This post is a continuation of a series on Phyllis Tickle's book, The Great Emergence. If you are new to the series, you can read the introduction here. I've linked to a lot of wikipedia articles in this post. This is not because I think you've never heard about Luther or Copernicus or because I'm trying to suddenly cite observations. I spent some time reading up on this time period while I was writing this post and I kept finding more and more interesting events and connections. You should really check out some of the articles and see what jumps out and where those wandering mouse clicks lead you. You never know where you'll end up on wikipedia!
If asked what started the Great Reformation, probably a lot of us would point to Martin Luther and his 95 Theses on October 31, 1517. This event is certainly a turning point, but Luther was only responding to pressures that had been building for almost a century and a half. This next section will focus on some of the key contributing factors of the Reformation, the most recent "rummage sale", and also examine some of the results. It obviously isn't a full list, but will hopefully give you a better understanding of just how significant the impact of the Reformation was.
Phyllis Tickle points back to 1378, when two Popes were simultaneously elected- one from France and the other from Italy. Europe was just coming out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance. Nations as we think of them didn't exist- the land was split into little city-states ruled by merchants or feudal lords. The Black Plague had just killed close to one-third of Europe's population. At this time, the single unifying voice throughout all of Europe was the Pope. In fact, the Church, through the voice of the Pope, was considered the ultimate authority on all matters of Christianity. So who is the authority if there are two popes?
Another significant blow to the Christian status quo was dealt by a clergyman (and after hours astronomer) named Copernicus. To us it is absurd to think of a flat earth topped by layers of crystal domes (to hold the sky, clouds, moon, sun, and stars, of course), at the very center of the universe. But in the 16th century, this construct was commonplace, and more importantly, fully backed by the Church and (supposedly) the Bible. It was considered heresy to believe that the earth wasn't the center of all things, with heaven right above and hell just beneath. Copernicus seemed to understand the conflict his discoveries would cause, and he hesitated in publishing his writings until just before his death. But once his findings reached the public, it wasn't too long before people were left questioning the accuracy of the teachings of the Church and the Holy Scripture. If they are wrong about the structure of the universe, what else are they wrong about?
I'm sure we've all heard about the many abuses that lead the Reformers to challenge the Roman Catholic Church, so I won't spend time on that. The important thing is to understand just how devastating the Papal civil war was to the general worldview of western Europeans. For centuries Europe had trusted that the voice of the Pope was the voice of God, and suddenly that faith was cracked. How can God have two conflicting voices? How can the church fathers and leaders have been wrong about fundamental structure of nature? Where now is the authority? The question of authority is precisely what the Reformers set out to solve, and their answer should surprise none of us: Scripture, and Scripture alone. Luther believed that the Bible should have the final say, not the Church, and that the only way to prevent corruption in the future would be if everyone could read the Bible for themselves. He translated the Bible into the vernacular and placed great emphasis on the priesthood of all believers. Previously literacy was considered a luxury for the wealthy or clergy- now it was a necessity for all.
Of course, it would have been impossible to even dream of each person reading the Bible on their own without the Gutenberg Press, which made mass production of books possible for the first time in world history. This phenomenal breakthrough (which Time-Life magazine named the greatest invention of the millennium) occurred in 1450, only 33 years before Luther's birth. Tickle also points out that without the printing press, Luther's 95 Theses could never have circulated throughout Germany and on to the rest of Europe within two months. For the first time, ideas were able to be shared quickly throughout the western world. The growth in literacy, the ability to share ideas, and the understanding that individuals have intrinsic value eventually led to the birth of modern science, the Industrial Revolution, and the Enlightenment. We'll spend more time looking at those events later, but for now just recognize that they are intimately connected to the changes caused during the time of the Reformation.
As a side note, I thought I should mention that this time in history featured a resurgence in Christian-Muslim tension throughout Europe- almost 300 years after the Crusades. The Moors were pushed out of Spain just before Luther's birth, the Ottomans occupied the southern rim of the Mediterranean Sea, and Muslims conquered Hungary by 1524. They would eventually strike as far as Vienna before being pushed back. It appears that the most common Christian response was once again aggression, war, and hatred. I don't have any more thoughts about this now, but I can't help but notice the trend and think of it as significant for today.
This upheaval and unrest in political, social, and religious spheres lead to a restructuring of all areas of life. Driven by fear of invaders and the beginnings of industry, the scattered populace began to gather in cities. Nations rose to bring order to the new structure. Gone were the days of knights with swords fighting for a lord. In there place rose armies with guns, fighting for their king. Industry began to take power away from hereditary bloodlines, placing it instead in the hands of those who could make enough money to buy it. A new middle class rose to fill take advantage of this new opportunity, since a man could control his own destiny with good ideas and hard work. Capitalism was born. And to go along with all this, a new social religion, one which gave value to individuals and their ability to read God's authority on their own, flourished.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
rise
I made this piece today at work for one of our employee's blogs. He likes to use the phrase "disturbed, yet hopeful" as a way of describing his perspective on the orphan crisis that World Orphans is involved in changing. The first thing that came to my mind was a sunrise: light chasing away darkness. I also had the idea of a black and white city that is lit up and colored with love- that has been bouncing around in my head for a while, so this was a chance to try that out as well. And there is a little influence from Robbie Seay Band... I really like how it turned out, so I thought I'd share it on here.
You can see the whole image by clicking on the sample below.
You can see the whole image by clicking on the sample below.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
The Great Emergence 1
This is the third post in a series on the Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle.
One of the first things to note is that it isn't a book that deals much with theology, but functions more like a history lesson with a glimpse forward at what the future might hold. I found as I read that lights were coming on in my head all over the place. I began seeing how key events were connected and had much larger, far-reaching effects than I previously understood. I also was impressed with her ideas of what the future might entail, as it aligned quite well with some of the things I've seen happening on a micro level. I think as you read this, you will find yourself going "Wow, I've been thinking about that a lot lately, but I thought I was the only one, and I had no idea it had anything to do with that other thing over there." It seems to accurately reflect many of the things I've heard from a lot of my friends and family: those who have theology degrees and the ones who have never been to college, those who might be considered more liberal and others who are very conservative (whatever those terms mean), and a wide range of age from my parents and some of their friends to high school kids.
One of the biggest ideas in the books is that there have been huge shake-ups in Christianity every 500 years. The most recent was the Great Reformation, where Protestantism was born and split from the Roman Catholic church. It was in 1517 that Luther pounded his famous 95 Theses into the door of the church in Wittenberg, which is almost 500 years ago. Obviously the Reformation was not born over night, and in fact the events leading to its explosion were hundreds of years in the making. To make it more interesting, Tickle explains that the Reformation was not the first cataclysmic shift in the Church. About 500 years before then, the Great Schism split the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Western, or Roman Catholic Church.
Looking even further back, we find the collapse of the mighty Roman empire (and more or less the rest of civilization). A lot of research has been done into the factors causing the fall of Rome and the chaos that resulted from it. Less noticed is that this collapse birthed great changes in Christianity. The Church had become wedded to the empire and was in danger of shattering with Rome. Gregory the Great, a pope so popular and influential that he was given his nickname immediately after his death, held the Church together and worked to clean up the mess that had come of mixing Christianity with the most powerful Empire the world had ever seen. And while much of the western world's knowledge was lost to looting and burning, monks studiously copied the Bible, the teachings of the early church fathers, and classic literature. Without them humanity may have been set back many hundreds of years.
It was also during this time that Patrick brought the Gospel to the Irish. While much of Europe struggled through the Dark Ages, Christianity and scholarship flourished in Ireland. The Irish embrace of mysticism, nature, simplicity, and charity greatly painted their understanding of Christianity, and many today are once again finding much value from what the Irish can teach us. They would eventually re-take the teachings of Jesus back to the rest of devastated Europe, acting as missionaries to the people who had once taught them.
Of course, 500 years before this was the time of Jesus and the birth of Christianity, first as a sect within Judaism but quickly as something new on its own. It is worth noting that the 1st century was in many ways an ending to the priestly Judaism of the Old Testament. The Temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed in 70AD, and the Jews were banned even from even entering Jerusalem a short time later and were then scattered around the world. Looking back in approximately 500 year increments you will also find core changes in the lives of the Jews, starting with the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the exile, then back to the shift from the rule of judges to Kings (including of course David and the beginning of messianic expectations), then further back to Moses and the Exodus, and finally back to Abraham and God's calling of a people through whom he could bring about his plans for the world.
Tickle refers to these gigantic shifts as "rummage sales", a term which she borrowed from Anglican bishop Mark Dyer. She writes "about every five hundred years the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity, whatever they may be at that time, become an intolerable carapace that must be shattered in order that renewal and new growth may occur (pg 16)." To use the rummage sale analogy, the Church eventually decides that it is time for a new look and feel, and decides that the best way to do that is to clean out the closet and start fresh.
History has shown that there are 3 major results of these rummage sales. The first result is that a new expression of Christianity is born as a criticism of the dominant form. It is a recognition of the ways that the institutionalized Church has lost some of the message of Jesus and more importantly it is also a desire to return to more obedient beliefs and actions (orthodoxy and orthopraxy). The goal isn't to help Christianity "catch up" to the rest of culture or to change the message so it's more acceptable to people. The driving force behind these shifts is an awareness that something fundamental is broken, and therefore something needs to change.
The second result is that the existing form of Christianity continues on, albeit in a diminished role, and eventually adopts some of the changes brought on by the new form. We all know that the Protestant Reformation did not kill the Roman Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church did eventually recognize that many of the points raised during the Reformation were valid and necessary. The third result is that Christianity has been spread dramatically as a result of this split, reaching new people in new areas. The new expression of Christianity is able to effectively communicate the gospel to a significant number of people the old form couldn't, or wouldn't.
