imposters...

When people look at the Church and see only impostors, they conclude that Jesus is an impostor. But when they see followers of Jesus who are real, they see a Jesus who is real.

(Mike Yaconelli)

why we do what we do...

For the Christian, there is no distinction between the sacred and secular. Everything a Christian does is an expression of his faith. He does not make choices based on the religious significance of the alternative. As a Christian he makes the choice that is a logical extension of the values he has derived from his faith… (Mike Yaconelli)

shiny, happy people...

The power of the Church is not a parade of flawless people, but of a flawless Christ who embraces our flaws. The Church is not made up of the whole people, rather of the broken people who find wholeness in a Christ who was broken for us.
(Mike Yaconelli)

Holy People

The truly holy people I've met in my life are really interesting people. They're a mix of the most incredible godliness and at the same time, the most unbelievable earthiness. I know a woman who curses like a sailor, but she's the most holy woman I know. She is! I'm not kidding. We've created this image of what holiness looks like that's just nonsense. Good holy people probably drink too much some times, and have colorful language, and there's plenty of room in the Bible to see people like that. We have to see life for what it is, entirely more complicated then simple. Spirituality is not simple; it's complicated. It gets messy sometimes.

(Mike Yaconelli)

The Yaconelli Interview

In the December 1974 issue of the Wittenburg Door (cover: Woody Allen named Theologian of the Year), Mike Yaconelli, the late founder of Youth Specialties, interviewed himself about a planned move away from Youth Specialties to being a small town pastor (he ended up not leaving YS, and started doing both). Here’s an excerpt from that ‘interview’:

Mr. Y.: Mike, the Wittenburg Door has learned through informed sources that you are leaving Youth Specialties. Is that correct?
Mike: Yes, it is.
Mr. Y..: In light of this development, even though you are a close personal friend, I’d like to ask you some hard questions.
Mike: Go right ahead.
Mr. Y.: Why are you leaving Youth Specialties?
Mike: If you have read my articles in the Wittenburg Door in the past few years, you would have noticed my rather strong disillusionment with the organized institutional church. It has been very difficult to be optimistic in the face of a structure that has allowed the American culture to define it. By that I mean it continues to espouse a theology and practice that has been culturalized to the point of impotence. The ‘liberal’ response has been to emphasize a weak social platform based on an anemic social gospel while the ‘evangelicals’ have countered with a sentimental doctrinal isolationism. Both are repugnant. Both are so structuralized that change is almost impossible. That, in very general terms, is the source of my disillusionment.
Mr. Y.: Wow. would you like to say more?
Mike: Well, yes, thank you. I use the word disillusionment purposely. I could have used disgust, disdain, or rejection. But disillusionment suggests shattered expectation or better a frustrated hope. Because I’ve always had hope for the church. I love it. I need it. And although most of my critics read my criticism of the church as dishonest camouflage of my own inadequacies, God seems to have taken me seriously and called my hand…."

desperate...

Christianity is not for people who think religion is a pleasant distraction, a nice alternative or a positive influence. Messy spirituality is a good term for the place where desperation meets Jesus. More often than not, in Jesus' day, desperate people who tried to get to Jesus were surrounded by religious people who either ignored or rejected those who were seeking to have their hunger for God filled. Sadly, not much has changed over the years.

Desperate people don't do well in churches. They don't fit, and they don't cooperate in the furthering of their starvation. 'Church people' often label 'desperate people' as strange and unbalanced. But when desperate people get a taste of God, they can't stay away from him, no matter what everyone around them thinks.

Desperate is a strong word. That's why I like it. People who are desperate are rude, frantic, and reckless. Desperate people are explosive, focused, and uncompromising in their desire to get what they want. Someone who is desperate will crash through the veil of niceness. The New Testament is filled with desperate people, people who barged into private dinners, screamed at Jesus until they got his attention, or destroyed the roof of someone's house to get him. People who are desperate for spirituality very seldom worry about the mess they make on their way to be with Jesus.

Mike Yaconelli, "Messy Spirituality" pp.33-34

what a ride!

If I were to have a heart attack right at this moment, I hope I would have just enough air in my lungs and just enough strength in me to utter one last sentence as I fell to the floor: "What a ride!" My life has been up and down, careening left then right, full of mistakes and bad decisions, and if I died right now, even though I would love to live longer, I could say from the depths of my soul, "What a ride!" - Mike Yaconelli