Broomball
There's a tradition around Cascade...if you consider a couple of years a tradition. Once a semester the Student Activities Committee rents an hour of space down at the Lloyd Center ice rink for a game of Broomball (pretty much hockey). All the students will meet at the rink around 9:30 pm, get into two teams (distinguished by colored helmets), grab their what can only be described as hockey clubs (long wood sticks with square plastic tips), and duke it out with each other in their street shoes on the ice, hitting two heavy plastic balls toward the opposite goal. It's amazing that this tradition continues, as each year it is anticipated that some new injury will occur. Last year it was a fight between two gents because one could not control his aggression. This year there was bloodshed. During an amazing play, a chin collided with the ice, creating a nice gash in the chin (thus creating the need for stitches) and a nice smear of blood on the ice. It was a beautiful moment...in the most grotesque sense of the word of course.
It's always amazes me how an event such as Broomball (and many others) can bring together the masses. It doesn't matter the social status that you hold...when you're on the ice, you're part of the team. It also doesn't really matter what team you're on since everyone is slide-tackling everyone else anyway. Everyone is cheering everyone else as well, it doesn't matter what team you play for. Broomball is one of many things that puts the differences, attitudes, and bias' outside our living arena (pun intended).
This got me thinking about the church. Today in chapel our math professor stood before us and told a little bit of his personal testimony. He became a Christian late in life and he was, to say the least, a very gruff man beforehand. Through an act of divine intervention he became a believer in Christ. The very first Sunday that he went to church as a believer, some women made a snap judgment on him. Because he wasn't the most tidy and well groomed of men, they assumed that he was a drifter. "Oh he won't stay long, he'll be gone in no time," they said to themselves (later to tell him). Despite this assumption, today he is an incredibly faithful...man, husband to his wife, father to his two sons, and probably one of the most tender-hearted men I know.
I've been around long enough to know that snap judgments are made all of the time. They're in our workplaces, our schools, the places we work out, our coffee houses, etc. But the church? What? How many times have we in the church made a snap judgment on someone inside the church? I know I have. I'm guilty of it. Big time. There's a woman I know that I always considered to be SO needy. It seemed like every single week she would go to the front of the congregation during the invitation song and ask for prayers for yet another crisis in her life. It took me a long time to finally figure out that I was just as needy as she was. I had my own set of circumstances that I needed prayers and support for. Then it occurred to me that everyone in the entire congregation probably felt the same way, only this woman was the only one brave enough to do anything about it. I know I wasn't about to go up front and tell everyone what my problems were. No way. Everyone, however, is needy...and that's why they go to church. They are desperately in need of Jesus and the healing power that he provides in God the Father.
How can the church improve this area? This is something that I'm still trying to answer. The answer cannot be found in a tidy, pre-packaged box with ribbon on it. Since you, me, Joe Schmo, and even some of the people that I tend to dislike make up the body of Christ, the answer has to come with a transformation from within us.
For me...maybe the challenge will be to just imagine that life is one big game of Broomball...
It's always amazes me how an event such as Broomball (and many others) can bring together the masses. It doesn't matter the social status that you hold...when you're on the ice, you're part of the team. It also doesn't really matter what team you're on since everyone is slide-tackling everyone else anyway. Everyone is cheering everyone else as well, it doesn't matter what team you play for. Broomball is one of many things that puts the differences, attitudes, and bias' outside our living arena (pun intended).
This got me thinking about the church. Today in chapel our math professor stood before us and told a little bit of his personal testimony. He became a Christian late in life and he was, to say the least, a very gruff man beforehand. Through an act of divine intervention he became a believer in Christ. The very first Sunday that he went to church as a believer, some women made a snap judgment on him. Because he wasn't the most tidy and well groomed of men, they assumed that he was a drifter. "Oh he won't stay long, he'll be gone in no time," they said to themselves (later to tell him). Despite this assumption, today he is an incredibly faithful...man, husband to his wife, father to his two sons, and probably one of the most tender-hearted men I know.
I've been around long enough to know that snap judgments are made all of the time. They're in our workplaces, our schools, the places we work out, our coffee houses, etc. But the church? What? How many times have we in the church made a snap judgment on someone inside the church? I know I have. I'm guilty of it. Big time. There's a woman I know that I always considered to be SO needy. It seemed like every single week she would go to the front of the congregation during the invitation song and ask for prayers for yet another crisis in her life. It took me a long time to finally figure out that I was just as needy as she was. I had my own set of circumstances that I needed prayers and support for. Then it occurred to me that everyone in the entire congregation probably felt the same way, only this woman was the only one brave enough to do anything about it. I know I wasn't about to go up front and tell everyone what my problems were. No way. Everyone, however, is needy...and that's why they go to church. They are desperately in need of Jesus and the healing power that he provides in God the Father.
How can the church improve this area? This is something that I'm still trying to answer. The answer cannot be found in a tidy, pre-packaged box with ribbon on it. Since you, me, Joe Schmo, and even some of the people that I tend to dislike make up the body of Christ, the answer has to come with a transformation from within us.
For me...maybe the challenge will be to just imagine that life is one big game of Broomball...
Looks like your touching on a pretty bit problem within church. I couldn't agree with you more. You know me and that I really dig a church that can communicate culturally to people, however, I sometimes wonder just how much baggage that brings. In a world where snap judgments are all too common, this seems to be yet another area where too much world leaked into church.
Posted by
Anonymous |
2/04/2005 8:17 AM
No kidding. I've had the same thoughts about the people who ask for prayer every week, but after I while I started admiring them. It's very difficult to admit to your own neediness and to ask for the help of others. Even tougher when you are looked at as a leader-figure. Very difficult but also very important to create the sort of culture in a church where this can happen. Worth the effort...
Posted by
everyday.wonder |
2/04/2005 5:21 PM