship service help cultivate hearts to better connect with God’s, then I am all for them. But in the end, if our worship services and the songs we sing are an end in and of themselves, then we’ve missed the point and we’ve left the amazing gift that God has given us in the box. God gave us the gift of music so that we could glorify him; we should strive to honor and use that gift to the best of our ability and for its intended purpose.

How do lighting, effects and other worship technologies affect your ability to worship God through music?

 

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#20 – Sneaky Cell Phones

Posted in Uncategorized with tags on January 28, 2011 by scotthiga

Back when cell phones first gained popularity there wasn’t much to do with them. You could make a phone call and maybe play a rousing game of snake. When I got my first cell phone text messaging wasn’t that popular. Now times have changed and how we use cell phones has changed. These dramatic shifts in cell phone usage have had an unintended consequence; people in churches all over the world are turning on their cell phones and tuning out the worship service.

Let’s be honest. Who hasn’t pulled out their cell phone to read a text message, send a tweet, update a status, check a score or spin Urban Spoon to find lunch? It’s habitual now to check our phones, even if we received no new notifications. Sometimes church can last almost 90 minutes and I could miss something really important.

How can I be expected to pay attention to a sermon when I’m potentially getting two new cows in Farmville? (I have no idea about Farmville so I hope that was an appropriate example)

How can I focus in on the words I’m singing when I just thought of the funniest 140 characters ever?

How can I bring my requests and thanksgiving before God in prayer when someone just tagged me in three new pictures?

Since there is so much that can happen in the palm of our hand, it’s easy to lose sight of why we’ve gathered together on a Sunday morning. I’m not advocating that we should sit in church and check our phones but, if you need to, here are a few ways to be sneaky about it.

Download a Bible

Having a Bible on your cell phone is the perfect excuse to even have it out of your pocket or purse. Without the Bible on your phone, there really isn’t any reason to have your phone out. You shouldn’t be texting, you shouldn’t be making calls, you shouldn’t be playing any games; if that’s all you have on your phone then it’s almost inexcusable to have it out. But, if you have the Bible on your phone, it’s expected that you should have it out; it’s even praised.

“Look at this young man with the Bible on his phone. He is taking seriously the call of Joshua to not let the Book of the Law depart from him. Wherever he goes, he takes the word of God with him.”

Once it’s known that you have the Bible on your phone, you pretty much have a free pass to always have it out at church: services, Bible study, potluck, choir performance, baptism, building fund meeting, car wash, missions dinner, Veggietales sing along. Even though you may just be sacrificing some angry birds to kill some pigs, no one needs to know. To everyone else it looks like you’re just a Bible-loving fool, unwilling to put down the word of God.

Take a Posture of Prayer

In the past I’ve fallen asleep in church. I often fell prey to the head nod; as my head began to fall back as I nodded off, I would jerk it back into position. The worst part about the head nod is that it looks utterly ridiculous to the person sitting behind you. She’s there to hear from God’s word and draw nearer to his heart, but she keeps getting distracted by your violent nodding. So after a number of Sundays suffering a mild neck injury, I decided that a posture of prayer was much more conducive to falling asleep.

The posture involves leaning forward, placing your elbows on your knees and then placing your head in your hands. To the casual observer it looks like you’re in contemplative prayer but you’ve really put yourself in a position to catch a little shut eye. This posture of prayer, though, isn’t just effective for naps; it’s also effective for checking your cell phone. If you just place the phone on your knees, you’ve got a clear line of vision right to the text message that couldn’t wait another 20 minutes. Hearing the revelation of God’s word definitely isn’t as important as reading that your friend wishes Chick-fil-A was open on Sundays.

Again, I’m not advocating that you check your phone during service but, if you absolutely need to, then those are a few ways you can do that more inconspicuously. But if we’ve made the effort to gather with Christ’s body, to worship the Father and be inspired by the Spirit, then the only thing we really need to do is be fully present in that moment. Phones are great and Facebook is fun, but gathering with others and coming before God creates a holy moment, one we can’t find on our phones no matter how smart they are.

When are you most tempted to check your phone in church?

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#19 – PowerPoint Guy

Posted in Uncategorized with tags on January 27, 2011 by scotthiga

When I was growing up there were three ways to present lyrics for worship songs: printed in the bulletin, hymnal book and overhead projector. Sometime in the mid 90s, though, PowerPoint and projectors started becoming the norm for worship lyrics. This dramatic shift in worship services produced a new kind of church nerd: the PowerPoint guy.

