Beauty is Only….(3 Thoughts on Beauty)

1.  Heads – you win (The beauty of accepting yourself)

Most of this years dramas are based, in some form or the other on “real life” experiences I’ve had.  “Beauty Is Only” was inspired partially by the “Dove Evolution” video in our program, partially on billboards for a certain store in Omaha (which really grate on me), but primarily on an experience I had in college.

Late in my college career, there was a new music student that arrived on campus one fall.  To this day, I don’t remember her name, but I remember her very well - for a number of reasons.  She had a boyish figure, and was not shy about pointing it out, which was something I’d never seen before in a college girl.  While she was pleasant looking, she would never be recruited for a career in modeling, but she didn’t seem to care too much about that either.  She was comfortable pointing out her physical flaws, and was actually pretty comical about it in the process.

Up to that point in my life, I had never met anyone who was so comfortable with the limits of their own physical appearance.  It was kind of refreshing, disarming and endearing all at the same time.

As I got to know this girl better (we were in a small music ensemble together), I learned that she was a strong Christian.  I also remember that she was either engaged when she came to school, or a least had a pretty serious boyfriend.

What was interesting about the situation is how much she was like “Chelsea Simmons” in the drama sketch “Beauty is Only”.  While she wouldn’t have “stood out” from the crowd in terms of physical beauty, she was extremely well liked my almost everyone.  In fact, it was very obvious that if her relationship status were to change, there would have been a line of guys waiting to ask her out.

Why was this so?  If you believe everything you see in advertising (please don’t!), you’d have thought she didn’t stand a chance.  She had virtually none of the characteristics that TV and the media tell you have to have to succeed in love and life.

It took me a little while to realize it, but it comes back to that “inner beauty” issue.  She was friendly to everyone.  She was joyous.  She was selfless.  She was caring.  She was funny.  This girl had such a beautiful (and Godly) personality, that she was attractive to nearly everyone.  I also firmly believe that her relationship with God was a primary factor in her acceptance of herself as she was.

2.  Tails – You Lose (the other side of the coin)

I’m going to show my age here, but I think one of the most beautiful female voices in the world belonged to Karen Carpenter.  She and her brother Richard performed as a pop duo in the 70’s called “The Carpenters”.  Karen had an absolutely gorgeous low alto voice, almost bordering on a tenor voice.  While their songs don’t get much airplay these days, you’ve likely heard her at Christmas time singing “Merry Christmas, Darling”.

I’m not the only one who strongly admired her voice.  When I hang out with my musician friends (teachers, players, worship team members – you name it) and Karen Carpenter’s name comes up, everyone marvels at how beautiful her voice was.

However, while Karen Carpenter is known for her silky smooth voice, she’s almost more famous for something else.  It was her death in 1983, at the age of 32 (yes – 32), that brought the term “anorexia” into the vocabulary of most Americans.

Prior to Karen’s death, very few people were even aware what “anorexia nervosa” was – I certainly had never heard of it.  But after her death when people saw pictures of the near skeleton she had become, it literally shocked our country and brought eating disorders out of the shadows and into the light.

The causes of anorexia (or any other eating disorder) are complex, and are not totally understood, even today.  But one contributing factor is that of self-perception.  Those with eating disorders almost often have a distorted image of themselves.

Why do people have these distorted images?  That's a complex question too, but I can't help but believe that our society's obsession with looking a certain way is at least one contributing factor.   As illustrated in the "Dove: Evolution" video, not only does our media try and convince young women that they have to fit a certain mold to feel good about themselves, but it's even come to the point where what we see isn't even real - but computer manipulated.

3.  What matters to God?

If you study the Bible carefully, there are often little things that we can learn that aren’t obvious at first.  For example, we have a pretty good idea that Mary and Joseph weren’t well off at the time of Jesus’ birth, even though the scriptures don’t tell us this directly.

If you look at the offering that Mary and Joseph brought when Jesus was presented at the temple in the second chapter of Luke, we have the clue.  Read the story carefully, and then go and read Leviticus Chapter 12 verse 7b through verse 8.  Very interesting what you can learn with a little digging….

We have a similar situation when we ponder – what did Jesus look like?  Obviously we had no cameras at the time and no painters to offer to paint his portrait.  However, you would expect a great public figure like Jesus, with thousands of followers to be good-looking and charismatic, wouldn’t you?  After all, that’s the way it works in modern day America, isn’t it?

Not so fast…..

While we don’t have any direct references to what Jesus looked like, other than that he had a beard, we have a clue from the prophet Isaiah.  In Isaiah Chapter 53, we have a prophecy that is made about Jesus.  While we often hear verses 4-7 quoted (“He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities”), note what verse 2 says about Jesus:  “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him”.  