So with these points in mind, I'd love to hear some thoughts from you. Phyllis Tickle seem to view this split as inevitable, but ultimately good. Can this be done without hatred, anger, and unnecessary division? I think much of what God wants to do will be lost if western Christianity slips into a civil war. The last 500 years is full of Protestant vs Catholic wars. That can hardly be thought of as an answer to Jesus' prayer that his followers would be one, just as he and God are one.
Second, what new group of people do you think will be particularly influenced by a new practice of Christianity? What would you say is a bigger driving force for you: "a new practice of following Jesus" or "relationships with a new group of people"? I realize that these both drive each other and truly you need both, but I'm curious as to what brought you to this place of being open to questions and new answers. Maybe thats a good exercise for yourself, if nothing else.
One of the first things to note is that it isn't a book that deals much with theology, but functions more like a history lesson with a glimpse forward at what the future might hold. I found as I read that lights were coming on in my head all over the place. I began seeing how key events were connected and had much larger, far-reaching effects than I previously understood. I also was impressed with her ideas of what the future might entail, as it aligned quite well with some of the things I've seen happening on a micro level. I think as you read this, you will find yourself going "Wow, I've been thinking about that a lot lately, but I thought I was the only one, and I had no idea it had anything to do with that other thing over there." It seems to accurately reflect many of the things I've heard from a lot of my friends and family: those who have theology degrees and the ones who have never been to college, those who might be considered more liberal and others who are very conservative (whatever those terms mean), and a wide range of age from my parents and some of their friends to high school kids.
One of the biggest ideas in the books is that there have been huge shake-ups in Christianity every 500 years. The most recent was the Great Reformation, where Protestantism was born and split from the Roman Catholic church. It was in 1517 that Luther pounded his famous 95 Theses into the door of the church in Wittenberg, which is almost 500 years ago. Obviously the Reformation was not born over night, and in fact the events leading to its explosion were hundreds of years in the making. To make it more interesting, Tickle explains that the Reformation was not the first cataclysmic shift in the Church. About 500 years before then, the Great Schism split the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Western, or Roman Catholic Church.
Looking even further back, we find the collapse of the mighty Roman empire (and more or less the rest of civilization). A lot of research has been done into the factors causing the fall of Rome and the chaos that resulted from it. Less noticed is that this collapse birthed great changes in Christianity. The Church had become wedded to the empire and was in danger of shattering with Rome. Gregory the Great, a pope so popular and influential that he was given his nickname immediately after his death, held the Church together and worked to clean up the mess that had come of mixing Christianity with the most powerful Empire the world had ever seen. And while much of the western world's knowledge was lost to looting and burning, monks studiously copied the Bible, the teachings of the early church fathers, and classic literature. Without them humanity may have been set back many hundreds of years.
It was also during this time that Patrick brought the Gospel to the Irish. While much of Europe struggled through the Dark Ages, Christianity and scholarship flourished in Ireland. The Irish embrace of mysticism, nature, simplicity, and charity greatly painted their understanding of Christianity, and many today are once again finding much value from what the Irish can teach us. They would eventually re-take the teachings of Jesus back to the rest of devastated Europe, acting as missionaries to the people who had once taught them.
Of course, 500 years before this was the time of Jesus and the birth of Christianity, first as a sect within Judaism but quickly as something new on its own. It is worth noting that the 1st century was in many ways an ending to the priestly Judaism of the Old Testament. The Temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed in 70AD, and the Jews were banned even from even entering Jerusalem a short time later and were then scattered around the world. Looking back in approximately 500 year increments you will also find core changes in the lives of the Jews, starting with the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the exile, then back to the shift from the rule of judges to Kings (including of course David and the beginning of messianic expectations), then further back to Moses and the Exodus, and finally back to Abraham and God's calling of a people through whom he could bring about his plans for the world.
Tickle refers to these gigantic shifts as "rummage sales", a term which she borrowed from Anglican bishop Mark Dyer. She writes "about every five hundred years the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity, whatever they may be at that time, become an intolerable carapace that must be shattered in order that renewal and new growth may occur (pg 16)." To use the rummage sale analogy, the Church eventually decides that it is time for a new look and feel, and decides that the best way to do that is to clean out the closet and start fresh.
History has shown that there are 3 major results of these rummage sales. The first result is that a new expression of Christianity is born as a criticism of the dominant form. It is a recognition of the ways that the institutionalized Church has lost some of the message of Jesus and more importantly it is also a desire to return to more obedient beliefs and actions (orthodoxy and orthopraxy). The goal isn't to help Christianity "catch up" to the rest of culture or to change the message so it's more acceptable to people. The driving force behind these shifts is an awareness that something fundamental is broken, and therefore something needs to change.
The second result is that the existing form of Christianity continues on, albeit in a diminished role, and eventually adopts some of the changes brought on by the new form. We all know that the Protestant Reformation did not kill the Roman Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church did eventually recognize that many of the points raised during the Reformation were valid and necessary. The third result is that Christianity has been spread dramatically as a result of this split, reaching new people in new areas. The new expression of Christianity is able to effectively communicate the gospel to a significant number of people the old form couldn't, or wouldn't.
So with these points in mind, I'd love to hear some thoughts from you. Phyllis Tickle seem to view this split as inevitable, but ultimately good. Can this be done without hatred, anger, and unnecessary division? I think much of what God wants to do will be lost if western Christianity slips into a civil war. The last 500 years is full of Protestant vs Catholic wars. That can hardly be thought of as an answer to Jesus' prayer that his followers would be one, just as he and God are one.
Second, what new group of people do you think will be particularly influenced by a new practice of Christianity? What would you say is a bigger driving force for you: "a new practice of following Jesus" or "relationships with a new group of people"? I realize that these both drive each other and truly you need both, but I'm curious as to what brought you to this place of being open to questions and new answers. Maybe thats a good exercise for yourself, if nothing else.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
The Great Emergence 0.1
View the first post in this series here.
To give you an idea of where I'm going over the next few weeks, I'll give you a quick outline of the book. Phyllis Tickle starts with a look back at previous religious and social shifts that seem to be occurring about every 500 years, with the most recent example being the Protestant Reformation. She digs into the causes and effects of these turbulent times, and pulls out some common themes then we can then try to apply to the last 200 years of our history. A lot of time is spent on the dramatic changes caused by the Reformation which have lead to the way we all view the world today. She then looks at more recent shifts that are causing the conflict we are all becoming aware of. A good three-quarters of the book is dedicated to building the backdrop for our modern world, and only the final chapters look at where we might be headed. I particularly enjoyed how she examines the movements in American Christianity over the last century, including looking at some of the "proto-emergence" church movements. She then concludes with some guesses at where the western church is headed, which is extremely interesting and exciting.
I just want to also emphasize that the book and this discussion is not about the emergent or emerging church. It's about a global shift that is happening, and the emerging church conversation is one community that is developing as a result of this. But the idea is not that the Emergent Church is the final expression of what God is doing or where Christianity is headed. Listen to Doug Pagitt's thoughts on that here.
I think this is why there has been so much confusion about the emerging church. Everyone wants to finalize it and decide what's right and wrong about it, but it is only one small expression of a much larger phenomenon. And even this small network or people is still figuring out where it is going and why- nothing is set in stone. It's like a young child still years away from adulthood. Nobody knows how this will turn out, which is why the emerging church leaders always refer to their network as a conversation. They want everyone to be involved in what is happening, not a few powerful leaders.
This is a beautiful example of the "priesthood of all believers". We all have an opportunity to seek God about what he wants to do and where he wants to go with his Church. If there are dreams in your heart about what the Church can be, share them so that we all can dream together. If there are ideas that look dangerous to you, speak up, but do so in gentleness and love. If you don't love your brothers and sisters, which is the most fundamental part of being a Christian, how can you offer worthwhile thoughts on more advanced and nuanced doctrine?
Above all, we need to put aside our desire to be right and make sure everyone else knows how right we are. You can't have a very good conversation with people if you only talk to the people who agree with you, or if you will only talk and never listen. You can't love your enemy if you won't associate with the people you have conflict with. How can we say we love the world, like Jesus did, if we can't even love other believers? So please offer your ideas on here, but I ask that you do so with gentleness and respect. I want to talk this out with my friends because I value all of you and know God is speaking to you in ways that are sometimes similar and sometimes different from what he is saying to me.
Finally, I'm going to label all of the posts in this series under “The Great Emergence”, so if you get behind and want to view them all, just click the link of “The Great Emergence” from the list of labels on the right.
To give you an idea of where I'm going over the next few weeks, I'll give you a quick outline of the book. Phyllis Tickle starts with a look back at previous religious and social shifts that seem to be occurring about every 500 years, with the most recent example being the Protestant Reformation. She digs into the causes and effects of these turbulent times, and pulls out some common themes then we can then try to apply to the last 200 years of our history. A lot of time is spent on the dramatic changes caused by the Reformation which have lead to the way we all view the world today. She then looks at more recent shifts that are causing the conflict we are all becoming aware of. A good three-quarters of the book is dedicated to building the backdrop for our modern world, and only the final chapters look at where we might be headed. I particularly enjoyed how she examines the movements in American Christianity over the last century, including looking at some of the "proto-emergence" church movements. She then concludes with some guesses at where the western church is headed, which is extremely interesting and exciting.
I just want to also emphasize that the book and this discussion is not about the emergent or emerging church. It's about a global shift that is happening, and the emerging church conversation is one community that is developing as a result of this. But the idea is not that the Emergent Church is the final expression of what God is doing or where Christianity is headed. Listen to Doug Pagitt's thoughts on that here.
