Time to Pay the Piper (My Response to John Piper's Blogpost on Twitter in Church)

Many of you have either sent me emails, called me, or twittered me and asked my response to John Piper’s post on Twittering in church. Piper’s post was actually a response to Josh Harris’ post in much the same vein. These posts are like a handful of others I have read in recent days like this one and this one.

I didn’t want to respond for a few reasons including (1) I think most of the arguments I am reading are dumb and assume many things about how we used Twitter without taking the time to do their homework (2) I don’t want to get into an argument over something so petty and (3) I respect Piper and Harris and don’t need a blog war.

And, true confession, I don’t know that I can reply without a bit of sarcasm.

Some of the blog posts and comments I have read post TIME article are not worth my time. Or your time.

But, since Josh linked to our TIME article I am going to respond since I have been thrown into the mix and, in some way, put under the microscope. If I'm honest, I feel my integrity as a pastor has been called into question in a small way. I guess I asked for this and should have expected it. Both of these men's opinions are widely read and you asked for my response. So please, John, Josh, all due respect and here we go . . .

This is long. You may want to fix a snack.

First off, for the record, I don’t care if Piper or anyone else starts to use Twitter in church or not. I love it, I use it, but I don’t have a Twitter mission. It was never about Twitter for Westwinds. So, I’m not offended—as far as Twitter is concerned anyway.

With that said, I believe the use of Twitter is highly contextual for the church. I wouldn’t propose a cover of a Flaming Lips song if I were asked to lead worship down the street at the Orthodox church. I wouldn’t push for the new Crowder tune at the Acappella Church of Christ. I wouldn’t push for a hot tub baptism at St. Joe’s Catholic Church. For Westwinds, the use of Twitter, among many other things, are appropriate for us but may not be for everyone. It is our culture. It is expected we will try different things. Some will fail. Some become part of us.

We believe Westwinds is something pretty special. An anomaly in the greatest sense of the word. Something incongruent with most of our collective church experiences. It’s been a long road of fostering a community that values imagination, permission, authenticity, and community. It’s not an attempt at being “relevant” which is usually ghettoized to mean “look and speak cool.” It’s about incarnation and a particular offense to mediocrity.

It’s a deep-rooted belief that God has called us to act upon the stuff in our heads. The thirst for the sacred, the mysteries of God, the magic of the sacraments, the otherworldliness of corporate worship, the tears spent on broken people—they call us to act. We act by creating. By making stuff. We incarnate our thoughts into visual art and music and poetry and film. Projects, proposals and petitions. Moments and movements.

And, in this case, occasionally Twittering in church.

There are probably 101 things we have done at Westwinds that would make many pastors raise an eyebrow and/or point a finger. That’s fine. God has given us leadership responsibility over a church of 1000 people in Jackson, MI. That church values creative engagement with the gospel and one another on the weekend. Those are the people I do life with.

I have two other major points of contention with Piper’s perspective (which is shared by a few others in the blogosphere). First, I believe he is making the use of Twitter an entirely theological argument when it should not be—it is methodological. And second, I believe his philosophy of what happens on the weekend is a bit antiquated, narrow, and unfortunately the stance that keeps many of my friends from ever stepping in to a church—including the Christian ones.

I agree with Piper when he says, “Preaching and hearing preaching are worship.” From there, we may agree and disagree on a handful of things when it comes to the “how” of preaching. Is it expository? Thematic? Systematic? Done in a series? With notes? Without notes? 30 minutes? 45? 15 with a break for music in-between? From NIV? King James? The Message? Sitting? Standing? On video? In person? Responsive readings?

The answer to all those things is . . . yes. And more.

(Honestly John, I think your whole electric cord thing is weird but it doesn’t mean we can’t have lunch together—and I hope we do some day.)

One would be hard pressed to find a strict biblical model of a 30-minute sermon preached while people sit in pews facing forward hanging on every word . . . uninterrupted.

Furthermore, I find it interesting that we want to make a case for uninterrupted preaching since it is “worship” but churches everywhere will interrupt their “worship music” this weekend with video, drama, and weak announcements. Double standard?

Some of these arguments are the same shallow arguments used over 20 years ago when we fought about Powerpoint and large screen projection.

Is it possible to preach the word of God and worship while inviting your whole congregation to comment and interact with you and others while preaching? Yes! Is it possible that is an act of worship for some? Yes! Is it possible someone will engage and be engaged better by use of this technology? Yes!

Is it for everyone? No. Is it possible it will distract? Yes.

So will bad preaching.

Is it possible to worship God without a 30 minute sermon at all on a Sunday? We better say yes or we have got a LOT of conversation ahead of us.

