Social Disfunction
Reading this week has been masterful. I came to the understanding that social standards are pretty much designed by people who have an advatange. Thats what i read. It made me realize how shallow ideas are and how shallow people are trying to measure up to what society says. Going to South Africa really opened my mind and life. We be upset about little things and we have more than enough. Western society teaches us capitalism. I hate it. I remeber how proud Mitt Romney was about his financial success and how he is in the one percent of America. He was disconnected from the 99% and that is terrible. One percent of America is nothing to brag about when the world is suffering. When I had a construction company I had that same mentality. I loved making money and so what if no else does. But that is the worst concept on the planet. We should be more concerned about how we can reach humanity and how we can be a answer to a quesition not more question marks. Society is illusional and thats what really stood out to me. The standards people set are the standards people try to live by. In Los Angeles the majority of people you see driving an expensive car lives in an apartment. I dont have anything wrong with living in an apartment. But their car payment is almost the same amount of their rent. They do it just to be illusional. They want people to think they are rich and they are not. It is only driven by their desire to make society look at them a certain way. More! One of my good neighbors that live down the street from me did not want to shake my hand when me and my wife was walking. She knew we had just got back from Africa and she does not want to contract Ebola.lol. I built their three thousand square foot house on a cliff. But they always think that they are above people in society anyway. I really laughed at her because she is like that. Society shapes philosopies and stereotypes. I loved this reading it put names to stuff i face and stuff people believe. People become functional in society by being disfunctional. They actually function in society as society dictates to them. Going to another continent really changed me. We are so blessed and have so much and still want more because our social integration teaches us that we need more things. Its not that i dont want more things its just that i really am blessed already with what i have. Our loved ones need more attenttion from us than anything. I am glad im not chasing that dollar any more. People are more important than things. I am pretty floored by the concepts presentend in this reading. I focus on theology a lot and it way so refreshing to read something that put names to stuff. I really dont live my life anymore socially disfunctional. I know my limits i dont go over that because i know what they are. I live in a very rich neighborhood but God blessed me to. I dont funtion like society anymore i function by my faith. Functioning by faith always lifts you to a higher society. My citizenship is heavean and even if im disfunctional in earthly society im pretty straight where im really from.
About the Author
Travis Biglow
Pastor of Victory Empowerment Center. Regional Chaplain High Desert Regional Center Graduates Azusa Pacific University. Licensed General Contractor B. I am the married with one daughter, two grandsons and one step son.11 responses to “Social Disfunction”
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Travis, I love seeing your heart in this post. Thanks.
You said, “People become functional in society by being dysfunctional.” That’s so ironic isn’t it? And I love when you said, “Functioning by faith always lifts you to a higher society.”
So how do we help those around us see the same thing? It really is a question the local church needs to be more engaged in.
God bless you Nick,
It is really hard to get people to see things like this. It is the preaching of faith that really lifts people to a higher level. I try to point out to the things we see around us that is marvelous, like God’s creation and then hopefully people will lift their thoughts to higher concepts!
Travis – you speak to greed and fear in our society especially in the LA area, something that dictates where many people operate from. (I can’t believe that woman wouldn’t shake your hand – crazy!) Going to a place like Cape Town, particularly as I watched you and Mona in Khayelitsha, lives are changed by seeing the contrast from what is comfortable to seeing how others live. However, what I find interesting is that greed and fear dictate that community too. It takes on different forms. While money is much more a part of the LA culture, I do think the community we visited in Khayelitsha struggles with their own forms of greed and fear. I think what I received in Khayelitsha was what you responded to Nick – finding the places where we can “lift their thoughts to higher concepts.” We saw the hope. I wonder where the hope is in LA (honestly, I have a harder time seeing it there, probably because it’s part of my upbringing).
Travis and Mary. I have been surprised at how many people don’t realize that, here on the East Coast, they were closer to the Ebola “outbreak” than I was while studying in S Africa. Our American populace is largely ignorant when it comes to basic global geography!
J
Amen Mary,
It was ok about the neighbor, they are like that. L.A. has changed a lot but the same pride still is there. I can speak better from the African American community. It was like the crab in the barrell syndrome and who has the biggest house thing. But it may have changed. I dont live in L.A. anymore. I live 88 miles away and love where i live now. But my neigbors are from L.A. and trust me they have not changed! lol
Travis, I like you line, “I loved this reading it put names to stuff i face and stuff people believe.” I have found that same experience with a lot of our reading. There are words for the things I notice, observe and think about. It helps me feel like I am not crazy . . . or at least not too crazy:)! Good words man.
Thank you Phillip, we live in a society with so many different theories its a good thing to be able to put a name to it!
“I built their three thousand square foot house on a cliff. But they always think that they are above people in society anyway.”
Travis, the problem with living on a cliff above everyone else is that when everything crashes down, it crashes hard. Hopefully you gave them a good foundation and tied them into the rock. This is the key to health, individually and as a society; What we see on the surface is just a small part of reality. To understand society, we need to see the foundation that it is built on and what it is anchored into.
Oh yea Brian, i did put a good foundation to it. The bible says that the “person who built the house has more honor than the house.” Yet in certain peoples mind they love their house more than people so it would never occured to them that the house never could have built itself!
Travis, you speak so much truth! We were once caught up in materialism and consumerism…but I’m glad Christ saved us from this. It is so much better on the other side. People allow the ideas of society to brainwash them. When we live by God’s ways, we can truly understand what blessing is. We had a neighbor one time that was constantly in competition with everyone else…when we got a car, he had to get one that was just a bit more expensive. The best was the time when he trimmed his yard with a pair of scissors on hands and knees so it would be the best in the neighborhood. What a waste of time! We have found that instead of “keeping up with the Jones’, we need to pray for the Jones’.” There is much burden that comes for those who are chained to society norms. We must be set apart by Christ, but at the same time we must operate in a manner that attracts people to Christ…and does not detract them.
Amen Dawnel, I had to go through that down turn on the real estate market and could not build new homes anymore. It was incredible for me though. I had to let go of stuff that i did not need anyway. I am more blessed and at peace in my life than i ever was. We knew the real estate bubble was going to bust but we did not know it would be the next day. God puts things in perspective and you realize that living by faith and not above your means is one of the most rewarding things you can do. I praise God for all he has done and what he is doing now.