Excuse me, but where's your bucket?

If you attended worship services at First Presbyterian Sunday, then you heard Pastor Kerra’s sermon titled “Stupid Questions”. From the story of the “woman at the well” Pastor Kerra described to us the importance of understanding the differences between the cultures that make up the modern landscape of American religiosity. The woman’s response to Jesus’ request for water causes one to examine the often unquestioned tenets of faith. “Where is your bucket, how can you draw water?” The woman’s response not only states the obvious fact that the well is deep and this new “water” Jesus is describing is a foreign concept to her, it also identifies a very important aspect about her “faith”. Water for this woman is always deep inside the well and has been a laborious task to consume. Daily or weekly she would have to carry heavy clay pots and bowls to and from the well to get what she and her family would need to survive. To the woman, the whole world revolved around her well, both in its history and it sustainability of the people she cared for most. To be offered “new” water that never needs drawing again intrigues her and she begins to question Jesus by asking “how does this work?” “Do I need to get you a bucket, Sir?” she might have asked. At the mere offer of forever water, the woman was taken by the good news that is the Gospel: that once you’ve tasted the true water, you will never desire any thing more. The message of Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well is the same conversation I’ve had with Jesus on several occasions. In the past two years, I have been on a faith journey that has led me from wells of constant labor and heavy containers to a place where I am beginning to put my clay pots down and look for that water which will never need refilling. You see, I have been poisoned by religiosity in the past. I thought that if I did the right things then when I went to the well, God would grant me a small token of his gratitude. But once I left, the burden of carrying these treasures grew heavier and heavier. Soon enough, I was so tired I stopped going to the well altogether. Why should I work so hard and get so little that last only a brief while? Then one day I had a stupid question moment. I was presented with the proposition that I have been drawing from the wrong well all this time. Sure, the water I had satisfied for a while, but always needed to be replenished and restored. So I would drag myself to the well, dig deep for some sustenance and beg God to allow me a little more as long as I promised to be good. So there I was face to face with the fact that I didn’t have to labor like this, that Jesus’ had already done all the drawing and pumping of water that I would ever need. And it wasn’t just regular water, it was good water, fulfilling and deeply restoring water that invited me to drink to my fill. Now I was in her shoes, the woman’s question filling my mind: Ok, so how do you get me that water? there is no bucket! Even after seeing and tasting that this new water was satisfying and good for me, the old ways of doing things still flashed through my head. I knew no other way to be satisfied than to pull the water to myself with what ever tools were available. Then one day I heard the Holy Spirit say to me in response: “Buckets? We don’t need no stinking buckets!” Jesus had finally set me free from the bucket brigade. That meant I was free to drink my fill and no longer be consumed by the constant need to fill the bucket.

Am I relevant or just relatively speaking?

One of the greatest fears of any student minister is the fear of irrelevancy. I am constantly reviewing who I am and what I'm saying to make sure I still have a message that my student's will be receptive too and hopefully be encouraged by. Fear has a way of motivating people to do things they would normally not do. The fear of irrelevancy has led many youth ministers to change who they are as they begin to age before their ever youthful flock. I think this is why many student ministers (male one's anyway) grow goatees and attempt to stay current on the latest fashions and trends in culture. Although I feel it is important to be aware of the "who what when where and why" of cultural influences bombarding our students, it is important that we student ministers keep a watchful eye on our own relevancy. Many of us have a tendency to change the intrinsic nature of who we are for the brief prize of being relevant to a constantly changing culture of teen melodrama. Because of this desire to “fit in” many student ministers exchange the eternal message of the gospel for an uneasy fit with our students. The damage that often occurs due to such strivings can increase the dangers of student minister relativism. We tend to speak in relative terms because standards are often blurred in pursuit of being relevant. What we do is not about us fitting in with our students, but about us fitting our students with the tools they will need to embrace the hope of the gospel and the fullness of their faith.
It is important for us as leaders to take the occasional look back at the places from which we have traveled and understand that we have histories and stories and experiences that have shaped who we are today. Personal inventory will allow us to look long and intently at our plans and determine if we are being relevant or just relatively speaking. It is important that we package the eternal truths of our faith in such a way that the modern student will be captured by its value or relevance in their lives. However, we must all be careful that we do not attempt to be so much like our students that we forget the individual God created and destined us to be.

How do I Live?