Wow.  “He had no beauty…to attract us to Him”.  If we’re reading and interpreting this passage correctly, what might that tell us about God?  Well, if physical beauty (or what we as humans consider beauty) is of the utmost importance to God, wouldn’t he have made his own Son attractive enough to be a likely candidate for the cover of the latest fashion magazine?  Apparently not - according to the prophet Isaiah.

Maybe it’s because God cares very little about how we look, but cares greatly about our character.  Consider what God said to Samuel when he was in the midst of choosing David to be king of Israel:

“The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart”.

Or how about Proverbs 31:

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised”. 

In the end, I leave you with the verse that Brad shares with Stacy in the drama sketch.  In reality, I think it speaks volumes about what God thinks about beauty, and what he values most about us.  And that is the truth that can set you free, just like it did for my classmate I mentioned at the beginning of this blog….

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (I Peter 3:3-4)

The Value of a Dollar

32 bucks.

That's what it costs to take my family to the movies in Fremont, assuming we don't buy anything at the concession stand and the movie isn't in 3-D.

45-50 bucks.

That's how much we'll spend to go out for supper at Applebees, assuming we all order reasonably, have a soda or tea rather than water, and don't order desert.

15 bucks.

That what it costs me, per month, to belong to Audible.com, my favorite audiobook site.

35 bucks.

About what it cost me to go see my favorite comedian, Brian Regan, live at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln a few years ago.

38 bucks.

What it costs per month to change the outcome of someone's life forever.  Yep, you read that right.  CHANGE SOMEONE'S LIFE - FOREVER.

I'm often amazed at how desensitized I am to the money I spend.  Especially the money I spend without even thinking about it.   Want a Diet Pepsi?  Swing through a fast food drive-thru... $1.79 plus tax.   It's such a regular part of my life that it's almost automatic.

Once in awhile I think about how much I spend on pop/sodas each month.  When I add it all up, it's almost depressing.  I think about the other things I could be doing with that money and curse my lack of self-discipline.

A common practice in many churches is to give up something for Lent.  If done with the right spirit, this can be a good spiritual discipline.  Kind of like when Jesus talked about fasting and giving.

In this blog, I want to challenge you to think about something you may not have considered before.  What if you made a decision to give something up....not just for Lent....but for a longer period of time...maybe even a lifetime...with the intention of making someone else's life better by your sacrifice?

Let me offer a few ideas to you:

Change a Child's Life Forever

As I mentioned near the beginning of this blog, 38 dollars a month is all it takes to change a child's life forever.   Compassion International is a wonderful organization that allows you to sponsor a child for 38 dollars a month.  While this might seem like too small a sum to change someone's life drastically, we need to realize that in some impoverished countries, this is enough money to ensure that a child will have enough to eat, to get simple antibiotics or medicines, or to allow them to go to school and get an education.  Just to give you a small snapshot of one life that was changed by Compassion International, follow the two links below to read the story of Jey Mbiro....

     Jennifer Bryant's Blog - "Thief or Prostitute"
     Compassion's Biography of Jey Mbiro

The thing that I like about Compassion International is that not only do they provide for the physical needs of people, they are a Christian organization that reach out with the Gospel as well, and are equally involved in the work of changing lives for eternity.

Lend to The Poor

A little over 3 years ago, my son and I were sitting in Gambino's waiting for our order, when I picked up a magazine and read a story about the founder of Kiva, an organization that provides microloans to people in 3rd world countries.  I found the article very intriguing, so I looked into it further, and what I found was pretty cool.

In impoverished countries, people scramble to make a living.  Many do so by having small businesses that bring in just enough to meet their needs.  Often times they could improve their situation in life if they could get a small loan to expand their business.  However, in these countries, in order to borrow money, these people would have to pay outrageous rates of interest, which they simply cannot do.

Kiva partners with local organizations, and provides microloans (loans usually less than $300.00) to help people in situations like this.  How do you help?  It's easy - you offer to lend $25.00 (or more if you want) and join with 8 or 12 other people, whose money is then pooled together to loan to the person(s) in the third world country.

While you might think this is risky - you'd actually be very surprised.  With each loan Kiva lists the default rate of loans from each partner.  Most of the default rates are well below 1%. 

While there is a small risk involved, in most cases you're not even giving your money away, you're merely loaning it out for no interest so that someone in an impoverished country has a chance at a better life.

To find out more, visit Kiva's web site

Help Feed the Hungry - One Child At A Time

If you're a part of Spoudazo, I don't need to tell you much about Kids Against Hunger - most of you have helped package meals or seen videos sometime during your Spoudazo experience.  It's a fantastic ministry and, like Compassion International, meets both the physical and spritual needs of people throughout the world.

What Can I Do? - I'm Just a Student?

