Dirtbag Preachers

While we were on vacation recently, we were camping out on Jekyll Island. A few days after we got there a car full of guys rolls in, and they camped pretty primitive, just hammocks strung between trees.  Got me to thinking about “dirtbags.”

A couple months ago I came across Daniel Norris’ instagram account.  Daniel Norris is a Major League Baseball pitcher.  He is a Christian.  Lives in a VW van.  You read that right.  I guess he has an apartment somewhere, but in the offseason, he lives in a van and goes surfing.  There was some concern among teams that maybe a dude who lives in a van is not the right guy.  But his pitching speaks for itself.

His Instagram profile shares 2 Peter 3:18. Go read it.

It follows that with “keep living *dirtbag* “

Needless to say, I wondered what “dirtbag” was about.

A dirtbag, in the parlance of our times, is not the insult it used to be.  Among a certain crowd, it is a badge of honor.  A dirtbag started in the mountain climbing subculture, people who took any old job that left them free on weekends to climb.  They lived out of their cars, or slept in sleeping bags on the ground—thus, “dirtbag.”  The term began to be applied to surfers as well.  If you go to Miguel’s pizza, you can see a lot of dirtbags camped out right there.  My son John told me about a guy he worked with who lived in a tent by Miguel’s for two years.  Worked in the restaurant, lived in the tent, went rock climbing.

For some, it is an expression of their obsession—rock climbing, surfing, whatever.  For others it is an aesthetic.

I suppose we have all known people like this… starving artists, organic farmers.  I used to work for a man who was in the oil business.  And when he would make a pretty good score, he went to work on his passions—making music, environmental causes-- until he was out of money, and then we went back to drilling for oil! Lived in a trailer on a small plot of land.

I started thinking… we need some dirtbag preachers.  Doesn’t it seem that the legendary explosive power of the Gospel comes through them?

Asbury and the Circuit Riders… what pure dirtbags!  Too many names to name, but you can look up Peter Cartwright, Jesse Lee, Lorenzo Dow.  Asbury’s Journal is an amazing account of adventure through swamps and thick forests, travelling the whole country to preach the Gospel.  It is said that Francis Asbury’s face was the most recognized in all of America.  He pretty much went everywhere and slept outside as often as not!

My goodness, John Wesley himself! What a dirtbag! Oxford educated! Fluent in at least 6 languages!  A complex philosopher! A scientific mind!  Sleeping on dirt floors in impoverished hovels, eating whatever meager food they might have!  One of my favorite JDub dirtbag stories relates how he and a preacher were on a preaching tour.  Wesley was riding a bit ahead, and his horse almost ran over a small child.  Wesley noticed the child was naked, and he saw the terrified mother at the side of the road, rail thin and nearly naked herself.  They were starving.  He stopped and gave her the food they had for their trip, and then rode on.  His fellow travelling preacher caught up with him and nervously asked if he saw correctly, that Wesley had given their food away?  What were they going to eat?  Wesley pointed at the fencerows, where blackberries were growing in abundance.

What about St. Francis and his merry band of dirtbags?  His dirtbag lifestyle, his miracles, his Gospel preaching… they were so impressive that he got an audience, during the Crusades, with the Muslim king.  He preached the Gospel to him and his court. [I want to forestall something: Francis NEVER said “Preach the Gospel, use words if necessary.”  That is a ridiculous statement that Francis would never say, given  the fact that HIS LORD PREACHED SO MUCH!!  Anyone who says Francis said this… I will fight you in the parking lot.]  Almost nobody knows this incident in Francis’ life.  It’s all cute stories about birds and a wolf he tamed.  That’s awesome, but don’t miss the Gospel!

And there are the disciples! What a bunch of dirtbags!  Showing up in towns like Nain, or the villages of Samaria. Taking what they could get, sleeping where they could… Mark, chapters 1 and 2, is the dirtbag lifestyle at its best.  How can I forget 1 Corinthians 11?!

The thing is, Methodists know this very well.  I would not mean to insult them by calling them dirtbags, but when I think of people who work other jobs so they can be free to preach the Gospel, I have to think of Rick Souder, who worked a factory job in Maysville and preached in 3 churches every Sunday.  Mike Adams, who teaches school, planted a church, and preaches on Sunday.  There’s Chuck Stutsman, who runs a boy scout camp and has been preaching in rural Georgia churches.  This one gets me… Jim Hall and his wife came to the altar at a revival I preached 15 years ago.  He worked at Toyota so he could preach in small churches, and he now preaches at the first church I served.

Ah, but pastor, you are not a dirtbag.

No, I am not. At least, not yet.  It’s aspirational.

Not that I intend to sleep on the ground.  It’s more about being faithful to the calling Christ has on my life, doing whatever it takes to follow Him.

Whenever I go to the ocean, I am reminded of somethings.

1. I love the ocean.

2. Why did I leave the Coast when I love not just the ocean, but the Mexican Gulf in particular?

3. I see the Gulf Coast Marine Research Lab in Mississippi, or Florida State’s lab, and think of how I let organic chemistry keep me from studying marine biology.

4. And then I think, so what?  So what if I was studying what I wanted to, catching and tagging swordfish or Gulf sturgeon?  I would have dropped it for the call to preach, like I dropped what I was doing before. Jesus’ way is better.

Honest truth: I found out while I ministered to a hurting family during the worst crisis I know of, that I would do this for free. So, I am very fortunate churches have been willing to pay me way too much for what I do.

I don’t know how much longer that can continue.  I don’t mean me particularly, I mean the church scene in America generally.  Strange days are coming.  I firmly believe that in my lifetime, perhaps even before I retire, the Church will lose its tax-exempt status [we are tax-exempt, NOT non-profit].  I think we are in the beginning of a shake-out of attendance and membership.  Call it pruning, winnowing, whatevs.  The social pressure against Christianity will cause many to drift away, fewer to come into the light.  Prosperity will lull people into a false sense of security.  And then of course, people will want to sin, and it’s easier to sin if you reject Christianity. More and more pastors will have to work jobs to preach on Sundays and minister after work.  There will be more dirtbag preachers.  It’s going to be a shock to the system.  But if historical trends hold true, it could mean revival.

Asbury. Wesley. The disciples.  The local pastors who are the backbone of every Annual Conference. Dirtbags=multiplication.