Reforming the Feminine ContentHow To Be “Hillier-than-Thou”
by Nadia
Him: What’s your name?
Me: Nadia.
Him: Ok, cool. Are you a member?
Me: Yeah - just.
Him: Oh - how long you been here?
Me: Just a little over a year…
Him: Oh. That’s nice.
Me: (politeness forces the question) Have you been here
a long time?
Him: I started dropping in back when it was meeting at
the stinky youth room.
Me: (What stinky youth room?) Oh that’s cool.
Him: Yeah I’m pretty much one of the small handful left
from the original crew.
Me: (STOP! Everyone just STOP! Would somebody
please get this man a medal?!)
Him: (big sigh) Yeah - things sure are DIFFERENT now.
———————————————————
Her: …Well, I ran that when we were in the Earl building.
Me: Excuse me? Earl who?
Her: No, the Earl building. It’s what they had before this
place. It was this tiny little church and it
was packed every service to the back. MAN!
Those were fun days.
Me: (glazing over)
Her: (continued in-depth discourse of all happenings and
traditions of the Earl building, laden with name-dropping)
. . . and Pastor Mark and I used to just chat all the time . . .
Me: wow, really? That’s cool, once he served communion in my
line and –
Her: (big sigh) Yeah - things sure are DIFFERENT now.
——————————————————–
Him: I’m sorry … who are you?
Me: my name’s Nadia. I’m just here working in X Ministry for
X Deacon.
Him: Oh really? That’s cool!
Me: Yeah I really love it.
Him: How long you been doing that?
Me: uh . . . couple months. I’m new.
Him: how long you been here?
Me: A little over a year.
Him: So you’re a Genesis starter, huh?
Me: Yeah, you’re right!
Him: Well I’ve been coming since we had to bring our own
beanbags to the building. It was totally new.
Me: Really?
Him: Yeah, I worked on a couple projects getting this place ready.
Me: That’s cool. When I first came, the bookstore place wasn’t
there, and –
Him: There were only about 1000 people back then! Only 1000!
Me: (you INTERRUPTED me, meany!)
Him: (big sigh) Yeah - things sure are DIFFERENT now.
——————————————————
So, I’ve uncovered an unspoken code at Mars Hill. If you’ve
been here longer, flaunt it.
I’m already excited to show off how Mars Hillier-than-thou
I can be to the first person I can find who’s been here for less
time than me. Here’s how it’ll go:
Me: Hello, what’s your name?
Him: Joe.
Me: Nice to meet you. Are you a member?
Him: Well, I just started taking Gospel 102.
Me: (yes!!!!! GOT ONE!) Oh really? Yeah, I ran audio for that
class last summer.
Him: Oh that’s cool. How long have you been doing that?
Me: Oh, several months.
Him: Really?
Me: Yeah. I started coming here when there were just 3000
people. There was no ‘Shoreline.’ There was no ‘West
Seattle.’ We hadn’t even purchased the 50th St building.
Him: The what?
Me: Oh, nevermind, it’s just a building that we bought AGES ago.
Him: Oh.
Me: Yeah, we were a tight-knit bunch back then. I took the
Gospel Class when it was an 8-week called “Gospel 101″
and there was no 102.
Him: Ummm ok.
Me: (HUGE sigh) Yeah - things sure are DIFFERENT now.
——————————————————
OK, seriously. Heaven forbid I try to pull something as petty as that.
Can we cut it out with the attitude?
I just snorted coffee out my nose. This is brilliant!
Bravo !!!
Amen! Too Funny…and too true!
Girls, I love you. I come from a land far away where Christians and churches are very much the same. I have been eavesdropping at voxpop and refem for a while now and I have to say thanks. Through your sharing and humor and reality and love for Jesus I am encouraged and challenged to live a Jesus honoring life among the people he has put me with. Admittedly, I escape to blog world when the real folks here get too messy for comfort. But, I am refreshed here to go to my flesh and blood world in humility and love again.
