"You can have my sympathy or my respect, take your pick."
Anonymous Web Comment
On its face this comment is insightful. I am not sure, however, that I agree with it wholeheartedly...
Maybe it works as a platitude to apply to my own self-pity, and perhaps something to teach my children. But I don't think it is a helpful way for me to think about treating others.
So perhaps it is better said:
"People will either give you respect, or give you sympathy, but they will rarely give you both."
Showing posts with label Relationships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Relationships. Show all posts
12.02.2016
10.23.2016
Synergy: Pt VI
Material taken from a podcast by John Lee and Steven Schenk for UNITE WNY
Synergy is defined as "the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of the separate effects." Another way of thinking about synergy is when one person does a single task that serves the goals and mission of two separate organizations. All that is necessary for synergy to happen in ministry is for us to be willing to let go of our need for control over, and credit for, the use of our own skills and resources, and a willingness to see ourselves as belonging to the same team.
Our Ask
Use your time, talent, and treasure to accomplish God’s will for our world. First, develop a collaborative relationship with a ministry leader. Second, help your church efficiently pursue Kingdom goals. Third, use your network, skills, resources to advance God’s plan in our region and our world. God wants you to bring your ingenuity and focus to the work, it is vital to the task at hand.
10.21.2016
Synergy: Pt V
Material taken from a podcast by John Lee and Steven Schenk for UNITE WNY
Advice for Working with Ministry-Folks
First, recognize that pastors aren’t businesspeople. While it seems unnecessary to say this, it actually isn’t. As a business leader you will be tempted to think of pastors as stupid businesspeople. Again, they aren’t stupid businesspeople, because they aren’t businesspeople. They have a whole different set of values, paradigms, networks, and even vocabulary. Many businesspeople have had experience working in other countries, it would be helpful to think of relationships with ministry leaders as a cross-cultural relationship. Be patient, and persistent.
Second, pastors are trained to teach and counsel, not lead and manage. Some pastors are great at this, others are horrible. But most pastors are placed in positions where leadership and management skills are necessary without any training or experience in leading and managing. Often it takes new pastors years to even recognize that managing an organization and leading a worship service are two fundamentally different tasks. Be patient, and persistent.
Third, recognize that pastors are leaders and that this means they have sizeable egos. Just like all leaders, they tend to think of themselves as the smartest people in the room, even on subjects about which they are clueless. Having a degree in Biblical Languages doesn’t automatically prepare you to make church budgeting decisions. Business leaders have made enormous and costly mistakes because they trusted their own egos and pastors do the same thing. This means business leaders should be especially sensitive to the power dynamics in the relationships, many pastors have been taught that they need to be the person with all of the answers to everything pertaining to the church. It may be hard for them to accept your expertise, until you have won their trust. Recognizing their expertise while offering yours, will go along way toward easing this reality. Be patient, and persistent.
Fourth, most pastors have a very different decision making process than most business leaders. Pastors usually start with theology, then work through philosophy, then relationships and emotions, before finally figuring out what tasks they should perform. Business leaders almost invariably work the other way around. Proposing tasks and arguing out the best way to engage in mission is the way in which philosophy of business questions get answered, and the way in which partnerships get built. Most business leaders prioritize mission and action, most church leaders prioritize theology and relationships. This difference in fundamental process can be frustrating, but be patient and persistent.
Fifth, recognize that the church operates in some “false dichotomies” or some faulty paradigms. There are ways that Christians and churches have come to think and live that are actually out of alignment with Scripture. The division between what is sacred and what is secular is not a biblical division. The very first person that the Bible records being “filled with the Holy Spirit” was not a pastor or a prophet, but a craftsman. God has given business leaders important skills that are equally valuable to the Kingdom. It is simply not the case that strategic planning, or budgets, or any other business tool is inherently “un-spiritual.” Persistently bring your skills to the table.
