Get Up and Go

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bible, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Contents

Preface 5

Get Up and Go 7

Afterword 21

Preface

Get Up and Go is a song written by early 80s “hardcore” punk band, the Teen Idles . The Teen Idles were four young men from Washington, D.C. who started the band to keep themselves out of trouble, as a response to the lack of positive recreation available for young people in D.C. The members were all underage skateboarders living in the Georgetown area, the eldest being sixteen years old, and they took it upon themselves to start a band. Ian MacKaye, lead singer and a founding member of the group, went on to found Dischord Records , which he operated out of his grandmother’s basement. Dischord is to-date the largest, longest-running, and most successful DIY record label in history; MacKaye’s other projects on Dischord have gone on to sell more than eleven million records alone. Get Up and Go perfectly

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describes the DIY ethic, and the immediacy felt by those who have adopted it:

“You keep talking about talent/Talent, what do you know?/Instead of studying theory/We’re gonna get up and go!”

Get Up and Go

The phrase “DIY” is shorthand for “do-it-yourself,” a concept that has branched into, enriched, and united creative subcultures around the world. The basic idea behind DIY is that each person is capable of accomplishing their goals and producing some- thing important, and that each person who feels a responsibility to contribute can easily “start today” and not wait for money, circumstances or noto- riety to motivate them to make a change happen. Each of us has our own unique perspective on the world; each of us has issues that they wish they could address, and has changes in their lives, in their communities, in society, that they would make. DIY systematically encourages individuals to embrace those perspectives and take action to make real changes for themselves. So, DIY subcultures are built up and networked around

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local projects and actions, with deep and powerful connections to more national and global concerns. These communities are full of artists, musicians, filmmakers, writers, entrepreneurs, and a host of others who have championed these ideas and, growing from them, promote the belief that anyone can make changes that matter to them; that everyone’s voice can be heard and responded to, and that changes can be accomplished on your own, without the assistance or methods provided from outside. In my own life, DIY culture revealed another layer to expression that was more responsible, more honest and more accountable than most of what I could find in mainstream culture as a young person. I was first introduced to DIY culture through my brother and our mutual interest in skateboarding. As an early teenager, I was so impressed that these young people could be such dedicated and talented athletes, while also running their own companies, creating art for their products, making their own ads and films, starting their own publications, booking “demo” tours, and holding free giveaways for young fans. They didn’t look rich or important, but what they were doing was special and they believed in it. Most of all, they were able to inspire

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others with what they were doing. When I was fourteen, I went to the Wichita Public Library with my mother and two siblings, and I checked out a CD by an all-African-American punk band from 1979, called the Bad Brains . My older brother Matthew had gotten me and my sister in the habit of looking for new independent music, and I was struck by the intensity of their music and the power of their message. Bad Brains were four young black men living in poverty in the inner city in Washington D.C., and they have grown to be one of the most outspoken, positive, and influential groups in independent music history. Their album Black Dots was all recorded at one time (to a cassette tape in the bass player’s home, with no budget) and while I sat in my own room listening, their song Attitude addressed specifically one of my strong feelings as a young believer: that our attitudes about who we are and what we do make all the difference in our ability to accomplish our goals: Don’t care what you may say, we’ve got our attitude! Don’t care what you may do, we’ve got our attitude! Hey, we’ve got our PMA! We’ve got our attitude, what in the world are you gonna do? ~ taken from Attitude , off the Black Dots LP

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PMA stands for Positive Mental Attitude ; arguably it was this attitude that took four homeless black punk rockers from Washington, D.C. and made them one of America’s most influential and outspoken groups in independent music’s history. Through art and music like the Bad Brains, I was introduced to a new kind of culture; one less preoccupied with standards of perfection and mainstream success, and more focused on producing something positive today; a culture where people opened their homes and their resources to make tours, concerts, festivals, record labels and artwork of their own, that addressed real concerns in their own lives and communities. Even as a very young man, I felt embraced by all of these ideas.

