Christian Bragging Rights?

There’s a Christian missions event coming to my town in September called Impact World Tour.  It is an outreach event that is geared to “people of all ages”.  The three-day weekend includes exhibitions from professional skateboarders, powerlifters/strong men, and exotic island dancers.  I’m sure my grandma is sweating with anticipation to go to this event.

During church last Sunday, a local pastor involved in organizing the event came to help spread the word.  We watched a video showing skateboarders doing tricks off of vert ramps, powerlifters smashing stacks of bricks with their elbows, and island dancers shakin’ what their mommas gave ‘em.  All of this was set to a rockin’ soundtrack with testimonies from teenagers about how awesome the event is.  My friend – we’ll call him “Bob” – looked at me and said, “Guys smashing bricks with their elbows does not awaken me spiritually.”

I would have to agree with Bob – brick-smashing by means of elbows does nothing to make me want to deepen my walk with Christ.  But I don’t think this event is aimed at people like Bob and me; people who are already Christians who are plugged into a church.  This event, like many of its ilk (I’ve always wanted to say “ilk”), caters to new believers.  It’s a fun, hip way to reach out to those who are searching for God in a culture that doesn’t listen to organ music or go to tent revivals.  Sometimes I worry that events like these get too “gimmicky”, but the gimmick is what draws people in to hear the message.  And, in my opinion, as long as the message is being delivered it doesn’t really matter how you package it.

However, there was something else that was brought up during the pastor’s presentation that rubbed my friend, Bob, the wrong way.  And the more I think about it, it kind of rubs me the wrong way, too.

After the video ended, the guest pastor began spouting off some statistics.  He began by saying that 65% of the Baby-Boomer generation were evangelical Christians.  The Baby-Buster generation (I’d never heard of Baby-Busters before last Sunday) is only 20% evangelical, and the generation(s) of people born after 1973 is made up of only 15% evangelicals.  Sobering statistics indeed.  The pastor finished his speech by letting our congregation know that 70 people were saved at the last Impact World Tour event, and they’re already projecting how many can be saved at the one in Chillicothe.

As the pastor began rattling off these numbers and statistics, Bob looked at me and rolled his eyes.  “When people start spouting off these kinds of statistics,” Bob said, “that’s when I start tuning them out.”  I laughed.  “It’s just evangelical dick-measuring.”  I gotta be honest – when Bob said “dick” in church I giggled like a nervous schoolgirl.

But there’s a lot of truth to what Bob said, and it’s something that annoys me about a lot of Christians.  First of all, where do these “generational stats” come from?  Who’s doing the survey and who’s providing the data?  Salvation is such a personal thing, and I can’t say that I trust any survey that provides pinpoint amounts of saved/unsaved individuals.  It’s absurd to me.

Secondly, who’s keeping count of how many people are saved at these events (or any Christian outreach event, for that matter)?  More importantly, is it really safe to promote the amount of people who converted to Christianity at a missions concert?  I guess it just seems kind of bold and, at times, self-centered to make these kinds of statements – especially in churches . . . and especially when it’s hard to truly tell where a person’s heart is when they make this kind of commitment!  I compare this kind of “numbers-game” to World War II fighter planes that had little German crosses with a line through them painted on their sides.  Each German cross represented an enemy plane that the American plane had shot down in battle.  I wonder sometimes if some of these Christian leaders walk around with crosses on their sleeves for each person they “led to Christ”.

Don’t get me wrong – I believe outreach ministries, no matter how big or colorful, serve a valuable purpose in furthering the kingdom for God.  But I don’t think it’s a good idea to use stats and numbers to help advertise your event.  These are just my thoughts on the idea.  What are yours?

- Wes

New YHT Book? It’s Lookin’ That Way!

I’ve been contacted by a small publisher who’d like to collect all the YHT strips into one giant book in order to sell it to the general public.  I’ll be honest with you guys – I’m pretty psyched about it.  We’re talking about 1,000-plus comic strips in one tidy collection, and – judging by this publisher’s other books – it will be beautiful.

All the details (i.e. contract, extra content, cover art, etc.) are still being ironed out, so check back to this site for all the book news as I get it.  I know we’re going to be taking pre-orders for the book, too, and I’ll definitely make sure to let all of you know how to get  your hands on this (not so) sacred tome.

For now, I think it’d be fun to think of a title for the book.  I don’t want the book to have a drab title – I really want it to stand out on the bookshelf and catch a potential reader’s eye.  I’m leaning toward Happily Ever After . . . – a You’ll Have That collection.  However, I’d love to hear some title ideas from you guys!  Can any of you think of a short phrase that sort of encapsulates the entire YHT series?  Perhaps you have a favorite line from the strip that sums up the overall vibe of the comic.  Post your ideas in my comments section and let’s talk about it!

- Wes

Sketchies!

Here are some sketches I whipped out tonight.  Enjoy!

- Wes

My “Year of Firsts”

Fortunately, making the swing back into bachelorhood hasn’t been too strenuous of an adjustment for me.  There are some pretty awesome aspects about being single again, and there are some things about living alone that downright suck.

