This is part 1 of a 3 part (maybe 4 part) blog series this week here at the Joshua Collective. Some themes and topics related to this series have been alluded to in previous posts and in recent talks at Crash. Your commentary will make this week a great launching point for future work.

As we begin here, I need to qualify some things. I am still processing through my thoughts here, so I am still figuring out my conclusions on a larger scale. So, please be generous in your comments and feedback.

With that being said, I also refuse to let my absolute mastery of this struggle deter me from talking about it. I received an overwhelmingly affirmative reaction at Crash last night to my comments about the desire of many in my generation to have real, meaningful relationships with an older generation. Also, I have had several conversations recently over coffee, during meals, and in passing with friends between the ages of 20 and 45 who echo this same sentiment (I am 25). Even though I haven’t figured this out, I thought it was time to have an extended dialogue here on the blog.

Finally, my statements made here are not the official position of any group, organization or church that I am a part of or connected with. These words reflect my own personal feelings and experience.

Today, I am going to tackle the reality of moment we find ourselves living within. From my vantage point, I see a growing generational gap in our culture. Places and contexts that brought generations together are becoming far more segmented and fewer and further between than in days past. Also, older generations and younger generations find themselves at odds over a growing number of issues and each group finds itself unable to understand, comprehend, or accept the view of the other. Older and younger make broad, sweeping generalizations about one another, but by and large, these statements are made amidst a vacuum of personal relationships and significant experience. All of us are guilty of categorizing and labeling others without really getting to know them.

I dabble in the area of technology, occasionally explore the arena of business, but my area of expertise is the church. And I see this gap greater in the church than probably any other place. And this gap is not a unique phenomenon to our present day. We are not the first people to sense a gap between the generations and discover that angst, frustration, and a diversity of opinion is present within it. We need to learn from others who have gone before us and experienced it themselves…but, oh wait, those are the people we feel abandoned by and estranged from. This could be a problem.

And while this is not the first time this gap has been present, this gap does not remain static, as if our struggles are carbon-copies of struggles from the 70s, as some have told me. They would play down this struggle as yet another example in the generation merry go-round.
The truth is this moment is not the same. The knowledge base doubles less than every 6 months. Our world is being shaped by the medium of technologies that were inconceivable during the 60s in San Francisco. SMS, Twitter, Facebook, iPhones, netbooks, video Skype. All of these mediums are re-shaping the way we interact with each other in our world. The accessibility of information and the ability for nameless, faceless individuals to gain credibility and fame amidst our culture is unparalleled. The world has changed.

If you are struggling to understand this change, go and watch the movie “In Good Company” starring Topher Grace, Dennis Quaid, and Scarlett Johnansson. The film portrays part of the challenge of our day in stark colors.

There are so many places where I see people – young and old – trying to come to terms with this gap. And I am grateful for that. But I get incredibly frustrated when someone smooths out the nuances of this setting and situation, brushes it off and makes some short summation, “we had this same problem when I was your age. it’s not any different.” Oh, but it is. And if we won’t admit that it is real, then we should just end this conversation right here until we resolve that.

In the days to come, I will lay out my argument along a couple of lines. One, I will describe how for myself, this moment presents me unique challenges due to my age and my vocation. I hope to create parallel lines of dialogue and conversation that go beyond the church to the larger culture that continue to express the uniqueness of this moment and urgency with which we must act and influence. Two, I hope to describe some possible routes via which I believe this gap can be navigated. I hope to be positive, redemptive, honest, and optimistic amidst this conversation.

But if this kind of scenario continues in the places where I see it happening, there are going to be real challenges produced by a lack of prepared and engaged leaders in the next generation – because they got tired of being patted on the head, rather than being invited into reciprocal mentoring relationships.

I sat at breakfast with a friend this morning. He said, “I feel like I am going to have to wait 20 years to get the credibility and chance to lead and influence in my church.” He is in his early 20s.

This gap is real and it is time to do something about it.

-Savage

So, I get in the car last night to drive home after Crash. And I look at my wife. and she says, “what were you on tonight? you were all over the place.” I replied, “I knew I was gonna be hyper when I finished my Rock Star within 30 minutes of the service starting.”