Piper also said, “Don’t tweet during sex” which made me laugh out loud. I know he’s being funny but even that comment is a bit narrow. Sex is not purely physical. Every woman will tell you sex begins in the morning. And, if that is true, my wife and I are guilty. We keep those twitters private though.

Bottom line, we need to stop arguing about things as if they were prescriptive for everyone. We waste a lot of time.

P.S. John, your book, “Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist” is the first Christian book I ever read cover to cover. I was 19. It meant a lot to me. It’s partly responsible for this conversation.

Wearing Shorts: Rules for Men Over 35

It’s that time of year again. The time when people start wearing less clothing in public.

As an over 40 year-old man, I feel it is my duty to help my brothers with some of their questions about what is appropriate to wear. I feel I am also doing the ladies a favor. But, men don’t always listen to the ladies so I need to intervene.

Today’s lesson is on shorts. Specifically, a lesson on shorts for men over 35.

Take notes, men.

1. It is a privilege, not a right. It may not be a good idea for you at all. This is not always innate knowledge. Ask someone if you aren’t sure. If desperate, send me a picture. I will be honest.

2. No jeans shorts. Period. Not old. Not new. Not faded. Not acid washed. Not cutoff. No jeans.

3. No swim trunks unless you are actually going to be in the water soon. No walking around town in them unless you are doing that quick stop at CVC for sunblock. Even so, be careful.

4. No short shorts. Please. Do I have to list this? Anything shorter than mid-thigh is too short. If they are approximately boxer length, you need to be slapped.

5. No theme shorts. That’s Mickey, golf balls, Tabasco sauce, chili peppers, Stewie, Homer, smiley faces, etc. Do we seriously have to talk about this one?

6. No pleats. Unless you normally wear pleated pants on a daily basis (outside of what you are unfortunately required to wear at work). In which case, this list doesn’t really apply to you. There are a whole other set of rules you break regularly and I simply don’t have the time to help you.

7. No bright colors—especially pastels. Come on! You look like a walking Easter ad.

8. No bike shorts unless you are actually on a bike and working it. If you must wear these shorts because of your sport, you must have matching apparel. You must have the full gear. If you wear the shorts with a Mickey Mouse t-shirt, God’s Gym shirt, oversize GAP shirt, etc. you are breaking a huge rule. All or nothing with the bike shorts. P.S. your bike itself must also be worthy of the shorts. You cannot ride your wife’s Schwinn. You cannot have a basket attached.

9. No sports shorts unless you actually play that sport. Example: no baggy soccer shorts with your white socks. The only plus is that your bulbous knees are covered but you still can’t do it.

10. Speaking of socks . . . no. The only exception is if you are playing sports—while wearing them. This isn’t about socks, but some of you needed to hear that.

11. No mesh shorts. Just don’t do it.

12. No retro shorts of any kind. They are not “fun.” Especially no to the short terry cloth shorts with the white trim. They work for Charlie’s Angels. That’s all.

13. Be careful with the plaid. This is dangerous. Not forbidden but uncomfortably close. A good rule of thumb is this: if your wife says something like, “oh my gosh, those look soooo cute on you” they are not. Do not mistake this for your wife thinking you look hot. You do not. These shorts are not going to do for you what you think they might do.

14. No words across your butt. If these shorts are appealing to you, I will make you a pair that say, “IDIOT” and you can wear them with pride.

15. Baggy shorts might be okay but steer clear of anything that makes you look gangsta.

16. No tight shorts. We can already see your legs. We don’t need to know how much change is in your pocket or anything else.

17. Not so much a shorts rule but, if you tuck in your shirt with shorts, you give anyone permission to punch you in the neck.

18. No Hawaiian shorts. There are exceptions. The most notable is wearing them while in . . . Hawaii. Basically, there must be water involved. If you are walking into Starbucks wearing Hawaiian board shorts and a World’s Greatest Dad shirt, you give everyone permission to punch you in the ear hole.

19. Sweat shorts. Seriously? I have to school you on this? Shorts made of sweatpants material? And you, yeah you, the dork who cut off his sweatpants and made his own shorts . . . you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Have you ever kissed a girl?

20. Did I mention Jeans shorts?

21. No skate shorts. Unless you skate. And, probably only if your name is Tony Hawk. And, when I say skate, I mean on a board. Not on in-line skates or old-school roller skates.

22. Speedos are never appropriate unless you are
a. French or German
b. In Europe
c. Smoking
d. On a topless beach or at a Schwimmbad

23. Exceptions to some rules:
a. Men who are in incredible physical shape can bend some of the sports shorts rules.
b. Some rock stars can wear what they want—they make their own rules and can get away with more

Welcome to Westwinds PSA

We've been running a PSA on the weekends at The Winds. It has been very helpful. Gives people the info. Makes people laugh. Purposefully robotic and monotone and fast. We have received great feedback from newbies and seasoned Windies alike. Here is the new PSA we will run this weekend.

