Repent!

It fascinates me to live in a country where the most hated sub groups are non-environmentalists, the Bush family, and street preachers. Seriously, ethnic minorities can complain all they want, but the only racist remarks I have ever heard, were said on television...by the bad character. But just try admitting that the only reason you want to "go green" - is because the merchandise is cute...or that you don't actually think Bush committed as many atrocities as Hitler, Stalin or Kim Jong-il.

Now, there are probably some conservatives who would rally behind me on those last two, but everyone loves to hate street preachers...they're loud, angry and usually carry a sign encouraging the viewer to "Turn or burn!" or some such variation...what's not to hate?

Plus, there's the added bonus that no one will ever think you are bad for hating a street preacher. Most likely you'll be hailed as some kind of Gandhi-like figure, because you love people so much you just can't stand to see someone hold a sign at them.

In the town where I work we have our very own street preacher. I've never had the pleasure of seeing him work, but office gossip has me informed that he shows up at public events with the usual signage and catchy slogans.

Well, a few days ago I was helping a nice lady figure out how to design her ad.

I hate helping people design their ads. What I always, always, always want for my customers to do is to tell me what they want, leave the verbage, and come back when it's done. Always. I can't be creative with some nervous Nelly peering over my shoulder and whispering, "Wha-what if you moved it a little to the left? No, not there, not there, yes, no, no, no-" It can't be done.

But, like I said, this lady was nice. I was feeling pretty good about the episode when my boss walked in and said, "I see Random-Name's wife was here." This elicited a, "Oh my goodness, that was his wife?" from everyone else, but mere raised eyebrows from myself.

Turns out she's the wife of the fellow who harasses people about eternity in his spare time. So I joined in the gaping - because how could this lovely person be married to someone who makes people wish stoning had never been outlawed?

"Yeah," my boss continued, "didn't you see the big 'REPENT!' painting on the side of the van?"

No, I had not. So then I just had to wonder how this lady felt about it all. Does she wish she had a normal van or maybe even a smart looking four door? Is she embarrassed when her husband starts every conversation with, "You're going to hell," ?

They left their name off the advertisement. My coworkers suggested that it was so potentially buyers wouldn't be scared off at the thought of buying the street preacher's house. I think it's so people won't see where they live and decide to egg it - or worse. I have to wonder if it bothers her that either possibility is even something they have to consider.

On the other hand, is it possible that she's proud of what her husband does? It seems mildly unfathomable, but what if she really thinks he's...what, winning souls? Does it hurt her that other people don't see him the same way?

I know, these are random things to be thinking about, I guess I'd just never thought about street preachers having wives and children and the whole thing set me wondering.

On my way to the dentist yesterday I passed a house that said, "Adulters will be judged!" My first thought was, "That would make them different from...?" my second was, "Could that be the street preacher's house?"

Clarity

I've had an obsession since...always. Even before I really understood what made a design good..back when I actually found it confusing...it was still just this push to make things right, whatever that meant.
My friends found this irritating, especially if I criticized a professional artist, as I frequently did.
"You couldn't draw it better, Melody."
"Yes I could. I will."
And I'd be obsessed with figuring out how to make it better, for however long that took.


Then I got older and I noticed that the more expensive a product was the better designed the advertisements and the packages were. It really didn't take me long to notice that the things associated with church had a dime store quality about them. Sunday school pamphlets had cheap illustrations, bulletins are lucky to have correct spelling and punctuation - forget about being well typeset, posters with bible verses or little morals almost always featured children dressed about 10 years out of style. It really distressed me.

And then a friend invited me to Acquire the Fire (ATF) and I was blown away by it's inherent coolness. They designed cool t-shirts and hats without ripping off major ad campaigns. The people in photographs were dressed as if they'd walked out of a Delia's catalog. Maybe they had. So I was comforted that being a Christian didn't have to mean being an aesthetically challenged loser.

Fast forward ten years. My boss burst out laughing today because he saw I'd labeled a gradient fading from army green to eggplant purple as "nightmare". A church was doing a poll and was very specific on what the colors and font should be. The end result was that I could do nothing to save it. And this, combined with their poor wording, means that few people will notice their poll (which is designed to gauge the needs of the community), much less take the time to answer it.
The people who do will not be the unchurched community they desire to reach If they're like most churches they're looking at that disenfranchised 18-34 year old crowd. The people who answer will be seniors who appreciate the effort, but already have a home church.
I wanted to call the number and beg them to let me redesign it.

Now, I'm not 14 any more and I have mixed feelings on advertisements and the church. A snazzy design does not mean that a church has good theology. It doesn't make them love God more.

On the other hand, good design is not about being snazzy. It's about saying what you need to say clearly. That's why typesetting is important. If you make it hard or painful to read no one will read it. Your message doesn't get out. Design is, essentially, getting your message out as best you can. If your design is bad, the message is lost.

The church isn't about being cool. It isn't about the latest styles or colors. I know. But it does have a message. Shouldn't it be clear?

Aquire The Fire...or a latte

Crazy go nuts weekend. At each individual moment I knew exactly what I thought, but taking it all in as a whole...I have no idea.

I didn't arrive in a great mood. We'd gotten lost and we were late and I had the world's largest headache. The praise band had already started when we got there. We climbed up, up, up into the nose bleed section. I am terrified of heights.

After we scooted past the people who arrived on time one of the highschoolers asked me if I could feel it. At first I thought she meant the way the ground was vibrating, but since it was impossible to not notice, I wasn't sure what she meant and told her so. Her eyes got wide and she said, "The Holy Spirit!"

Dizzy? Check. Grumpy? Check. Holy Spirit? No. Sorry.

The theme for the week was "Branded by God". They talked alot about how the clothing you wear and the music you listen to don't make you a better person. How what is "cool" is decided in corporate board rooms by people who don't care about kid's lives, only their money.

All of this is true. But every single person on stage could have been a model. Everyone had amazing hair and clothing. It was obvious that alot of effort was put into making this "cool". So if they're telling kids not to let themselves be sucked in by the branding...why is it that they've already bought into it themselves?

I'm not sure what I expect them to do. I love marketing. It is near and dear to my heart. I love design and they obviously have some amazing graphic designers working for them. I don't think Christians are called to wear ugly clothes either. But it all seemed to counter what they were telling the kids. There was alot of lights and hype and underneath it all I still think they have a good message, I just can't help but feel it gets a little diluted with glitter and sensation.

All that aside, it was a really good time to get to know some kids that I've not talked to much before. The first night we stayed up until three in the morning talking and the second night it was till two. Leader alertness was sponsored by Starbucks. I will sleep well tonight...and maybe by tommorow I'll be awake enough to have some coherant thoughts.

Providence

I've always known that teaching is not my spiritual gift. Some people have a knack for it, I don't. That's ok. But every week in youth group one leader brings a snack, another plans a game, another teaches a lesson. It's on rotation, so at some point it is inevitable that I teach despite my lack of skill. Or it would be inevitable if God did not intervene. Each time I've been up to teach this year, we have had a blizzard and all evening activities have been cancled. And, both times the roads are clear long before evening comes, so not only is God using the weather to deter my teaching, but he's also working in the hearts of the church leaders to induce unessacery panick (the week we had a blizzard and I wasn't up to teach, no activities were cancled and the roads were terrible).

I'm not sure if by this God is protecting me...or the children.

Peculiar...

Street church? I'm sort of suprised that the Times is even writing about this. It suprises me too that the homeless people would rather attend this outdoor service than go inside where it's warm.