So, apparently I said some things I dont remember saying, and I was a bit over the top at times, but here are some nuggets – both serious and funny – from my talk last night on Spontaneous Hospitality during our Home series.

-”You can’t be who you are by yourself.”
-”Is there anything that brings us together that is bigger than what we agree on?”
-”it’s a good thing that she didn’t ask me and that she asked someone much more mature than I am.” (Story about how a hostess thought our birthday dinner group was from a commune)
-”God created you to be who you are with other people”
-”we prefer staying in hotels over people’s homes because we can keep a safe distance and remain in control. if we get uncomfortable, we can run away”
-”we avoid the spontaneous and pursue the planned.”
-”what was the last decision you made that you didn’t know what the consequences were going to be? what was the last risk you made?”
-”all these great heroes of the Scriptures – the uniting factor about all of their lives was they were constantly in the midst of a moment where they were completely dependent on God to come through or it would fail.”
-”how do you view your resources? do you see them as God’s provision so you can be prepared to offer hospitality to others? or do you have plans for all of those resources and you get frustrated when God starts messing with your plans?”
-”we are Americans – we are convinced that there are unlimited opportunities within an indefinite time period…and we are wrong.”
-”parents have the hardest time understanding there are deadlines…and if they miss them, their kids cannot participate in an activity.”
-”where does that kind of hospitality come from? I would never do that.”
-”I said that I loved God, but I was barring that person from my life because they were weird or awkward or annoying.”
-”are all of your friends clones of you? they look like you, think like you, agree with you on everything? if that is the case, aren’t you bored?”
-”if you are in the midst of crisis or are looking for Home, then stop running away from the very thing you need and want because you are scared. make yourself avaialble – there are people here who have space for you.”
-”but don’t be a creeper” (story of a local pastor coming to Crash to “find a mate” and the first woman he went after was my wife – we were dating at the time. Made me feel good for a second and then I wanted to give him a beat down after that).

Looking forward to bringing Home to a close next Sunday and celebrating Communion as a community. I am excited to be teaching again on Sunday nights.

-Savage

One year ago today, I woke up after a night of nervous sleep. Last minute chaos, setup, putting on my suit, and waiting for it to all begin. I saw the girl that rocked my world come down the aisle. Pictures, pictures and more pictures. I got some laughs with a rather simple video. My dad and mentor said a lot of important and challenging things, most of which I don’t remember (sorry guys). We ate some awesome chips and salsa, along with the best wedding cake ever (we defrosted the frozen top last night and its still good). We tried to hurriedly make it through a crowd of family and friends, with mixed results. My uncle won free Chick-Fil-A for a year, much to the chagrin of my friend D.K. And then, you know, we exited amidst a cloud of bubbles and went on to do…you know…WHATEVER!!!!!

Dani, I love you. I am so thankful we met at Crash three years ago. This last year has been an incredible year. Thank you for your patience when I stayed up late at night writing papers. Thanks for watching movies with me that you loathed. Thank you for coming to get me and taking care of me when I totaled my car. You are an incredible gift. I married way over my head with you. Happy 1st anniversary!
Love, Scott

Got some fun, relevant, and thought provoking stuff for you.

Seth Godin post on telling the truth in marketing.

Brad Lomenick post on establishing a creative environment.

Mark Batterson article on his struggles as a pastor with reading the Bible. Most challenging piece I have read in a while.

Video from David Letterman’s interview of Batting Stance Guy. I met this guy in LA last spring. He is awesome.

Ben Arment’s post on ten ways to make your preaching better (but I think they are relevant for all communicators).

Have a great Saturday.
-Scott

One of the greatest challenges that I have encountered in participating in churches and leading within them is the growing pervasiveness of “fakeness”. Simplistic answers to questions that removes all the nuances of the faith. Hiding the rough edges of your life from others and playing social games. Smiles, meaningless “how are you’s”, hiding family arguments that occurred on the way to church, denying that one has any doubts or personal inadequacies.

