Brings back good memories listening to Tammy in the car with my dad when he'd pick me up from school. She was the verbalization of what every Auburn fan felt and thought inside but who has too much self-importance to verbalize it themselves. It's bad enough to be mocked when Alabama beats the tar out of us, but it's another thing to be accused of redneckery in the process [because as everyone knows, we Auburn folk are genteel compared to the white trash up in Tuscaloosa ;)]. I was quite grieved when she passed.
In regards to the Waffle House topic, I wonder how middle class and affluent Christians can interact with folks like Chuck without treating him like a goldfish in a bowl, even if unintentionally. I'm not saying that the Methodist reverend in the article is doing that, but I often think of folks like Chris Arnade or Mark Laita with Soft White Underbelly (neither are Christians to my knowledge). I have a great deal of respect for both of their projects and do find a lot of their work interesting. But every time I watch Soft White Underbelly or flip through Dignity, there's a tinge of "look at these freaks" which I find cringe-worthy. Maybe freaks is too strong of a word, but a lot of their work seems to be consumed by people, both Christian and not, who get a sort of moral thrill out of empathizing through the medium of page and screen with those who have, through their own fault or not, messed up lives. It's an akin feeling I get when thinking about the one-week vacation missionaries who take a trip to Haiti or Nicaragua and post all over the internet about what a profound lifelong impact their mission-vacation had on them.
I juxtapose this sort of posture with my father, a tithing Baptist and a general contractor. Never been on a mission trip in his 50+ years on this earth. A good many of his subs are like those detailed in Arnade's Dignity. I grew up around them too. A lot of them have hard lives, and granted, a lot of that is due to their own actions.
I also grew up in a community where my family are the "top dogs" and in which we've been for over 200 years. Most of the families in town until recently have also been in the community for multiple generations, as well. A lot of folks in town rely on my family, both extended and immediate, for jobs and other forms of guidance, be it spiritual, familial, etc. Folks don't talk about this openly, but this peculiar situation is fast fading from American life, and ours even, in the particular, is threatening extinction. It used to be the norm, not peculiar, writ large. Both rich and poor used to interact regularly in American life. Only the truly elite were walled off from the rest of society. That's changed now with suburbs, gated communities, etc.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is my father's mission field as it were seems like a very natural one. He loves and supports those who in varying degrees are dependent on him. His love and charity and kindness and wisdom extend to those tangible people he comes into contact with everyday. Some are already in Christ, some come to Christ, others never will, but he shows them all general kindness and regard. There have been not a few lives turned around by father's Christian paternalism. Once I come into means myself, he is the model I want to base my life on.
So, again, I guess I'm asking if most Christians in the US are educated and middle class and live exclusively amongst people just like them, how can they effectively minister to the Chucks and Tammys of the world? You ever seen a white Christian kid who goes to private school try to carry on a conversation with an inner city black kid on a service trip? It's hysterical. As having gone to private school, but also living in that unique community I mentioned above, I sort of have one foot in each world.
My last thought (sorry you've now been plagued by my epistle-length comments like Mr. Dreher's comments section-- I often use comments sections to work out my own thoughts and ideas which is not conducive to my concision). The Waffle House folks know of Christ, but by and large they don't know him. They see him in the folks with pearly teeth and slick haircuts and diplomas who go to church on Sunday. They see that and either hate it or are discouraged or both. My father has pearly teeth and diplomas (the hair left long ago), but the fact that these young men work with him everyday, they see him at his best and at his worst in his relationships with them and his friends and his family. He's real to them. He's no archetype. Just as they're real to him, and they're no longer merely an archetype. Affluent Christians need to live amongst the poor again. This doesn't mean impoverish yourself, but it does mean living in more uncomfortable places for the sake of ministry. It is right and good that God has bestowed wealth on you and that you use it for your family. Be the gentleman (in the archaic sense of the word) and use it to support those who may not now be able to support themselves. See them everyday, and they will see you. By necessity, they will see Christ in you. Because right now, a lot of them only see your wealth and status. Don't let those good things be the bush that hides the flame of life.
The reference to the pastor's ongoing Bible study work with the staff and talks with the Waffle House flock are what made we want to write about that story in the first place. You don't parachute into people's lives. You have to linger and listen. The Finebaum audience has elements of real community. I was not putting it down in any way -- other than the fact media communities have real limits. Sacraments are physical and personal.
