Skin in the Game (Trinitarian article)

Fr. Tony’s Letter to the Trinitarians

July-August 2018

Skin in the Game

  

I recently saw the inspiring documentary “Five Came Back,” about five Hollywood directors who joined the U.S. military during World War II and made films as part of the war effort:  John Ford, George Stevens, John Huston, William Wyler, and Frank Capra.  These people documented the reasons for the war, its battles and their human cost, as well as the horrors of the regimes we fought against.  They all were changed by their war experience.  They came home, in varying degrees, damaged, distrustful, and more pessimistic about human nature.   Yet they went on to make their best movies after the war.  The series ends with a statement of Frank Capra, “Despite all the darkness, there is love in the world.  And that is wonderful.” 

These were people willing to sacrifice their personal plans, projects, and safety to pursue what they saw as the defining cause of their generation: the destruction of fascism and tyranny.  They had “skin in the game”: they staked their own futures and security on the cause,  and could not speak of it as detached observers or theoretical pundits.    The stories they told in their films had greater credibility and authenticity as a result; their opinions about the war and its veterans were never seen as superfluous or easily ignored. 

Jesus talks about having skin in the game many times.  He says the Reign of God is like builder who starts a project only to run out of funds mid-way.  His lack of commitment and “counting the cost” of the project beforehand brings him humiliation and ridicule.  Jesus says that half measures in pursuing the way are worse that useless: like putting new wine into old skins, the stress of mixing old and new will burst the containers and spill the wine. 

“Skin in the game” is one of the reasons behind the general pastoral principle of not having liturgical decisions made by people who do not attend the service at issue.  It also points to the spiritual truth behind the most important reason for tithing and generous pledging in wealth and time to build ministry:  only the invested truly care about something.  “Where you put your treasure,” Jesus says, “is where your heart will be.” 

Relationships also require authentic and mindfully present skin in the game.  Going through the motions but trying to keep your heart from being hurt by not risking it by giving your all is a recipe for indifference and a relationship bound to die.  It is described in the lyrics by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel: 

“Couched in our indifference,

like shells upon the shore,

You can hear the ocean roar

In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs—
The borders of our lives.

And you read your Emily Dickinson
And I my Robert Frost
And we note our place with book markers
That measure what we've lost.” 

I invite us all to take a look at what we profess to value and hold dear, and measure what we sacrifice for it.  Do we have skin in the game? 

Grace and peace,

Fr. Tony+