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This ethos has primarily appealed to young people who feel trapped living in the inner city or stranded in the suburbs, to poor people who feel separated and forgotten by society, to those who suffer under oppression from society or police, to young people marginalized because of perceived differences, and to all sorts of others who felt their voices should be heard, despite the fact that they might never be accepted or appre- ciated by mainstream culture. I have, and still do, count myself as one of them; since November of 2000, I have played in eighteen bands, toured and played music in forty-eight states, founded and ran an annual three-day all-ages music festival, ran a music venue, worked as a booking agent for a music club, pressed and sold hundreds of vinyl records, CDs and cassettes, and have been reviewed by national music publications – all because I took the advice I was given to seize the opportunities I had every day, to make something that mattered to me, and especially to those others in my community who helped me to create and accomplish these things. I am not “rich and famous,” but I have been able to participate in an important and long-running list of musicians and artists who created something out of nothing because they felt it was important to do so – and I plan to continue.

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Taking a chance and making something happen on your own has proved to be more important and rewarding for me than taking the “credible” path as a musician, because the “credible” path to success is basically a fantasy, based on notoriety and authority rather than action and conviction. I think it has a lot to do with how I originally got started as a DIY musician. When I was nineteen, I was in a band that had done extensive traveling around the Midwest, and I booked a month-long (25 shows with 4 days off) West Coast tour for myself and one other band. We had only “released” a handful of CDR home recording demos for our

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small one- and two-week tours the previous year, and no one outside of our small circle of Mid- western friends knew about our music. Our “merchandise” was comprised of strictly home- made projects; hand-silkscreened patches and t-shirts (mostly thrift store 25-cent items turned inside out), stickers and buttons made by friends locally. We had no friends in bands anywhere outside of the Midwest, so we had to use a web- site called Book Your Own Life (started by punk musicians in California as a free index of DIY show promoters around North America), looking for contacts for touring musicians to try to find local punk promoters in each town who would be willing to help us out with a show. Booking the tour literally consisted of myself calling and emailing perfect strangers (and some friends- of-friends) to introduce myself and discuss the possibility of having something happen in their town. The entire month of touring was based around six weeks of phone calls and emails, sent to people we didn’t know in the hopes that they would be willing to lend us support – a show to play, a place to sleep, friendship, food to eat along the way. Ultimately, the tour was an experiment for me; would we really be able to make it twenty-nine

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days based on the interest and support of people we didn’t know at all? What I found out was that in every town, there were good bands and people who were interested in what we were doing. Sometimes it was 200 people at a show, sometimes 50, sometimes 10. Some nights we played in large music venues, sometimes in a rented VFW hall, sometimes in basements and living rooms around America, and even a couple of kitchens. There were shows where not everyone in the band could fit in the same room, shows where kids were standing on the stairways and leaning in through open windows, shows where people couldn’t advertise the show (because local authorities would shut down many of these projects if they had means to locate them) – but each night we played to those who were interested, and they opened their hearts, their minds, their homes and gave what little money they had to help us make it to the next town. Some shows didn’t work out great, but we had compromised absolutely nothing in order to make our tour happen, so even the bust days were learning opportunities. What I found out eventually was there are thousands of people who want to hear what I have to say – but they can’t be reached through the main channels. They’ve given up on

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being included and being provided for, and have begun to look elsewhere, just as I had.

These ideas are sometimes considered to be on the fringes for those deemed “successful” in their careers, because rather than looking for large-scale exposure, financial success or notoriety (looking to “be the best,” the “MVP” or “Best Supporting Actor” or “Grammy-award Winner”), DIY ethics suggest that it’s more important that each person work in their own way, and with those resources around them, to satisfy whatever desire or change they feel needs to be made, regardless of response or feedback and in spite of all obstacles to tradi- tional “success”. This usually results in all means of production being “done yourself,” to ensure quality and control over projects, art, and ideas that are deeply valuable to you. Just like my first West Coast tour, I spent some weeks on the west coast in 2011, playing places like the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and the Echoplex Theater in Los Angeles – years of doing it our own way had given us real exposure and allowed us to play for bigger crowds and much more money. Still, none of the shows from last year really matched up to our first time playing out there, and learning that the DIY community was a real thing. We were broke and played small shows, but we

