Month: February 2019

Board games may be going the way of the dinosaur, but Monopoly will always be the icon of the genre.  One version of the origin of the game goes something like this:

Living at the time of the Great Depression, Charles Darrow was jobless.  Sitting around the family table at night with lots of time on his hands, he came up with an idea for a new family game.  Cutting out a large cardboard square, he lined the perimeter with names of streets that were connected to Atlantic City’s Boardwalk, added some railroads, dice, buttons, and some hand-carved houses and hotels…along with the illusive bank that never ran out….the game of Monopoly was born.

His neighborhood friends enjoyed playing it so much that Charles took his idea to Parker Brothers hoping to sell it.  After a corporate evaluation they rejected it saying it would never sell because it violated 52 guidelines for a good “family game” including it should not take more than 45 minutes to play and the winner should be decided after one trip around the board.

Now some 90+ years later, over 200 million copies have sold worldwide.  Monopoly is the most popular board came of the 20th century with multiple versions and advertising schemes. 

Reflecting on the popularity of the game I’ve pondered why it has been so successful.  To the original generation it was obvious.  It offered a fun way to pass the time; it provided a dream of getting out of the poverty of the depression.  I grew up playing the game with neighborhood friends to pass the long dreary winters in Iowa.  Our games could last for days depending on how much real life cheating and scheming went on.

But why has it been so popular in succeeding generations and even overseas?  Then it hit me.  It captured what we normally think of as success.  Where else can you go and in a few hours (days) live in a world where you can:

• Get rich

• Bankrupt your competition and

• Dominate the world?

In Monopoly success is defined by how many possessions (money and property) you can acquire with little responsibility for charitable giving (Community Chest).   Round and round you go in strategic pursuit of the “good life” of accumulating wealth, avoiding jail and rent.  Monopoly is a metaphor of the life we are born into where the prevailing assumption is that success and happiness are found in what we achieve and acquire. 

Writing in the 5^th century, St. Augustine recognized the world’s “game of life” is the result of original sin and the human desire to control, possess, and dominate, whether by ruling an empire or controlling a family.  However, the gospel offers another way to live in this fallen world.  It is the way to freedom:  a transference from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His Son (Col. 1:13).  In his treatise, The City of God, Augustine saw the Christian faith as a new way of life, spiritually living in the City of God while physically living in the city of the world.  The former is primary and eternal and the later secondary and temporal. 

Unfortunately, the Christian faith often seems to be little more than a “get out of jail free” card acquired when landing on “Chance” during one our many trips around the board.   We simply store our “get out of hell free” card among our possessions with the plan to pull it out when the time comes.  Rather than our faith being a transfer from one kingdom to another, it is more like an addition to our current life.  We may even exchange church and Bible study for Baltic and Mediterranean since they have minimum value anyway.  Essentially life goes on much the same as it always did and faith becomes syncretistic:  a futile attempt to live by two opposing worldviews. 

Repentance and belief in the gospel is not designed to be an “add on” but to lift us out of our 2-dimensional, treadmill world into a 3-dimensional experience with Christ and His kingdom.  The gospel defines our new reality through the lens of faith…more like 3-D Monopoly!  (Maybe someone will invent a 3-D Christian Monopoly game.  Hey, there is already a 3-D Scrabble!).

In the kingdom of light our success is not measured in what we accomplish or possess, but in WHO we know!  Contrary to our view of eternal life as a condo in heaven with a lake or ocean view, Jesus said eternal life is all about knowing Him:

And this is eternal life that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent (John 17:3). 

In Matthew’s record of the “Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus gives a clear warning. 

Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter.  On judgment day many will say to Me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and performed many miracles in Your name.’  But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws‘ (Mat 7:21-23 NLT).

Our faith does not remove us from living in a Monopoly world, but it should free us from playing the game in the same way.  It should add a new dimension of reality that is intentionally developed through a lifestyle of apprenticeship/discipleship to Christ and His kingdom.

Questions for reflection:

1.  What other similarities does Monopoly have with life in the current world system?

2.  How should adding a third spiritual dimension change how we live in a 2-D world?  What does not change?

Speedbumps, potholes, and detours are common hazards on almost every trip.  We usually don’t plan on them, but then again neither are we surprised when they show up.  Each one has a unique way of altering our plans.   Each one is there for a different reason and requires a particular response. 

Speedbumps are not accidental but intentionally placed for the purpose of slowing traffic.  They are usually in places where we need to be more attentive to our surroundings.  Residential neighborhoods often install them to protect children especially after discovering that speed limit signs are ineffective.  

