Greetings All!
Man…it’s been a while.
Just wanted to provide a brief field report on Borderlands activity. Earlier this month, I had the chance to spend a weekend with the graduating seniors of Corinth Church. We headed out to Camp Geneva for a “Pivot Point” experience and addressed some of the basic worldview issues that they’ll be facing in new ways as they transition from life at home to life on a college/university campus.
It was a great time! We had a lot of positive feedback. I gave four talks:
#1 “The Pivot Point”–In this talk, I was able to address the basic question of identity: Who do I want to be and become? Together, we looked at the “Angle of Identity,” identity as a composite of our beliefs, feelings and actions. For a lot of thinkers, there’s a linear relationship of belief, feeling and action. While I do believe that all our feelings and actions flow from our beliefs, I don’t think too many people experience life that way. A lot of people begin acting out in ways that contradict their stated beliefs. Over time, they can fall into changing their stated beliefs to justify their actions. Likewise, I’ve seen a lot of people respond to a false idea at an emotional level (e.g. changing their beliefs about homosexuality out of a feeling of sympathy for someone they personally know who struggles with same-sex attraction). Anyway…
Talk #2–”The Truth is Out There.” In this talk, I gave a basic message: The search for truth will proceed from a fundamental choice between two sources of authority: Self or Scripture. When we allow our own intellect to serve as the final source of authority, we’re thinking from the “inside-out” and will always have a subjective take on life, never arriving at transcendent truth. When Scripture serves as our worldview lens, we are thinking from the Outside-In and can approach God’s perspective on reality.
Talk #3–Three Lies You Hear Every Day. Here, we discussed three lies: #1 Faith is a Feeling; #2 No One Can Know the Truth for Everyone; #3 Freedom is Found in Self-Expression.
Talk #4–Consumers or Creators. This talk has been really fruitful. I’ve been sharing it in local area churches and getting some incredible feedback. Basically: You have a choice, to consume the worlds diet or to be a culture creator, inspired by biblical Truth.
Hopefully, we’ll have video from these sessions available soon. If anyone out there does video editing, I’d love to talk with you about helping edit this footage.
Bye for now!
Thanks for the update! It sounds like it was a wonderful weekend. Borderlands is an essential ministry of the church. I would love to hear more about the consumer or creator idea. Blessings.
the not so garden state
May 30th, 2007
Consumers or Creators
I was able to be in audience last night for this message….awesome!!!
Adam came “home” to speak at The Edge, a ministry born out of Fountain of Life Church in Lombard, IL. His topic: “Consumers or Creators”. I have so many thoughts; I will try to make sense.
In Not Of
The Bible tells us to be in the world but not of it. This is a mandate from scripture that leaves a lot of us thinking “Okay, so how do I do that?” And I think this is where we go wrong. We want to know how to DO “in not of” before giving thought as to how to THINK about it. We use our behavior as a gauge to determine our “in not of” balance. How much beer can I drink before I’m drunk? How much media can I consume before I’m being ungodly? Is this R rated movie pornography? For so many of us (myself definitely included), the “in not of” mandate becomes a behavioral management exercise that either ends in fleshly failure or passionless religion. A “consumer of culture vs. a creator of culture” proposition gets us out of this trap (Thanks Adam). This is how I took the talk last night, as a great starting point to get at the “in not of” dilemma.
Points from “Consumers vs. Creators” that really stuck with me:
1.) A consumer of culture is someone who “goes with the flow” allowing external stimuli to define his thoughts and actions, and as such, his identity. The consumer is defined by the external.
2.) A person is coerced into consuming culture when prompted by external cues (advertising, peer pressure, observing social status, etc.) to express one’s self. Self-expression is the driving motivator for the consumer. This gives them the illusion of self-will and choice. Ironically, most consumers end up expressing themselves just like everyone else in their psychographic profile (for more information on how consumers are defined by psychographic profiles, go to www.buxtonco.com). They end up being different, just like everybody else.
