conviction vs. condemnation

i recently got back from a tour during which the creative arts team i'm a part of took a new production called "crowns" on the road for the first time. this concert has been in the works - sometimes on and off - for probably close to two years now, and although a little over a year ago we did a screening in our local area and made some adjustments based on audience and our own internal feedback, in general this production has been marked throughout its development by edits and tweaks and changes. much of which to its benefit. all of that to say: this concert, its message and the production and delivery of said message have undergone a good deal of scrutiny. our team consists of people from many different backgrounds and personality types, so things have gone through that filter on their way to the stage.

which at last brings me to the ponderance at hand. on our recent tour we performed four crowns concerts and, to the best of my knowledge, the general reactions were basically the same and fell into one of two camps. i'd sum them up as this: either encouraged or offended. now, it could be that there is a third group of people that haven't been vocal and are processing through the message, and i would applaud that. so far the demonstrative majority have fallen into these extremes:

type one: two examples that typified... a young family - a father with his daughter in his arms approaches me, eyes red, and says with a particular weight in his voice, " thank you so much for coming. we need this." his wife enters the room behind him and as he steps back she comes close to shake my hand. she's been crying and her voice is so filled with emotion as she tries to hold back tears that i begin to come undone in the brief moment we speak. "thank you so, so much..." and she can no longer contain her emotion, smiles, waves, and motions that she has to go as she turns to leave. second example... a married fireman and father working in a profession and station in which the pull to compromise one's beliefs can be very intense. he shakes my hand firmly and looks me in the eyes as he says, "this was so great - it's been so encouraging to me. it just fires me up even more to just keep pressing on..."

type two: a number of these people got up and walked out during the concerts. some of these people - through feedback that was received by the pastoral staff a the churches we were in - said that they were offended and felt that our message was condemning them. they said that they wanted more encouragement, to know that they were doing a good job already. an older family we spent some time talking with said that they were afraid people would receive the message that they weren't good enough. they wanted a better, happy ending to the "story."

so, maybe you're asking - what IS the message that the crowns concert is conveying? simply this: in every one of our lives, we all use our resources and make decisions on where and how we use those resources (and i should also say - what, in turn, we sacrifice) based on where our priorities are. at the end of the day, where our heart is and therefore what we worship... what we serve. in the concert, a few of these areas are symbolized by three crowns: a royal crown (symbolizing wealth, comfort, or material possessions), an olympic laurel-leaf crown (symbolizing fame, prominence, or the things in our lives that we gain our self-significance from), and a crown of thorns (symbolizing self-sacrifice... more about that in a minute).

each of these crowns in the concert has its own chapter devoted to it, and through songs and video elements that range from quotes and current statistics during the songs to man-on-the-street interviews and short self-contained video clips, each chapter walks through the current state of western society. during the third chapter (the crown of thorns), as a standard-bearer for self-sacrifice the persecuted church around the world becomes the focus. regardless of your own personal belief system, these christians' lives demand a sense of respect in that - in the truest sense of the word - by living out their beliefs they are ready to die for them... a very real possibility. (more christians have been and are killed and persecuted - really persecuted, not just, "someone made fun of me because i believe in Jesus" - in the last hundred years than in the previous 20 centuries COMBINED.) in light of what these believers are willing to go through as a cost of their faith, what if any effect should that have on the lives we lead as followers of Jesus with all of the resources and blessings we've been given? Christ Himself said, "you will be my witnesses..." - the original greek word for "witness" is the word from which we get the word "martyr." so the question is asked: is what you're living for worth dying for?

now, i'll be the first to admit this isn't the most happy-go-lucky message in the world. it was never meant to be. the scriptures record that - regardless of Jesus' completely deserved reputation as a model of love and acceptance, forgiveness and grace - several times when Jesus spoke of what our lives needed to be like, many people turned away and left. the message of the cross... an amazing message of the most divine reconciliation and grace... still carries with it as a first order of business the realization that there is sin, and that we are all completely infected by it and hopeless without outside assistance. i see that this post is getting insanely long and so i'll simply just reiterate that each member of our team comes from a different background, and equipped with those unique personalities and thresholds for being offended and put-off, we've put together (we believe with the Holy Spirit's help) a concert filled with as much grace and still is true to the weight that this message demands.

i'll get to the punchline: one of the pastors who was personally encouraged and charged up by the concert and message, and whose church received some negative feedback from congregants who were offended, said this, "if people want their ears tickled and a feel-good message and want to just be content with staying exactly where they're at, they can get it in most churches the other 51 sundays of the year... i think as a result people have lost the ability to tell the difference between when they're feeling condemned versus feeling convicted."

chew on that for a while... i know i, for one, often need to be shaken out of my apathy and sleep. real truth isn't usually painless, just as some of the most aggressive diseases need to be dealt with using some of the most aggressive forms of treatment. not pain-free, but good. how much truth do i miss because i'm ingesting it with so much sugar? how much do i conveniently ignore because it may impact my sedentary habits? open my ears... open my eyes, God...