Author: Jon Gauger

Hey interesting people—go make babies! Have I shocked you?  The words aren’t mine.  That’s an actual quote from an actual ad campaign for a national public radio station in Chicago. If you’re offended, you ought to be.  Quite apart from the crassness of the remark, the statement,” Hey interesting people—go make babies”…raises questions on several levels. First, there’s a complete lack of connection between being married and being parents.  “Hey interesting people—go make babies.” Whether that statement merely reflects societal trends or is itself causative, is a whole separate discussion.  But no biblical definition of family encourages pregnancy outside of…

A word about elections, if I may.  Oh, I know it's not November—which makes this the perfect time to say what I'm about to say. A recent mayoral election in my hometown caused the usual stir of interest—but with one twist.  One of the three candidates running for the town's top spot was reportedly a Christian, so this juiced an extra voltage of voter involvement (at least in some circles). Let me express clearly that I believe part of Christ's mandate to be salt and light is to preserve the culture and bear the image of Christ in all segments…

The Millennials are leaving the church! The Millennials are leaving the church! Seems like every blog, every book publisher is trumpeting the ecclesiastical crisis of the moment: younger folks are leaving church. We hear all about how they're sick and tired of the veneer that boomers have called Christianity…how they're weary of being “hurt” by church…ignored and even judged by the previous generation. We read surveys that highlight the mass exodus of Millennials. But I, for one, want to say, “Just hold on a minute!” It's one thing to say, “I'm in a bad marriage.” Or “I wish this relationship…

You've heard the expression, “there was an awkward silence.”   Or… “There was an uncomfortable pause in the conversation.”  Increasingly, I'm noticing that ANY silence is awkward for most people. Imagine eating out a restaurant…without music blaring in the background.  Heaven forbid we should actually be able to hear each other converse without straining.  (By the way—exactly what IS the advantage to it being so loud that you have to yell to be heard?). Or try to imagine shopping in a store without a pulsing pounding musical background that's really in the foreground.   But the assault on solitude has likewise infiltrated…

In all the world, it is doubtful that any single spot recollects more agony per acre than Israel's Yad Vashem–the Holocaust museum in downtown Jerusalem. Within its cement walkways, there is more sadness per square inch than any place I have ever visited. In addition to what you might expect–photos, letters, artifacts–there was something I had NOT expected: video testimonials.  Large monitors by the dozens recounted the personal agonies of holocaust survivors.   Behind glass display cases, I saw things I wish I had not: a collection of shoes taken from people entering death camps….faces of men who would be shot…

As I write this, I am sitting in a hospital where my wife is recovering from surgery.  A mere curtain separates me from a conversation between the lady in bed #2 and those trying to give her the care she needs.  “Do you have any children?” the team asks. “Two grown sons.”   “Do they live in the area?” the team inquires further. “I don't know” is the woman's reply.   “You don't know where they live?” “No.”   “When was the last time you saw them?” “About a year ago.”   “Did you have a falling out?” “Our family's…

It is a strange moment. As I write this, my wife and I are on our way to meet a new family member.  Our grandson. He has been alive for eight hours.  But we have not met him.  Do not know him.  We’re desperate to see him, grab him, love him.  But it hasn’t happened yet. Strange.  His fingerprints bear my DNA…there is something of ME in him…somewhere.   Yet I really don't know him.  Lord willing, we will look back years from now and talk—together–about “when he was a teeny tiny baby.”  There will be shared experiences and funny sayings…

When it comes to Facebook, I'm a latecomer.  While most ten year olds can run rings around my Facebook skills, I'm convinced my disconnect to this point has given me a perspective that seasoned Facebookers lost a long time ago. For one thing, I want to know why so much of the Facebook world amounts to so little.  Why is it acceptable to post to the public a message that only applies to one or two out of the earth's  7.5  billion people? And why is so much of the content —dare I say a convincing majority—void of any real…

Years ago, an older brother in the faith took me aside and discipled me in something called lifestyle evangelism.   The concept is something of a reaction to older forms of evangelism.  Like preaching on a street corner.  Or shoving a gospel tract into somebody’s hands.  Incidentally, I’m not suggesting that either of those is wrong—or even bad.  But the idea behind lifestyle evangelism is that we—quote—“earn the right to be heard” by virtue of the life that we live.  And there’s something to that.  When it comes to sharing Christ with my neighbors, I’ve worked hard at first being a…

With flu season approaching, lots of folks are thinking about getting immunized. I just got the flu shot myself. It's only too bad that you and I couldn't also get immunized from busy-ness.  You say, “What do you mean by that?”   In my observation, busy-ness has moved beyond the status of a cultural norm to become part of who we are. Think for a minute how the conversation went the last time you asked a friend “How are things going?”    Chances are she or he said, “I'm busy.  Really busy”   And I don't doubt that a lot of us are. …