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were also building friendships and relationships that would last our lives, meeting and talking with others, in places that we were comfortable with. We were doing something that truly gave back to our lives in meaningful ways. We didn’t know it then, but we were laying the framework for a lifetime of accomplishments, because we were advised not to wait for success, but to define it and create it ourselves. Primarily, DIY ethics have flourished and strengthened youth subcultures (punk rock, hip hop, graffiti art, filmmaking) and they teach that success is not predetermined by obedience to what’s popular. DIY ethics have thrived in low-income, high-crime, and low-visibility communities, where people lack a voice for their problems and experiences and a solution for self-expression or any means to address their lives. DIY ethics have influenced those who participate in these subcultures to rely on one another for feedback and approval, to create their own norms, behaviors and traditions, rather than searching for status through mainstream channels. DIY ethics refocus the attention on what is “getting done,” and imagines that those who set themselves out to make changes, or create art or dialogue, have their own reasons for their methods, and have their

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own thoughts and feelings about why what they’re doing is important. Rather than searching for approval, help, funding, service, or advice from outside, established entities (mainstream radio, record labels, corporate advertisers, financial consultants and investors, etc.), DIY requires that one look within, and to those around them with similar beliefs and desires, to solve problems, manage and network resources, build bridges, and produce artwork, music, writing, etc. that otherwise would not be possible. Ultimately, no one is going to address these issues, do this work, create this art, etc. FOR you, in the way that YOU would.

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My older brother spent the majority of his adult life touring and making music for people; meeting young people and trying to reach them with his writing and his music. I learned from him that DIY ethics respond to something within us that wants to create and make a difference, that wants to be excellent and wants to share that excellence with anyone who is interested, and that refuses to compromise its own standards. The freedom to hold on to what makes us unique, what sets us apart from others, is essential if you really want to make something important happen. In this view, your desire to create something, and your reasons for that desire, are your most important asset. In truth, if you do not “do it yourself,” then it likely CANNOT be done. Most importantly, DIY ethics ignore the disapproval of the mainstream. Being able to successfully create a new environment requires focus and self-confidence, and is ultimately not concerned at all with size, publicity, or acknowl- edgment. These ideas refocus communities to be concerned with those around them, to take pride in the uniqueness and freedom of DIY enterprises. I can look back and see the effect that my music and my work have had on our small network of communities, and that fuels me to continue on.

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None of the major independent labels, artists, or thinkers have become “successful” from a main- stream perspective; rather, they have opted to imagine for themselves what “success” might look and feel like, and they have dedicated themselves to making that happen. Your work needs to be important enough for you to do it even if it seems to you that no one else cares or supports it. It has to be something that you are passionate enough about to be exposed to criticism without being withered by it. Ultimately, DIY ethics allow you to focus on what really matters, and allow you to embrace responsibility for both the successes and the failures of ventures that are undertaken boldly and clearly, with joy and without the need for approval.

Afterword DIY, Christian Style: Be a Fool for Christ

Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis, January 24, 2013

Most importantly, DIY ethics ignore the disapproval of the mainstream. Being able to successfully create a new environment requires focus and self-confidence, and is ultimately not concerned at all with size, publicity, or acknowl- edgment. These ideas refocus communities to be concerned with those around them, to take pride in the uniqueness and freedom of DIY enterprises.

~ Daniel Davis, Get Up and Go.

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For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake , but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.

