Alcoholics Not So Anonymous

Galatians 6:7

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap.


Last Saturday, after my doomed foray into the world of Mechanicalia trying to repair the mothership mower, I chilled with a few beers in addition to a shot of bourbon and cigar out back. I tweeted that I was enjoying a Yuengling Lager, rather than a Mint Julep, here in Pennsyltucky. It was the day of the Kentucky Derby, a race that I truly had no horse in.

It was a throw-away comment, innocuous. Nothing bawdy or over the top of the mug bacchanalian. I mean who doesn't drink a beer after destroying the lifeblood of their mower? Like brain surgery in the hands of a butcher am I.  

I do try and be careful about Twitter because anyone can see what I put out there. Don't want to besmirch my fine reputation. I found one of the students in my College & Career Class had tweeted before the class had begun that I was "annoying." Social Media has made adolescence angst even more of a spectator blood sport than it used to be. Almost every problem in a high school has been intensified by these magnifiers of mendaciousness. 

As a result of my Yuengling Lager tweet, I was followed by a Twitter account titled "Alcoholics." When I perused the posts, it was a homage to getting trashed. That gave me pause. I blocked the account because I hardly want to be associated with hell-raisers. Christ died for sin and it is very troubling, on top of being quite dangerous, to laugh at what made Him bleed and die. 

This event has caused me to step back a bit and think through some things. As Christians, we can be really prone to putting our best face forward in social media--and it winds up being phony. In fact, one of the great sins of the 21st century Church in America is a lack of realness and even rawness. We come across as baby pool people in the ocean of  existence, offering happy-clappy inflatables amidst the drowning storms of life.

I have vowed that in this bierkergaard blog to never succumb to the endemic superficiality of the church subculture. That is why I call it like I see it even if--as it was with the Recycling Bin story--to not exactly place me in the best light. I could have redacted the story, made it more devotionally-inspiring, and clean it up  to make me look Gandhi-like. Yet, that would have come at the cost of Truth and negating how I really felt and thought. 

Being a student of human nature after 30 years of working with teenagers has taught me quite a bit about patterns of destruction and how if a community doesn't deal with dragons when they are small, will  have a much bigger fire-breathing enemy to deal with down the road. So, either contest the small encroachment of incivility or wait until social anarchy rears its head. And good luck with that because you are going to need it. 

My faith caused me to walk away from escalating the conflict with my petty thief of a neighbor who stole the recycling bin after he went on the offensive against me for me having the audacity to call him out for his larceny. I understand the mentality of crime and am not going to let it take root in the neighborhood because that will hurt all of us, himself included. Once the social contract begins to tear, the rip widens. A stitch in time saves nine and I brought out the needle and thread. 

So, I really don't give much of a hoot if my blog doesn't make it onto the most inspirational list dainties. I am pretty nauseated by the whole Christian media scene. There is a cabal of companies and individuals who spoon-feed the faithful and keep them immature and babies. It is circle of self-reinforcing consumers and producers. I am not one of the chosen despite knowing more about college transition than almost anyone. So be it.

I am actually starting to develop influence outside of the church realm because I actually do know what I am talking about. There is a danger, however, of me losing my saltiness as I head out to bigger bodies of water than the water park of modern evangelical Christianity with its arm floaties and snack bars by the side. And that bring me back to blocking the Alcoholics Twitter account. Although I like to drink beer, bourbon, and smoke a very occasional cigar, I do not endorse the licentious lifestyle. Life is full of tragic consequences for those who lack wisdom and live in a reckless manner. We must warn those who are on the path of destruction that they need to exit and not wait until tomorrow. Tragedy is coming head-on and many need to open their eyes and get off the road before it is too late.

So, a man reaps what he Tweets I suppose. As a final thought: I do intend to obtain a recycling bin for my neighbor today. I often look at interactions as a series of steps in the right direction. My mentality is to not avoid the confrontation  but don't stay camped there. Show that it is possible to move forward and forgive. Not ignoring the sin but bringing it into the light and then allowing the sun to set on the grievance. 

Small unforgiveness can become large hatreds and we must mow those weeds down to powder in order to let that which is good to grow. For what a man mows, he shall reap. Or what he reaps, he shall mow.