Finally, recognize that ministry leaders have skills, wisdom, and resources that you lack and we need each other to be the church of Christ. Offer your gifts, and receive theirs. Work together to advance God’s Kingdom.
1.21.2015
Marriage
Marriage is about 'two becoming one.' Two lives becoming a single life. A common home, a common purpose, a common dream, common finances, common responsibilities, a common reputation… you get the picture! A single life, with two persons.
So here is whats required:
Communication:
Firstly, sharing yourself with the other person, and secondly, learning to receive from that other person. Learning that what motivates you to say and do certain things, is not necessarily what motivates them to say and do those same things. Understanding and sharing what you are at the core of your personhood with your spouse, and allowing them to share with you as you seek to understand them.
Reconciliation:
Repenting of sin and offense on your part, over-and-over-and-over-and-over…
Forgiving sin and offense on their part, over-and-over-and-over-and-over...
So here is whats required:
Communication:
Firstly, sharing yourself with the other person, and secondly, learning to receive from that other person. Learning that what motivates you to say and do certain things, is not necessarily what motivates them to say and do those same things. Understanding and sharing what you are at the core of your personhood with your spouse, and allowing them to share with you as you seek to understand them.
Reconciliation:
Repenting of sin and offense on your part, over-and-over-and-over-and-over…
Forgiving sin and offense on their part, over-and-over-and-over-and-over...
12.10.2014
Levels of Partnership
In partnering with other organizations, I have come to see that the word 'partner' means different things to different people. There are actually multiple 'levels' of partnership:
Level 1: Having business together
It is in our mutual interest to share resources or to provide services to each other. i.e., sharing a building.
Level 2: Symbolic acts of ecumenicism
Public declarations of Christian unity and affection. i.e., worshipping together.
Level 3: Enjoying relationship
Private fellowship, trust, and intimacy.
Level 4: Strategic partners
Strategizing together, giving each other 'veto power' over each others decisions.
Level 5: Organizational Union
Merging together and becoming the same organization.
Level 1: Having business together
It is in our mutual interest to share resources or to provide services to each other. i.e., sharing a building.
Level 2: Symbolic acts of ecumenicism
Public declarations of Christian unity and affection. i.e., worshipping together.
Level 3: Enjoying relationship
Private fellowship, trust, and intimacy.
Level 4: Strategic partners
Strategizing together, giving each other 'veto power' over each others decisions.
Level 5: Organizational Union
Merging together and becoming the same organization.
5.15.2014
Dating Advice to Gorillas and Poodles
One of the pressing issues facing the church today is the lack of unity. (OK so its been an issue for 2,000 years!) And one of the difficulties in working towards unity is the inherent pain that is caused when those who have power and privilege in the church try to 'help' those churches who lack power and privilege. In particular, I am thinking of large, wealthy, middle/upper-class suburban churches that feel a calling to 'help the poor,' whether that is the poor in the urban slum nearby, or the third-world nation across the water.
A friend and I had a conversation where we compared that to a dating relationship between a gorilla and a poodle. The reality is that, no matter how much of a gentleman the gorilla is, if the gorilla is in charge, the poodle isn't going to fare very well. It is simply inherent in the power dynamic between the two.
So here is some advice to those of us in the church who are poodles dating gorillas, or vice-versa.
To the poodle:
1) God has brought the gorilla into your life (He makes poodles and gorillas for a reason and wants them to live together in harmony), submit to God in this and you will discover the strength of the gorilla at work on your behalf.
2) Don't be afraid to tell the gorilla when it hurts you. Feel free to call sin, "sin." But recognize that there IS a difference between intentional and unintentional harm.
3) Don't be afraid to take the lead with the gorilla. You need to teach the gorilla a different way of doing ministry.
4) You don't get to tell the gorilla to go away, or that it has nothing to offer. You need what the gorilla has to offer (above and beyond its sheer size and strength), and the gorilla has things to teach YOU about doing ministry.