I think this is why there has been so much confusion about the emerging church. Everyone wants to finalize it and decide what's right and wrong about it, but it is only one small expression of a much larger phenomenon. And even this small network or people is still figuring out where it is going and why- nothing is set in stone. It's like a young child still years away from adulthood. Nobody knows how this will turn out, which is why the emerging church leaders always refer to their network as a conversation. They want everyone to be involved in what is happening, not a few powerful leaders.
This is a beautiful example of the "priesthood of all believers". We all have an opportunity to seek God about what he wants to do and where he wants to go with his Church. If there are dreams in your heart about what the Church can be, share them so that we all can dream together. If there are ideas that look dangerous to you, speak up, but do so in gentleness and love. If you don't love your brothers and sisters, which is the most fundamental part of being a Christian, how can you offer worthwhile thoughts on more advanced and nuanced doctrine?
Above all, we need to put aside our desire to be right and make sure everyone else knows how right we are. You can't have a very good conversation with people if you only talk to the people who agree with you, or if you will only talk and never listen. You can't love your enemy if you won't associate with the people you have conflict with. How can we say we love the world, like Jesus did, if we can't even love other believers? So please offer your ideas on here, but I ask that you do so with gentleness and respect. I want to talk this out with my friends because I value all of you and know God is speaking to you in ways that are sometimes similar and sometimes different from what he is saying to me.
Finally, I'm going to label all of the posts in this series under “The Great Emergence”, so if you get behind and want to view them all, just click the link of “The Great Emergence” from the list of labels on the right.
The Great Emergence 0
Everybody seems to be talking about the emerging church lately. I think I've only heard the term in the last couple years, and right from the beginning it seemed pretty confusing to me. My friend Ben introduced me and a few of my friends to Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell in fall of 2005, and I remember how much we all loved it. It wasn't a completely revolutionary approach to Christianity for any of us, it just seemed like it was a clearer picture of what we already were about and where we deep-down wanted to go (and I think that is true, but not the way we thought). I guess we thought of it as a new paint job on the same car, or maybe a tune-up or new tires as well.
Since then I've read it several times and I've realized just how much there is underneath the surface that I didn't get the first time. I think we'd all agree that to follow Jesus, you can't just stick his teaching onto your previous life like an extra arm or new set of clothes. You have to be willing to let everything else go and sometimes start over completely. I think one of the underlying themes of Velvet Elvis is that sometimes Christianity itself has to start over and clear out a lot of the extra baggage it's picked up over the many years. That, of course, is a terrifying idea, because we tend to think of Christianity as the way of following Jesus. But what if the religion that carries Jesus' name becomes one of the biggest hindrances to following Jesus?
I first heard about the emerging (or emergent, but that's kind of different- more later) church through reading and listening to Rob Bell. He always has lots of notes about other books to read and often had guest speakers at his church. And lots of people on the internet had interesting things to say about him and those other authors and speakers. A lot of them were angry about this thing called the emerging church, and said Rob and some of the other people who he was influenced by or was friends with presenting heretical ideas. I think that is a pretty serious accusation to make, so I decided to research this myself. I began studying the Bible more and church history and theology- things that never really interested me much before. This eventually is what lead me to Fuller to study theology.
But one thing I noticed right away is how nobody could agree on what the emerging church was. Some people said it was a Christian reaction to post-modernism, or nothing more than a more relevant wrapping on evangelicalism, or an emphasis on simple living and serving the poor. Some said emergents didn't believe in absolute truth, or the Bible, or Jesus, and had very "liberal" views on homosexuality and abortion. Others said that it was a desire to return just to taking seriously the teachings of Jesus on loving your neighbor and being peacemakers. Is it a new denomination? Is it a movement? Is it a new religion? Is it some kind of new age spirituality that takes some of Jesus and some of Buddha and some of whatever else and mixes it together? Is there a difference between emergent and emerging? And nobody could even agree on who was part of the emerging church. Lots of people called Rob Bell emergent, but he always said he wasn't and that he didn't want anything to do with new labels that further divide Christians into smaller and smaller pieces. Some people said that was enough proof that he was emergent...
This last summer I have been reading a lot of books on the subject. What the so-called emergents say and believe and hope for, and what critics say about them. I've taken little online quizzes that that ask theology questions, and then tell you what percentage Charismatic, Wesleyan, Reformed, Liturgical, Evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, or emergent you are. I've read lots and lots of blogs! And I've continually been struck by how consistently the things I've read from many emerging leaders have resonated with my heart. They seem to put words to the things I've believed deep down, the things that I had questions about or often blurry dreams that God has given me. That's been really exciting, but also very unsettling? I've been frustrated with many things about modern American Christianity for a while, and much of what I have learned has given words and form and even theology to this frustration. Is that me wanting to rebel and do things my way, or is it God leading me to trust him more and religion less?
The pieces of this puzzle finally began coming together, and one of the biggest pieces was a book by Phyllis Tickle called The Great Emergence. She is a grandmother, Anglican lay minister, and has worked as a teacher and head of Publisher Weekly's religion department. In this book, she looks at the current events of our world through a much wider view than most usually do and gains a lot of insight into what's really going on. She discusses the earth-shaking changes we've seen over the last 150 years in science, transportation, communication, war, society, medicine, government, and religion. It becomes pretty clear that we are in the middle of something huge. I've heard others say that the current shifts we are experiencing are comparable to the changes of the Great Reformation, but I thought it was a pretty big exaggeration. After reading this book, I wonder if it might be an understatement.
Since this book has been so useful for giving me a bigger and fuller idea of our times, I wanted to walk through it on here so a lot of you who don't have time to read can still get some of the benefit. All the time I talk to friends who feel unsettled and frustrated. The dreams God has given them seem incompatible with the current life they see every day, and they don't know where to go next or why this is happening. I'm realizing it is not an isolated few that are going through this. I hope this series will help explain why they are feeling this way, and where we might be headed, so they can begin to see their circumstances through eyes opened up a little wider.
Since then I've read it several times and I've realized just how much there is underneath the surface that I didn't get the first time. I think we'd all agree that to follow Jesus, you can't just stick his teaching onto your previous life like an extra arm or new set of clothes. You have to be willing to let everything else go and sometimes start over completely. I think one of the underlying themes of Velvet Elvis is that sometimes Christianity itself has to start over and clear out a lot of the extra baggage it's picked up over the many years. That, of course, is a terrifying idea, because we tend to think of Christianity as the way of following Jesus. But what if the religion that carries Jesus' name becomes one of the biggest hindrances to following Jesus?
I first heard about the emerging (or emergent, but that's kind of different- more later) church through reading and listening to Rob Bell. He always has lots of notes about other books to read and often had guest speakers at his church. And lots of people on the internet had interesting things to say about him and those other authors and speakers. A lot of them were angry about this thing called the emerging church, and said Rob and some of the other people who he was influenced by or was friends with presenting heretical ideas. I think that is a pretty serious accusation to make, so I decided to research this myself. I began studying the Bible more and church history and theology- things that never really interested me much before. This eventually is what lead me to Fuller to study theology.
But one thing I noticed right away is how nobody could agree on what the emerging church was. Some people said it was a Christian reaction to post-modernism, or nothing more than a more relevant wrapping on evangelicalism, or an emphasis on simple living and serving the poor. Some said emergents didn't believe in absolute truth, or the Bible, or Jesus, and had very "liberal" views on homosexuality and abortion. Others said that it was a desire to return just to taking seriously the teachings of Jesus on loving your neighbor and being peacemakers. Is it a new denomination? Is it a movement? Is it a new religion? Is it some kind of new age spirituality that takes some of Jesus and some of Buddha and some of whatever else and mixes it together? Is there a difference between emergent and emerging? And nobody could even agree on who was part of the emerging church. Lots of people called Rob Bell emergent, but he always said he wasn't and that he didn't want anything to do with new labels that further divide Christians into smaller and smaller pieces. Some people said that was enough proof that he was emergent...
This last summer I have been reading a lot of books on the subject. What the so-called emergents say and believe and hope for, and what critics say about them. I've taken little online quizzes that that ask theology questions, and then tell you what percentage Charismatic, Wesleyan, Reformed, Liturgical, Evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, or emergent you are. I've read lots and lots of blogs! And I've continually been struck by how consistently the things I've read from many emerging leaders have resonated with my heart. They seem to put words to the things I've believed deep down, the things that I had questions about or often blurry dreams that God has given me. That's been really exciting, but also very unsettling? I've been frustrated with many things about modern American Christianity for a while, and much of what I have learned has given words and form and even theology to this frustration. Is that me wanting to rebel and do things my way, or is it God leading me to trust him more and religion less?
The pieces of this puzzle finally began coming together, and one of the biggest pieces was a book by Phyllis Tickle called The Great Emergence. She is a grandmother, Anglican lay minister, and has worked as a teacher and head of Publisher Weekly's religion department. In this book, she looks at the current events of our world through a much wider view than most usually do and gains a lot of insight into what's really going on. She discusses the earth-shaking changes we've seen over the last 150 years in science, transportation, communication, war, society, medicine, government, and religion. It becomes pretty clear that we are in the middle of something huge. I've heard others say that the current shifts we are experiencing are comparable to the changes of the Great Reformation, but I thought it was a pretty big exaggeration. After reading this book, I wonder if it might be an understatement.
Since this book has been so useful for giving me a bigger and fuller idea of our times, I wanted to walk through it on here so a lot of you who don't have time to read can still get some of the benefit. All the time I talk to friends who feel unsettled and frustrated. The dreams God has given them seem incompatible with the current life they see every day, and they don't know where to go next or why this is happening. I'm realizing it is not an isolated few that are going through this. I hope this series will help explain why they are feeling this way, and where we might be headed, so they can begin to see their circumstances through eyes opened up a little wider.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
economic explanation
Since we have just gone through the bailout and presidential election, there have been a lot of economic terms thrown around, and I have a hard time figuring out what they all mean and how these systems work. I recently found this post on Brian McLaren's blog that explains everything, and thought I would share it here. Venture Capitalism made me laugh the most, and I think the Aussies may have it right...
