Social Binging « Godgrown

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Mark 7:09 pm on August 13, 2006 Reply
Social Binging
It’s been so enlightening to research Abilene’s “hang-out spots” and “community wells”. One things I’m beginning to notice is that the majority of Abilene’s community centers have to do NOT with adults, but with where the adults take their children! Karate practice, little league, plays, recitals, championships of all sorts…the children of this town seem to be socially gorging, while adults are remaining socially starved. With as much energy as families are pouring into the social lives of their over-extended young ones, what need is there for a social life of their own? And what about adults that aren’t connected to a nuclear-style family? Where do they go for relationships? What do the lower-middle class have that brings them together?

I can think of almost 20 different clubs, organizations, or communities that I was involved in as a youngster, and as I slowly find myself entering adulthood, I am finding that many of the activities that used to define who I was are beginning to peel off, and there isn’t anything that is replacing them except a specialized education that focuses in only one area.

So how can I engage this city in a natural, organic way? I’ll think back to the things I had a blast doing in High School, and find ways to plug back into the communities that are participating in the things I love. The way I see it: if you ACTUALLY LIKE spending time with people who NATURALLY LIKE what’s going on, that’s considered a natural, REAL friendship. (So much ministry is based on fake friendships…what’s up with that?)

Last quick thought: Jesus hated being a carpenter. He never gives a single parable that relates to it, and he never seems to bump into any wood-carvin’ buddies in his travels. He basically leaves that life behind when he begins his ministry. My guess? Jesus was into fishing and farming. He got into wineries, wine presses, and…wine! Jesus didn’t arbitrarily pick his disciples, his natural tendencies and personality drew him to all of them – and the 12 connected with another group, which multiplied exponentially…through natural relationships!
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Agent B, Trey, Chris Field and 4 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
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- http://guymuse.blogspot.com guy muse
  
  Some good observations and questions for all of us to be asking about our own communities and ways to meaningfully engage them.
- http://towardsimplicity.net miller
  
  mark,
  
  i think you are really onto something here. the whole concept of over-socialized youth and under-socialized adults is profound. however, that truth seems to be a stereotypically middle-class one. i wonder if the same is true for the poverty class? i wonder if those who can’t afford to chase their children all over God’s green earth deal with the same social issues we do…
  
  i’m not so sure of your analysis in the last paragraph… develop that a little. Jesus’ childhood is no more referred to than his father’s profession, does that mean he hated his childhood as well?
  
  do we know that Jesus was a carpenter? do we know that he loved fishing? do we know that he loved farming?
  
  flesh this out some for me…
  
  peace
- http://godgrown.net/blog Mark
  
  Thanks for thinking that last paragraph through. It is often that I find preachers/writers putting words/ideas/personality traits into the life of Jesus that we just don’t find in the text. Its just creative license, I guess – but the pursuit of the real, historical Jesus is the better pursuit when trying to model our lives after his life.
  
  Its true that Jesus may not have ever picked up a hammer in his life – surely a vague reference only mentioned once in all the Gospels about his father’s profession doesn’t shed much light on what Jesus spent the first 30 or so years of his life doing. We can only assume. I know from my own personal experience that I talk the most about the things that actually interest me (just look at this blog! Believe me, its been tough to keep Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles off these pages!).
  
  We learn from what the Bible says, but we also can learn from what it DOESN’T say. Jesus NEVER mentions anything about being a carpentar – if he was one – and if his father was one – that would have been the world he would have known inside and out, and that would’ve been his language. Since the Gospel writers never mentions Jesus talking about his supposed carpentry profession, I assume he either wasn’t one (hard to believe in that culture, since his father’s profession would have likely been passed down) or he just didn’t care for it. It wasn’t his “cuppa tea”. Just an opinion – no proof – but there is evidence that leans that way.
  
  Jesus does talk about his childhood indirectly, by talking about the family he grew up with. Apparently, he was willing to cling to those who “believed in him” quicker than his biological family; and yet when his death was near, he was sure that his mother would be cared for (where were her other sons and daughters then?).
  
  I can only assume that Jesus would’ve talked about the things he loved…
- http://towardsimplicity.net miller
  
  OK, i get what you’re saying. i don’t think i’m ready to say that Jesus followed in his earthly father’s footsteps… we don’t really know how long his father lived.
  
  it may have been that by the time he was old enough to work, his father was dead. it could be that he had to pursue an unskilled trade like fishing… or farming. the fact is that we just don’t know.
  
  i agree that we can learn from what scripture doesn’t say… provisionally. as you know, much license has been taken and i guess i overreact to it. (unless of course its me that takes it!)
  
  i think there are any number of possibilities to consider when speculating about the cryptic years in Jesus’ life. the truth of the matter is that we have only about one week worth of actual life recorded in the gospels… maybe a month. there is much that Jesus certainly said and did that is totally hidden.
  
  i love this stuff, i think it is good to push each other in this way.
  
  peace
- http://godgrown.net/blog Mark
  
  Miller, you say that we only have one week or a month of Jesus’ life. Do you mean that we only have that many DAYS worth of stories? (One story = one day?). The synoptics record a full year of Jesus’ ministry, and John records 3 full years. I am also willing to include SOME stories from extra-canonical lit, since there were others who were just trying to record the stories of their Lord (although I don’t have a complete Mark-authorized list of which texts I actually accept as historically important). In the end, we’re left with the impression that the only parts Jesus NEEDED us to know about him was passed on in his disciples’ teachings. Jesus could’ve written an autobiography, but he didn’t. No one else even seemed that interested, cept Luke maybe.
- http://towardsimplicity.net miller
  
  what i’m saying is this, however long it would take you to speak the stories and speeches is approximately the ammount of Jesus’ life we have a picture of. its enough to do what its supposed to do. the synoptics don’t record a full year, they record snipits of a full year. if that’s true for the synoptics, its certainly true for John.
  
  remember, John himself says “Jn 21:24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
  
  IMO, we don’t have very much to go on concerning what his life was like during his ministry, let alone before it.
  
  the only parts Jesus NEEDED us to know about him was passed on in his disciplesâ€™ teachings. Jesus couldâ€™ve written an autobiography, but he didnâ€™t. my point exactly
  
  peace
- http://chrisfield.blogspot.com Chris Field
  
  I love your vision, Mark. And I especially love any vision that takes me to little league games
- Trey
  
  Can’t the word translated carpenter also be translated as quarryman or rockcutter or somesuch? And as a recall, Jesus used plenty of rock metaphors. Wasn’t Nazareth’s economic base in quarries?
- http://theagentbfiles.blogspot.com Agent B
  
  I’m discovering a new “social well” in my life: play grounds.
  
  My first kid is getting close to 2, and he loves slides and such. In the evenings at most city parks and elementary schools there’s kids playing and us dads are sitting on a bench or by a tree.
  
  I’ve recently struck up many conversations with total strangers. It’s weird though. All dads keep one eye on their kids and one eye on the conversation…which can stop any second if a kid gets hurt.

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Mark 7:09 pm on August 13, 2006 Reply

Social Binging