To the gorilla:
1) You are not God's gift to the poodle. This is your greatest problem, you confuse your size and power with godliness, faithfulness, and effectiveness in the Kingdom. Repent.
2) Show up and help the poodle, but let the poodle tell you what help it needs! Be patient, poodles aren't used to polite gorillas, and have a history of being either ignored, patronized, or brutalized by gorillas. Be patient! Let the poodle take the lead. Offer suggestions, but ultimately let the poodle be the boss, and be patient. Remember, there IS a difference between hurting the poodle on accident and doing it on purpose, but if you are the poodle they both hurt exactly the same!
3) Show up to learn. Don't presume you know how to live like a poodle just because you are a gorilla. The poodles lack of size and strength has taught it to rely on God in ways you will never know. The poodle has a perspective that you cannot have because of your own perspective. Learn from the poodle.
4) Keep showing up and keep making the resources you do have available to the poodle. Offer your insight, your organization, your expertise, your strength, your size. Don't go away, and don't return to a lifestyle of ignoring the poodle, even if the poodle bites you! Remember, the poodle is biting you because you are hurting it! Keep offering your services, but don't forget point #2!!!
To both the gorilla and the poodle:
1) God made you both. That means you are of equal value. Each of you is necessary, which means you are both important in and of yourself AND you both need the other!
2) Be yourself. Don't try to be each other.
3) Love each other. It is a command AND it is wisdom.
A friend and I had a conversation where we compared that to a dating relationship between a gorilla and a poodle. The reality is that, no matter how much of a gentleman the gorilla is, if the gorilla is in charge, the poodle isn't going to fare very well. It is simply inherent in the power dynamic between the two.
So here is some advice to those of us in the church who are poodles dating gorillas, or vice-versa.
To the poodle:
1) God has brought the gorilla into your life (He makes poodles and gorillas for a reason and wants them to live together in harmony), submit to God in this and you will discover the strength of the gorilla at work on your behalf.
2) Don't be afraid to tell the gorilla when it hurts you. Feel free to call sin, "sin." But recognize that there IS a difference between intentional and unintentional harm.
3) Don't be afraid to take the lead with the gorilla. You need to teach the gorilla a different way of doing ministry.
4) You don't get to tell the gorilla to go away, or that it has nothing to offer. You need what the gorilla has to offer (above and beyond its sheer size and strength), and the gorilla has things to teach YOU about doing ministry.
To the gorilla:
1) You are not God's gift to the poodle. This is your greatest problem, you confuse your size and power with godliness, faithfulness, and effectiveness in the Kingdom. Repent.
2) Show up and help the poodle, but let the poodle tell you what help it needs! Be patient, poodles aren't used to polite gorillas, and have a history of being either ignored, patronized, or brutalized by gorillas. Be patient! Let the poodle take the lead. Offer suggestions, but ultimately let the poodle be the boss, and be patient. Remember, there IS a difference between hurting the poodle on accident and doing it on purpose, but if you are the poodle they both hurt exactly the same!
3) Show up to learn. Don't presume you know how to live like a poodle just because you are a gorilla. The poodles lack of size and strength has taught it to rely on God in ways you will never know. The poodle has a perspective that you cannot have because of your own perspective. Learn from the poodle.
4) Keep showing up and keep making the resources you do have available to the poodle. Offer your insight, your organization, your expertise, your strength, your size. Don't go away, and don't return to a lifestyle of ignoring the poodle, even if the poodle bites you! Remember, the poodle is biting you because you are hurting it! Keep offering your services, but don't forget point #2!!!
To both the gorilla and the poodle:
1) God made you both. That means you are of equal value. Each of you is necessary, which means you are both important in and of yourself AND you both need the other!
2) Be yourself. Don't try to be each other.
3) Love each other. It is a command AND it is wisdom.
4.09.2014
10.07.2012
3.08.2012
Discipleship House for Churches
Our church has a men's discipleship house. In this house are several men who love God, and are learning to love each other. They do not always like each other, but they are walking this out in a common commitment to Jesus, community, and service.