The inconvenience of speedbumps often irritates me.  They slow me down and mess with my schedule.  I usually question the sanity of the city planners as I calculate how fast I can go without doing damage to my car.

Our spiritual journey also has speedbumps, potholes, and detours.  I think life’s speedbumps are designed to slow us down and force us to pay attention to what is going on around us.  In a culture in which fast is good and faster is better, we are in danger of running over or through the very people we should be slowing down for.  When spiritual signs like “Reduce Speed Ahead” don’t work, we need a few speedbumps.  They force us to slow down, look around, and proceed with caution.  That is good advice at any age.

I think Abigail was a speedbump for David’s fast paced passion for revenge (1 Sam. 25).  David having been rebuffed by Nabal (a rich, stingy rancher), sets out on a path of justice (revenge).  Abigail, Nabal’s wife, intercepts David and graciously challenges his thinking.  She was a speedbump that allowed David to slow down, gain perspective, and alter his actions.  He could have ignored the warning but only to his peril. 

“Faithful are the wounds (speedbumps) of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy” (Prov. 27:6).

Events, people, even circumstances can act as speedbumps warning us to slow down and proceed with caution.  If we have faith that God is directing our journey, speedbumps can be signs of His presence.  Maybe we have ignored the slow down signs and our loving Father would rather we get bounced in our seat than cause an accident.

Potholes, on the other hand, are not there to warn us but to damage us.  Potholes can appear when we least expect them.  Living in Missouri we should always expect them, but sometimes we don’t see them until it’s too late.  Ignored potholes can do major damage, especially if we are traveling at a high rate of speed.  Potholes are to be avoided.  When I was learning to drive and hit a pothole, my dad would say, “Son, that’s what your steering wheel is for”.

I liken potholes to moral temptations.  In the fifth century St Augustine taught that evil is a distortion of good.  Potholes are a distortion of the roadway and temptation is a distortion of the truth.  Both giving into temptation and hitting potholes in the road should be avoided by steering around them.

Paul’s warning to Timothy was to “flee from youthful lusts” (2 Tim. 2:27).  Don’t pretend they are not there; don’t ignore them; don’t drive over them.  If a road is notorious for potholes, find another route!  Solomon wrote, “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.  Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away” (Prov. 4:14-15).  Unfortunately, Solomon disregarded his own advice.

Detours are yet another travel hazard.  Unlike speedbumps, detours can be a major disruption to our plans.  Speedbumps can momentarily affect us, but detours can last a lifetime.  Detour signs may give the reason for the course change like “bridge out” or “sink hole ahead”, but often they don’t.  We are simply forced to alter our plans, take a different road, and drive around on some inconvenient secondary road with no immediate explanation.

It seems to me that there are three major reasons God puts up detour signs in our lives.  The first is to avoid major trouble ahead.  In this case, God in His wisdom does not give us a choice but redirects our route to keep us safe.  We would welcome the warning if we could see life from His perspective, but that rarely happens.   

I remember a detour in my career path that at the time seemed senseless and unfair.  I felt that management was sending me on a path to nowhere.  Years later I became aware that there was a “bridge out” that I could not see.  God used the “unfair” decisions of people to create a detour for my safety.

A second reason for detours is to see landscapes we would have missed.  When we are intently focused on “getting there” (whatever “there” is), freeways and interstates are the logical choice.  But there is so much we miss from the interstate.  Detours have a unique way of taking us places we would not have chosen to go, showing us scenery we would have missed.  God’s detours have a way of saying, “Look around.  You have not been here before.  Don’t miss the experience.”

A third reason God sends us on detours is to redirect our plans.  I had graduated with a degree in engineering and was hired by Boeing Aircraft in Seattle to help design the new 747 jumbo jet.  The interstate led from Iowa to Washington.  I prayed about it, the road was clear, and I set out…until I hit the “detour” sign.  The military draft during that period took me off my freeway and into territory I would not have chosen.  In fact, there were several detours during that period of my life that caused me to hang onto God’s promise in Proverbs 3:5-6:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean (rely) on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.” 

I noticed that the verse did not say “don’t use your understanding”, but it did say don’t rely on it. After several detours my path led me to a career I had never considered an option.  The detour changed my compass heading and took me on a whole new adventure.  Thank you, Father, for the uncomfortable detours that protect and guide me along my journey of faith.

On the resurrection side of the cross we need to slow down for speedbumps, avoid potholes, and welcome detours. 

Questions for reflection:

1.  Describe a time when a life speedbump made you slow down.

2.  Think of a detour in your life that took you places you had not planned on.  What did you see?