Every church has one; you might even be him or her. The PowerPoint guy is always huddled behind the computer on Sunday morning, making sure every worship song is in the appropriate order and every announcement has the pertinent information.

He understands that people can’t worship God through song if they don’t know what words to sing.

He understands that people can’t fill out the sermon notes if he doesn’t hit the button on time.

He understands that people won’t know when the potluck is if the font is too small to be legible.

God gifts every believer with spiritual gifts, which are to be used for the edification of his church and the advancement of his kingdom. If Paul were to create his list of spiritual gifts today, we would see “PowerPoint” right up there with teaching and hospitality.

Not everyone is perfect, though, and PowerPoint guy can have some faults.

Sometimes the sermon can get a little boring, especially if PowerPoint guy has to sit through multiple services. It’s easy to lose focus and start playing Angry Birds when the pastor starts into her long, drawn out analogy. There’s nothing worse for PowerPoint guy, though, than when he’s about to get three stars and the pastor interrupts him by asking for the next slide.

As a former PowerPoint guy, I know that there can also be a little pride involved. Sometimes I would create what I thought was the perfect PowerPoint, filled with moving imagery that really advanced the purpose of the sermon. Then, when the pastor didn’t get to that part of the sermon with the moving imagery, I would get a little upset. Not only did my hard work go to waste, but the congregation was denied PowerPoint that revealed a small part of God’s nature.

I don’t really see churches moving away from computers and projectors any time soon, which means that PowerPoint guy is here to stay. Running PowerPoint is often a thankless job and there are a lot of dedicated men and women in churches around the world happily sitting behind a computer, faithfully making their contribution to God’s kingdom. Perhaps this weekend, as you’re walking out of church, stop by the computer and thank your church’s PowerPoint guy or gal for their service.

If you’ve done PowerPoint at your church, what is one of your favorite stories?

 

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#18 – Nerding Out For Jesus

Posted in Uncategorized with tags on January 26, 2011 by scotthiga

In response to yesterday’s post about obsessing about our nerdclinations at the cost of focusing on Jesus, Nik asked the question, “What is the Christian equivalent of ‘nerding out’ over Jesus?” Here are some ways that we can nerd out over Jesus.

Jesus Fan Fiction

There are plenty of nerds who enjoy creating their own stories and tales for their favorite nerdclinations. These creations are known as fan fiction and many examples can be found with a simple Google search. (I just did it and got over 15 million links). So if someone’s obsession with Buffy or Babylon 5 pushes them to create fan fiction, why shouldn’t our love for Jesus push us to do the same thing?

Early Christians loved Jesus and wanted to know more about him, so somebody wrote The Infancy Gospel of Jesus. You may have never heard of it, but it’s where you can find the stories about Jesus turning two clay doves into real doves and bringing one of his friends back to life. The only problem with these stories and any fan fiction you write for Jesus, is it wouldn’t be canonical and it might be heretical.

If you write a story about Boba Fett’s adventures hunting a young Han Solo, no one is really going to get that upset. If you start messing around with Jesus, though, people might start to get upset. Writing about Jesus’ struggle as a resistance fighter in his early 20s may sound cool, but adding to the scriptures is kind of forbidden – even if in your story Jesus was a totally hardcore resistance fighter.

On second thought, Jesus fan fiction is a very bad idea; keep to writing romance stories about Galadriel falling in love with Gimli.

Midnight Screenings of The Passion of the Christ

I’ve been to a lot of midnight screenings in my life. I’ve even dressed up for a couple; I rented a pirate costume for the midnight premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. It’s exciting to sit in a theatre surrounded by other nerds, taking in the visual stimulation of one of your favorite nerdclinations. Imagine if you took the excitement you have for Captain America or Harry Potter 7.5 and applied that to The Passion of the Christ?

Had you come dressed as Andrew or Bartholomew you could have really showed up people dressed as Peter or John. Dressing as Peter or John for The Passion of the Christ screening would be like dressing as Han Solo or Luke Skywalker for a Star Wars screening: totally amateur; real nerds dress like the most obscure characters they can find. Instead of cheering when Chewbacca shows up for the first time, you could have cheered when Jesus was saying the Beatitudes. Instead of groaning when Luke kissed Leia, you could have booed when Pilate released Barabbas instead of Jesus. Watching The Passion of the Christ could have been much more interactive and much nerdier. It still would have been a good idea to cover your eyes at that creepy old man baby thing.