In Dave Kinniman and Gabe Lyon’s book UnChristian, the church gets nailed by young adults (both within and outside of the church) for being hypocritical, among other critiques (anti-homosexual, too political, proselytizers, sheltered, judgmental). I don’t think the real issue is the fallibility of Christians; after all everyone is full of a mix of imperfections. I think the real issue is that we set ourselves up for this when we don’t lead with humility and owning our struggles, rather than leading with focusing on the sins in our culture and avoiding our duplicity. We only deal with our sin when it has been blasted and revealed via the media.

One of the places where I have seen people leave fakeness behind and start being real with each other is small groups and other community-building groups. In the last two years, I have seen these groups create the context for incredible trust. The groups aren’t the destination though. They are really an avenue to building relationships with credibility and trust that helps people to own the places where they are broken, addicted, and hurting. Isolated and alone. And these relationships lead to them confessing their sin to another person(s). This confession has power because it involves brokenness and leads to accountability and the community rallying around those people.

Now, I am very aware that the exact opposite has happened as well. People have come into some of these type of groups and not experienced this. Or they have come in and been rejected. To trust in that kind of context again takes a lot of time and great risk. However, this is the thing we all need. And what we often need the most requires the greatest amount of risk and courage. In the deepest places of who we are, we need people who look us in the face and say, “I am not afraid of your pain. I love you and I am not going anywhere.” We need community. It is essential to us as humans.

Throughout the month of July at Crash, we are trying to highlight different avenues to these kinds of relationships within our community. We hope to show how countless people who attend the Sunday night service have established “communities of discernment” via small groups, mentoring, running clubs, and bible studies.

Check out this link to a blog post by Ed Stetzer about the kinds of questions that make these groups tick and how they can produce the kinds of relationships and transformation I am talking about here.

I hope you have established this kind of community in your life. And if not, let me know if I can suggest some places or avenues where you can start building for the future.

-Savage

I am working on a little experiment right now. I have several people that I working with…people that I creating a context for the dream within. Challenging them to take what has been a very passive experience and shift it into an active and self-driven experience.

It is HARD to see the shift take place…it is hard to move it in your mind…
I am having to be incredibly patient…and those who know me best would say, “Scott is not incredibly patient.”
I am so grateful to be in this moment, helping people I care about, believe in, and hope for break the magnetic power of passivity. For some, it takes a single nudge and they are off and running. They have been waiting for someone to release them like that.
For others, it takes nudges, consistent reminders, creative help, and some pretty strong pushing. And finally, several weeks later, the ball gets rolling.

Not everyone gets what we are doing. Not everyone thinks its the great idea that I do. But some people have rejected passivity and fear. They have stepped into courage and risk. They are doing heroic things.
I am convinced that the church has become a place where passivity reigns. And it takes time to remake that culture in the places where me and my friends have influence. But we are convinced that everyone is gifted, creative, and full of potential. Many of them have never been told that they have these things within them. They have ideas and thoughts, but these have remained silenced in a corner. We are calling these things out and say take one step.
We must reject passivity and begin to risk with courage. We are capable of incredible, heroic things. We need each other in this pursuit.
So, I am taking risks and experimenting, drawing others into that same fold. We are committing to break the magnetism of passivity.

(Savage)

I saw the Fray last night for the second time in 3 years. In Spring 2006, they had one hit single and were just coming on the scene. I crammed into a small, but awesome venue with less than 500 other people. And their sound blew away the album recording. I was a fan.

Last night, Issac Slade, lead singer and founder of the band, began the night behind the mic, not the piano. A small bar/club had become a large theatre with thousands of seats and a massive LED light wall, demanding a much different kind of performance.

As I laid in bed, I had some thoughts from the evening…
1) Community makes life more meaningful. Some people like going to movies by themselves. But concerts are one thing that increase in value when you have a friend or group with you. Thanks Jeff for sharing the evening with me (and thanks Dani for the anniversary present – gotta love year 1 and paper!)
2) Our lives are full of transitions. This second national tour connected to their second album is much different from the one attached to their first album. The Fray are not nearly the performers that Coldplay and U2 are; however, they are making great strides and I can imagine the shift it is for Isaac to move out from behind the keys.
3) Stories have the power to connect. Isaac told the story of the Fray playing the Clubhouse in Tempe/Mesa in the early 2000s and driving back and forth to Denver in small van, sleeping on a pillow covered in Fritos on the floor. It was a funny moment and it was cool to see him thank fans that had been supporting the band before they became “that band whose songs are always on Grey’s Anatomy.”