Our church shares a building with several other organizations. We love God and are learning to love each other. We do not always like each other, but we are walking this out in a common commitment to Jesus, community, and service.
=========================
It happened the other day, I had left a meeting at the men's house where I was helping a couple of brothers deal with conflict, and had walked into a meeting at the church, where we were dealing with our own conflict, that it dawned on me...
...God had set me up. This was a discipleship house for churches.
2.27.2012
The Seeds of Destruction
I was recently involved in an interesting conversation. It took place between a christian woman in her 60's and christian man in his 30's.
Cheryl was lamenting the destruction of the family unit, and the family bond. She was expressing her frustration that her own children (who were now John's age) had left home, moved to a different city, and now she had less time to see her children and grand-children. She was pointing out that this pattern of life is not 'christian.' John was trying (tactfully) to point out that Cheryl's generation had begun the cultural trend toward individualism and the fracturing of relational ties, but she seemed to fail to grasp the point he was making.
The irony of this conversation, is that it took place in a suburban living room, very far (in geographical distance) from Cheryl's ancestral home, not to mention very far (in social distance) from everyone in the neighborhood. The irony is that Cheryl is a member of a (not quite) mega-church, that she came to attend after abandoning the church family she grew up in, and raised her children in. The irony is that Cheryl's way of life is the seed which bears fruit in her children.
The boomer generation created suburban isolationism, and fragmented society with its individualism. Today's youth culture is much more aware of its need for relationship, in fact, it may very well be the pursuit of authentic community that has driven Jane's children to move away from her suburban lifestyle.
12.18.2011
Everywhere is Broken...
The other day I had someone question our decision to move to a rougher neighborhood...
They were asking specifically about the effects on our children. They were expressing concerns that we would need to be very careful on the West Side with regard to who we let influence them. They were trying to explain that the poorer kids just wouldn't be as good of an influence as the kids in our nicer neighborhood.
Within one week of my friend's comments the following two things happened:
1 My son Zane was playing with three white, middle-class, older kids in the Elmwood Village (the nice neighborhood) and was roughed up by three kids who ganged up on him.
They were asking specifically about the effects on our children. They were expressing concerns that we would need to be very careful on the West Side with regard to who we let influence them. They were trying to explain that the poorer kids just wouldn't be as good of an influence as the kids in our nicer neighborhood.
Within one week of my friend's comments the following two things happened:
1 My son Zane was playing with three white, middle-class, older kids in the Elmwood Village (the nice neighborhood) and was roughed up by three kids who ganged up on him.
2 My son Zane was playing soccer with a dozen or so older, impoverished, Somali and Yemeni kids on a vacant lot on the West Side (the bad neighborhood). These kids regularly play soccer with my son, and when they do, they make sure that he gets the ball, and they make sure he gets a chance to shoot on goal, they sometimes even let him score. They always tell him what a great job he is doing on the field...
So what do I take from this?
Every place is broken, and every place is beautiful.
So what do I take from this?
Every place is broken, and every place is beautiful.
11.14.2011
Kids Ministry
I had a great conversation with Michael, a pastor from Minnesota about some of the unique challenges and opportunities we face in our context. I was sharing with him the ways in which some of the youngsters from the neighborhood can be disrupting, disrespectful, and unruly, but simultaneously our conviction that they belong in the church and that we have the joy and the duty to help them discover their unique destiny and purpose in the Kingdom.
He provided some insightful comments about the way in which we can partner with God in the lives of neighborhood kids:
"Just to get you started, we always talk about how our children are NOT the church of the future, they are the church today. That mostly throughout the scriptures God works with and calls us when we are very young. About how God want to fill them with the Holy Spirit and teach them how to deeply rely on and relate to him right now in their lives. They don't get a "Happy Meal Toy" version of God, but he is offering all of himself to our kids—and we want to make sure they get everything God is offering. About how what goes on with our kids is WAY more important than what goes on with the adults if you think for a moments about the long-term health of our church and families. I could rant on this topic for quite a while… You try it, as it's lots of fun!"