The first thing we all can do is to realize truth #1:  We live in one of the richest countries in the world.  Most of us have never had to unwillingly go without a meal, let alone worry about whether we will eat in the next week or so.  Few, if any of us, have ever had to sleep outdoors because we had no home.  If you doubt how blessed we are in America, go to the web site Global Rich List and enter your annual income and see where you land in the world's population in terms of wealth.  I did some simple math and found that if you worked full time at ONLY minimum wage here in the U.S., you'd already be in the top 12% of the richest people in the world.  If you worked 10 hours a week at minimum wage, you'd still be in the top 15%.

The second thing we can do is to consider truth #2:  Anything I can do to help will have an impact.  It doesn't matter if I can give up $25.00 every other month to loan to a family through Kiva, or give $10.00 a month to Kids Against Hunger or if I can afford to sponsor a child on my own for $38.00 a month through Compassion.   ANYTHING YOU DO MAKES AN IMPACT!

Third, we need to wrestle with truth #3:  Giving to God's work, both through our local church AND helping the needy should be a NORMAL part of the Christian life.  In Matthew, Chapter 6, Jesus said "So, when you give to the needy...".   Notice that Jesus does not say "IF you give to the needy" but "WHEN you give to the needy".  Starting the habit of giving NOW only makes it easier when you get older. 

Let the Truth Set You Free......

Does Absolute Truth Exist.....? Absolutely!

If you've attended high school or a public university in the United States, one thing is for certain:  Somewhere during your studies, you will be told, either directly or indirectly, that there is no such thing as absolute truth, and more specifically that there are no such things as moral absolutes.

If you haven't heard it already, such ideas come across in statements such as these:

• It doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you're sincere....
• That may be true for you, but it's not necessarily true for everyone...
• There is no such thing as absolute right and wrong, it's just a matter of what society decides....

Before we go further in this discussion, I want to let you in on a dirty little secret about people who say they believe that "there is no such thing as absolutes" --  Nobody....yes, I said NOBODY - really believes this....no matter what they may say. 

In many places in the Bible, we are told that our ACTIONS are the best indicator of what we really believe.  Interestingly enough, this is also true for those who don't claim to be Christians, or who claim that absolute truth doesn't exist.  Let me show you what I mean....

The next time you interact with someone who tells you there are no such things as moral absolutes, listen very carefully to them over a period of time (especially if they're a professor).  Without exception, you'll find that they will eventually take issue with some social condition (poverty, the plight of a particular minority, corruption in government, etc...).   When this happens, wait and see how long it is until phrases like "It's not fair" or "people shouldn't be treated like that" come out of their mouths.

Why is this important?  Because - if there are truly no moral absolutes, then we can never say that something "shouldn't" be done or that something "isn't fair". 

Take slavery for example.  If there are no moral absolutes, and all morals are relative, then there was (and is) nothing "wrong" with slavery!  In that case, if person A believes that slavery is just fine and has 7 slaves on his farm, then his opinion that slavery is OK is JUST AS VALID as the person who believes that slavery should be abolished.   (Remember the line "It may be true for you but.....")

The obvious question comes up....what about the people being enslaved?  Isn't that unfair to them?  Well, if there are no such things as absolutes, how can we decide what "fair" is?  The bigger question is... I thought there were no moral absolutes...right? Now all of a sudden we're saying (or implying) that the person with the whip or the gun is not doing the "right" thing by using his/her power to enslave others.  Sounds to me like we're comparing the slave owner's actions against some "standard" that we're all supposed to know about....

Using one of our other statements above, I'm sure the slave owners during the American Civil War SINCERELY believed in their right to own slaves.  So is it really true that it doesn't matter WHAT you believe as long as you're SINCERE?.....hmmm....

In the book, "I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist", the authors tell a story about an ethics professor who was grading a term paper for one of his students.   The student's paper was on the subject of how there was no such thing as moral absolutes.  He wrote that all of our values were merely opinions, similar to people liking one flavor of ice cream over another. 

The student turned in the paper in a classy looking blue folder.  The professor read the report, and handed it back to the student at the next class period with a big "F" on the cover.  Underneath the "F" the professor wrote "I don't like blue folders".  After class the student came to the professor's office, furious that he had received an "F" merely because of the color of his folder.  "You can't do that," he yelled at the professor, "That's not right!  My report was well researched and thought out....", and on and on the student went.   The professor said nothing, but just smiled, when all of a sudden it dawned on the student what he had just said.  Regardless of what he SAID he believed in his term paper, in reality HE BELIEVED that it was wrong or unfair (which requires a belief in the absolute idea of "fairness") to be given a failing grade based on the color of his report cover.

So, when you run into people (especially those with lots of letters after their names, like PhD, MA, etc..) who tell you that the idea of absolute truth is "old fashioned" and "outdated", be very careful to watch what they DO and how they REACT rather than what they SAY.