~ 1 Corinthians 4.9-10 (ESV)

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ~ 2 Corinthians 3.17

As Daniel’s father, I have personally witnessed for years now the community to which he belongs, a wonderfully creative and free-spirited association of artists, musicians, and others devoted to the principles he spoke of within this tract. His brother, Matthew, and sister, Joanna, like him, also have been shaped by the ethos of the DIY punk community, which boasts some of the kindest, most generous young people I have ever met. What has struck me over the years of being exposed to that community is their elevation and celebration of the notion of freedom in their midst. They are undomesticated, unafraid, and always ready and willing to accomplish new and im- pressive projects, with almost no notion at all of what others might think about them, or make

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of their artistic productions. For the sake of musical self-expression, they are willing to try things that most people would find frightening or humiliating. They are adventurous, bold, and aggressive, and hungry to try new things outside of their comfort zones or previous experience. They have a penchant for action and production, and love to share their new creations with one another. As I gaze at them, I am truly challenged by their energy and spirit, a tireless determination to create things, to make music, to produce art, to start businesses, to try endeavors, and explore areas well beyond their training (but never beyond their vision).

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I believe that Daniel’s description of the DIY culture is not only accurate as to the sociology and facts of these amazing people, but suggestive of an ethical vision that highlights the Christian concept of freedom. From a Christian point of view, Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ, has delivered us from the torture and shame of failed efforts, broken promises, and wasted living. His death on the Cross is more than religious extrem- ism or political drama; rather, his incarnation (i.e., his coming into the world), his death, and resurrection not only satisfy God’s standard for our immorality and sin, but also liberate us to live as free people – free to love and to live. From a Christian point of view, Jesus Christ came into the world in order to set humankind free from the tyranny of sin, Satan, and death. This is no mere legal transaction, some kind of theological jargon that has no practical meaning for signifi- cance or accomplishment. On the contrary, the freedom that Christ won for us liberates us from the tyranny of self-loathing, condemnation, blame-shifting, and guilt. Those who repent and believe in Christ, according to the Scriptures, have been set free. Now accepted and forgiven by God, those who believe need no longer to be driven by messages of shame and fear, of living under the specter of dread and rejection. Having received

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God’s forgiveness, those who believe in Christ are free to forgive themselves, and to forgive others. Now, having been received as God’s own child, the very script of our lives can be rewritten, refocused, and reshaped. This is the context of Jesus’ understanding of the famous phrase, “the truth shall set you free” in John 8.31-36: So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to any- one. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. According to Jesus’ vision of life, sin (disobedience to God) produces a slavery, a bondage, a kind of captivity that imprisons us and makes it impossible for us to become fully human and alive. Yet, those who receive Christ as Lord are set free from the tyranny of self-loathing, from the vicious internal criticism of personal performance, from the tyranny of horrific past failure (and its deadly memories) as well as from the cruel prospects of

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an imposed fate and destiny. From a Christian worldview, believers in Christ need no longer fear failure or rejection. Now, indwelt by God’s own Spirit (Eph. 1.13) and empowered by Christ’s own commission (Matt. 28.18-20), believers are liberated to become, produce, and experiment in a range of acts to love others (John 13.34-35), to use their freedom to care for and serve others (Gal. 5.1-13), and to pursue goals and dreams for Christ which before would have seemed both foolhardy and impossible. To be a Christian is to believe that God can do immeasurably beyond what we ask or think according to the power, God’s very power, that indwells us (Eph. 3.20-21). The title of Daniel’s piece turns out to be the challenge for all believers in Christ – we are asked to get up and go, moving out from the shame of our former lives and the fears of the future! The amazing courage and energy of the DIY culture mirrors the kind of productive culture which results from those Christians that freely appropriate their freedom in Christ. Christians are free, not primarily for the sake of self expression and artistic authenticity, but for the sake of accom- plishing God’s will, and loving people who need

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care. The Great Commandment, and its corollary, as articulated by Christ, beg for constant and concrete projects of care, for ingenious ways of reaching out to others with the Gospel of Christ. God liberates us in order that we can engage in a kind of joyful, playful experimentation to bring pleasure to him, to care for others, and to make a difference for the Kingdom in the place where God has placed us. To become a Christian is to be set free from the bondage of self-hatred in order to live a life of freedom, freedom in Christ and freedom to love others. The expression of this freedom, for the Christian, I believe, is similar to DIY culture in both its aggressiveness and experimentation, but it is

