One Nation Under NASCAR

Burton has the pole today at the Brickyard in Indy. Stewart won that last year, but his troubles this season and Gordon's ability to win at this track make it highly improbable that Stewart will repeat.

I wouldn't have known any of that three years ago during my freshman year of college. Some of that is because ESPN didn't cover NASCAR then, but some of it is because of my job. As many of you know, I work at Pamida, a small retail store which has taken me all over the country. I've worked at stores in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Kentucky. While the geographical distance between these stores is great, the socio-economic condition of both the employees and customers that frequent these stores is quite unvaried.

There are two major themes that I have noticed since working at Pamida, which, with the exception of my Orange City store, lies outside the confines of "Christian-ized" society. First, there is an entire culture which has developed on the coattails of urban American society, a sizable group which is largely ignored by mainstream media (except maybe Larry the Cable Guy). The second observation is that the Christian community has largely ignored this segment of the population, which is quickly becoming the majority, either because they consider this group reprobate or because they simply don't know what to do with them.

This group is hard to define. In the past they would be known as "hicks", "blue collar" or "rednecks". They would also be considered in some circles "white trash". The rest of society has always relied on the "drive of the American spirit" to inspire this group to pick themselves up by their bootstraps and let capitalism motivate them to rejoin "real" society or get crushed for the betterment of the gene pool. The change has not occurred in the makeup of this group, but rather, the change has occurred in their mindset. No longer to they feel the need to elevate themselves into "normal" society. Contentedness with and even identification with their current socio-economic level is the important change that has occurred. There are the sterotypical interests of this group: alcohol, cigarettes, sex, motorsports, making enough money to get by, and a sense of entitlement. There is NOT, however, what we "red-blooded" Americans would expect "normal" people to innately have: a driving desire to have a better life, bigger house, better name in the community, strong church affiliation, latest technology, or political action.

Given this, who's life outlook is better? The ratrace American who strives to get the best of everything and constantly improve their lives, or the person who is content with where they are at and would rather enjoy where they are than tirelessly work to get ahead? How can an adult male work at a job where he makes $7 an hour? Because he can. Why isn't a trailer enough? Why isn't relaxing after your 9-5 with a few beers more appealing than killing yourself at work to buy an SUV or lakehome? Who's your senator? How does the internet work? What's the stock market outlook? Its simple: who cares?

In church we hear about the poor in other countries who are content with the little they have. We have a society of post-capitalistic content people living right here in America. This is the very reason welfare doesn't work. Its easier to swallow one's pride than to give up free money and labor again. What's more, while this group may be less politically correct than their white collar counterparts, they are, for the most part, more closely in line with the worldviews of minority groups such as inner city African Americans and immigrant Hispanic working groups. The tendency to prioritize nice trucks and satelite dishes over nice clothes and large homes with picket fences is a foreign concept to many of us.

Newsflash to churches in small communities: this is why your churches are declining in population. Life is easier if you don't care. The Church has always been reliant upon people caring, and hoping for a better future. That's why the Church has historically thrived amongst the poor. The church has died everywhere people see no point in hoping and working for a better future. What is the church to do about post-modern thinkers? The better question might be: what is the Church to do about post-capitalist thinkers? If the church really is an "opiate for the masses", then we've lost because the "masses" have found a few other culturally-acceptable opiates.

The Longest Two Hours in the World

Most of the time while living in Grand Rapids, I'm just unemotional towards things. Cities tend to do that to a person. They kill the uptightness that is generally associated with the small farming communities, but they also tend to kill all motivations other than greed/self-gratification. I was looking into housing a while back and the company's website explained a novel concept which placed houses in such a way that they encouraged community. It was quick to point out that such an effort hadn't really been made since the 50's.

One thing that really has gotten me irked since living here is the inability of Grand Rapids, one of the wealthiest and believer-infested places in Christendom, to reach out to its dying neighbor, Detroit. At the risk of sounding like one of the coffeehouse should-ers from my previous posting, I have a great conviction that there should be some outreach down the interstate to the most hurting city in the nation outside of New Orleans(I'm not just saying that - there was a study that confirmed it released this week).

The fact of the matter is that if I wanted to go into any sort of ministry in Detroit for internships or a "real" job, it would have to be as a church planter or in a different denomination. The host of CRC churches/classes in Grand Rapids have not recently initiated a single churchplant or denominational ministry in the city, except for one Christian-Muslim Friendship House, which holds a loose association with the denomiation. The one existing CRC church in Detroit is located where you would expect it: in the suburbs.

I will grant that Michigan is hurting on all levels. No matter who wins the next governor race, this state is screwed until we figure out a way to curb the sense of entitlement which persists at all socio-economic levels in this state. There is, however, at least in Grand Rapids, a concentration of wealth in the churches. Many churches are run corporate-style, with top-down leadership or with projects needing to be approved by certain wealthy members. Yet, the biggest hinderance to the CRC's involvement in Detroit might be that its skill largely lies in planting suburban-style churches with largely caucasian middle class populations. The kind of cities that Detroit is are usually the subjects of world missions type ministries.

Sometimes I need people to keep me accountable (who am I kidding, that would be most times). Think of this as my way of helping to wake up accountability about man-made disaster area. Its time to end the charade. We may be two hours away from Detroit, but it seems like a world away. To walk the downtown area of Detroit is to feel like you are in a recent warzone. Perhaps the need is so great we don't know where to start. I've got an idea. How about the thousands of buildings at ground zero that are falling apart as we speak in the wasteland they call a downtown. What a big problem like this needs is an army. Here is your army.

Courtesy Message: My Blogging Philsophy

As a general rule, I hate blogs. I also generally dislike people who blog. Depending on who you are, those two facts might offend you, please you, and/or come to the inevitable conclusion that I'm a flaming hypocrite.

Most of my dislike of blogs come from my observation of other people's blogs and the attitude with which I envision them typing said blog. Is it just me, or do you see in your mind people sitting at their computer with this incredibly stern look on their face, stroking their would-be beard and wondering what wonderful thoughts the rest of the world can't live without. Undoubtedly, these people base their lives on the assumption that, if the world were perfect, they and their coffeehouse buddies would most definately be on some sort of equilateral council that would decide what would be best for the world.

Most of the discussions of this council would surround what should be done about global warming, what should be done about fair trade coffee (even though nearly every company now sells it), and (at least in Christian circles) what should be done about a whole host of systemic social problems they assume can be changed at the flip of a switch. After discussing these issues, these bloggers pat eachother on the back, look down their noses at the factory workers who couldn't go to college, and go to bed after having a bottle of some sort of foreign nasty-tasting (but novel) beer.

I'm writing this blog to use up spare time and to provide a hobby for myself after I'm married and the Tigers are in the offseason (or when they start losing like normal again). If you want to read it, great. If you don't, that's fine too. If you know me, you know I have two modes: crazy phrase-slinger with no restraints and thougtfully argumenitive. My guess is that this blog will navigate the waters between those two extremes. Don't read this and think, "I can't believe he's in seminary" or "He's got no idea what he's talking about it". I'm just writing, spewing, releasing. You opened the blog. Its your choice to read it. Here we go....