One of the things I like about being single is that no one gets mad at me if the chores have taken a seat on the backburner.  I don’t get yelled at if the trash is full or if the bathrooms are dirty.  The laundry gets done when I run out of underwear – that’s the barometer I use when deciding when to clean my clothes.  The bed never gets made – never.  In fact, my bed is a travesty to beds everywhere.  The top sheet is all wadded up and pushed over to the other side of the bed, the pillows are scattered everywhere, I’ve got a couple pairs of jeans laying on the side I don’t sleep on . . . It’s amazing and tragic at the same time.

What sucks about being single is I don’t have hardly anything to decorate my house with.  I’ve got a few pieces of furniture, but every piece is currently in the living room.  I hung up a couple of framed drawings to make it look a little more “inhabited” if someone decides to stop by for a visit, but every other room in my house looks utterly abandoned.  You can see spots on the wall where pictures used to hang, there are anchors in the wall that need patched, . . . heck, my bedroom only has a bed in it and a chair that I use as a nightstand.  The nightstand holds a lamp, my alarm clock, my cell phone charger, and a couple issues of Men’s Journal magazine.  There’s a spare room that has nothing in it whatsoever except for some pillows in its closet.  If you ever need pillows let me know – I’ll hit up my secret “pillow stash” in the empty room upstairs.

I spend most of my time in the living room these days because it’s full of stuff.  It feels less lonely in there.  However, it’s hard not to feel a sense of despair if I have to go upstairs to use the bathroom or something.  It’s that vacant.

Fortunately for me, my buddy, Nathan, has been through a divorce and knows what it’s like to feel lonely in an empty home.  Back in January he declared that this year would be my “Year of Firsts”.  Turns out that declaring this my “Year of Firsts” has been a fun way of romanticizing my loneliness.

So far I haven’t done anything too dramatic.  I smoked a cigar for the first time ever – that was pretty fun.  Nathan taught me the basics of the game of tennis, and I played the bass guitar for the first time in front of my church.  I went to Iowa for a business trip, but spent most of the time drawing in my hotel.  I’ve been going to Sunday School for the first time since elementary school, and I’ve been reading a lot more.

I realize that none of these things are extremely exciting, but I’m not trying to reinvent myself.  I guess I’m just trying to keep busy, which is hard to do sometimes.  My job has been keeping me busy, but when I get home my mind finds time to dwell on the solitude in my house.  Too much solitude sometimes.

If any of you have some ideas that you think I’d like to try for my “Year of Firsts”, leave them in the comments section.  Please don’t suggest anything that would require me to debauch myself or that may ruin my reputation as a “pretty good guy”.  Thanks!

- Wes

Is God In Control?

The concept of “free will” is a controversial idea, especially among Christians.  It’s also a concept that I struggle with.  I’m not sure where I stand on the idea of “free will”, and I don’t want to be one of those guys who claims everything that happens in his life was put in motion by God.  I certainly believe that God can and does open doors and windows of opportunity for us – I’m just not sure to what extent He actually intervenes on our behalf.  You know what I’m saying?  I’m not trying to be cynical, I’m just trying to be as logical as I can about this stuff.

As I said in my previous post, the past year-and-a-half has been rather eventful to say the least.  It’s interesting to look back on past events and see where doors were opening as others were closing.  A lot of my close, Christian friends would say that those were “God things”, but I’m not so sure.

Let me give you a couple of related examples:

In January of ’08 I found out I was losing my job of four years.  I was laid off on July 12 (a Friday).  On July 11 I had a job interview with a former employer, was offered the job, and started work the following Monday on July 14.  Didn’t miss a beat.

The new job was a blessing to have, but it wasn’t cutting it financially.  I prayed and prayed to find a new job, and eventually found a better paying job located 35 miles away.  This new job has been a financial blessing, but I’m stressed out 24/7.  It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had, and the most demanding.

That brings us to this newest job that I’m getting ready to start on Monday.  This job fell in my lap – I wasn’t looking for a new place to work because I didn’t think I’d be able to find comparable pay anywhere else.  As it turns out, the new job is a financial wash (I’ll actually be saving money on gas), and I’ll be working with awesome people here in my hometown.  I think my stress level will be reduced exponentially, and the skills I learned at my current job will be put into use at my upcoming job.

This is just a small illustration of what’s been happening in my life over the past several months.  It’s interesting to look over these events and see how all the puzzle pieces fit together.  It’s rather extraordinary to me!  But the question I have is this:  is it a “God thing”?  I’ve certainly been praying for jobs and my financial well-being.  I’ve also been praying for the ability to handle all the stress at my current job.  Could these jobs be answered prayers?  Did God intervene in my life and bring along these opportunities at the right time?  Did He know that one job would prepare me for the next and so on?

Personally, I like to think that God has had a hand in all this, but I don’t want to rush in and start giving Him credit for something He may not have a hand in.  It’s not that I’m trying to hold out on the Guy, it’s just that I worry that I may be acting foolish and irreverent by blindly giving God credit for every single trivial thing that’s happened in my life.  Perhaps God has had a hand in every silly little thing that’s happened in the life of Wes, but there’s also a good chance that maybe He’s only affected about 73% of it.

I don’t know.

I believe in God, I just want to be careful about how much stuff I claim is a “God thing” when some of that stuff may have been a “Wes thing”.

I’m gonna go eat some salad.

- Wes