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governed by a different set of motives, all of which flow from our allegiance to Christ and his Kingdom. Believers in Christ who know what Christ has done for them are set free to “get up and go,” to live as spectacles in the world, to literally behave as “fools for Christ,” because of an explicit desire to accomplish God’s will in the world, and to advance his Kingdom, wherever we are. The following texts reveal the basic Christian appeal to use our freedom to love others and change our world, in Christ’s name: And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great command- ment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” ~ Matthew 22.35-40 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. ~ Galatians 5.1

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For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

~ Galatians 5.13

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ~ 1 Peter 2.15-16

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Galatians 5.14

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ~ Galatians 6.2

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ~ Romans 15.1-2

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the

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brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. ~ 1 John 3.16-18 These texts are representative of numerous New Testament teachings that affirm our Christian morality’s footing on the freedom that Christ’s death on the Cross won for us. Through Christ we are set free, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who grants us grace and power to participate in the life and mission of the Christian community. In his little epistle on freedom, Paul thunders to the Galatians that “It is for freedom Christ has set you free” (Gal. 5.1), and the Christian life endeavors are always seen in the context of employing this freedom from guilt and condemnation for the sake of bringing God glory and advancing Christ’s Kingdom. The surprising, open, and creative expression of DIY culture is mirrored in the Christian community by our determination to express our commitment to God and to his work. We possess a freedom that strengthens us to engage in numerous projects that demonstrate our love for others, advance God’s kingdom mission, and equip others to live for Christ and his Kingdom.

In raising our children, my wife, Beth, and I emphasized what have been called the “6-8-10” principles of freedom in Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians. From their early years, we taught them of this marvelous freedom in Christ, and sought to help them think as free people in Christ, using their freedom to glorify God and help others. Here is a brief outline of those principles, and how we applied them to various kinds of moral issues they faced.

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1. 1 Cor. 6.9-11 – Christianity is about transformation in Christ; no amount of excuses will get a person into the Kingdom.

2. 1 Cor. 6.12a – We are free in Christ, but not everything one does is edifying or helpful.

3. 1 Cor. 6.12b – We are free in Christ, but anything that is addictive and exercising control over you is counter to Christ and his Kingdom. 4. 1 Cor. 8.7-13 – We are free in Christ, but we ought never to flaunt our freedom, especially in the face of Christians whose conscience would be marred and who would stumble if they see us doing something they find offensive. 5. 1 Cor.10.23 – We are free in Christ; all things are lawful for us, but not all things are helpful, nor does doing everything permissible build oneself up. 6. 1 Cor.10.24 – We are free in Christ, and ought to use our freedom to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, and nurture them for others’ well being (cf. Gal. 5.13).

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7. 1 Cor. 10.31 – We are free in Christ, and given that freedom in order that we might glorify God in all that we do, whether we eat or drink, or anything else. 8. 1 Cor. 10.32-33 – We are free in Christ, and ought to use our freedom in order to do what we can to give no offense to people in the world or the Church; rather, all we do should be able to influence others to know and love Christ, i.e., that they might be saved. In addition to these foundational principles on freedom in First Corinthians, we also emphasized other complimentary truths to help our children learn how to use their freedom to honor God. For instance, we taught them that we ought to live free in Christ as servants of God, but never seek to use our freedom as a cover-up for evil (1 Pet. 2.16). We show ourselves to be disciples of Christ as we abide and continue in his Word, and in so doing we come to know the truth, and the truth sets us free in him (John 8.31-32). And we emphasized that as believers in Christ, we are called to be free, yet we must never use our freedom as a license to indulge our sinful natures, but rather to be free in order to serve one another in love (Gal. 5.13).

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Freedom is not an incidental or novel idea – it is at the core of what it means to live as a Christian.