21 Economic Models ... explained with cows
The 2008 update
SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbor.
COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.
FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.
BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the
milk away...
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.
SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.
VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters
of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a
debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all
four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to
a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who
sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The
annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one
more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States ,
leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the
release. The public then buys your bull.
A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you
want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow
and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow
cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and
milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.
A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.
AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy....
AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.
21 Economic Models ... explained with cows
The 2008 update
SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbor.
COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.
FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.
BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the
milk away...
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.
SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.
VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters
of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a
debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all
four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to
a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who
sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The
annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one
more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States ,
leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the
release. The public then buys your bull.
A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you
want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow
and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow
cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and
milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.
A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.
AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy....
AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.
Friday, October 24, 2008
if Jesus ran for president
If Jesus was running for President, you can imagine his opponent running something like this:
Monday, September 29, 2008
Refugee
I recently (eh, call it a month or so) got into reading blogs. I'm absolutely fascinated by them. Maybe it's something about regular people being able to share their own thoughts in a way that ANYONE in the world can know what they are thinking. You don't have to be famous or powerful or saying only the "right" things. And I just keep finding people who are writing about the things I'm thinking, wrestling with the same questions I have, and tenaciously trying to stick to a Christ-like response to all the conflicting ideas and allegiances that always try to cause division and force us to take sides.
For example, I can't even tell you how good it is for my heart to read a post by a guy who supports a certain presidential candidate, but makes sure to blog about how much his heart is grieved by the lies and exaggerations this candidate says - because he believes that truth and honesty and love are more important than his chosen candidate winning an election. It stands out to me in a time when so many people (including heaps of Christians, who should have a Christ-allegiance, not political-allegiance) seemed to have switched to a "my candidate must win at all costs" mode of operation.
Or about the pastor from Seattle who decided to go off topic at a Southern Baptist Convention and criticize / name-call a bunch of emerging church leaders. But instead of defending themselves or fighting back, those "emergent heretics" actually took Jesus seriously and turned the other cheek, even when those comments got them booted from future SBC conferences they'd already been chosen to speak at. This kind of action (and not a defensive re-action) makes me believe (again) that Jesus was right, that love really can win, that good really can overcome evil, and that I can leave behind my automatic responses and become a person who loves first.
And I always intend to write about these things that encourage me and excite me so my friends can be encouraged as well, but I never do. So this time I will.
First, check out this video on missional church planting. It's 7 minutes long, but it hits on some keys that pastors should focus on. I thought it was really good, especially the discussion on how to pastor people through being hurt by the church. It's important that it is a one on one pastoral discussion, not a community-wide, weekly complaint session that puts the focus on what you are against instead of on what you are for.
You'll notice after watching it that he uses the term "refugee" to describe Christians who are often attracted to missional or simple or emerging churches. I've never heard this term used in this way before, and I was struck by how it really seems to describe how I, and I think a lot of my close friends, often feel when we talk about church and God.
Another blogger picked up on the word, and wrote about it here. It's a short read, so check it out, but here is one quote that stood out to me.
I don't want to belittle people who are actual refugees by using the term for myself and pretending that I have some sort of solidarity with them now. Like, "yeah, you lost your home and possessions and family and friends and history and are living in a foreign land where the government doesn't recognize you and the natives dislike you and you can't work or care for your family, but I totally feel the same way!" Obviously it is a completely different thing, and I don't want to take that lightly.
But there is a real resonance to that "stranger in a strange land" feeling in my heart. I have felt spiritually homeless for a while. I've had to leave behind some of the things that used to be familiar and comforting to follow where I think Jesus is leading me. I've even been physically wandering from city to city because I just haven't felt at home in a long time. It's unsettling and confusing at times, but I keep finding reason for hope. I don't know where I'm going, but when it's the most difficult and lonely, God quietly reminds me that he is walking with me, and I guess that is enough.
And maybe I can learn to see the others all around (and far away) who are also stumbling through life. Maybe I can help them get back up.
For example, I can't even tell you how good it is for my heart to read a post by a guy who supports a certain presidential candidate, but makes sure to blog about how much his heart is grieved by the lies and exaggerations this candidate says - because he believes that truth and honesty and love are more important than his chosen candidate winning an election. It stands out to me in a time when so many people (including heaps of Christians, who should have a Christ-allegiance, not political-allegiance) seemed to have switched to a "my candidate must win at all costs" mode of operation.
Or about the pastor from Seattle who decided to go off topic at a Southern Baptist Convention and criticize / name-call a bunch of emerging church leaders. But instead of defending themselves or fighting back, those "emergent heretics" actually took Jesus seriously and turned the other cheek, even when those comments got them booted from future SBC conferences they'd already been chosen to speak at. This kind of action (and not a defensive re-action) makes me believe (again) that Jesus was right, that love really can win, that good really can overcome evil, and that I can leave behind my automatic responses and become a person who loves first.
And I always intend to write about these things that encourage me and excite me so my friends can be encouraged as well, but I never do. So this time I will.
First, check out this video on missional church planting. It's 7 minutes long, but it hits on some keys that pastors should focus on. I thought it was really good, especially the discussion on how to pastor people through being hurt by the church. It's important that it is a one on one pastoral discussion, not a community-wide, weekly complaint session that puts the focus on what you are against instead of on what you are for.
You'll notice after watching it that he uses the term "refugee" to describe Christians who are often attracted to missional or simple or emerging churches. I've never heard this term used in this way before, and I was struck by how it really seems to describe how I, and I think a lot of my close friends, often feel when we talk about church and God.
Another blogger picked up on the word, and wrote about it here. It's a short read, so check it out, but here is one quote that stood out to me.
What is interesting about the concept of refugees is that it suggest displacement from the homeland. Refugees are forced to wander, and disconnected from community they have no roots to plant. Forces have appeared to work against them leaving them with no place to settle. Their heart is with their homeland, yet where is that? Is it back where they left? Is it somewhere right next to them?
I don't want to belittle people who are actual refugees by using the term for myself and pretending that I have some sort of solidarity with them now. Like, "yeah, you lost your home and possessions and family and friends and history and are living in a foreign land where the government doesn't recognize you and the natives dislike you and you can't work or care for your family, but I totally feel the same way!" Obviously it is a completely different thing, and I don't want to take that lightly.
But there is a real resonance to that "stranger in a strange land" feeling in my heart. I have felt spiritually homeless for a while. I've had to leave behind some of the things that used to be familiar and comforting to follow where I think Jesus is leading me. I've even been physically wandering from city to city because I just haven't felt at home in a long time. It's unsettling and confusing at times, but I keep finding reason for hope. I don't know where I'm going, but when it's the most difficult and lonely, God quietly reminds me that he is walking with me, and I guess that is enough.
And maybe I can learn to see the others all around (and far away) who are also stumbling through life. Maybe I can help them get back up.
Monday, August 25, 2008
We need the orphan as much as the orphan needs us
I live in a new suburb of the nice part of a city known nationwide for being the unofficial capitol of conservative Christianity, Colorado Springs. You could watch the local news for weeks straight and not see any stories about real crime in this city of somewhere around 600,000 people. In other words, you could say I live among some of the richest, safest, and most comfortable people in the world. I guess this should be a good thing, but sometimes I walk around outside and feel like I live in Disneyland. Like none of this is real.
It's real easy to start to think that my life is just about me. After all, I'm bombarded by about 3000 advertisements everyday, all trying to convince me that I am in need of something to be more successful, happy, and comfortable, and their product or idea or system is just what I need. And of course, the product can be completely customized to meet my individual needs. I'm the customer who is always right, and the consumer who always wants to "have it my way".
You see, I don't actually know any poor people. In American terms, nobody would consider me wealthy- I'm a 27 year old kid who works for a non-profit! But from a global perspective, I'm a king (check out Global Rich List sometime to see where you fit in on the global wealth scale- you'll be shocked). The fact that you are reading this post online, in English, means you are probably doing pretty well too. If you have a car, you are immediately in the top 8% of the world. I don't know what that means for those of us who have 2, or 3, or 4...
Please don't over react and think I'm saying that money is evil and we should just burn it all (although the pyrotechnic in me might enjoy THAT bonfire!). It's nothing more than a tool. What I'm saying is that we, meaning you and me and our friends and family, are probably in danger of losing perspective on what life is about. Because we like to think it's about our needs and desires and happiness. The only problem is that that's not what the Bible says.
The over-arching theme of the Bible is about a God who hears the cry of the oppressed and rescues them. But what happens is that those rescued people quickly forget what it's like to be at the bottom, and soon become the oppressors. God tries to warn them, to remind them of who they were and what He did for them, but if they don't repent, something interesting happens. Remember, God always hears the cries of the oppressed, and He will rescue them. Which is not as fun if you are the one doing the oppressing.
When I think of this, I realize that I live in the richest, most powerful country ever. And I don't often hear the cries of despair and pain that come from the forgotten, abused, and forsaken, because I don't even see them. But God does, and He is on their side. I have to ask, which side am I on? Do my actions, decisions, dreams, and prayers lean toward those who are underfoot or to those who are standing tall and proud on the backs of the least? Am I working against God when I think I am following Him?
I worship a God who made Himself nothing, who left His rightful high and lofty place to live among the poor and forgotten, and who even allowed them to end His life of love (Philippians 2). But I, by accident of birth, find myself among the rich, and I don't want to humble myself to serve those just a little less privileged than me. I'd rather focus on my wants and desires, trying to make my life a little better. I even tend to view salvation as something for me, another product that is good for me to buy, one more thing to give me the life I want. Have I become a consumer of God rather than a follower of Christ? Have I become a taker instead of a giver? If I truly follow Christ, if I really want to be like Jesus, how can that path lead anywhere but lower and lower?