This has got me thinking about the way in which I personally relate to neighborhood kids, and the way in which the church as a whole does. I believe I have unintentionally set aside my own responsibility to them in two ways.
First, its not my calling, or my passion; I have seen youth ministry and Sunday School as something that I am not responsible for because my primary purpose and ministry is to adults. Second, because I only have limited time to spend with the kids (before or after service, or bumping into them on the street) I have felt like I don't have the ability to make much of an impact on them.
In conversing with Michael I have felt the Holy Spirit challenging me to change my perspective. First, it may indeed be true that I am called to other areas of focus, but that does not mean that I cannot still be intentional and influential with the young men and women in our neighborhood. Second, it may indeed be true that I don't always have opportunities for deep engagement with the kids, but that does not mean that I cannot be intentional and influential with the short interactions that I do have with them.
"Just to get you started, we always talk about how our children are NOT the church of the future, they are the church today. That mostly throughout the scriptures God works with and calls us when we are very young. About how God want to fill them with the Holy Spirit and teach them how to deeply rely on and relate to him right now in their lives. They don't get a "Happy Meal Toy" version of God, but he is offering all of himself to our kids—and we want to make sure they get everything God is offering. About how what goes on with our kids is WAY more important than what goes on with the adults if you think for a moments about the long-term health of our church and families. I could rant on this topic for quite a while… You try it, as it's lots of fun!"
This has got me thinking about the way in which I personally relate to neighborhood kids, and the way in which the church as a whole does. I believe I have unintentionally set aside my own responsibility to them in two ways.
First, its not my calling, or my passion; I have seen youth ministry and Sunday School as something that I am not responsible for because my primary purpose and ministry is to adults. Second, because I only have limited time to spend with the kids (before or after service, or bumping into them on the street) I have felt like I don't have the ability to make much of an impact on them.
In conversing with Michael I have felt the Holy Spirit challenging me to change my perspective. First, it may indeed be true that I am called to other areas of focus, but that does not mean that I cannot still be intentional and influential with the young men and women in our neighborhood. Second, it may indeed be true that I don't always have opportunities for deep engagement with the kids, but that does not mean that I cannot be intentional and influential with the short interactions that I do have with them.
Seeking God in the Other
I think we should be constantly looking for meaningful ways to partmer with people who are not like us. Specifically those we find opaque or useless. We do this in order to be shaped by God and used by him. After all, we are commamded by Jesus to enter into discipleship relationships cross culturally, not primarily within our own culture...
Along that vein, I came across this quote from another Vineyard pastor:
"We desire to live our lives and seek God as transparently as possible in our community. Sometimes this gives us feelings of closeness to one another, and other times this introduces tension and frustration with one another. In all emotions, we trust God is at work when we, in vulnerable trust, choose to live life oriented toward Him and toward one another."
Along that vein, I came across this quote from another Vineyard pastor:
"We desire to live our lives and seek God as transparently as possible in our community. Sometimes this gives us feelings of closeness to one another, and other times this introduces tension and frustration with one another. In all emotions, we trust God is at work when we, in vulnerable trust, choose to live life oriented toward Him and toward one another."
7.26.2011
5.08.2011
How To Be Someone's Friend when you Disagree
For those of you who don't know, the official Vineyard position on ordaining women, is to leave the issue up to the local church. That means that there are Vineyard churches who ordain women, and those who do not. Here is something the Vineyard put out in 2006 to help people navigate this unique position.
GUIDELINES FOR HOW TO LIVE
WITH PEOPLE IN THE VINEYARD
WHO HAVE A DIFFERING PERSPECTIVE
February 15, 2006
I. General Guidelines For Relationships
A. Accept that their view is a matter of conscience in obeying the scriptures.
B. Obviously, this mutual respect has to be worked out by listening well to one another and by careful use of our language so as not to show any disrespect to one another.