In the end, every Christian is called to embrace a DIY-kind-of-commitment to accomplish God’s will in various endeavors, however weird or dumb it may appear to others. Daniel’s clear description of the DIY courage harks to a larger context of Christian freedom, the willingness to do whatever God has called you to do, however

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supposedly strange, odd, or impossible it may seem, at first glance, to be. The history of Christian service and ministry is filled with stories of individuals who were willing to live as a fool for Christ in order to care for others in a tangible way. To be filled with the Spirit we must, like Paul, be willing to be a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to people. To become a fool for Christ, to obey with courage and aggressiveness his challenge to you in spite of the unlikelihood of your attaining it – this is the key to fruitfulness in ministry. We who love the Lord must “get up and go,” respond- ing in courage to God’s call, striving with what we have to accomplish what he desires, trusting him to provide for us all that we need to produce what he wants. Honestly, DIY culture and Christian culture have much in common: they both pursue relentlessly their dreams regardless of what others think, they do not allow a shortage of resources to block their creativity, and they are willing to make extra- ordinary sacrifice to attain their goals. They do it to express, as Daniel said, “something within [them] that wants to create and make a difference, that wants to be excellent and wants to share that excellence with anyone who is interested, and that refuses to compromise its own standards.”

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Christians do it, first and foremostly, not only to express their authenticity, but also to accomplish the will of God, and to serve other people.

These two visions are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Those Christians who seek to use their freedom in Christ to “get up and go” as they pursue their dreams in the will of God will have to deal with the constant peppering of the enemy as he seeks to discourage them in their efforts. Here’s a representative sample of the kind of lies every free Christian will encounter: • “You’ve never done that before. You’re going to fail horribly at it, and be embarrassed in front of everyone.”

• “You’re not trained to do this. How dare you try this?”

• “Your efforts are so shallow that nothing will change, even if you pull it off.”

• “Your efforts are meager and ridiculous. Let the professionals handle it.”

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• “Your ideas about this are silly; no one is going to support you in this.”

• “Even if your idea is worthwhile, you’re not the one to try to do it. You will mess this up, the same way you’ve messed everything else up.” These and other devastating attacks are part and parcel of anyone seeking to venture into new arenas for Christ. The enemy is ruthless in his persistent lies, doubts, and arguments waged against all who seek to experiment and innovate for the cause of Christ (John 8.44; 2 Cor. 10.3-6; 1 Pet. 5.8-9). All who seek to attempt great things for God will suffer the belligerent attacks of him who is called the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12.9). We silence his lying accusations only when we strive with all our might to do God’s will, regardless of what others may think, say, or however they may protest. Daniel’s excellent summary challenges me to see if I am truly exercising my freedom in Christ to attempt great things for God, on behalf of others, especially those people who have been most neglected, overlooked, and misrepresented. It inspires me to “get up and go,” to quit making

excuses, to slay the dragons of doubt and fear that plague my efforts, and to strike out with boldness, knowing that, in a fundamental sense, I need not do-it-all-by-myself, but with the aid of God and others, I can experiment, engage, and yes, even accomplish things that I never thought I could, all for the sake of Christ and his Kingdom. All I need do is be a fool for Christ, to forget about what “they say” and obey God with reckless abandon, to do his will, and watch him work. In the foyer of the Institute where Daniel and I both work, there is a specially designed oak plant stand with words regarding Matthew, Daniel’s older brother, who died unexpectedly ten years ago. The words are these: “Matt Davis, 1976-2003. Live free in Christ.” Matt was a Christian, and he

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lived free. In the end, this focus on freedom, in my mind, is about honoring Christ, about pursuing his will, and about being free to create, innovate, and produce fresh, new experiments that express our love for God and care for others. Through Christ we are now set free from the law, from the principle of sin and death, from the condemna- tion and guilt of our own sin, and the conviction of the law on us. We are free now to serve our God out of gratitude and thankfulness. We don’t celebrate precious freedom in order to make a name for ourselves, to be wiseguys or act like knuckle-heads, but to glorify God and love others. Let’s then be DIY, Christian style, living as happy fools for Christ, finding new ways to love and to care and to serve. The real tragedy in not living free in Christ, the only real frustration, will ultimately be a failure to engage, a failure to love.