This is why I need the orphan. The orphan may need my help for real, physical needs in a broken and hurting world. But I need the orphan for my own salvation. I am in danger of hoarding more and more wealth for myself in bigger retirement accounts while ignoring the hungry all around (Luke 12:13). The orphan reminds me that I've been blessed to be a blessing. I'm in danger of focusing on my own comfort to the extent that I isolate myself from the poor (Luke 16:19). The orphan reminds me that if I separate from the poor, I'm also hiding from God. I'm in danger of saying to God "Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking," and hearing in reply "You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here" (Matthew 7:21 Message). The orphan reminds me that God is not a genie in a bottle waiting to make my life better, but that I should be attentive to his voice and respond with love for those he loves.
But bigger than all that, I am in danger of missing the opportunity to join with God -who loves the whole world- in his beautiful project of redeeming his entire creation, not just me. He is inviting us, his children, to partner with him in the thing he cares most about, the thing he gave his life for. He is inviting us to be more like him. To give up our own lives to love, to serve, to share joy, to offer hope, to proclaim freedom, and to actually live to the fullest. Do we truly believe we can be like him? Do we truly believe the Spirit of God dwells in us? Do we really love the world so much that we will give our life for those who don't love us back, just like Jesus did?
We need the orphan because we have so many influences distracting us from the real point of life. The cry of the oppressed can pierce the siren call of self-love and refocus us on God's self-giving-love. The point is not to be moved by guilt or even by extreme need. The point is to spend time with the one who loved us first, to love him back, and to love the world just like he does. What could be a better life than that? It seemed to be good enough for Jesus.
It's real easy to start to think that my life is just about me. After all, I'm bombarded by about 3000 advertisements everyday, all trying to convince me that I am in need of something to be more successful, happy, and comfortable, and their product or idea or system is just what I need. And of course, the product can be completely customized to meet my individual needs. I'm the customer who is always right, and the consumer who always wants to "have it my way".
You see, I don't actually know any poor people. In American terms, nobody would consider me wealthy- I'm a 27 year old kid who works for a non-profit! But from a global perspective, I'm a king (check out Global Rich List sometime to see where you fit in on the global wealth scale- you'll be shocked). The fact that you are reading this post online, in English, means you are probably doing pretty well too. If you have a car, you are immediately in the top 8% of the world. I don't know what that means for those of us who have 2, or 3, or 4...
Please don't over react and think I'm saying that money is evil and we should just burn it all (although the pyrotechnic in me might enjoy THAT bonfire!). It's nothing more than a tool. What I'm saying is that we, meaning you and me and our friends and family, are probably in danger of losing perspective on what life is about. Because we like to think it's about our needs and desires and happiness. The only problem is that that's not what the Bible says.
The over-arching theme of the Bible is about a God who hears the cry of the oppressed and rescues them. But what happens is that those rescued people quickly forget what it's like to be at the bottom, and soon become the oppressors. God tries to warn them, to remind them of who they were and what He did for them, but if they don't repent, something interesting happens. Remember, God always hears the cries of the oppressed, and He will rescue them. Which is not as fun if you are the one doing the oppressing.
When I think of this, I realize that I live in the richest, most powerful country ever. And I don't often hear the cries of despair and pain that come from the forgotten, abused, and forsaken, because I don't even see them. But God does, and He is on their side. I have to ask, which side am I on? Do my actions, decisions, dreams, and prayers lean toward those who are underfoot or to those who are standing tall and proud on the backs of the least? Am I working against God when I think I am following Him?
I worship a God who made Himself nothing, who left His rightful high and lofty place to live among the poor and forgotten, and who even allowed them to end His life of love (Philippians 2). But I, by accident of birth, find myself among the rich, and I don't want to humble myself to serve those just a little less privileged than me. I'd rather focus on my wants and desires, trying to make my life a little better. I even tend to view salvation as something for me, another product that is good for me to buy, one more thing to give me the life I want. Have I become a consumer of God rather than a follower of Christ? Have I become a taker instead of a giver? If I truly follow Christ, if I really want to be like Jesus, how can that path lead anywhere but lower and lower?
This is why I need the orphan. The orphan may need my help for real, physical needs in a broken and hurting world. But I need the orphan for my own salvation. I am in danger of hoarding more and more wealth for myself in bigger retirement accounts while ignoring the hungry all around (Luke 12:13). The orphan reminds me that I've been blessed to be a blessing. I'm in danger of focusing on my own comfort to the extent that I isolate myself from the poor (Luke 16:19). The orphan reminds me that if I separate from the poor, I'm also hiding from God. I'm in danger of saying to God "Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking," and hearing in reply "You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here" (Matthew 7:21 Message). The orphan reminds me that God is not a genie in a bottle waiting to make my life better, but that I should be attentive to his voice and respond with love for those he loves.
But bigger than all that, I am in danger of missing the opportunity to join with God -who loves the whole world- in his beautiful project of redeeming his entire creation, not just me. He is inviting us, his children, to partner with him in the thing he cares most about, the thing he gave his life for. He is inviting us to be more like him. To give up our own lives to love, to serve, to share joy, to offer hope, to proclaim freedom, and to actually live to the fullest. Do we truly believe we can be like him? Do we truly believe the Spirit of God dwells in us? Do we really love the world so much that we will give our life for those who don't love us back, just like Jesus did?
We need the orphan because we have so many influences distracting us from the real point of life. The cry of the oppressed can pierce the siren call of self-love and refocus us on God's self-giving-love. The point is not to be moved by guilt or even by extreme need. The point is to spend time with the one who loved us first, to love him back, and to love the world just like he does. What could be a better life than that? It seemed to be good enough for Jesus.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
heads up
Hey friends, World Orphans is currently working through the statement "We need the orphan as much as the orphan needs us". A bunch of the employees are responding to this idea on their personal blogs, and I'm taking part in it too. So that's what the next post will be about. You can check out the other responses according to the schedule found here and stay up on all World Orphan blogs here.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
great is thy effectiveness?
Something's wrong. We pastors are the stewards, the spokespeople, the advocates of a message of hope, life, and peace. And yet so few of us seem to be experiencing these qualities in our own lives. Something's wrong. In a world saturated with fear, insecurity, and stress, we are to show a different way. And yet those at the center of the church are burning out and leaving ministry at a rate of 1,500 per month. If that's what's occurring at the heart of the church, why would anyone on the fringe want to move in closer?
That's the opening paragraph of an article at Christianity Today I just read that discusses the bigger is better myth that still holds so much weight in the Western Church. Some other quotes from the article:
I encourage you to read it for yourself. I know this is nothing new for some of you, but I also know there are a lot of voices still shouting for growth and numbers and performance and results, and those voices will go out of their way to silence anyone who doesn't repeat their words. I hope this is an encouragement for those left in the dust of a fast moving "ministry". May you instead walk in the dust of your rabbi.
That's the opening paragraph of an article at Christianity Today I just read that discusses the bigger is better myth that still holds so much weight in the Western Church. Some other quotes from the article:
It seems too many of us have our identities wrapped up in the measurable outcomes of our work rather than in the life-giving love of the Christ we proclaim. Something's wrong.
...
Some might say these leaders have failed to nurture their souls sufficiently. We usually want to blame leaders for their own burn out, but when I see the pervasiveness of this problem I wonder if there isn't also a systemic factor. Could contemporary church ministry itself be the problem?
...
Consider a chapter titled "Bigger is Better" from a popular ministry book. The authors write, "A church should always be bigger than it was. It should be constantly growing." Talk about pressure. The problem is this standard doesn’t hold water when applied to Jesus himself. John 6 describes the scene where "many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him."
...
Unlike contemporary business, ministry involves the baffling interplay of the human and the divine, the spiritual and the material. There is a mystery to what we are called to do. Embracing this mystery and releasing the outcomes of our work to God is what we must do if our lives, and not just our ministries, are to be filled with his grace.
I encourage you to read it for yourself. I know this is nothing new for some of you, but I also know there are a lot of voices still shouting for growth and numbers and performance and results, and those voices will go out of their way to silence anyone who doesn't repeat their words. I hope this is an encouragement for those left in the dust of a fast moving "ministry". May you instead walk in the dust of your rabbi.
Monday, August 18, 2008
blogs
I finally got around to updating my blog theme. I have spent a lot of time at work over the last few weeks working on blog headers, themes, buttons, and more, learning a lot. So I figured I needed to at least make my own blog look cool again. Yep, more California style, and surprise, Charger colors. Some things never change.
Also, I have been spending a lot of time reading blogs, because it's a great way to stay up with what other people are reading, thinking, saying, and doing. Plus I found Google Reader, an application that makes saying up on blogs really easy. It collects all your blogs in one place and lets you know when they are updated. Some of my new favorite blogs are Jesus Manifesto (subverting the Empire and such), Revolution in Jesusland (politics through an Emergish lense), and God's Politics with Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren, Shane Claiborne, Phyllis Tickle and others (maybe a little left leaning, but overall a pretty good attempt to engage politics as Christians without choosing sides and attacking the "enemy"). God's Politics has a really strong global focus too. And I can't forget the Showbread and underOATH tour blogs too! You can find links to these and others on the left, and I'd love to know what blogs you read. This is my new favorite hobby!