Welcome to Westwinds.
You have been assimilated.
Not really, you are not a robot.
You make your own choices.

That was our attempt at humor.
We don’t make you into anything.
Jesus does.
Jesus is why we are here.
Period.

Great things happen in this place.
We want you to belong.
We want you to be part of us.
So really, we want you to be assimilated.
But, not to become like us.
We want you to be like Jesus.
Now, if we are like Jesus, we want you to be like us.
Confusing?

Let’s start over.

Westwinds is people.
People who love Jesus.
People who aren’t perfect.
Some people think they are, but they aren’t.
We call them liars.
But not to their face.
We aren’t perfect.
None of us are perfect.
If you think you’re perfect, join a Sunday morning bowling league.
Your time will be better spent and we will frustrate you.
That is, if they have Sunday morning bowling leagues.
We don’t know.
Because we are here.

We need Jesus.
You do too.
You may not even know it yet.
But you are here.
Jesus knows you are here.
He wants you to know him.
We want you to know him.

The place you are in is called Fusion.
It’s our name for the weekend shindig.
This thing.
It might be different than what you are used to.
We like singing.
Loud.
We like praying.
We like laughing.
We like learning.
We like seeking.
We like asking questions.
We are spiritually curious.
Creative.
Somewhat disenfranchised.
Somewhat intellectual.
We like movies, good books, eating, rock and roll, the Bible, people, and hanging out.
So, we try to do all that here.
We enjoy life.
Jesus said he wanted us to have life.
He is the life.
The way, the truth, and the life.
Again, that’s why we’re here.

Once people pick a church, they usually ask, “What’s next?”
“Where do I fit?”
“How do I get involved?”
We believe Jesus wants us to do something.
Something.
Something for our world.
Something for our relationships.
Something for our soul.
Something for our church.
The spiritual life is not passive.
It doesn’t just happen.
That’s where Causemology comes in.
Causemology is our simple way of giving you some options for you to do something
So you can know God more.
On the wall outside of this space, to the right, around the corner,
you can see the things we are currently doing.
They will all change soon.
We change things often.
We like change.
Change is good.
Bob Dylan said, “the times, they are a-changin’.
We think he was right.
But, it wasn’t Dylan’s idea.
It was Jesus’ idea.
Bob borrowed it and made a lot of money.
We digress.

We have groups meeting throughout the week.
We call them satellites.
Because they are like little versions of us.
Smaller groups.
Doing life.
Here is the church.
Here is the steeple.
Open the doors and see all the people.
This is church but only because the people are here.
They are out there as well.
Throughout the week.
In satellites.
If you want to be in a satellite, let us know.
Write it down on the little card inside of that thing you were handed on the way in.
We call it The Draft.
It’s like a bulletin with a cooler name.
If you weren’t handed anything, we need to fire an usher.
Let us know their name, we will deal with them promptly.
Again, our attempt at humor.

Our kids meet down the hall in spaces designed for them.
We don’t want them to hate church like we did growing up.
We want them to love it.
And love Jesus.
So, they meet in creative spaces full of art, stories, music, wonder, and mystery.
They seek God.
Like us, but in mini-me kinds of ways.
They won’t understand the big words.
And, sometimes we talk about stuff that’s just for big people.
We usually issue a PG-13 warning.
Because, let’s face it, life is at least PG-13 most of the time.

Speaking of teens, they meet in this space on Sunday evenings.
They also hang out at various times throughout the week.
Kickin it.
Because, that's what teens do.
They hang.
They hang out here Sunday morning too.
Because, they understand the big words.
And, they like this as much as we do.
But, they still want their own space.
Even though we have mad skizzills.
Fo Shizzle.
Rip tizzle.
Sunday nights.
Middle School and High School.
6:00-8:00
Dat is crunk.

Bottom line . . . we’re glad you are here.
Relax, but don’t relax.
Breathe easy but sing out.
Be chill but meet someone new.
Don’t be afraid to laugh or cry . . . or both.
Talk to God.
Listen to God.

Welcome to The Winds.

Westwinds in TIME

So, I'm camping on Sunday and I get a million tweets coming to me saying Westwinds is in TIME magazine online! Fun stuff. I unplugged for a few hours to spend time with the family uninterrupted and everyone found out a few hours before me.

I got an email from TIME tonight. They are putting the online article in the print version of the magazine and sending photographers out to the church.

They did a great job on the article. I was impressed with Bonnie, the wonderful woman who interviewed us. She did her homework and double-checked the facts.

Westwinds was represented well but, more importantly, God and the church were represented well. This is a fun moment for Westwinds because, we have been pretty proud of our Twitter experiments.

Please follow Westwinds on Twitter here.