passion play

In typical Christian fashion, I’m going to identify myself in terms of who I’m not. (sarcasm partially intended) In the following list, which is shorter here than what it really is, I will explain who I’m not, and why I’m not them.

• T.D. Jakes - Let’s start with the obvious. I’m a little more paler than he is. And smaller. I don’t hold prosperity theology (true or not, take it as you will, but I don’t accept it). I don’t sing when I teach/preach. I don’t sweat a lot. I don’t get as excited as he does, and I certainly haven’t published a million books and lead a million conferences for a million people.

• Andy Stanley - I’m not Andy Stanley. While I think I communicate well (it’s God’s gift), I’m nowhere near the efficient and engaging way in which Andy communicates. King Jesus simply has another path for me and the gifts He gave me from day one. I’m also not called to a southern city. Been there, didn’t really like it. Great for 4-5 days (Catalyst, for example), but I couldn’t live there, I don’t think. Watch God call me from DC to Savannah or something. He’s funny that way.

• Mark Driscoll - I’m pretty funny. I step out of line most of the time. I feel called to the city. I came to Jesus at a later age, after a life of too much baseball and beer. But I’m not Mark Driscoll. Why? I can’t preach like he does. I can’t speak for two hours on one verse from Song of Solomon. Maybe an hour and a half, but that’s pushing it. He reads more than I do. He’s smarter than I am. (For those of you that know me, that was really hard for me to write ) He explain controversial things more thoroughly than I do. And to be honest, he may have more um..fortitude than I do. He’s not afraid to say anything. Usually I censor things a little. He doesn’t. This is good and bad, take it as you will.

• Rob Bell - I don’t have any kind of Jewish studies background. I don’t bleach my hair. I don’t preach barefoot, I don’t wear cool, funky glasses, and I don’t own a mall. He’s more educated, extrapolates the original meaning better. I’m funnier, too. Probably anyway. Rob’s sense of humor is wry.

• Joel Osteen - Here’s a fun one. I don’t gel my hair. (I don’t have any) I can’t smile at all times. Face it, sometimes bad things happen to me. I don’t preach in a basketball arena. I have no idea what I’d do on camera. And for those of you that don’t know, I’m not living my best life now.

• Rick Warren - I can’t pull off a Hawaiian shirt. I don’t have the heart he does. For anything, whether it be poverty, AIDS, or church people. King Jesus is working with me on that. I don’t have the influence he does, and probably never will. I’m nowhere near as humble as he is. Jesus is working on that too. I’m not as wise. And I don’t communicate in the laid-back style that he does.

That’s just some examples of who I’m not. Needed to put that out there, mainly for me. I encourage and challenge you to write it down somewhere. Who are you not? Sometimes, we are so enraptured by what God is doing through other people that we forget what God wants to do through us. By writing things down, we can determine what we’re not meant to do, and who we’re not to meant to be.