Also, I have been spending a lot of time reading blogs, because it's a great way to stay up with what other people are reading, thinking, saying, and doing. Plus I found Google Reader, an application that makes saying up on blogs really easy. It collects all your blogs in one place and lets you know when they are updated. Some of my new favorite blogs are Jesus Manifesto (subverting the Empire and such), Revolution in Jesusland (politics through an Emergish lense), and God's Politics with Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren, Shane Claiborne, Phyllis Tickle and others (maybe a little left leaning, but overall a pretty good attempt to engage politics as Christians without choosing sides and attacking the "enemy"). God's Politics has a really strong global focus too. And I can't forget the Showbread and underOATH tour blogs too! You can find links to these and others on the left, and I'd love to know what blogs you read. This is my new favorite hobby!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Preson
Check out Preson Phillips. He's a pastor of a missional church community in Tampa called Watermark. The website is for a cd he recorded of songs written about their journey. It's mostly acoustic, with a folk/indie feel. They lyrics are just fantastic, check out this song called "Until God's Realm Comes", it's one of my favorites and one of the best pictures of the church I've ever found. You can listen to it while you read, just go to his website and hit refresh a few times until this song starts playing in the top left corner...
============
We gather to sing of your kindness that’s showered upon us
To whisper your promises, shout out the truths of your love
We lift up your name as we care for your children around us
Encouraged in unity, gathering strength from your words
Thank you for kinship thank for love.
Excited by life, we will sing with the gifts that you give us
Impassioned by mystery, mystical Lord upon high!
Heartbroken seeing what sin has destroyed all around us
Hopeful in knowing what will be fulfilled in your Word
Until your Kingdom comes…
Maybe in this there has been but a glimpse of the kingdom
And maybe our hearts will be stirred for the mission before us
Maybe in this there has been but a glimpse of you Jesus
And mercy will flow through these streets as we exercise worship
Until your kingdom comes
until all are fed
until all know home
until all are free
until justice done
until peace the way
until grace the law
until love the rule
until God’s realm comes
until God’s realm comes
============
Pretty sweet, eh? And if you still aren't convinced, he is actually giving the cd away for free on his website.
One of the most exciting parts for me is how I discovered him. My favorite band, underOATH, just put up a song from their new record on myspace. Their guitarist mentioned in a blog that he had produced a "folk record" for a friend of his, and so I decided to check it out and found Preson. I started looking more into this church and just loved reading about what they were doing and their heart for their city, their view of church and the role of God's people. It also was cool to see that the books they recommend are all the same books that have really impacted me! And it turns out 3 of the underOATH guys are part of the church community. So I was pretty excited about that! Well, check it out and let me know what you think!
============
We gather to sing of your kindness that’s showered upon us
To whisper your promises, shout out the truths of your love
We lift up your name as we care for your children around us
Encouraged in unity, gathering strength from your words
Thank you for kinship thank for love.
Excited by life, we will sing with the gifts that you give us
Impassioned by mystery, mystical Lord upon high!
Heartbroken seeing what sin has destroyed all around us
Hopeful in knowing what will be fulfilled in your Word
Until your Kingdom comes…
Maybe in this there has been but a glimpse of the kingdom
And maybe our hearts will be stirred for the mission before us
Maybe in this there has been but a glimpse of you Jesus
And mercy will flow through these streets as we exercise worship
Until your kingdom comes
until all are fed
until all know home
until all are free
until justice done
until peace the way
until grace the law
until love the rule
until God’s realm comes
until God’s realm comes
============
Pretty sweet, eh? And if you still aren't convinced, he is actually giving the cd away for free on his website.
One of the most exciting parts for me is how I discovered him. My favorite band, underOATH, just put up a song from their new record on myspace. Their guitarist mentioned in a blog that he had produced a "folk record" for a friend of his, and so I decided to check it out and found Preson. I started looking more into this church and just loved reading about what they were doing and their heart for their city, their view of church and the role of God's people. It also was cool to see that the books they recommend are all the same books that have really impacted me! And it turns out 3 of the underOATH guys are part of the church community. So I was pretty excited about that! Well, check it out and let me know what you think!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Re-Discovery
GK Chesterton opens his classic book, Orthodoxy, with a story he says he always wanted to write, but never found the time to fully develop. It's a story about an explorer who set sail from England to discover a new world, but somehow, through slight miscalculation, actually returned accidentally to England thinking he had discovered a new island in the South Seas. He writes:
Chesterton uses this analogy to describe his own spiritual journey. Raised in Christianity in the late 1800's, he went through severe depression and skepticism at the age of 19, and left behind his faith. Then, through his adult life, he studied philosophy and religion, trying to piece together from different belief systems something true that would satisfy his doubts. He discovered, however, that the philosophy and religion he had developed, when put together, was actually orthodox Christianity. In his own words:
When I first read this segment 18 months ago, I didn't think of it as anything more than a interesting analogy. When I remembered it again a couple days ago, it struck me how completely I identify with it today. Now I think it may be the best way to explain the last year of my life, both spiritually and physically. For a year ago I was desperate for something new, willing to leave everything familiar and comfortable and good. The “Old World” that I had been raised in was beginning to show cracks in the once-solid foundations, and I didn't know how to deal with that. What do you do when everything you've believed (or thought you believed...) suddenly (or really slowly and subtly, but you notice suddenly) doesn't make sense. When 1 + 1 adds up to something less than 2. When the world view you thought was solid and trustworthy and true is revealed to be shaky and weak and lacking.
Well, I ran off to California to find out who God really is, what he really said, what I can really believe. I guess you could say that my miscalculation that sent me in the wrong direction is that I assumed people who had learned the right things about God could teach me the right things to believe, and all would be better. I put all my faith in people, and, shockingly, they didn't save me. I returned to the very place I left, feeling foolish in many ways for “missing God's voice” or “not finishing what I started” or a number of other guilt-soaked burdens. And I was still hurting, still broken, still questioning.
I was cynical about churches only being concerned with bigger programs and brighter lights. I was frustrated with an approach to prayer than can quickly become a method of screaming at God what He needs to do so He can make my life easier. I was crushed by authority figures who abused the trust of those “under” them in order to manhandle the fulfillment of their own dreams at the expense of everyone else's. I was disillusioned with worship that seemed like a psychological hype-fest to escape the real world with the tinglies of God, the wonderdrug, or just a rock show because Jesus is so cool. I was disturbed by a political agenda that looked a lot like trying to impose the will of a few on the many, cause it was the “right” way to live. Yes, those are rather harsh statements, but if I'm honest that was how I felt at the time, and this was the world I was leaving behind. I was going to discover a new continent of Christianity, where people followed God in the real “right” way.
Imagine my surprise when, like the explorer in the story and like Chesterton himself, I find myself back where I started (and I don't just mean in Colorado Springs). Through the last couple months, and only after returning to the “Old World” in deeper brokenness and humility than ever before, God is putting me back together. And these new things look awfully like the old. It's not that I believe something new, or that I've discovered a new way to heaven, or have found the “right” way to live. I believed in Jesus a year ago, and I still do now. It's just that my eyes have been opened to see His words and His life and His death and His life in new ways. The problem was never God, the problem was me and all the extra things that had quietly been added to the pure Gospel.
I also realized that those twisted additions were not done by evil people who wanted to hurt others. It's just that all of us people are good at messing up the good things God is up to, and out of the best intentions things went a little off. It's not that these people or churches or ideas were wrong and evil, it's just that the dreams God has given them are different from the dreams God has given me. I don't have to be “right” anymore. They don't have to be “wrong” for me to feel ok about myself. Now, I can see their value and purpose and realize that they are just being faithful to what God has asked them to do, and I can be free to support them and champion them without the responsibility to change them, cause that was never my responsibility anyway. (RANT: cause how do I know if they are right or wrong- I don't know what God desires for them. They aren't supposed to be obedient to me. If they are wrong, that is up to the Holy Spirit to speak into their lives and bring conviction and repentance and fresh hope and re-dream with them. I think He is better at that than me anyway.) It's my responsibility to love them. And maybe if I love them, I'll have the opportunity to share my stories and dreams, and we can actually love one another and be one in God like Jesus prayed.
So, to sum it up, I've sort of rediscovered my faith. That may not be the best wording, since I didn't really lose it, but... I still believe in the local church as the hands and feet of God, serving the forgotten and broken and oppressed, even if we still have a tendency to want to serve ourselves. I still believe that every prayer matters, even if sometimes those prayers are best expressed in questions and short sentences and listening. I still believe in leadership as an opportunity to serve effectively and empower people to become who God wants them to be, even in a consumer culture where we exalt leaders who give use what we need in place of God. I still believe in worship as the best response simple children can give to the Father who has given them far more than they could ever hope to understand, even if our best response falls far to short.(I'm still pretty cynical about politics, but truthfully I always have been... I guess I'm not perfect yet! Um, yeah...)
I feel like God is restoring me, giving me new vision, new hope, new dreams, and they are all fresh perspectives of the old ones. Which is really a beautiful thing. And as I think about all this and begin to ask what it all means, I have found that I am more excited about being a follower of Jesus than ever before.
There will probably be a general impression that the man who landed (armed to the teeth and talking by signs) to plan the British flag on that barbaric temple which turned out to be the Pavilion at Brighton, felt rather a fool. I am not here to deny that he looked a fool. But his mistake was really a most enviable mistake, and he knew it... What could be more delightful than to have in the same few minutes all the fascinating terrors of going abroad combined with the humane security of coming home again? What could be more glorious than to brace one's self to discover New South Wales and then realize, with a gush of happy tears, that it was really old South Wales.
Chesterton uses this analogy to describe his own spiritual journey. Raised in Christianity in the late 1800's, he went through severe depression and skepticism at the age of 19, and left behind his faith. Then, through his adult life, he studied philosophy and religion, trying to piece together from different belief systems something true that would satisfy his doubts. He discovered, however, that the philosophy and religion he had developed, when put together, was actually orthodox Christianity. In his own words:
I freely confess all the idiotic ambitions of the end of the nineteenth century. I did, like all other solemn little boys, try to be in advance of the age. Like them I tried to be some ten minutes in advance of the truth. And I found that I was eighteen hundred years behind it... When I fancied that I stood alone I was really in the ridiculous position of being backed by all Christendom. It may be, Heaven forgive me, that I did try to be original; but I only succeeded in inventing all by myself an inferior copy of the existing traditions of civilized religion. The man from the yacht thought he was the first to find England; I thought I was the first to find Europe. I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the finishing touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy.