Brings back good memories listening to Tammy in the car with my dad when he'd pick me up from school. She was the verbalization of what every Auburn fan felt and thought inside but who has too much self-importance to verbalize it themselves. It's bad enough to be mocked when Alabama beats the tar out of us, but it's another thing to be accused of redneckery in the process [because as everyone knows, we Auburn folk are genteel compared to the white trash up in Tuscaloosa ;)]. I was quite grieved when she passed.
In regards to the Waffle House topic, I wonder how middle class and affluent Christians can interact with folks like Chuck without treating him like a goldfish in a bowl, even if unintentionally. I'm not saying that the Methodist reverend in the article is doing that, but I often think of folks like Chris Arnade or Mark Laita with Soft White Underbelly (neither are Christians to my knowledge). I have a great deal of respect for both of their projects and do find a lot of their work interesting. But every time I watch Soft White Underbelly or flip through Dignity, there's a tinge of "look at these freaks" which I find cringe-worthy. Maybe freaks is too strong of a word, but a lot of their work seems to be consumed by people, both Christian and not, who get a sort of moral thrill out of empathizing through the medium of page and screen with those who have, through their own fault or not, messed up lives. It's an akin feeling I get when thinking about the one-week vacation missionaries who take a trip to Haiti or Nicaragua and post all over the internet about what a profound lifelong impact their mission-vacation had on them.
I juxtapose this sort of posture with my father, a tithing Baptist and a general contractor. Never been on a mission trip in his 50+ years on this earth. A good many of his subs are like those detailed in Arnade's Dignity. I grew up around them too. A lot of them have hard lives, and granted, a lot of that is due to their own actions.
I also grew up in a community where my family are the "top dogs" and in which we've been for over 200 years. Most of the families in town until recently have also been in the community for multiple generations, as well. A lot of folks in town rely on my family, both extended and immediate, for jobs and other forms of guidance, be it spiritual, familial, etc. Folks don't talk about this openly, but this peculiar situation is fast fading from American life, and ours even, in the particular, is threatening extinction. It used to be the norm, not peculiar, writ large. Both rich and poor used to interact regularly in American life. Only the truly elite were walled off from the rest of society. That's changed now with suburbs, gated communities, etc.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is my father's mission field as it were seems like a very natural one. He loves and supports those who in varying degrees are dependent on him. His love and charity and kindness and wisdom extend to those tangible people he comes into contact with everyday. Some are already in Christ, some come to Christ, others never will, but he shows them all general kindness and regard. There have been not a few lives turned around by father's Christian paternalism. Once I come into means myself, he is the model I want to base my life on.
So, again, I guess I'm asking if most Christians in the US are educated and middle class and live exclusively amongst people just like them, how can they effectively minister to the Chucks and Tammys of the world? You ever seen a white Christian kid who goes to private school try to carry on a conversation with an inner city black kid on a service trip? It's hysterical. As having gone to private school, but also living in that unique community I mentioned above, I sort of have one foot in each world.
My last thought (sorry you've now been plagued by my epistle-length comments like Mr. Dreher's comments section-- I often use comments sections to work out my own thoughts and ideas which is not conducive to my concision). The Waffle House folks know of Christ, but by and large they don't know him. They see him in the folks with pearly teeth and slick haircuts and diplomas who go to church on Sunday. They see that and either hate it or are discouraged or both. My father has pearly teeth and diplomas (the hair left long ago), but the fact that these young men work with him everyday, they see him at his best and at his worst in his relationships with them and his friends and his family. He's real to them. He's no archetype. Just as they're real to him, and they're no longer merely an archetype. Affluent Christians need to live amongst the poor again. This doesn't mean impoverish yourself, but it does mean living in more uncomfortable places for the sake of ministry. It is right and good that God has bestowed wealth on you and that you use it for your family. Be the gentleman (in the archaic sense of the word) and use it to support those who may not now be able to support themselves. See them everyday, and they will see you. By necessity, they will see Christ in you. Because right now, a lot of them only see your wealth and status. Don't let those good things be the bush that hides the flame of life.
The reference to the pastor's ongoing Bible study work with the staff and talks with the Waffle House flock are what made we want to write about that story in the first place. You don't parachute into people's lives. You have to linger and listen. The Finebaum audience has elements of real community. I was not putting it down in any way -- other than the fact media communities have real limits. Sacraments are physical and personal.
Beautiful. Poignant. Powerful. Funny. Thank you.
Did you watch the video?
Yes, the waitress quote in the middle of the Waffle House column is a classic. That "Sword of the Spirit!" yell is everything.
I've not watched the video. I started it and got interrupted, I'll finish this afternoon.
Thank you for your comment!