Biblical Role-Playing Game

Reading the Bible is good, but designing adventures for you and your friends to role play through is even better. There was a lot of uproar when I was younger about Dungeons & Dragons warping the minds of young nerds and pushing them to kill their parents and abandon their faith. Instead of boycotting D&D, more intrepid parents should have designed a pen and paper role-playing game for their children. Instead of looting dungeons, adventures could be centered on stories from the Old and New Testaments.

Do you have enough strength to conquer the Philistines like Jonathan?

Do you have a high enough willpower to stand before the Sanhedrin and defend your faith like Peter and the apostles?

Instead of magic, do you have enough faith to part and cross the Red Sea like Moses?

The Bible is ripe with adventures for pen and paper role-playing. Young nerds could sit huddled around a table on a Friday night, not just reading the stories in the Bible but experiencing them like never before. The only problem, though, would come when Moses doesn’t get a high enough roll and the Red Sea remains impossible to cross.

Nerding out about an obsession is fun and can often drive the latent creativity of many nerds. Instead of just focusing that energy and passion on comic books and Dr. Who, why not turn it toward Jesus, the one who should stand as our central passion?

What other ways can we nerd out about Jesus?

 

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#17 – Obsessing Over Jesus?

Posted in Uncategorized on January 25, 2011 by scotthiga

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen the Star Wars films. I’ve probably seen Return of the Jedi more than any of the other films, probably more than any other film period. Needless to say, I know a lot about Star Wars; I have most of the crawls memorized and I can speak along with all of the characters. Sadly, though, I probably have more lines of Star Wars dialogue memorized than I do Bible verses.

Part of being a nerd is obsessing over the objects of our affection. I really like Star Wars so I watch all the movies and I’ve read a lot of the books. I really like Star Trek so I watched The Next Generation almost every day of my life for about three years. I really like Battlestar Galactica so I bought all of the seasons on DVD and had marathon viewing sessions. I really like a lot of nerdy things and my actions reflect that obsessive nature.

I also really like Jesus but, based upon my actions, you could say that I care more about what Captain Picard says than what Jesus says.

It’s interesting that so many people, not just nerds, can invest so much time and energy into their own personal obsessions or pet projects. From collecting and organizing comic books to doing a kitchen remodel in the house, people can commit themselves to something and pour countless hours into it. Christians do this too; we heavily invest ourselves into all manner of things but sometimes don’t give as much to Jesus. If Jesus is the most important part of our lives, then he deserves more than the scraps that are left over when finish with our other interests.

I’m not advocating asceticism; I think Christians can pursue Christ and watch Star Wars or collect stamps or play golf. Our other interests, though, and how much time we devote to them can provide a good gauge for where our hearts are at. Last week I spent 20 hours playing Dragon Age: Origins and probably not even a tenth of that time sitting before God. Playing video games isn’t bad, but it is if it gets in the way of investing in my life with God.

I’m all for nerding out and obsessing over a show, book or hobby. We just need to make sure that those other obsessions aren’t taking the place of our first love. If we claim to follow Jesus, that needs to be reflected in the lives we live and how we spend our time. If someone looked at our lives and decided that we follow Harry Potter, World of Warcraft or working out, then something’s off and we need to re-center and reprioritize our lives.

Though if you’re a nerd, and someone thinks you’re working out too much, that may not be an entirely bad thing.

How to you balance your life with God and other activities or hobbies?

 

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#16 – Evangelizing to Nerds

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , on January 24, 2011 by scotthiga

I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. – 1 Corinthians 9:22

Followers of Jesus should lead their lives in light of the Great Commission; we are supposed to go into the world around us and make disciples of Jesus. In the above verse Paul gives some insight into what it means to share the good news of Jesus. Paul says that he became all things to all people in order that he might share the love of Jesus. If you’re hoping to become a nerd in order to save some nerds, here are a few things you should avoid doing.

Holding Signs at Conventions

I’ve been to a few nerd conventions in my life and there is nothing greater than finally feeling that sense of belonging. I attended the Electronic Entertainment Expo and it was awesome to be in a place with so many other video game nerds. Imagine, though, if a well-meaning Christian had decided to use that convention as their mission field, evangelizing to all the video game nerds. What would the signs have said?

“MT GOD IS MORE THAN A GOD OF WAR”

“SALVATION: THE ONLY REAL EXTRA LIFE”

“HELL: IT’S A LOT LIKE BOWSER’S CASTLE”

“YOU CANNOT SERVE TWO MASTERS, CHIEF!”