When I first read this segment 18 months ago, I didn't think of it as anything more than a interesting analogy. When I remembered it again a couple days ago, it struck me how completely I identify with it today. Now I think it may be the best way to explain the last year of my life, both spiritually and physically. For a year ago I was desperate for something new, willing to leave everything familiar and comfortable and good. The “Old World” that I had been raised in was beginning to show cracks in the once-solid foundations, and I didn't know how to deal with that. What do you do when everything you've believed (or thought you believed...) suddenly (or really slowly and subtly, but you notice suddenly) doesn't make sense. When 1 + 1 adds up to something less than 2. When the world view you thought was solid and trustworthy and true is revealed to be shaky and weak and lacking.
Well, I ran off to California to find out who God really is, what he really said, what I can really believe. I guess you could say that my miscalculation that sent me in the wrong direction is that I assumed people who had learned the right things about God could teach me the right things to believe, and all would be better. I put all my faith in people, and, shockingly, they didn't save me. I returned to the very place I left, feeling foolish in many ways for “missing God's voice” or “not finishing what I started” or a number of other guilt-soaked burdens. And I was still hurting, still broken, still questioning.
I was cynical about churches only being concerned with bigger programs and brighter lights. I was frustrated with an approach to prayer than can quickly become a method of screaming at God what He needs to do so He can make my life easier. I was crushed by authority figures who abused the trust of those “under” them in order to manhandle the fulfillment of their own dreams at the expense of everyone else's. I was disillusioned with worship that seemed like a psychological hype-fest to escape the real world with the tinglies of God, the wonderdrug, or just a rock show because Jesus is so cool. I was disturbed by a political agenda that looked a lot like trying to impose the will of a few on the many, cause it was the “right” way to live. Yes, those are rather harsh statements, but if I'm honest that was how I felt at the time, and this was the world I was leaving behind. I was going to discover a new continent of Christianity, where people followed God in the real “right” way.
Imagine my surprise when, like the explorer in the story and like Chesterton himself, I find myself back where I started (and I don't just mean in Colorado Springs). Through the last couple months, and only after returning to the “Old World” in deeper brokenness and humility than ever before, God is putting me back together. And these new things look awfully like the old. It's not that I believe something new, or that I've discovered a new way to heaven, or have found the “right” way to live. I believed in Jesus a year ago, and I still do now. It's just that my eyes have been opened to see His words and His life and His death and His life in new ways. The problem was never God, the problem was me and all the extra things that had quietly been added to the pure Gospel.
I also realized that those twisted additions were not done by evil people who wanted to hurt others. It's just that all of us people are good at messing up the good things God is up to, and out of the best intentions things went a little off. It's not that these people or churches or ideas were wrong and evil, it's just that the dreams God has given them are different from the dreams God has given me. I don't have to be “right” anymore. They don't have to be “wrong” for me to feel ok about myself. Now, I can see their value and purpose and realize that they are just being faithful to what God has asked them to do, and I can be free to support them and champion them without the responsibility to change them, cause that was never my responsibility anyway. (RANT: cause how do I know if they are right or wrong- I don't know what God desires for them. They aren't supposed to be obedient to me. If they are wrong, that is up to the Holy Spirit to speak into their lives and bring conviction and repentance and fresh hope and re-dream with them. I think He is better at that than me anyway.) It's my responsibility to love them. And maybe if I love them, I'll have the opportunity to share my stories and dreams, and we can actually love one another and be one in God like Jesus prayed.
So, to sum it up, I've sort of rediscovered my faith. That may not be the best wording, since I didn't really lose it, but... I still believe in the local church as the hands and feet of God, serving the forgotten and broken and oppressed, even if we still have a tendency to want to serve ourselves. I still believe that every prayer matters, even if sometimes those prayers are best expressed in questions and short sentences and listening. I still believe in leadership as an opportunity to serve effectively and empower people to become who God wants them to be, even in a consumer culture where we exalt leaders who give use what we need in place of God. I still believe in worship as the best response simple children can give to the Father who has given them far more than they could ever hope to understand, even if our best response falls far to short.(I'm still pretty cynical about politics, but truthfully I always have been... I guess I'm not perfect yet! Um, yeah...)
I feel like God is restoring me, giving me new vision, new hope, new dreams, and they are all fresh perspectives of the old ones. Which is really a beautiful thing. And as I think about all this and begin to ask what it all means, I have found that I am more excited about being a follower of Jesus than ever before.
Monday, May 19, 2008
what up
Sorry for being gone for so long. It's been a pretty wild 8 months or so, and I'm still recovering in a lot of ways. It would be cool to post more often, but I don't make any promises!
So yeah, I told you I like these online quizzes. You should take it and tell me what you get. When a co-worker sent an email with the subject "So you might be Emergent if..." and I scored just about every single one (except I don't own a Mac, which it claimed to be a sign of Emergent-ness?!?), I thought I would take a quiz to see how complete the transformation has been. I found this test (see the next post for the results), which was pretty interesting and scored pretty high on both the Postmodern and Evangelical, which is pretty much not surprising at all.
I don't really like using the term "Emergent", because I don't really even know what it means, and neither does just about anyone I know (except for Chris, who suggests that we start an Emergent church together almost every time I see him after the Mill! He also just left for Burundi for 6 weeks to serve the people in one of the world's poorest countries (if not THE poorest) and you should check out his blog and team blog to follow their stories). Anyway, the term to me has so much confusion associated with it and doesn't help to explain what you really believe or value. The other downside is that it is already in danger of being hijacked to become the next big thing in western Christianity, so any good and transformative things God might want to do would be lost in the hype. We also don't need one more wall to divide the body of Christ up between who is in and who is out, who is a real follower of Jesus and who is not.
In other news, I have been reading Brian McLaren's "A Generous Orthodoxy", and have really been loving it. Maybe sometime I'll post some ideas and thoughts from the book. Definitely worth the read, and considering what I've heard about McLaren, it is surprisingly tame. Maybe he is really a pretty humble believer who truly wants to follow Jesus and not a heretical monster like some people claim...
So yeah, I told you I like these online quizzes. You should take it and tell me what you get. When a co-worker sent an email with the subject "So you might be Emergent if..." and I scored just about every single one (except I don't own a Mac, which it claimed to be a sign of Emergent-ness?!?), I thought I would take a quiz to see how complete the transformation has been. I found this test (see the next post for the results), which was pretty interesting and scored pretty high on both the Postmodern and Evangelical, which is pretty much not surprising at all.
I don't really like using the term "Emergent", because I don't really even know what it means, and neither does just about anyone I know (except for Chris, who suggests that we start an Emergent church together almost every time I see him after the Mill! He also just left for Burundi for 6 weeks to serve the people in one of the world's poorest countries (if not THE poorest) and you should check out his blog and team blog to follow their stories). Anyway, the term to me has so much confusion associated with it and doesn't help to explain what you really believe or value. The other downside is that it is already in danger of being hijacked to become the next big thing in western Christianity, so any good and transformative things God might want to do would be lost in the hype. We also don't need one more wall to divide the body of Christ up between who is in and who is out, who is a real follower of Jesus and who is not.
In other news, I have been reading Brian McLaren's "A Generous Orthodoxy", and have really been loving it. Maybe sometime I'll post some ideas and thoughts from the book. Definitely worth the read, and considering what I've heard about McLaren, it is surprisingly tame. Maybe he is really a pretty humble believer who truly wants to follow Jesus and not a heretical monster like some people claim...
Another quiz
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You scored as Emergent/Postmodern You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.
|
Thursday, March 13, 2008
maturity is just a bus driver...
Random thought from a Rob Bell podcast this last Sunday. It is awesome!
"Spiritual maturity is when you do the right thing with or without the accompanying feelings and thoughts.
Or some of you may prefer a metaphor...
Maturity is when your convictions and beliefs drive the bus and say to your thoughts and feelings “You sit there!” "
"Spiritual maturity is when you do the right thing with or without the accompanying feelings and thoughts.
Or some of you may prefer a metaphor...
Maturity is when your convictions and beliefs drive the bus and say to your thoughts and feelings “You sit there!” "
Monday, March 3, 2008
worship
Last quarter I wrote a final paper for my "Postmodern Theology, Film, and Youth Culture" class. We had to discuss one aspect from any of the categories, or combine them if we liked, and I had some specific ideas bouncing around in my head for a while and figured this would be a good chance to try to study and sort them out. So, I wrote about worship.
I didn't put it up for a long time (it's been almost 3 months now) because I didn't know how I felt about it. It's easily the most personal paper I've ever written. I was worried that I would get marked down for my honest and open style of writing, but I had to do it that way. This is stuff that is really on my heart. I want to learn this aspect of life more than anything else. So it's hard to share that, but I guess now or never. I also don't know about it theologically, which is another reason I'm afraid to put it up. But it's what I was thinking and wrestling with at the time, and I still am.
If you wanna read it, you can get it right here. It's about 7 pages, and hopefully you will find it interesting. Please leave comments with your thoughts, good or bad. I certainly don't think I have this figured out yet, but I tried to put a little bit of form to some vague ideas... Thanks.
I didn't put it up for a long time (it's been almost 3 months now) because I didn't know how I felt about it. It's easily the most personal paper I've ever written. I was worried that I would get marked down for my honest and open style of writing, but I had to do it that way. This is stuff that is really on my heart. I want to learn this aspect of life more than anything else. So it's hard to share that, but I guess now or never. I also don't know about it theologically, which is another reason I'm afraid to put it up. But it's what I was thinking and wrestling with at the time, and I still am.