I once had a discussion with someone who said they didn't believe that there were moral absolutes, but that morals always changed from situation to situation.  Just to make my point, I asked him the question "Is it ever morally OK to kill a child for the mere fun of it"?  He looked at me a little funny then thought for awhile and said, "Well....no".  I pointed out that if it was that easy to find one moral absolute, there were likely to be a lot more that are easy to discover.

So, the next time someone tells you there is no such thing as moral absolutes, ask them which of the following 3 moral absolutes they have a problem with:

1. It is morally wrong to hate or kill another person solely because their skin is different color than yours.
2. If two people are equally skilled at a job, it is morally wrong to pay a woman less than a man for no other reason than the fact that she is a woman.
3. It is morally wrong to kill another human being merely for personal enjoyment

Most people, when faced with the 3 statements above, will have a hard time reconciling what they SAY they believe about absolute truth with what their heart KNOWS to be true.

You may have noticed that I haven't spent a lot of time mentioning God in this post.  It's not that I don't think that God has a place in the discussion of truth - actually quite the contrary.  But, you'll find that in our culture, you often need to get people to examine their basic assumptions about truth up front, or they'll just throw out God and Bible altogether as being unimportant or irrelevant to the conversation.

If, on the other hand, you can show them that there really IS absolute truth, then the next question is how do we discover what it is?

And that, my friends, is what starts us on the path to knowing the Truth....the Truth that will set you free....

Let the TRUTH Set You Free - An Important First Lesson From History

Well fellow Spoudaoites.....welcome to my Spoudazo 2011 Blog.   Hopefully the things mentioned in this blog will help you get more out of this year's Spoudazo experience.  This first blog might take a few "weird" turns, but hang on....there's a method to the madness.... 

A few days ago, I started listening to a book called "Living With Questions" by Dale Fincher.  I listen to audiobooks regularly, and this one caught my eye while looking through one of my favorite auditobook sites.  If you like to read, it's well worth your time and reinforces some of the things we're discussing in Spoudazo this year.

The second chapter of Dale's book is entitled "What is Truth?".   Think about it for a minute.  How would you define truth?  Is it merely an opinion?  Or is it what you believe?  And in the end, does it really even matter?

Let's consider the two definitions that Dale proposes in his book:

TRUTH is when an idea reflects the way the world really is

or

TRUTH is a proposition that corresponds to reality

Think about these two definitions for a moment, and realize this:  Just believing something doesn't make it true.  For example, I (Tim) can believe that at 5 foot 5 inches, I have a lucrative career in the NBA ahead of me......but that doesn't reflect the way the world really is (especially if you've ever seen me play basketball).   My belief doesn't correspond to reality.

A rather interesting example of this is the practice of bloodletting  Yes... I said bloodletting...a little bit gruesome, but you'll see my point shortly. 

According to Wikipeida, bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluids were believed to be "humors" whose proper balance maintained health. It was the most common medical practice performed by doctors from antiquity up to the late 19th century, a time span of almost 2,000 years.

Although the Saturday Night Live sketch "Theodoric of York: Medieval Barber" with Steve Martin painted a quite humorous picture of the practice, it actually probably led to the deaths of unknown numbers of people over the last 2,000 years.   It may have even hastened the death of both George Washington and Mozart.  Yes - really!

So what does this have to do with Truth?  Everything.   For centuries, people believed something (bloodlettng) that did not reflect what was really true about medicine and the human body.....and at tremendous cost to both individuals and society.

That's why the TRUTH is so important.  While we may pride ourselves that we don't believe in something as "barbaric" as bloodletting, we still believe lies that affect us almost as drastically, both individually and as a society.   Don't believe me?  Let me offer a few examples:

• The lives ruined by drugs after believing the 1960's mantra of "Drop out, Tune In and Turn On"
• The number of young women affected by anorexia and bulemia, who have ideas about their bodies and self-worth that don't correspond to reality
• The current obesity epidemic in America, based on the "belief" that we can eat anything we want, ignore exercise and still maintain a healthy body
• The AIDS epidemic in Africa - of which a significant contribution is "beliefs" about human sexuality, promiscuity and tribal superstitions that don't match up with how the world really is

And we don't need to look at things on a massive scale.  We can see the effect in smaller ways in our own lives.

That's why the TRUTH is so important.  TRUTH has the power to free you.  TRUTH has the power to uncomplicate your life, to unshackle you and allow you become all that God created you to be.

That's what we want to focus on in Spoudazo this year.   Seeing the TRUTH instead of the many lies that surround us.  Embracing that TRUTH, and putting it into practice in our own lives. 

As Jesus said in John 8:32 - "Then you will know the TRUTH and the TRUTH will set you free"

(By the way - feel free to jump to some on the links on this page when you're done. The video link is pretty funny and there some good infomation on Dale Fincher's site as well.)