C. Abstain from using emotive or impugning language.
D. Endeavor to hear and understand one another.
E. Although it is quite acceptable to state what you believe on a point of disagreement, the basis for your views, and what you believe the possible consequences of accepting the differing view could be, these should be done without personal attack or judgment on the one who disagrees with you, and should be expressed with humility.
F. Show the costly side of loving one another by considering the high importance of the interests of others and putting such consideration into actual practice.
G. Speak respectfully about the various views.
H. Acknowledge that this is one of the "debatable issues" where good Christians can disagree in good conscience.
II. Guidelines on The Issue of Women as Senior Pastors
A. It should not be implied or assumed that those who believe that women should not be senior pastors are women-haters, etc.
B. Mutual respect means that those who believe women cannot be senior pastors must recognize that those who do are committed to the scriptures and are not heretics or among those who believe the Bible is not inspired by God. They simply happen to read the scriptures differently on this point.
C. Those who do not believe women should be senior pastors should not show disrespect to women speakers or women pastors in any of the gatherings. They should bless these women and treat them as true sisters in the Lord.
D. Include women, who happen to be senior pastors, in the guideline of showing the costly side of loving one another by considering the high importance of the interests of others and putting such consideration into actual practice.
E. Respect local churches who do not ordain women by not pressuring them to change their view.
GUIDELINES FOR HOW TO LIVE
WITH PEOPLE IN THE VINEYARD
WHO HAVE A DIFFERING PERSPECTIVE
February 15, 2006
I. General Guidelines For Relationships
A. Accept that their view is a matter of conscience in obeying the scriptures.
B. Obviously, this mutual respect has to be worked out by listening well to one another and by careful use of our language so as not to show any disrespect to one another.
C. Abstain from using emotive or impugning language.
D. Endeavor to hear and understand one another.
E. Although it is quite acceptable to state what you believe on a point of disagreement, the basis for your views, and what you believe the possible consequences of accepting the differing view could be, these should be done without personal attack or judgment on the one who disagrees with you, and should be expressed with humility.
F. Show the costly side of loving one another by considering the high importance of the interests of others and putting such consideration into actual practice.
G. Speak respectfully about the various views.
H. Acknowledge that this is one of the "debatable issues" where good Christians can disagree in good conscience.
II. Guidelines on The Issue of Women as Senior Pastors
A. It should not be implied or assumed that those who believe that women should not be senior pastors are women-haters, etc.
B. Mutual respect means that those who believe women cannot be senior pastors must recognize that those who do are committed to the scriptures and are not heretics or among those who believe the Bible is not inspired by God. They simply happen to read the scriptures differently on this point.
C. Those who do not believe women should be senior pastors should not show disrespect to women speakers or women pastors in any of the gatherings. They should bless these women and treat them as true sisters in the Lord.
D. Include women, who happen to be senior pastors, in the guideline of showing the costly side of loving one another by considering the high importance of the interests of others and putting such consideration into actual practice.
E. Respect local churches who do not ordain women by not pressuring them to change their view.
3.15.2011
The Solution
There are different forms of poverty (see this), but the solution to each of them is the same.
If we are going to define all three forms of poverty as a lack of access to something, then the solution to all three forms is not about giving stuff, but rather about giving access. The method of giving access in each of these three forms of poverty is ...relationship.
Whether it is the poverty of deprivation, oppression, or alienation, the solution is to connect the people in question to systems of economy, polity, or meaning. The only real means of connecting people to these systems is through relationship with people who already exist within those systems. In fact these systems are made up of people an so the only way to connect people to these systems is to connect them to the people.
Part of the vision we have for our church is to be a community of people from different places. In this way, those who lack social and political power will gain it by being connected with those who have it, and simultaneously, those who lack significance and social meaning will gain it by virtue of being connected to those who have a sense of place and meaning.