“IF PRINCESS PEACH IS CAUSING YOU TO LUST, CUT HER OUT”

Nerds go to conventions to celebrate their obsessions and bond with others who share the same obsessions. They’re not looking to be converted, unless it’s to another vein of the nerdclination being celebrated. So keep your signs to yourself and definitely don’t confuse them. No one wants to see you on the corner with a “HONK IF YOU LOVE JESUS” sign next to a “JEDI AREN’T THE ONLY ONES RETURNING” sign.

Comparing Christianity to Nerdclinations

It may be tempting to become a nerd in order to save a nerd. This, however, is much easier said than done. If you wanted to save someone who likes football, you could probably get away with having a passing interest in football and watching a game or two. Nerdclinations aren’t like that, though. Nerds get super deep into their obsessions and, if you’re not as obsessed, attempting to find a common ground may seem disingenuous.

Someone trying to compare Christianity to Star Wars may try drawing a connection between the force and the Holy Spirit. That may lead the nerd to think that the Holy Spirit is something that can be used and mastered. Or the nerd may jump off on a tangent, trying to find out how midi-chlorians fit into the picture or whether or not there’s a dark side to the Holy Spirit. An unprepared evangelist may start to show his or her lack of knowledge and the nerd may interpret that as disingenuous interest.

Or the nerd will just be happy to have someone to talk to…especially if you’re pretty.

Other ways to impair your ability to evangelize nerds include anything that would impair your ability to evangelize to non-nerds. Jesus told his followers to make more followers and there are plenty of ways Christians have screwed that up over the centuries. If we really want people to follow Jesus we need to respond to them like he did: with love, grace and compassion. Those qualities of Jesus are much more attractive and much more effective than any sign, no matter how clever you think it might be. Those qualities combined with an honest relationship provide the best opportunity to bring others to Jesus. And if that relationship includes some Star Wars or a little Settlers of Catan, then I think Paul would be proud.

What nerdy evangelism signs can you come up with?

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#15 – A Wolf in Nerds’ Clothing

Posted in Uncategorized on January 21, 2011 by scotthiga

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. – Matthew 7:15

With that warning Jesus let his disciples know that not everyone is what they seem. Jesus knows that some will come in his name, claiming to lead people toward the truth, when in reality they are leading people astray. We can see that throughout the history of the church and we can even see it in headlines today.  I don’t feel like a false prophet but I do somewhat feel like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Actually, more like a sports fan in nerds’ clothing.

It’s a little presumptuous to set myself up as The Christian nerd; sometimes I’m not a very good Christian and sometimes I’m not a very good nerd. This week has been a good example of my two-faced nature: being both a nerd and a sports fan. In the past week I have put about 20 hours into Dragon Age: Origins; the whole time, though, I have been thinking about my Chicago Bears and their upcoming game against the Green Bay Packers for a trip to the Super Bowl.

Now if you’re a real nerd, all that talk about Bears and Packers and Bowls sounds like the last quest your dungeon master designed. It was a harrowing tale traveling through a bear-infested forest, to the ice-packed Cloudy Mountain in order to find the magical bowl of Undestu. If I were a real, grade-A, top shelf nerd, I would care more about looting dungeons than how the Bears front four are going to pressure Aaron Rodgers on Sunday.

Nerds shouldn’t really care about football or any other sport. Traditionally, nerds’ aversion to sports doesn’t include just playing them, but also watching them or participating in any way. The only time nerds should really care about sports is when they take place at the Renaissance Fair; jousting is the sport of kings and nerds. Thanks to Harry Potter, though, nerd sports aren’t just limited to the Renaissance Fair anymore; nerds can sign up and participate in an actual Quidditch league. Actual as in people running around with brooms throwing a ball; not actual as in people flying and chasing the snitch.

In James we’re told to confess our sins to each other; consider this post my confession. I am a really big nerd, but there are some parts of me that aren’t as nerdy. I really like sports, I enjoy playing volleyball and it’s fun to go camping. Those activities aren’t that nerdy but, being able to identify almost any episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation after watching for only 30 seconds, more than makes up for them.

What un-nerdy activities to do enjoy?

Thanks to Nik for the idea for this post.

 

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#14 – Tone It Down

Posted in Uncategorized on January 20, 2011 by scotthiga

Psalm 139 paints a beautiful image of God hand-crafting each and every one of us in our mother’s womb. Some he made athletes, some he made scholars, some he made lovers and some he made nerds. You are fearfully and wonderfully made by God, including all of your nerdclinations. However, just because God may have given you some inherent nerdy traits, that doesn’t mean you have to fly your nerd flag at full mast.