Opening band, The Meeze, fell victim to a poorly-eq’ed system that had them as a wash for at least 4 songs. And Jack’s Mannequin’s put on a solid performance as well.

Now if I can just find a way to see U2 in Glendale in October…..

(Savage)

During the month of July, Crash’s Love Team has led out in creating a space for and extending an invitation to our community and beyond to contribute art that relates to the idea of Desert. Contributions have included a child’s crayon drawing to poetry to photography to essays.

I submitted my contribution this Sunday. Thought I would share it with you below if you missed it.
I wrote this recently as I reflected on an extended desert experience during my second and third years of seminary.

“When Someone Tells You Its Not Real”

Terrified to open my mouth
Everyone will know the truth
Their excitement is absent in me
Is rejection my destiny?

I have a calling
A very real calling
To minister in Jesus’ name
And right now
I am in the middle of the desert
I loathe reading the Bible

Between getting graded
For how much and how quickly
I can move through Jesus’ story
I find myself dreading it
This book is supposed to be about life
But its dead to me

It seems like months to me
Since I opened and read something for me
Sure I found stuff for others
I checked off my sheet
Five chapters a day can’t be beat
But what about me?

As everyone talks about how much they love this
I feel like an absolute fake, a phony, a sham
So, I decide to be honest, to be real
I take the big risk
Share where I have been living
How I have been feeling
And wait for the response…

“There is no such thing as burnout”
“If you are really teaching, you will get fed too”
“Are you serious – you don’t read the Bible everyday?!”
“This is your calling, your ministry – this should be important to you”

Rejection. I had failed.
Worse – I was told that my experience couldn’t be real
The worst part of desert is when someone tells you its not real
That’s when you know you are alone…you can only hope God finds you one day…

There is still plenty of time for you to contribute to this gallery. Bring your art to Crash at 530pm on July 19th or 26th and look for myself or Kelly Young to help you get it set for others to engage before or after the service.

-Savage

Starting today, our Monday morning blog post will be the intentional and unintentional quotables from the talk at Crash the night before.

Last night – Sunday, July 12, 2009 – we had a guest teacher at Crash. Amanda (Mandy) Dohring spoke out of Luke 14 and talked about the idea of calling merging with home. Her big idea was “we find our home as we are obedient to God’s calling in our lives.”

Some Mandy-isms….
-”This is going to be weird for me tonight, since at this point in the service, I am normally getting comfortable and ready to learn something.”
-”If you’re gonna be angry, you might as well be angry at God because it will come back to you as love.”
-”Transformation wasn’t a big event; it was surrender.”
-”Following Jesus is something we enter into with our eyes wide open.”
-“We often define home as where we live or with whom we live, but it needs to be more than that, lest we become too comfortable with the status quo.”
-”When we choose to be obedient, we are opening the door to God and his will which includes those people and places that we may not even know yet…”
-”When we choose to let go and trust God in something, it affects more than just ‘my life.’”

Mandy did a great job last night and I enjoying hearing from a different communicator with a different style.

But I think my favorite line of the night came when I was interviewing Sarah and Stacia, two of my favorite Crashsters, about their connection to our community through small groups. And Stacia recounted how Maxie Burch grabbed them before they attempted to slip out without meeting anyone after their first service. Stacia said, “I had no idea who Maxie was…I mean, he is kind of a big deal around here.” Classic Crash moment. Maxie is a BIG DEAL!

(Savage)

This morning, I get the privilege of baptizing a friend, Blake Schilly (second from the right).
A teammate, a former roommate, partner in “crime”. We went to college together for three years. I was a groomsmen in his wedding, and then seven weeks later, he was a groomsmen in mine.

I am his friend. I don’t have to put on a show when we get together. I don’t have to discuss my church when we grab lunch. I know he has my back. And Dani (my wife) and Julie (his wife) have become friends as well.

Blake,
I couldn’t really ask for more in a friendship.
I am privileged to be a part of this moment with you.
Thanks for the trust and loyalty.
-Scott