3.04.2011
2.17.2011
The Irreducibility of the Communal Narrative pt III
If the community of God's people is the medium for communicating the message of God's good news, then many of the behavioral prescriptions of the New Testament are actually just as important in terms of their communicative properties as they are in terms of their ethical properties. What we do is important because God wants us to act a certain way, but it is just as important because of what it says about God's Kingdom...
In other words, we are commanded to behave in certain ways because God wants us to behave in those ways, but also because God wants our lifestyle to communicate certain things about the gospel. This is true in all NT commands but we will here discuss one in particular, and for two reasons. Firstly, the New Testament authors (Paul in particular) make it clear just how important this commandment is and are explicit about its communicative properties, and secondly, it is a particular shortcoming of the contemporary church.
I am speaking of the calling of the church to be the united, newly created, people of God, called out from among every ethnic group, every social class, every cultural group, and every language, into allegiance to Jesus.
==============================
John 17:20-26
John quotes Jesus' prayer for his followers, including those in the future (you and I). Jesus' prayer makes it clear that the unity of the church will communicate the veracity of the gospel to the world. In other words, when the world comes upon a community of people who have nothing in common (a community that crosses political, racial, language, class, educational, sexual boundaries) they will be forced to wonder just what it is that binds us together. Contrariwise, when the church ghettoizes itself along denominational, racial, political and socio-economic lines, we damage the proclamation of the gospel message.
Romans 10:9-13
"I am saved by faith, therefore____________"
The typical evangelical fill-in-the-blank answer to this is "I am not saved by effort," but this is not the scriptural answer! In every single place in the NT where justification by faith is brought up, it is tied directly to the unity of the Church across social divides. We have been blinded to the words of scripture, and have failed at our exegetical task, by the history of Protestant anti-Pelagianism. The Scriptural argument is "I am saved by faith, therefore there is no longer a division between Jew and Gentile, slave or free..."
Galatians 2:11-21
Paul gets in Peter's face over this! This is not a peripheral issue. Paul essentially tells Peter he is denying the gospel when he refuses to eat with people of another race! This is a gospel issue for Paul, and should be for us too. Why are our communities of faith divided? Why do white Christians and Black Christians, English speaking believers and Spanish speaking ones, rich brothers and poor brothers, eat at separate tables? And even more importantly, why aren't we getting in anyone's face about this issue?
==========================
In short, you are not a committed disciple of Christ unless you are committed to work through your biases, and actively engaging in deep, formative, and submissive relationships with people who do not share your racial, economic, educational, political, or even theological, heritage.
In other words, we are commanded to behave in certain ways because God wants us to behave in those ways, but also because God wants our lifestyle to communicate certain things about the gospel. This is true in all NT commands but we will here discuss one in particular, and for two reasons. Firstly, the New Testament authors (Paul in particular) make it clear just how important this commandment is and are explicit about its communicative properties, and secondly, it is a particular shortcoming of the contemporary church.
I am speaking of the calling of the church to be the united, newly created, people of God, called out from among every ethnic group, every social class, every cultural group, and every language, into allegiance to Jesus.
==============================
John 17:20-26
John quotes Jesus' prayer for his followers, including those in the future (you and I). Jesus' prayer makes it clear that the unity of the church will communicate the veracity of the gospel to the world. In other words, when the world comes upon a community of people who have nothing in common (a community that crosses political, racial, language, class, educational, sexual boundaries) they will be forced to wonder just what it is that binds us together. Contrariwise, when the church ghettoizes itself along denominational, racial, political and socio-economic lines, we damage the proclamation of the gospel message.
Romans 10:9-13
"I am saved by faith, therefore____________"
The typical evangelical fill-in-the-blank answer to this is "I am not saved by effort," but this is not the scriptural answer! In every single place in the NT where justification by faith is brought up, it is tied directly to the unity of the Church across social divides. We have been blinded to the words of scripture, and have failed at our exegetical task, by the history of Protestant anti-Pelagianism. The Scriptural argument is "I am saved by faith, therefore there is no longer a division between Jew and Gentile, slave or free..."