I am not suggesting that you cease to be a nerd nor am I suggesting that you live a double life, stepping out on your normal life to spend time with your proverbial nerdy mistress. I am merely suggesting that you cover up some of the nerdiness in your life. Successfully covering up the extent of your nerdiness can lead to a fuller life where you find yourself functioning in everyday society, earning the respect of your peers while secretly cultivating the nerdiness you’ve grown to love. Here are three easy steps to that end.

Step One – Limit Nerd Conversations

In my life I have heard plenty of nerd conversations. Conversations like this range from arguments of whether or not Captain Kirk could defeat Captain Picard in a fist fight to intense discussions of how Buffy’s relationship with Angel impacted her relationship with Spike. Chances are if you’re a nerd you’ve probably participated in a number of these conversations, raising your voice as you tried to convince the other party that you were correct on some minor plot detail or some piece of meaningless trivia.

The biggest problem with these conversations is that they completely alienate those in the normal world and push them away. If you want to be a functioning member of society you need to limit these conversations and keep yourself from getting excited and worked up over an argument about fictitious people who have no impact on reality. It isn’t necessary to completely stop these conversations but you need to be mindful of when and where they take place. When I worked at EB Games we used to spend every 8-hour shift having nerd conversations which was completely appropriate within the context of a video game store. However, when you’re pulling shots of espresso or sitting in class, no one wants to hear the ramblings of an incensed nerd. Limiting your nerd conversations is the first step to covering up the full extent of your nerdiness.

Step Two – Overemphasize One Area of Nerdiness

Most nerds I know can’t limit their nerdiness to one area. While working at EB Games we used to calculate our nerd score. A nerd score was the number of areas for which you considered yourself a nerd; the average score for the employees in our store was five. Nerds love nerding for various characters, television shows, movies and books; most nerds are compulsive nerds and manage to add one or two new nerd fetishes to their repertoire every year.

Unfortunately, those living in the normal world are not accepting of nerds who claim allegiance to seven or eight areas; the normal world is really only accepting of nerds who embrace one or two areas. So even though you may have encyclopedic knowledge of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and the Batman comics, you need to narrow that down and really emphasize one. By overemphasizing one area, take Star Wars for example, all those other areas are forced into the background and you’re simply seen as an enthusiastic Star Wars fan, not a freak with too many obsessions. You really need to commit to one area and use that as a cover up for the other areas of nerdiness in your life.

Step Three – Show Disdain For Other Nerds

No matter how big of a nerd you are you can’t nerd for everything; it’s impossible. There are too many movies, television shows and books to be a nerdy expert about them all. If you try chasing down everything there is to nerd about, you’re going to burn yourself out and miss out on those areas that you really care about, the first love which made you a nerd in the first place. My advice is to pick your horse and go with it; get excited about that horse and put all your money on that horse. Maybe, every so often, you bring another horse into the stable, but always have the purebred which you can fall back upon.

Once you’ve chosen the horse with which you’re going to run, immediately begin to distance yourself from all those other horses. This process is like selecting a dodge ball team on the playground; once your nerd players are in place, show disdain for the players that didn’t make it onto your team. If you like Star Trek talk about how terrible Twilight is. If you’re really into Harry Potter call those people who hang out in comic book stores the biggest losers in the world. If you’re addicted to playing Xbox turn your angst and ire against those nerds trapped in the World of Warcraft. Showing disdain allows you to set up an “us versus them” mentality which allows you to say, “I may be bad, but at least I’m not as bad as…”

Those are three simple steps which, if rigorously applied to your life, will help you to lead an acceptably nerdy lifestyle. These steps won’t make you any less of a nerd but they will help you function more capably in society. You’re not really covering up the nerd God created you to be, you’re just displaying limited levels of nerdiness so others will more willingly accept you. As you’re accepted, though, you will be able to pull back the veil and reveal more and more of your true self and the depths of your nerdiness. And hopefully, by the time you’ve revealed the true extent of your nerdiness, those people will be too pot-committed to leave you.

How have you ever tried to cover up your nerdiness?

 

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#13 – What if Gollum Was in Your Small Group?

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , on January 19, 2011 by scotthiga

Chances are if you’ve ever been in a small group, it hasn’t always been a perfect experience. It’s possible that the leader didn’t really know what he or she was talking about. Perhaps the content of the discussion didn’t really interest or apply to you. Or maybe there was someone in the group who was just a little bit off.

