secular & sacred (re)visited

This past Friday we had a concert [show] at our youth center. The venue is called eikonARTS, you can check out the fancy experiment here. I would love to show/explain the whole vision, yes it is huge, it will shape the culture of the East Valley community of where our church is for music, arts, drama, theater, etc. However after this past show, our first official launch as a venue (our first show was in-house for our own students as a soft launch) there were a couple life focusing moments that I want to share about. I had a previous post about [secular & sacred] that this post will very closely parallel no doubt. I made a remark in that post:

There is something magnificent about how we treat what is secular and what is sacred. It seems to me that growing up, those were not able to coexist, much like a radical Muslim and conservative Christian strolling through the park sipping ice tea together laughing at the most recent 'Fox Trot' Sunday comics. See, I was brought up to believe that once something or someone becomes sacred that any signs of the old, any signs of the secular must be doused with gasoline and torched.

Nate Ward put on a concert for us with 5 bands and to my amazement he had over 100 ticket sales. With all said and done, with band members, staff, sound guys, security we pushed close to about 150 for a local concert!

As I walked the parking lot after the show I realizing the couple hundred, no, about a thousand or more cigarette butts around that needed to be picked up. Picked up because it is trash and we need to be responsible but also because there would be, only 8 hours later, older people arriving for a event at our church and the sight of all the cigarette butts might be offensive. It then hit me the irony. The fact that we had 100+ kids out at our youth center for a concert that have probably never touched foot in a church and saw it as a comfortable place is worth it all. As I strolled with my water bottle serving as a a waste receptacle to place each butt I thought more. I thought about all the lives that were there that night so caught up with the music/lights/event that have not stopped to think about eternity. There was something about all the kids that have no hope yet enjoy life or maybe have a facade and hate their own existence, and for a moment, a brief moment in their life I/we have the opportunity to infiltrate it and in someway put hope in it.

I thought, but how, how might we do that? Well the night wasn't half over before we put our eikonLIVE cards on every car, I didn't pick up ONE SINGLE card off the ground, they were all taken, maybe someone will be back! Then I thought, but that isn't enough, see I just taught the morning before Evangelism for eSOM/Western Bible College and I had this itch that only a soul could quench, a soul that was lost and searching, one that was on a quest to find meaning to this life.

The night would not end without that happening. Jordan, the lead singer of The Constellation Branch who was headlining sure enough was on that quest, tonight our paths would cross. As we finished and I was talking to one of the band guys and I realized that there was a conversation about God and hope, I looked and I saw Jordan. We met earlier that night after they finished playing and I thanked him and asked him what he thought of our venue. He was ecstatic and loved it and thanked us for having them. I shook his hand, he shook mine and embraced it, I felt a connection, I felt something, there was a feeling that this guy is looking/searching.

That night would end after midnight as we would stand in a circle talking about hope and life and eternity and God's love, yes, his unconditional love! I was reminded by my daughter, only 18 months old. We play hide and seek, sometimes I hide from her and she can't see me. This is similar to God, many times we don't feel him and it may feel like he is nowhere around and we are lost, all alone. Me as a father, the moment I realize that Amberlyn is scared I jump out and get her and she laughs. Same is with God, many times we don't necessarily see/feel/experience him then when we really search he can be found.

What is sacred, our church building, our pretty church asphalt and planters with the secular influence of cigarette butts became beautiful to me that night. As I would pick up butts that prolly had germs on them and a pop can or two and get pop spilled on my hands and got dirty I couldn't help but be broken that lives had the opportunity to be in a safe environment, and be around a place that was so sacred.

Let us never sell out our understanding that we are what is sacred, our very lives is what the bible says is the salt and the light of the world. Not our buildings, planters, youth centers. Here is another thought from my previous post:

Take a walk through the gospels and see how many times Jesus was with the seculars. The interesting thing is both places he went... He was either at the sacred Holy temple chastising the "self-puffed, self-righteous sacred leaders" explaining to them that they have missed it and simply don't get it. They were great on theology but lousy on application. They knew how to live the bible intellectually but not missiologically. Or the other place Jesus was at was with the seculars, the lepers, the drunks, partyers, etc. hanging out, feeding, teaching, loving, and number one of all SERVING. I do believe secular and sacred can coexist, the main difference is that the secular does not try to convict but loves and serves!

That night we were missiologically blending the secular and sacred! We simply loved and served!