Stop the Madness
by Cynthia Coe
Simplify. Americans are being hit with this term more and more, especially in these economic challenging times. As I turned on the news this morning, I encountered a story on the news about a young man who had given away most of what he owned – and was perfectly happy doing so. Then, I turned on my laptop to see a featured story on “The Secrets of Billionaires.” Duh – you take public transportation, wear jeans and a t-shirt, and don’t waste your money on a lot of “luxury” crap you don’t need.
I wonder if this can be applied to issues of time and effort, too. I’m reminded of Alec Baldwin’s character on 30 Rock, exhorting his staff to “go down to go up.” After his career hits a wall, he takes a job in the mail room, only to work himself back up the ladder and back on top again.
These concepts do have scriptural basis – give all your possessions away if you really want to follow Christ, take a seat at the end of the table and wait to be asked to move up. These concepts presented by the 21st century media are certainly not new. They are firmly part of the Christian tradition, but ones we might not be so good at putting into practice in our own lives.
Could this concept of stripping ourselves down to the bare essentials apply to our ministries in this 21st century as well? Do we need to strip down to the bare essentials, focus on the basics, and grow from there?
In my own household, my husband and I have struggled recently the challenges of parenting two teenagers. We’ve been reading Hurt: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers,” by Chap Clark. We read that our children likely feel abandoned by us, by their churches, by just about everyone. As we discerned how to best deal with issues facing us, a clergy friend invited one of our children to participate in a youth group that specialized in helping teens struggling with all sorts of issues. It seemed to be just the thing. “But wait,” my husband pointed out, “aren’t we abandoning our child once again by sending our child to yet another program?” So we have just plain spent more time with our child, and the problems have ceased – as simple as that. We didn’t need a “program,” as high quality and well intentioned as I’m sure it was.
As much time as I’ve spent organizing programs, I’m wondering if “one more program” is really what we all need. At the same time, I see the need to teach the “basics” of the faith and for parents to simply spend more time with their own children. If we take our children to “one more program,” even in church, that is time we as parents are not spending with them.
I’m not saying, “ditch Sunday School.” Really, I’m not. What I am saying is that our children are seriously overscheduled, as are most of us. I’m saying something has got to give, and we as Christians may need to take the lead in saying, “enough.” We may need to walk the walk, even as we talk the talk.
One means of being able to say “enough” may be sitting right in front of us. In response to an assignment to go visit all sorts of “communications” places for my son’s cub scout badge, I got the bright idea that we could just “visit” these places online. We toured a TV station, a radio station, mom’s website, and dad’s website, all without leaving our living room, all the while having good conversation, one on one. And I’m really enjoying reading Bible stories (from Children of God by Archbishop Desmond Tutu) and teaching my 6 year old the many different kinds of prayer myself. We’re doing Christian formation the very old fashioned way, from parent to child – as simple as that.
Recommended Reading:
Children of God Storybook Bible, by Desmond Tutu (Zondervan, 2010), an excellent resource for use with children, very well written, with scriptural integrity and age appropriate, available online for about $14 (also available as e-book for $10, but the illustrations by artists from all over the world are well worth the price of the hardback version)
Hurt: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers, by Chap Clark (Baker Publishing Group, 2004), an excellent, brutally honest, and insightful look at what is going on in teens’ heads, available online for about $12, available as e-book for about $10
Cindy Coe 