Creation East

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Creation has been pretty good so far. Great interviews, beautiful scenery and very good camaraderie between us on staff. There's no Chick-Fil-A, so the food has stepped down a notch since Alive, but we are without rain and mud and swampy tent floors.

Every night of the festival, our merch tent is shut down for just over an hour for the guest speaker. I think I may have mentioned it earlier, but it seems that the tendency is for participants of said festivals to flock to buy merchandise when the key speaker is on. In an attempt to keep people's attention on the speaker, everything is shut down—food, merchandise, showers, etc. I'm sure it results in some grunts and groans here and there, but it is definitely effective in bringing people to the main stage, even if it's simply because they have nothing else to do.

Tonight, the stage belonged to none other than Joyce Meyer. Yes, that Joyce Meyer. THE Joyce Meyer. On this night, Creation didn't really have to corral people down to the stage—it seems that when Joyce is around there is no shortage of willing viewers. 

I'll be honest—I've never really paid much mind to Joyce. I know some people who love her and some people who don't, and the truth is that both are right in their reasons, I guess. People love her little messages and one-liners, her sassy attitude and the fact that she's maintaining cultural relevance even as she inches away from the youth of today with each year. And on the same hand, others find reasons to complain; citing her private jet that she flies around in or her noted affinity of various types of footwear. Both sides of the spectrum are ones that I try to shy away from, honestly. I think both sides have at least some amount of validity, but too often those things turn into arguments and spur on more separation and hatred than anything else. At the end of the day, I've always just chalked it up to her seeming like a good person, and being a person who is doing a lot of good for a lot of people. I don't really care what her bank account looks like or how many bedrooms she's got in her home. She loves well, and does the best she recognizes to do with what she's got. Maybe she could do better, but so could I and so could you. I think it's that "plank in the eye" thing. 

All of that being said, I've never had much interest in buying her books or listening to her messages. I just let her do her thing and try to focus on the good. Too often it's easy for my critic to come out when concerned with anyone or any thing that has the word "Mega" attached to it. 

So, tonight. 

Joyce came out. I was on a break, seeing as the booth was closed, and Brian and I were throwing the Frisbee around with a friend of ours nearby enough to hear her message. I didn't really have any expectations other than that the majority of the people there would love it because that's just what happens when a name like Joyce Meyer is around. I will be honest in assuming that there wouldn't be much to it. I was expecting one of those self-help kinds of messages, the ones about "Five Ways to" something or "Six Steps to" whatever. And I have settled on there being nothing inherently wrong with those, because I guess there are some people who need to hear them. I'm so tired of talking theology lately that I try to see what good is coming from things instead of seeing what bad. None of us really know a thing, if we're honest with ourselves. 

The short of the long of it is that Joyce KILLED IT. I loved everything that she said. It was practical. It was simple. It was necessary. It wasn't chock-full of jargon and silly slogans about being "too anointed to be disappointed" or the like. It was the read deal. It wasn't about salvation, or heaven or hell or anything that people are so tired of hearing about. It was about loving people well. About giving rides to your classmate or co-worker who doesn't have a car, or buying things for people who need them. She told a story about a friend of hers continually mentioning a woman at her church who didn't have a bed and was sleeping on the floor. Her friend would talk and talk about this "poor woman," and how hard it must be for her to not have a bed. Joyce said that her first question to her friend was why hadn't she bought one for this woman yet. She told the crowd how she felt led to give a certain amount of money to an inner-city church, and that money went to repairing the teeth of a lot of adults and children who couldn't otherwise have done it. She talked about a man who had, for years, covered his mouth with his hand when he spoke because his teeth were so bad. She found him and paid for his dental work, and now he's all smiles, all the time. 

I mean ... it's teeth. Not wells in Africa, not TOMS shoes in various countries. I think both of those things are VERY important. VERY. But let's not forget how significant it is to one's self-esteem when they don't have to worry about being noticed for all the wrong reasons because of something like their teeth. That was a great thing that Joyce did. A great, great thing. 

And so she went on with story and Scripture about the practical nature of what it means to live according to the Gospel. About how Job said that if his arms weren't being used to help others, they might as well be pulled off of his body. About how Christ's commandments were to serve others and love others as yourself. How is it that we forget that stuff? We get so caught up on "saving people from Hell" or saying prayers or whatever that we forget what it looks like to emulate Christ. Sometimes, the last thing that a person needs is a tract or a verse or a prayer. Sometimes what they need is some sustenance, you know? Some food in their stomach or shoes on their feet. I'm not trying to undermine the gestures of prayer, etc ... but honestly, it gets overwhelmingly frustrating when we forget the practical nature of what the Gospel is. It looks like something; it has actions and motions and responses to injustices. 

Joyce was great tonight in bringing that to people's attention. I still might have reservations or hesitations toward parts of her theology or her lifestyle or her hair ... but her heart is good, and her attitude is right. And I'm allowed to have reservations, too. They aren't wrong or bad, they just show that the gears are turning. 

But she does a lot. A lot, a lot. And for the right reasons. She wakes up in the morning and asks herself how she can better serve people on that day. And until those are things that I've got under control in my life, who am I to point a finger? 

So, like I said, tonight was a bit of a gut check. I didn't harbor any hard feelings toward Joyce Meyer before tonight; I just think I didn't really think much about her at all. I might have exited a conversation about her, or chuckled to myself when someone told me how her latest best-seller has "changed their life." And then she came on stage in her expensive clothes and fancy shoes, and really hit the nail on the head. Materialism and possessions certainly matter to certain extents, but I think that the fruit being shown in her life goes beyond those things. 

Maybe it's a perspective thing, I don't know. Maybe I could write a long list of her failures in her expressions of and living out of Christianity. But would that be right? Am I in a position to challenge her? I certainly don't know her. Even more than that, I've got such a long list myself that I'm not sure I should start with Joyce when Jahred is just as messy ... and possibly less effective. 

I've only heard Joyce Meyer speak one time, for about 30 minutes. Maybe I caught her on her one excellent night, or maybe she is always this amazing. Either way, I don't think I'm going to be running out to buy her CDs or books anytime soon. But I'll certainly think twice next time her name is brought up. She spoke truth, and all truth is God's truth. 

Maybe next time you hear about the Joyces and the Osteens, or the Driscolls and the Bells, if they aren't your personal cup of tea, think twice before you make jokes about how shoddy their ministry is. Maybe it is. I mean, maybe it really is. But until you know them or have face-to-face conversations with them, you might not know the extent of good that they are doing for people. You don't have to buy the books or attend the church, but you also don't have to fire shots at them, either. Question and challenge, but don't insult. Christ let the truth penetrate hearts, not His verbal bullets. There is a difference. Joyce Meyer taught me that tonight, and she was about the last person I ever expected would do such a thing. 

Take care. Love well.

-Jahred