Thanks for sharing,
Okay, so this might sting a little, folks, hopefully with a godly pinch. Because it’s really true, and encountered often, even in fringe circles. So this is knee-slapping hilarious to those of us who actually got to hobnob with you. And yes, we’re taking copious inoculation notes for our future reference.
Ouch!
Thanks for the laugh. It’s also a great reminder to live our lives for now and the future of what God has instore. Thankful for what He has accomplished so far.
Well what is wrong with telling someone how long you have been here if they ask? And if they ask about what it was like in earlier days? I find that when someone comes across another that has been around for a while that they are very interested about MH in earlier days. I really don’t think there is always an arrogance or “i’m better than you” type attitude with it.
But then i have seen and guilty of this myself, of the pride that comes with being around for a while. Dare I say it, we’ve been with MH for 9 years. I have to admit that when i’m asked how long we’ve been here and I answer the look on the persons face is just priceless.
oh and it is wonderful to talk about where MH started and how far God has brought the church. To talk about what God has done and see the eyes of the other person bulge out in excitement and anticipation for what God is going to do next.
Hmm, what I am addressing is this attitude of “I’m better than you because I have been here longer,” not the “I am so excited about where God has brought us” attitude. Yes! It IS exciting to hear the history of Mars Hill. But I have rubbed shoulders with more than a few people who
1) are living in the past of Mars Hill when it was their ‘golden years’ or something, I dont’ know.
2) constantly reiterate how much they know about the church in a way that is just boasting in themselves and their connections/knowledge, not Jesus.
It’s like indie music aficionados. Some of them are just geeking out and happy about all the details of the bands they like and want to share that with others. Others just start spewing lists of the bands they’ve heard, seen and know factoids about so that you’ll think they’re really hip or be intimidated or whatever…
And to be fair, I’ve been here at MH for awhile now and I have to check myself because I am tempted to get cliquey and snobby on newer people now. I have to consistently look at my words and say “why did I mention that? Why did I go into details about that? Was it to honor God? Was it to make myself look cool? Did I want people to worship God or me in those words? Did I try to steal God’s glory?”
this is a freakin’ awesome post.
Ezra 3:12But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.
Haggai 2:3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now?Is it not as nothing in your eyes?
Sorry, forgot my comment - I am so guilty of this even thinking of moving campuses, changing community, music, etc. Yet God still promises…
Haggai 2:9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.
In the not too distant future I’m hoping there’s a way we can get XBOX Live achievement points based on our theological studies, mortification of sins and ministry attendance. It will be awesome. From the comfort of our own homes we’ll be able to browse through scoreboards comparing our righteous behaviors to everyone else’s. Maybe I’ll finally find someone whom has completely mortified the sin of self-righteousness and they’ll throw a few pointers my way. Would Jesus have a gamertag?
Thanks for the healthy dose of honest conviction friend. You definitely hit it on the head!
So funny - this happened to me recently after a WS service.. we’ve only been with MH for 5 months! But hey, my best friend is Pastor Mark’s sister-in-law so HEY, I’m Hillier than all ya’ll! *Kidding!
WoW - I am TOTALLY jealous … YOU, know MARK, PERSONALLY?? WoW! : ) As much as it is disgusting to “name-throw” about a PASTOR, it’s certainly better to be a MH groupie than a Rock Star groupie … isn’t it? Or, IS IT??? Hmmm -
I LOVE it when I’m asked: “So, how long have you been coming? Are you a member?” My answer is: “Since January 28th, 2007 (atypical of me to be THAT detailed, but it was the day after my very good friend’s youngest son’s first bday) - And NO, I am NOT a member … yet … Not sure I wanna be, but am not closed to the idea … Just waiting on the Lord to show me where HE wants me … thinking I’ll probably take the Gospel class that begins next week, and thinking I’ll probably ‘join’ but I am SUCH a rebel, and a non-conformist, that to ‘join’ makes me a little sick to my stomach … but, we’ll see … we’ll see.” (NOTE: That is pretty much ver batim - So, if you’re not in to standing still long enough to hear that, DON’T ASK ME! : ) hahahaha! ~ Chao ~