The words from the song "How do I Live?" reminds me that each of us have attachments and investments in our lives that we find irreplaceable and absolutely necessary to our survival. These attachments are so deeply engrained in our hearts and minds that the mere mention of separation is cause for trepidation and fear. Anxiety and anguish often accompany the one who must answer the question of loss: "How do I live without you?" How do we live when life becomes unfair and all of our intentions fall to the floor and shatter into a million pieces of brokenness and despair? Each one of us has experienced loss. Whether it is the loss of a love or loved one, a prized possession or prized memory, we all know the bitterness of the cold reality that life will never be the same afterward.
We all have stories of trials and triumphs, temptations and masteries, but no one truly understands one's pain until the loss is experienced for themselves. I didn't know the pain of divorce until my parents’ marriage broke apart in flames and fury. I still don't know the true pain of loneliness, although I have been abandoned by friends and family in the past. I have fought the ugly shroud of depression at the loss of love, the pain of living and the uncertainty of existence. I have found that no matter how well things are going, I will suffer loss at some point or another in my life. And indeed we all will. So how do I answer the question, "How do I live?" How do I live when life hurts: when each breath is more painful than the last, when each waking moment has the potential to be harder to live than the previous? There is only one reason: "I know that no matter what I suffer, Christ has suffered with me!"
That is an amazingly comforting thing for me. You see, God, when he was seated in heaven, before he created the universe and instituted life on this planet, knew not the plight of the people he was about to create. For eons, humanity suffered under the occupation of darkness. In this life, we felt the full weight of our chains. It wasn't until God himself, in the fullness of his Son Jesus appeared upon the scene of despair and entered into the bonds of humanity did we have an answer to our question, "How do I live?" You see, the God of all the universe entered into the plight of his own creation, subjecting himself to be bound to the curse by which we are all bound and became subjective to the darkness of death. Our God can identify with the searing pain of loss associated with death, the shocking consequences of the best intentions of misguided friends and the passionate pouring out of the self for the benefit of the other, without any intention of gain.
In this Lenten season, remember that it is Christ who has suffered and it was God the Father who had to ask himself "How do I live without you?" God our father could not bear to watch the painful display of his own wrath on his son, which was the only way we could find peace and freedom. How do we live? We live because he lived and lives still!

Vintage21.com [1-4]

This video describes my impression of church and religion for a long time!

Who am I? What am I doing here?

The title for this first entry would sound more clever if you could hear the accent with which I am speaking in my head right now. Years ago, before Phil Hartman was tragically taken from us, he portrayed a character on Saturday Night Live that has stuck with me since. When Ross Perrot and Admiral Stockdale were running for President in 1996, Hartman portrayed Stockdale's debacle of a performance in a Vice Presidential Debate where he said those now famous words "Who am I? What am I doing here?". Admiral Stockdale wasn't confused about his person place or time. Rather he was trying to make a point that he was an unknown contender with little political experience. He had hoped he would be able to convey to the viewers that he was an outsider to the Washington culture and help solidify his claim that he was the best man for the job. Although it put his name out to the public, it served to be a source of ridicule and contention between the other candidates and the Perrot campaign. And as he was portrayed in SNL's skits, Admiral Stockdale becoming a laughing stock among the voters he was trying to reach.
As I prepare to embark on a campaign to reach the hearts and minds of the student's at First Presbyterian, I am reminded of this skit and how it has taught me that even the most clever gimmick is still a gimmick none the less. So here you go, with as little pomp and flair as I can prevent I would like to introduce myself to my students and my church.
Who am I?
My name is Daniel Tipton. I like taking long walks on the beech and watching sunsets....oh sorry I drifted back to the pomp. But seriously, I want you all to know the real me (or as much of the real me I think you can handle). So here goes: 5'10 2**lbs, smart and incredibly sensitive about how much time it takes for some people to get dressed in the morning. I have a dog named Sadie (named after the Beetles Song "Sexy Sadie") and I live in a van, down by the river! I have an incredible sense of humor and I'm not afraid to laugh at people when they do stupid things. I hate it when people waste my time but am willing to sit around and do nothing with people I actually like. I hate it when people are afraid to think about their faith and ignore the realities of the modern world. I hate technology and I think we should outlaw cell phones completely.
What am I doing here?
I am here to serve you, the students of First Presbyterian Church and you the viewer's at home. (sounds like a campaign ad right?) Well for the most part it is! I want you guys to learn to trust me and invest in me the way you did your past leadership. I want you all to know that I am not afraid of the hard questions (I do have an illness however that when I'm asked a question I don't know the answer to I get violently ill and projectile vomit, so be careful). I am here to help you guys in any way I can. I come to you with Degrees and Experiences but most of all, with an open heart to learn who you are and open up to you who I am in return. Let's spend the next few months discovering what God has in store for us all as we embark on a new journey of life and faith.