art

We All Have Bought A $120,000 Banana

If art is anything, it is provocative. For anyone who has ever looked at a bit of art and thought, “My kindergartner can paint that! Why don’t you give her $120,000 for her play-doe sculpture?” you are not alone.

Recently humanity lost our collective mind over a banana duct taped to a wall that sold for $120,000. There are many memes to thought pieces on this bit of art. Some believe it to be brilliant. Some find it crazy, others find it immoral and still others wonder what sort of world do we have when people cannot pay for their medical bills while others buy a $120,000 banana.

It is an easy target to throw stones at. It sounds insane that anyone would buy this much less anyone else call it art. We wonder what rich person could possibly have such a cold hart to waste money in this way. We wonder why the wealthy are putting more money to art than towards social services, charity or the common good. We see this bit of art as a proxy for all that is wrong with the millionaires and billionaires of the world. Then, when we hear the buyer of this banana ate the banana we just melt into madness!

Beyond how you feel about this specific banana and duct tape, the purchase, or the people involved I want to remind us that we all have bought a $120,000 banana.

We all have spent money on fleeting things (fast fashion?). We all have justified our expenses on things over using our money for the common good (don’t we all need three winter coats?). We all have bought into consumerism and purchased things just because everyone is a twitter about them (fidget spinners anyone?) We all have bought things that others disprove of (you have seen the National Inquire, right?). We all feel justified in our decisions and condemn others’ (I am improving the value of my home with these updates, you are wasting your money on buying a boat.).

We may not have signed a check for the same dollar amount, but we all have bought our version of the $120,000 banana.

No matter how we feel about this banana it reveals to us that we are no better or worse than the one “wasting their money” on a banana. We all feel justified with our own actions. We all feel like others are the problem.

I am thankful that we know the name of the couple who bought the banana. At least they are not hiding behind anonymity and are willing to publicly face the very questions we all should be asking ourselves every day.

A case for the stumbling block

They are called Stolperstein and I had never heard of them. Granted I never have been to any of the 18 European countries which you can find one of nearly 50,000 stolperstein, but still. I feel like I should know about one of the largest memorials in the world. Fourtantly, I am friends with Rev. Nancy Allen who is much more learned and traveled that I am so she hipped me to the stolperstein.

These are stones that are laid in the ground with names of people who were killed in the Holocaust. What I have come to understand as well is the stolperstein are not markers like a gravestone, but in fact tributes to those who were a 'stumbling block' (which is what stolperstein means in German) to the Nazi cause. 

What is additionally interesting to me is the art of redemption that you find in the medium of the stumbling block. 

In the Christian tradition, there are a handful of verses in the Bible about stumbling blocks. All of them cast a shadow over the stumbling block. Warnings to not be a stumbling block and even condemning those who are stumbling blocks to others. In my religious tradition, stumbling blocks are not associated with anything redemptive. 

That is what makes the stolperstein so interesting. The stolperstein exposes the redemptive quality of the demonized stumbling block. The stolperstein invite/challenge us to all @@be a stumbling block to hate and trip up evil.@@ To be a barrier to destruction. 

It is not easy to be a stumbling block, which is why it is worth remember those who were.

Finding the redemptive quality of the stumbling block is much like what God does in this world. God is the force that is able to find the redemptive quality in all things. Even those things we think are beyond redemption. It is the creativity of the force of God that continues to draw me into a deeper relationship with Christ. It was Christ who looked at the cross, the symbol for the ultimate power of the state, and found the way to redeem even that horrible symbol. Now the cross stands as a sign of hope and resurrection.

The Christian life is one that calls us to find the redeemable in even the darkest of places. I am thankful for those who show me that even the stumbling block is redemptive. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolperstein

Church Leadership as Entrepreneurs vs. Artists

Church leadership is not outside the mainstream conversations about leadership in the world. And while there are many streams of conversation about leadership these days, there seems to be a few main rivers of conversation. One of those rivers is leader as Entrepreneur or leader as Artist. And these two metaphors are in tension within the Church.

Leader as Entrepreneur is a model that is very popular with those in the higher levels of Church leadership. There is a desire to raise up leaders who are visionaries, bold, decisive, and clear. These would be leaders that are innovative and have high energy to take on new challenges and markets. Part of what makes Church leader as Entrepreneur attractive is the underlying mindset of an entrepreneur is one of growth. Growing is the fuel of the entrepreneur. As the old saying goes, "if you're not growing you're dying." 

Leader as Artist is a model that is more popular with those entering the ministry or those still new in the calling. There is a desire to raise up leaders who are passionate, creative and focused on the purity of the call. These would be leaders that are worried about integrity and authenticity in order to remain true to the original call rather than bend to the will of new markets. Part of what make Church leader as Artist attractive is the mindset of an artist is one of creating something for the sake of creating it. Beauty is the fuel of the artist. As the old saying goes "Life imitates art." 

Ideally it would be great to have church leaders be entrepreneur artists (or creative entrepreneur as The Atlantic calls it), but that is a rare breed in current church leadership. While one model of leadership is fueled by growth, the other is fueled by "being". The entrepreneur creates in order to grow, the artist creates for the sake of creating. One sees creation as a means to an end the other sees creation as a end to itself. 

Want to know what leadership style is driving your local church? Take a look a the language that is used. Is is focused on growth or being. Are you doing things in order to get new members or are you doing things because they are worth doing? 

If you are not growing you're dying is not accurate when it comes to the Gospel. In order to grow you have to die. In order to made whole you have to be empty. In order to be made clean you have to get dirty. Sometimes growth is needed but growth for the sake of growth is not bringing beauty into the world. Mindless growth only brings weeds. 

Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archiv...