The Sheep Grazer, the Star Gazer and the Video Gamer

I was a bit alarmed when I recently Googled “christmas gifts for men” and saw the result from a few online stores. Guys must be hard to shop for, evidenced by the alternately humorous and sad gift ideas that came up, like a hockey stick ice scraper or an f-bomb paperweight. I was a bit alarmed at how many gifts pertained to alcohol, sports and barbecuing. It seems that the 21st century dad is better known for tailgating than trailblazing.

This got me to thinking about my gender and the holidays and what is and isn’t right in male-dom. As I see it, there are three kinds of men that are closely related to Christmas. Two of them I am sure most of you are familiar with, while the third one may only need a bit of explanation if you don’t happen to have a brother, cousin, son or male friend under the age of thirty.  

You know the sheep grazer in the Christmas story as the shepherd. He can be described as hard-working and faithful, prepared to defend the young and proficient at caring for the sick and weak.  Where could the shepherds be found that fateful night that the angels came to announce the Messiah’s birth looking for some free publicity? Where they always were and should have been - loyal on the job in spite of the long hours and lingering cold. Neither afraid to break a sweat or sweat the small stuff, the sheep grazer finds fulfillment in making a commitment and keeping it.

The narrative’s stargazer is, of course, the wise man. More than a guy with his head in the clouds, the magi was someone who was a visionary. This type of man is not afraid to take risks. His vision of what lies in the heavens dictates the path he will doggedly follow on earth. The wise man is the one who seeks to spend his time and riches pursuing honor, who can’t be misled by deceivers, and is willing to pay whatever price is necessary to achieve his destiny, even if that future includes leaving the comforts of home and country.

The video gamer may not be a part of the traditional Christmas tale, but he is definitely a character in the modern one.  Peruse any of the big box stores’ ads this season and you will see that a large part of their advertising space is taken up with video games, consoles, tv screens, bluetooth headphones and sound systems all designed to ensure that a generation of young men have the latest, most realistic and most comfortable game playing experience possible.

Even a small portion of the global video gaming industry’s 163 billion dollar revenue can make someone very rich this Christmas.  Companies like Microsoft and  Nintendo will rake in astronomical profits made off of the billions of hours wasted by young men entrenched in front of their HD plasma screens. Christmas has become Commerce-mas, and nothing makes the cash registers hum like a whole generation of boys addicted to the hard work of expertly manipulating a joystick and the thrill of being a make-believe hero.

We have too many video gamers and not enough victory gainers.  Stargazers who will not be AWOL in fantasy land but will use their thirst for adventure and transcendence to make epic journeys out of their lives in pursuit of excellence.  Sheep grazers who willingly make lifelong commitments to serve others in face to face, flesh and blood relationships, not virtual ones lived out from the safety of the couch and hidden behind an avatar.  There is a dearth of young men on the mission field, on the worship team, and in the prayer room. And I know where a large number of them can be found.

But my prayer this Christmas is that their hearts and imaginations will be inspired anew by the majesty and realism of a story where a son leaves his place of comfort and privilege and risks everything to save the day and give his all. Jesus is the ultimate male role model. May a whole new generation aspire to be the true men of Christmas.

How Do You Find the View?

After returning to the States from France, there are a few things I now possess that I didn't have before. One is a belly that has curiously become much more perpendicular. I attribute this partially to the genetically modified foods or the steroids in meat and dairy products one finds here. But I think it mostly has to do with the size of Chipotle's burritos.

Another recent acquisition for me on American soil has been an iPhone. Our team of tech-savvy Gen-Xers and Millennials had been after me for a while to get one. I imagine just so they could have the option of FaceTiming me or syncing calendars or whatever other convenience my lack of a smartphone deprived their sad, young lives of. But in the end, I got an iPhone not for its hipness factor but because it was the cheapest option for the family the day I walked into the Verizon store. At least that's what the guy named Jeffrey with the man-bun told me.

So now we all have pretty decent cameras on our phones. Which is why I couldn't figure out why my daughter keeps needing to borrow mine. Until I realized that my phone acts as her back up when she has used all her battery listening to Spotify or watching incessant vlogs of her favorite teen dystopian romance book reviewers.

So occasionally I will reach for my phone to catch an important photo, like someone blowing out birthday candles, a beautiful fading sunset, or the 49ers actually scoring a touchdown. Furiously scrolling to the camera icon so as not to miss the proverbial Kodak moment, I point the camera to its intended subject and what do I see? My own squinting face staring back at me from the screen. And it usually takes a moment for me to realize that my daughter has once again left my camera in selfie mode. And the important moment meant to be captured and preserved ends up completely missed.

So often the lens through which I observe people and events in my world is pitifully stuck in selfie mode. God brings certain scenarios into my field of vision and too often the significance of the moment and what He wishes to show me is missed. All because the eyes of my heart are self-focused. And though I should be seeing injustice or opportunity or something life-changing whose image should capture my attention, arrest my heart and stay with me forever, all I see is how a certain thing affects me or interferes with what's mine.

How sad if I have the opportunity to visit a thousand landscapes but come home with only self-portraits. I will have nothing to show for my journey other than a big wide world filled with me. But really only God is worthy to take up that much space. He told us early on in His word that we are not to make for ourselves any image that competes with Him for our focus or affection.

It only takes the swipe of a finger to get a smartphone out of selfie mode. God can easily do the same for us with just a simple touch of our hearts. We just need to give him access to the icon.

Spending Spree

Americans are drunk on choices, 

all those boistrous voices 

calling to us as we loiter and spend in the noisy malls 

and peruse endless sales ads, ad nauseum. 

Spoiled and  poised to add to the plenty that we already have 

while the have nots who've never had close to what we've had 

stay harassed in the heave-ho of no hope. 

The get rich quick execs get their kicks 

from digging into our riches by reaching out to us. 

Pitching easy credit without any hitches but the glitch is  

that they're itchin to get us endebted. 

A pre-approved American Express or Visa with no credit limit. Incredible idn't it? 

While those applying with the express interest of being an American- inhibited from their visa- are limited 

to just a pipe dream of a green card. 

We're deep in debt with buyers regret 

always moving toward something more, yet 

we can't get 

any closer to it. Got it?

We imbibe the moment we try on our first bib. 

We thrive not on feeling thrifty but a short lived feeling of being alive right after our newest purchase, 

Always diving in forthwith without propriety 

or thinking of the less privileged in our society, 

binging on variety, forsaking sobriety 

for the sake of what our affluence affords us in its entirety. 

We need to slow down and face up to this spending show-down, 

yo, the low-down on what goes down 

is that we're no doubt the the most spoiled consumers around. 

We want so much, 

but so much so 

that what we want is just the power of suggestion

which never before were objects of our affection 

but to whose allure we're now abjectly subjected. Our only objective 

is to add to our ever growing collection. 

I'm convinced we need to come back to our senses since 

we've lost sensitivity to the difference between dollars  and cents  

and no longer incensed by the senseless spending that fogs

The clarity of greater disparity between rich and poor. 

We're just fat and NOT happy 

cause happiness is not a matter of outmatching the man next door, amassing the maximum, 

ever maneuvering to be the masters of 

our own economic destiny.

It's time to sober up. I'm so over overtly overspending. 

But now vying to be a veritable moderate model of a new mode of living modestly. 

It will be costly. 

But maybe the first purchase whose price we pay honestly. 

It's on us, see? 

Let's see what kind of human beings we can be 

without another big spending spree.