I’ve been in plenty of small groups in my life and sometimes I’ve been joined by some people, who not only march to the beat of a different drummer, but they’re marching in the wrong direction and they may not even be listening to a drummer. It’s always a challenge to engage those people and help them to connect with the group. It’s definitely worth it, though, to see someone invest in a group and really find a sense of belonging.

But what if Gollum was in your small group?

He would get off track.

Sometimes the struggle with small group members is their propensity to get off topic. Gollum would be the worst possible small group member in that respect. The only thing he cares about and wants to talk about is the ring.

Small Group Leader: “Gollum, what do you think Jesus means when he says that we’re supposed to be the light of the world?”

Gollum: “It means that the ring is the light of my world.”

Small Group Leader: “Gollum, how would you have responded if Nebuchadnezzar had threatened to throw you in the fiery furnace?”

Gollum: “If the ring had been in there, I would have chased after it.”

After several failed attempts to elicit an appropriate response, a good small group leader would tailor a question so Gollum could be involved in the discussion.

Small Group Leader: “Gollum, what did Abraham’s servant put in Rebekah’s nose when he met her at the well?”

Gollum: “The ring.”

See, everyone can be involved in the small group discussion, even if they do their best to derail the group by keeping it off topic.

He would offend some people.

One of the great things about small groups is that there’s usually food involved. I know that I have stayed committed to small groups in the past just because the food was so good. Imagine, though, stuffing your face with crackers dipped in cream cheese and salsa or teenie weenies covered in BBQ sauce, when Gollum slinks in. He’d stare at you, call you a stupid, fat hobbit, and then walk out of the room. As you stood there chip in mouth and BBQ sauce stain on shirt, you would be speechless, wondering who invited the weird, little guy and whether or not sandals were a good choice for your hairy feet.

He would eat your pet.

At my old house we had a large fish tank and whenever we had people over they would sit and stare at the fish. It was actually a nice room in which to have a small group; the fish provided a cool setting. If Gollum was in the small group, though, he would spend the whole time tracking the fish until he was ready to strike. Then, once he did, there would be a lot of dead goldfish and a big wet mess to clean up. You’ve probably had some pretty bad small groups in your life, but at least no one has ever killed the family pet. And if that has happened, please tell me the story; that’s an awesome sermon illustration.

Small groups can be a struggle, especially if there is someone in the group that has a hard time fitting in. It is in those circumstances, though, that we have the greatest opportunity to respond like Jesus and show acceptance, grace and compassion. Everyone wants someplace to belong, even the really weird ones. And nothing shows the heart of Jesus more than when a group is accepting and willing to take anyone in, especially when it’s difficult.

But if he or she kills Fluffy, it’s probably time to go.

How have you responded to a difficult person being part of a small group?

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#12 – Bible Quiz

Posted in Uncategorized with tags on January 18, 2011 by scotthiga

I’ve never been picked first for dodge ball.

There are few things in life more embarrassing than the dodge ball selection process. Everyone knows who will be number one: tall, strong, fast – the kind of guy who would get Winnie Copper. Everyone also knows who will be last: short, glasses, inhaler – the kind of guy who would have a secret shrine to Winnie Cooper made out of loose hairs and discarded chewing gum. The dodge ball selection process may have been one of the most humiliating experiences of my life, but I more than made up for it in Sunday school on Bible Quiz day.

A few times a year, after she had run out of Bible stories with animals, my Sunday school teacher would put away the flannel graph and break out the Bible Quiz. The Bible Quiz was an attempt to make learning about the Bible fun while simultaneously inspiring the competition Christians are known for. While I may have been picked last for dodge ball, I was the Tom Brady of Bible Quiz.

I loved Bible Quiz day because I finally got to experience what it felt like to be a winner. Instead of the two captains arguing about which dodge ball team had to be hampered by my doughy body, everyone in the Sunday school class wanted me on their team. I was the blue chip, can’t miss prospect of Bible Quiz and, to be honest, I didn’t disappoint. I dominated every category from “Egyptian Plagues” to “Miracles of Jesus.”

Unfortunately, though, Bible Quiz would eventually end and Monday morning I’d be back at school getting picked last for dodge ball. I would do my best to bask in the glory of my Bible Quiz triumph, but it quickly faded when the ball hit me in the face and sent my glasses tumbling down.

:(

What creative ways did your Sunday school teacher use to share the lesson?

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