Galatians 2:11-21
Paul gets in Peter's face over this! This is not a peripheral issue. Paul essentially tells Peter he is denying the gospel when he refuses to eat with people of another race! This is a gospel issue for Paul, and should be for us too. Why are our communities of faith divided? Why do white Christians and Black Christians, English speaking believers and Spanish speaking ones, rich brothers and poor brothers, eat at separate tables? And even more importantly, why aren't we getting in anyone's face about this issue?
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In short, you are not a committed disciple of Christ unless you are committed to work through your biases, and actively engaging in deep, formative, and submissive relationships with people who do not share your racial, economic, educational, political, or even theological, heritage.
2.13.2011
The Irreducibility of the Communal Narrative pt II
Another way of making Smith's case is the phrase, 'the medium is the message.' Smith is arguing, not exactly that this is true, but that the medium is an important part of the message, and that the message is fundamentally different if the medium is changed. With respect to narrative knowledge, if we change the medium of the message from a story to a set of propositional statements, something is lost; that something is precisely knowledge.
So... if the medium is indispensable to the message, then we must pay at least as much attention to the medium we use to communicate with as to the message itself. And here we come to my main point:
If the message is the gospel story, then the medium is the community itself!
The gospel story is itself irreducible to propositions, but even more so, it is irreducible to merely a story. In order for the gospel to be fully communicated, a community is required. And not just any community...
It is this very thing that causes Paul to be so up in arms about the inclusion of the Gentiles...
So... if the medium is indispensable to the message, then we must pay at least as much attention to the medium we use to communicate with as to the message itself. And here we come to my main point:
If the message is the gospel story, then the medium is the community itself!
The gospel story is itself irreducible to propositions, but even more so, it is irreducible to merely a story. In order for the gospel to be fully communicated, a community is required. And not just any community...
It is this very thing that causes Paul to be so up in arms about the inclusion of the Gentiles...
2.08.2011
COGITO vs UBUNTU
(Click on the title for a link to the wikipedia entry on Ubuntu, it is worth it.)
(and thanks to Harvey for getting me thinking about this.)
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"COGITO ERGO SUM. (I think therefore I am.)"
-Rene Descartes
"UBUNTU. (I am what I am because of who we all are.)"
"A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed."
-Bishop Desmond Tutu
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Descartes' words have been often called the bedrock assumption upon which modern Western thought is based; radical skepticism forming a basis upon which we can build our conceptual framework, and ultimately our lives, without fear that we are building a house of cards on nothing but air. We start with only that of which we are absolutely certain and build from there; it is a fundamental tenet of Western rationality.
...yet, there is a cost (perhaps more than one, but here we discuss one) the starting point for this line of reasoning is fundamentally individualistic. In pursuing this line of rationality we deny our own communal and relational nature. In fact, some might argue that we even deny what is basic to our humanity.
I will close with more of Bishop Tutu's words on the subject:
"One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity."
(and thanks to Harvey for getting me thinking about this.)
============================
"COGITO ERGO SUM. (I think therefore I am.)"
-Rene Descartes
"UBUNTU. (I am what I am because of who we all are.)"
"A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed."
-Bishop Desmond Tutu
============================
Descartes' words have been often called the bedrock assumption upon which modern Western thought is based; radical skepticism forming a basis upon which we can build our conceptual framework, and ultimately our lives, without fear that we are building a house of cards on nothing but air. We start with only that of which we are absolutely certain and build from there; it is a fundamental tenet of Western rationality.
...yet, there is a cost (perhaps more than one, but here we discuss one) the starting point for this line of reasoning is fundamentally individualistic. In pursuing this line of rationality we deny our own communal and relational nature. In fact, some might argue that we even deny what is basic to our humanity.
I will close with more of Bishop Tutu's words on the subject:
"One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity."
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