The thing about being naked.
From here on out, every post I write is going to have the word “naked” in it.
I say that because last Wednesday, more people came to Stuff Christians Like than any other day in the history of the site and read “Thinking you’re naked.” Granted, that’s a “history” that includes a wee 379 days, but still, expect lots of uses of the word “naked” in the future.
The truth is, I’ve been pulling the reverse jinx as hard as I can with this site. The reverse jinx is when you say the opposite of what you hope will come true. For instance, when UNC basketball players shoot free throws, I will say out loud, “These guys always miss their free throws.” That way if they miss, I can say, “Told you so.” If they make them, I can act pleasantly surprised.
That is so dumb, but I’ve done the same thing with this site. Whenever people say, “That’s a great mission, God is doing some crazy things” I instantly say, “Nah, it’s just a hobby. It’s just a free blog on Google. There are 112 million blogs in the world, this is one more, it’s nothing. Stop.”
But the truth is that God is doing something with Stuff Christians Like and I think He wants me to admit that.
One of things that helped clarify this for me was a book called “The War of Art 
The Artist’s Life
Are you a born writer? Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the end the question can only be answered by action.
Do it or don’t do it.
It may help to think of it this way. If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet.
You shame the angels who watch over you and you spite the Almighty, who created you and only you with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter farther along its path back to God.
Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution.
Give us what you’ve got.
It’s time for you and me to give the world what we’ve got. To nudge the human race one millimeter farther along its path back to God. I don’t know what that looks like for you, but for me, it means letting go of my fears of failure or success and leaning into God as hard as I can with this adventure.
The weird thing is, God is calling me toward satire. He’s balancing me on the fine line between reflecting on some of the tangles of Christianity and being madly, deeply in love with Christ. (And although I’m not 100% sure that God is calling me to use copious amounts of rap references, good grief I quoted ODB from the Wu-Tang Clan at the Off the Blogs event, I’m pretty sure He felt like Kris Kross’ version of “Jump Around” was slightly better than House of Pain’s version despite the fact that they wore their clothes backwards.)
I can’t do it without you. I don’t know what the “it” is yet, but I know it’s already much, much bigger than me. I hate asking people for things because what if they say no, but I’ve reached the end of what I am capable of. You have talents and gifts and ideas that you can add in ways I can’t even imagine. And maybe, God is telling you, “Give us what you’ve got.”
Because God is afoot. And He’s laughing and loving and whether you jump into the conversation at Stuff Christians Like or do something radically different, He’s asking us all the same question right now.
You in?
p.s. I tried as hard as I could to resist the temptation to make this reference, but doesn’t it feel like the song “Open the gates and seize the day,” from the movie Newsies should be playing in the background? I know for certain, Crutchy would be in.
