When we lived in La Paz, Bolivia, I wore a tie everyday. Funny, but in a country where poverty was a reality for most of the population, you were expected to wear a jacket and tie if you worked in an office. If you only had one suit you wore it day after day after day. Since most of these suits were wool or wool blends it led to "rich" ambient odors in many offices.
I grew so accustomed to wearing a tie that I once went to bed without taking it off. Su turned to look at me before switching off the light and asked me if I would at least consider removing it to sleep.
Living in Costa Rica, my normal office attire now consists of jeans and t-shirts. Sometimes I wear blue jeans. Other days I wear black jeans. If I am going to have an important meeting I have been known to put on a shirt with a collar. In fact, when I come into the office wearing a regular shirt, people ask me who I am going to meet with!
My t-shirts fall into three categories: first, those that I have been given from a youth ministry; second, those that my wife or daughters have given me because they thought I would like them; and, third, those that I saw and actually bought for myself. The third category is definitely the smallest.
Like anyone else, I have some favorite t-shirts.
A work team from Autumn Ridge Church came down last year wearing shirts with the likeness of Charlton Heston as Moses in The Ten Commandments. The slogan on the t-shirt reads "Old Guys Rule." I knew I had to have one of those the first time I saw it!
Thinking of shirts from Autumn Ridge, Bill Havyer gave me a tan t-shirt with a picture of Will Ferrell and the logo "More Cowbell." I wear it around men of a certain age.
For some inexplicable reason, I also have a number of t-shirts with Woody Woodpecker. My favorite is one that was given to me by friends which shows a rather bedraggled Woody holding an empty mug with the slogan, "Got Coffee?" It seems especially appropriate on a morning after a very short night.
I have a shirt from Woody's Smokehouse in Centerville, Texas. It boasts that it is the "jerky capital of the world." However, I have no way to actually verify that claim. It also states in small letters, "Eat here and get gas." I suppose repeated trials of their product could prove or disprove that statement.
Last year Su gave me four t-shirts for my birthday. Considering that one was an official Vikings shirt and another from the Dallas Cowboys, you can understand why some people have wondered if I might be slightly schizophrenic. Alas, we do not choose our team allegiances; they choose us.
Another shirt came from LeTourneau University. I always like to wear LeTourneau shirts... as long as they do not have that silly yellow-jacket mascot on them! Since LeTourneau is not very well known outside of East Texas and aviation circles, people often ask me, "So, you went to school in...?" My usual response is, "Yes."
My favorite shirt from Su simply says, "I'm no rocket surgeon." It is a true statement.
I often make a similar claim regarding our ministry. It is not that hard to understand. In fact, even people with confused sports allegiances can probably grasp it. First, we want to actually be real disciples who reflect the character and the priorities of Jesus. Second, we want to help form disciples who are capable of forming other disciples. Where we do it and how we do it is not as important as actually seeing that end-product.. disciples forming next-generation disciples.
It is not rocket surgery or brain science. In an age when people seem to build their careers by making Christianity sound as complex and controversial as possible, it might just be time to get back to the basics. "Getting-back-to-basics-Christianity" might not sell many books (or t-shirts!), but it can still change our world.
I grew so accustomed to wearing a tie that I once went to bed without taking it off. Su turned to look at me before switching off the light and asked me if I would at least consider removing it to sleep.
Living in Costa Rica, my normal office attire now consists of jeans and t-shirts. Sometimes I wear blue jeans. Other days I wear black jeans. If I am going to have an important meeting I have been known to put on a shirt with a collar. In fact, when I come into the office wearing a regular shirt, people ask me who I am going to meet with!
My t-shirts fall into three categories: first, those that I have been given from a youth ministry; second, those that my wife or daughters have given me because they thought I would like them; and, third, those that I saw and actually bought for myself. The third category is definitely the smallest.
Like anyone else, I have some favorite t-shirts.
A work team from Autumn Ridge Church came down last year wearing shirts with the likeness of Charlton Heston as Moses in The Ten Commandments. The slogan on the t-shirt reads "Old Guys Rule." I knew I had to have one of those the first time I saw it!
Thinking of shirts from Autumn Ridge, Bill Havyer gave me a tan t-shirt with a picture of Will Ferrell and the logo "More Cowbell." I wear it around men of a certain age.
For some inexplicable reason, I also have a number of t-shirts with Woody Woodpecker. My favorite is one that was given to me by friends which shows a rather bedraggled Woody holding an empty mug with the slogan, "Got Coffee?" It seems especially appropriate on a morning after a very short night.
I have a shirt from Woody's Smokehouse in Centerville, Texas. It boasts that it is the "jerky capital of the world." However, I have no way to actually verify that claim. It also states in small letters, "Eat here and get gas." I suppose repeated trials of their product could prove or disprove that statement.
Last year Su gave me four t-shirts for my birthday. Considering that one was an official Vikings shirt and another from the Dallas Cowboys, you can understand why some people have wondered if I might be slightly schizophrenic. Alas, we do not choose our team allegiances; they choose us.
Another shirt came from LeTourneau University. I always like to wear LeTourneau shirts... as long as they do not have that silly yellow-jacket mascot on them! Since LeTourneau is not very well known outside of East Texas and aviation circles, people often ask me, "So, you went to school in...?" My usual response is, "Yes."
My favorite shirt from Su simply says, "I'm no rocket surgeon." It is a true statement.
I often make a similar claim regarding our ministry. It is not that hard to understand. In fact, even people with confused sports allegiances can probably grasp it. First, we want to actually be real disciples who reflect the character and the priorities of Jesus. Second, we want to help form disciples who are capable of forming other disciples. Where we do it and how we do it is not as important as actually seeing that end-product.. disciples forming next-generation disciples.
It is not rocket surgery or brain science. In an age when people seem to build their careers by making Christianity sound as complex and controversial as possible, it might just be time to get back to the basics. "Getting-back-to-basics-Christianity" might not sell many books (or t-shirts!), but it can still change our world.
No comments:
Post a Comment