Hum and Buzz: A work in progress
A full blown revolution is coming—an undertow stewing beneath society’s ocean. The guerillas aren’t bound together by age or ethnicity; you won’t recognize us by our political party, culture, music or clothing. Under the nose of unsuspecting masses we gather behind closed doors, discussing our options. We feel no other recourse but to make a stand and change our worlds. This is my people, my generation … working together to reconstruct Christianity. Our weapons: love, respect, purity, truth. Our leader: Jesus.
As a collection of essays, this book journals my first years as a young man planting a church in a highly cynical, subjective, naturalist community. Daily I am with people, dialoging about life and God, quickly finding myself sounding like a gold-fingered TBN preacher, making statements I don’t even believe. After slamming into a glass ceiling, I finally asked myself and God the larger questions of faith, purpose and life. My conclusions are revealing more problems.
I am becoming noticeably different from my leaders and considerably different from neighboring pastors. I don’t align with breezy, mainstream Christianity; and I no longer fit the rigid mold of my Apostolic-Pentecostal tradition. I feel lost.
I began to discuss these issues openly with others who had nothing to lose if they differed from any denominational flavor. Surprisingly, our conclusions are similar. I am stunned by their simple, sound biblical reasoning. They also feel bound to a disconnected faith tradition, but afraid to live outside it. I have stumbled upon an entire generation, boxed-in by fear and ignorance, desperately seeking the abundant life Jesus promised. It is a quiet undertow of Christianity. I am both horrified and inspired.
Our quest … our crusade … is genuine, with pure motives. How do we live according to Apostle’s teachings in the 21st century? How did we digress? Is return possible when our very questions and faith are invalidated by our religious institutions? If our whole life is worship to God, how do we put the fun back in fundamentalism? The purpose of this book isn’t to draw a line in the sand, separating us from traditionalists. Rather, it’s a creative presentation of our legitimacy—a review of biblical principles for inclusion amid differences over nonessential issues.
For Christianity to navigate through the present, we must pay close attention to the “hum and buzz of implication”; the whispered assessment of the intimate issues of life. It’s the part of a culture that is never really stated, but is paramount in staging and activating larger events. These thoughts are spoken around kitchen tables, silent emails, in slang, humor, and music. It paints the backdrop for our future.
This book is simply a sound-bite of the hum and buzz of my generation, religious rogues. We’re not rebellious or bitter, but we cannot deny our zeal, passion, and calling. We have silently suffocated enough in our religious institutions. So here we stand, crying in the wilderness, calling for Christianity to become balanced and authentic … to return to Jesus.