3.) In short: Culture Consumers exchange measured units of their life (money & time) for beliefs and stuff. The motivation for these exchanges is the need to express one’s self. Their self-identity is the sum total of what the culture tells them to believe and what their stuff tells them they are.
The creator of culture is a spirit-filled believer whose identity is found in the person of Jesus Christ. They “consume” Christ through the word, prayer, study, fellowship and worship. This makes them creators of culture in two ways:
1.) They are not void of self-identity or in need of self expression when they engage culture, in fact…
2.) The culture creator actually brings an alternative consumable good to the culture, namely a belief system (complete with every presupposition needed to combat any worldview) and an identity defined by the person of Jesus Christ.
Now, returning to my main point, this offering from Adam helps us to get out of the “behavior management” trap of “in not of” because it helps us to think about it in a new light. When we love God through Christ with our whole mind, body and soul, our self-identity is defined in pursuit of truth; we no longer need to express ourselves through the exchange of money/time for beliefs/stuff. In this way, we consume for the sake of living, not for the sake of identity. And we bring the living bread to Public Square as an alternative food source for those desperately seeking to be filled.
(Adam, if I didn’t get the gist of this please correct me. Most of my intentions at paraphrasing you are for clarity from your end.)
Thanks again for a great word! We’ll meet again soon I’m sure.
Tony Woodall
June 3rd, 2007
Thank you Tony for the summary. I am wondering how the culture creator is “fleshed out”. What does a culture creator look like - how do they act, think and express themselves in the world? Give me an example. I love this idea!
the not so garden state
June 4th, 2007
I can only speak to the “culture creator” concept from my perspective based on how I took Adam’s message. So anything I say about it would be my opinion, and not necessarily the view of the author (I know I just sounded like a public service message right there).
So with that….
“What does a culture creator look like - how do they act, think and express themselves in the world?”
inside-out vs. outside-in
Unlike the consumer who is internally void of self-identity and looking to fill that void when engaged in culture, the creator is already full when they engage culture. In fact they are over flowing. Culture creators are inside-out culture oriented. Culture consumers are outside-in oriented. Culture creators actually bring something to the culture beyond what is naturally present. That something is a lock-solid identity wrapped up in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
What does a culture creator act like? I think a few of the following ways:
The Culture Creator is able to champion gospel-centered truth in such a way that opponents are forced to leave off with logic and reason to defend their positions.
Culture Creators are able to stand behind what they believe without yielding to “compassionate consensus”.
Culture Creators are so able to defend their gospel-centered beliefs that they cause true conviction to rise up within the objector.
Culture Creators are so able to defend their gospel-centered beliefs that they leave the objector without excuse, thus incapable of thwarting the inward working of the Holy Spirit.
Culture Creators passionately engage culture with the gospel in such a compelling way that, through them, the person of Jesus Christ becomes real and relevant.
I could go for a while…
Tony Woodall
June 4th, 2007
Hey Guys! sorry it took me a while to respond to this stuff. I’ve been digesting it a bit. Tony, awesome stuff. I hope you don’t mind, but i’m planning to take your first post and actually make it a main post on the blog. I think you nailed it here.
RE: Outside-In vs. Inside-Out. I’d want to clarify a couple things. The “Outside-In” person is someone who begins with Scripture, the only source of true Truth outside the individual. He allows Scripture to dictate and serve as the measuring rod of every thought and perspective.
The “Inside-OUt” thinker starts with himself. It represents the humanistic ideal, “Man is the measure of all things.”
However, when one approaches life from the “Outside-In,” his/her thinking is redeemed and he is able to then be a source of life and truth to those around him. This is a form of “inside-out” living that can actually be productive. In this since our “inside-out” living starts with an “outside-in” reception of truth.
Does that make sense?
Administrator
June 12th, 2007
Adam:
I’m glad you found my thoughts about your thoughts of value. Of course, do with them what you want. This is your house.
On the “inside/outside” clarification, thanks. I was assuming regeneration on behalf of the culture creator. Thanks for taking it back a step and clarifying.
I love your stuff bro. Have you been able to give this talk anywhere else? And what was the response?
- Tony
Tony Woodall
June 13th, 2007