If you wanna read it, you can get it right here. It's about 7 pages, and hopefully you will find it interesting. Please leave comments with your thoughts, good or bad. I certainly don't think I have this figured out yet, but I tried to put a little bit of form to some vague ideas... Thanks.
Something you may not have been aware of...
I highly encourage any of you who have facebook accounts to join the group so that all can be made aware of this great discovery.
Thank you.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
me
So while avoiding a paper I'm supposed to be working on, I found a free personality test. I guess most people seem to hate these things, but I find them fascinating. I take them every time I find them (My facebook profile has a different one on it, if you are interested). I guess it is always encouraging to me because so often I feel like nobody "gets" me and I don't feel like I fit in with most people. These help me feel that it's okay to be who I am. So anyway, I thought I'd post the results on here so you can check it out, if you care. Click here.
It puts me as way over on the Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving side (as opposed to Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging), which they call a "Dreamer". I kinda wasn't expecting that, but it really fits with where I'm at right now. Here are some quotes from that page that I really identify with...
"They are on a continuous mission to find the truth and meaning underlying things. Every encounter and every piece of knowledge gained gets sifted through the INFP's value system, and is evaluated to see if it has any potential to help the INFP define or refine their own path in life."
"creative, smart, idealist, loner, attracted to sad things, disorganized, avoidant, can be overwhelmed by unpleasant feelings..."- hahaha, all too true.
"An INFP's feelings form the foundations of the individual. They are sacred and binding, in the sense that their emergence requires no further justification. An INFP's feelings are often guarded, kept safe from attack and ridicule. Only a few, close confidants are permitted entrance into this domain."
"Their job must be fun, although not racous, and it must be meaningful to them. They need a strong purpose in their work." ...or they get distracted, avoid their work, play guitar, video games, and take personality tests instead...
"INFPs never seem to lose their sense of wonder." - This one is exactly what God has put on my heart, and what I am so afraid of losing by being so cynical.
I knew I would end up way introverted, and the judging/perceiving slider has a lot to do with organization, planning, and closure, things I avoid at almost all costs, so that seems pretty clear too. But the personality types that came in real close are interesting to me.
For instance, if I was more of the thinking, logical, fact-based decision maker, I would have tested as an Engineer. Sounds familiar... The last 2 years or so have been all about leaving behind the safe, logical thing and trusted the dreams God's put in my heart, so you can see the changes that have happened there.
And if the judging/preceiving had swung the other way, I would have been a Confidant, which they describe as a safe, trusted person, someone who listens, someone who just wants to help others. I think that fits me pretty well too, and is what I love about discipleship. I just want to help people live the life God wants them to live.
What is most interesting is that many of the questions that I was indecisive on related to these specific areas. It was really hard for me to answer if I trusted my head or my heart more in making decisions, for example, just as it was hard to decide between whether I like things sequential and logical or loose and free. I feel more comfortable when things are open, but I know I don't get a whole lot accomplished unless I have a list of what needs to happen when!
So anyway, I thought it was kinda cool. You all should take the test now yourself and post the results in the comments (which are open to anyone now- you don't need a google account).
It puts me as way over on the Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving side (as opposed to Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging), which they call a "Dreamer". I kinda wasn't expecting that, but it really fits with where I'm at right now. Here are some quotes from that page that I really identify with...
"They are on a continuous mission to find the truth and meaning underlying things. Every encounter and every piece of knowledge gained gets sifted through the INFP's value system, and is evaluated to see if it has any potential to help the INFP define or refine their own path in life."
"creative, smart, idealist, loner, attracted to sad things, disorganized, avoidant, can be overwhelmed by unpleasant feelings..."- hahaha, all too true.
"An INFP's feelings form the foundations of the individual. They are sacred and binding, in the sense that their emergence requires no further justification. An INFP's feelings are often guarded, kept safe from attack and ridicule. Only a few, close confidants are permitted entrance into this domain."
"Their job must be fun, although not racous, and it must be meaningful to them. They need a strong purpose in their work." ...or they get distracted, avoid their work, play guitar, video games, and take personality tests instead...
"INFPs never seem to lose their sense of wonder." - This one is exactly what God has put on my heart, and what I am so afraid of losing by being so cynical.
I knew I would end up way introverted, and the judging/perceiving slider has a lot to do with organization, planning, and closure, things I avoid at almost all costs, so that seems pretty clear too. But the personality types that came in real close are interesting to me.
For instance, if I was more of the thinking, logical, fact-based decision maker, I would have tested as an Engineer. Sounds familiar... The last 2 years or so have been all about leaving behind the safe, logical thing and trusted the dreams God's put in my heart, so you can see the changes that have happened there.
And if the judging/preceiving had swung the other way, I would have been a Confidant, which they describe as a safe, trusted person, someone who listens, someone who just wants to help others. I think that fits me pretty well too, and is what I love about discipleship. I just want to help people live the life God wants them to live.
What is most interesting is that many of the questions that I was indecisive on related to these specific areas. It was really hard for me to answer if I trusted my head or my heart more in making decisions, for example, just as it was hard to decide between whether I like things sequential and logical or loose and free. I feel more comfortable when things are open, but I know I don't get a whole lot accomplished unless I have a list of what needs to happen when!
So anyway, I thought it was kinda cool. You all should take the test now yourself and post the results in the comments (which are open to anyone now- you don't need a google account).
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Preach It Preacha!
Hi all, I'm back in LA and trying to adjust to a new quarter and all that. There has been a lot going on but nothing that is helpful to share. It is really tough learning lessons the hard way, especially when those lessons seem to teach harsh, negative things.
I came across an article through Catalyst that addressed some questions I've had for a little while. It is an article that deals with preaching, it's role in the church, it's Biblical basis, it's effectiveness, the dependancies it creates, and other issues of that sort. I have never questioned having teaching in a church service, but I have wondered how to make it more effective because I can never remember even the most superficial things about a message within a few hours. I don't remember what the main ideas were, what verses were used, or how I realized that I could apply this in my life. I remember that it was a good message, that they had great points, and that I needed to apply that, but I don't really remember how anymore which is really frustrating and disappointing. And this probably happens before dinner that night.
So how do get this to actually stick? How do we get the info out of short term memory and into our mindset so we actually see life differently the next day? I had a couple thoughts, but I would really like to hear your thoughts on this. Do you agree or disagree with the article? Are there things you emphasize to increase the effectiveness of teaching? What do you think a church service could/should look like?
You could limit the teaching time to 20 minutes, and then spend 20 minutes of real ministry time. Let people break up into groups to discuss it, pray for each other, worship, whatever, but you can't leave! Churches always leave time for ministry at the end, but the implication always is "If you are screwed up and need help, come up front and we will fix you. If you are perfect like us, then go enjoy lunch!" and who wants to be the screwed up dude? Plus the emphasis is on the "leadership" doing the praying and healing and fixing, so what good is everyone else? But if everyone started praying and discussing...
It would be cool if you had lots of people who taught, not just one. Anyone who had a story to tell could share it. The multiple teachers would be able to really dig deep and live out an idea before they taught it. Unfortunately, now nobody is going to come to your church just for the charismatic preacher/entertainer. Interestingly, Rob Bell is probably the best teacher I've found, and if anyone could get away with just talking all the time it would be him. But Mars Hill is also the church that uses the most guest preachers of any that I know (22 in 2007 alone). They also have church members share their stories on the stage all the time, and often Rob will use their story to back what he says- it puts all the emphasis and focus on the people living the teaching, not the ones teaching the teaching.
So gimme your thoughts on this, and...
GO CHARGERS!
I came across an article through Catalyst that addressed some questions I've had for a little while. It is an article that deals with preaching, it's role in the church, it's Biblical basis, it's effectiveness, the dependancies it creates, and other issues of that sort. I have never questioned having teaching in a church service, but I have wondered how to make it more effective because I can never remember even the most superficial things about a message within a few hours. I don't remember what the main ideas were, what verses were used, or how I realized that I could apply this in my life. I remember that it was a good message, that they had great points, and that I needed to apply that, but I don't really remember how anymore which is really frustrating and disappointing. And this probably happens before dinner that night.
So how do get this to actually stick? How do we get the info out of short term memory and into our mindset so we actually see life differently the next day? I had a couple thoughts, but I would really like to hear your thoughts on this. Do you agree or disagree with the article? Are there things you emphasize to increase the effectiveness of teaching? What do you think a church service could/should look like?
You could limit the teaching time to 20 minutes, and then spend 20 minutes of real ministry time. Let people break up into groups to discuss it, pray for each other, worship, whatever, but you can't leave! Churches always leave time for ministry at the end, but the implication always is "If you are screwed up and need help, come up front and we will fix you. If you are perfect like us, then go enjoy lunch!" and who wants to be the screwed up dude? Plus the emphasis is on the "leadership" doing the praying and healing and fixing, so what good is everyone else? But if everyone started praying and discussing...
It would be cool if you had lots of people who taught, not just one. Anyone who had a story to tell could share it. The multiple teachers would be able to really dig deep and live out an idea before they taught it. Unfortunately, now nobody is going to come to your church just for the charismatic preacher/entertainer. Interestingly, Rob Bell is probably the best teacher I've found, and if anyone could get away with just talking all the time it would be him. But Mars Hill is also the church that uses the most guest preachers of any that I know (22 in 2007 alone). They also have church members share their stories on the stage all the time, and often Rob will use their story to back what he says- it puts all the emphasis and focus on the people living the teaching, not the ones teaching the teaching.
So gimme your thoughts on this, and...
GO CHARGERS!
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