Swinging from the Vine / 842 posts / 2,908 comments / feed / comments feed

love it or hate it

…it’s daring either way

This post serves a few purposes - one is to get my free pro account at zooomr (a photo storage and sharing site similar to flickr) - which, if you haven’t done, you should…well, because it’s free. (how’s that for a stereotypical American attitude?)The other purpose is to talk about Jay Bakker and Revolution.

The hubby and I have been watching the documentary series about Jay and his ministry and I’ve been marveling at how God works in the lives of people, very often in spite of us and our circumstances.

One thing that is particularly astonishing about Jay’s life is another man named Stu. Stu became Jay’s mentor and “father figure” and has been for many years. Stu comes from a conservative Baptist experience and has that “look” about him. His love for Jay, a tattoo and piercing clad non-conformist is unflinching - even in the face of strong theological disagreement. In these times of disagreement, Stu doesn’t say “well son, I love you and will always love you but I can’t support your choice”.

For example, Jay decided he did not agree that homosexuality is a choice or that it is a sin and that his community would be an “affirming” community. Stu did not agree but supported Jay through the whole process of making the announcement to his congregation and the subsequent backlash that came as a result (he lost his primary financial supporter)

Honestly, it was a bizarre relationship in a lot of ways because it’s not something that I’ve ever seen in the “church community”. I was really blown away by the whole thing. We have been “supported” before….but only through the process of changing to be more like the person who is “mentoring” us. Were we to stick to our convictions and continue on our present course, that support would no longer exist…or it would from a LONG DISTANCE.

Stu clearly sees himself as Jay’s friend and mentor but not in an “authority” kind of way…which is really a radical thing for a middle aged Baptist guy (no offense to my Baptist brothers and sisters out there).

I wish there was more of that going on “out there”. Stu took over Revolution: Atlanta when Jay and his wife moved to Brooklyn. Which is even more amazing.

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1 Comment

  1. John Smulo — January 17, 2007 #

    I’ve only caught one episode of this show. It’s the only one that comes up on cable for us. I really liked it a lot, and was also encouraged by the things you pointed out about Jay and Stu.

    I hope to be able to find a way to view the rest of the series.

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