No-Shave November - It's That Time of Year!

I don't "do" causes. That is to say, as a rule I don't engage in efforts to promote awareness of any particular movement, except for living in a way that I hope honors Jesus Christ. But Jesus isn't a "movement" or a grass-roots effort.

In a post today my online pal and brother in Christ, Shawn Wallace, encourges people to stop shaving (or to start). Heck, it IS No-Shave November, after all. And he offers a challenge which has just about convinced me to go all anti-razor for a cause (still yet to be determined).

I guess that's the reason No-Shave November was started in the first place. I don't know. I just thought it was some silly thing to do just for the heck of it.

Hit Shawn's blog and see what he's championing by sporting a new (and slightly disturbing) look (I suggested ditching the eyebrows, too, by the way).

This would be my first ever "to promote awareness of" group effort thing, and to be honest just thinking about it makes me feel like an icky conformist (not that people who do things for a cause are icky conformists -- just me). If I move forward with it I'll let you know the details.

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No Cheap Imitations Desired

My son and I were killing some time in a video store yesterday, seeing if there were any unbelievable deals to be had in the "Buy 2 get 1 free" bins. The Naked Gun 2½ and Naked Gun 33 1/3 were in there for pretty cheap, but I couldn't find a third movie to round things out, until we saw the fairly recent blockbuster Transmorphers.

Wait... "Transmorphers"?

For only $15.99 (you have to pay for the higher-priced movies to get the "free" stuff) we could take home what I assumed would be a low-budget ripoff of the Shia LaBeouf hit movie (which was fun but got only 57% on the RottenTomatoes.com meter) Transformers.

The featured user review of the movie at imdb.com says, "why oh why?"

So why would anyone do this? Isn't there some level of integrity in filmmakers that would prevent them from making a movie like this, made-for-TV or not? I guess that they hope that it'll make money due to the success of the more well-known movie. Maybe families will buy it thinking it's actually Transformers, or maybe people will be anxious to watch robot movies, or something. Whatever the case, they've copied the original, apparently without the resources or creativity to come up with something original.

In looking at this, I want to encourage Christ-followers and churches and church leaders to learn from the programs and formats of other church fellowships, but to remember that trying to plug, say, North Point Community Church's small group program into that of your own fellowship is likely not going to work the same way, if it works at all. Trying to make sermons more appealing to the younger, hipper generation by wearing a shirt without a collar (or, heaven forbid, a Hawaiian shirt) while speaking is most likely just going to be silly.

Just as all church fellowships are different, all Christians are different. What God has planned for me is probably going to be different, even if only slightly, from what He has for you. While it's good to learn from what other Christians are doing, never be afraid to venture out into that unknown territory that God has marked out for you. Okay, maybe you're allowed to be afraid. Just don't let that paralyze you. I often wonder how much greater the influence of Christians would be if we took the daunting step into adventure that awaits just outside our front doors (as Dave Smelzer describes in his book "Not the Religious Type: Confessions of a Turncoat Atheist").

There is no one else in the world with your influence, your personality, or your purpose.

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