If Only...

Well, here it is Black Friday and the hordes of people are frantically living out the consumeristic values of a culture that has lost its way (I know that sounds cynical and anti-capitalist but I am actually a strident defender of capitalism as the imperfect economic system that brings the most good for the most people).

Even before Black Friday though, you may have seen on the news the scenes that played out with the release of the new XBox 360 video gaming device. Persons camped outside stores in order to get the coveted $400 video game system. Persons endured hanging out at the McDonalds in a Wal-Mart and played Uno for hours on hours. And, unfortunately, some shoved and pushed and even robbed others when the eschaton arrived and the games were put on the shelf and sold. Just amazing!

One thing you have to admire here- the passion. As misguided as it is, there is no doubting the strength of the passion among these people. Why isn't there that same passion for Jesus in our world? Why aren't people waiting to get inside to worship Christ? Once people do get inside our places of worship why does it seem more like a mortuary than a glimpse of heaven (at one church I served I used to walk in the worship space with the choir and one day it was so quiet when we walked in I asked "Who died?")?

Is there something to be learned from the makers and marketers of XBox? We in the church have the greatest offering of all time- Jesus Christ- yet we rarely see the passion like with the release of XBox, Tickle Me Elmo or the Cabbage Patch Kids. These people are going to go home and play their XBoxes for hours on hours into the wee hours of the morning. Imagine if people were having a life changing encounter with Christ in our churches where they returned home and spent hours reading the scriptures, praying, and soaking in Jesus.

While I know this passion is out there and on display in different parts of our world, if only it was a worldwide phenomenon. If only this passion (sans the robbing, beating and pillaging) was a common occurrence instead of the exception in Christendom.