Christian Politics?

Politics is the squabbling over who gets to polish Caesar's throne.

We are called to serve a different King and embody the ethic of a different kingdom and in so doing we will largely ignore Caesar and his throne.  Perhaps the greatest critique of all for those who bluster and swagger is to simply ignore them and get on with the business of life.

This isn't necessarily a call for a retreat from political engagement (although that might be appropriate at times) but rather a clarification about what we should hope for, and where we should turn for justice.  The irony is that those (on both sides of the aisle) complain about Caesar's past injustices, while simultaneously expecting Caesar's future justice.  Those who hope in Caesar for justice ought not be surprised when Caesar delivers.

Here is what Roman justice looks like:

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...our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Philippians 3

Safety and Danger in the Church

We baptized several people on Sunday.

One of them was my son.

It was glorious!

People shared briefly of their decision to follow Christ, to be washed clean in His death, and remade in His resurrection.  And then Pastor Cap and I plunged them into a feeding trough full of water!

At the baptism of the first adult, I saw gallons of water slosh over the side and onto the floor, water went everywhere.  I thought, "well, its too late to stop it now, people are here to get baptized, and we will just clean up the mess later."  …and then we kept right at it!

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Afterwards I got to thinking about the mess of the baptism, and what that says about the church as a whole.

So often we expect the church to be safe in all of the wrong kinds of ways.  We don't want anyone to come in and bring any of the world in with them.  We don't want anyone to come in who doesn't fit, who isn't tidy, who doesn't play by our rules.  In short, we want our faith community to be comfortable for us.  May our church never be this safe.

But what that ends up producing is a church culture that promotes hypocrisy, secrecy, and emotional isolation.  If no messy people are allowed into the circle of christians, then we can't let anyone know about our own messiness.  We have created a club for perfect people, and that is a very dangerous thing for a church to become.  Dangerous in all of the wrong sorts of ways.  May our church never be this dangerous.

Instead the church is supposed to be a safe place for messy people to let their messiness get dealt with.  People are supposed to bring the world with them right into our community.  The church is supposed to be a safe place for dark secrets to be exposed, it supposed to be a safe place for bad habits to be dealt with, its supposed to be a safe place for vulnerable wounds to be exposed and healed.  May our church always be this safe.

The church is supposed to be dangerous too.  Dangerous in the same way a show at Marine World is dangerous; you might get wet!  Dangerous to our comfort, dangerous to our ego, dangerous to our need for control and our desire for gratification.  Celebration is always a danger to decorum; just as worship is a danger to pride, fellowship is a danger to wealth, and glory is a danger to apathy.  May our church always be this dangerous.

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It wasn't just the water that was a little 'messy.'

We joined together with another congregation during the service.  Both congregations had members to baptize, so we celebrated the unity of faith in 'one baptism' as proclaimed by St Paul.  This meant we got to hear preaching that was different than normal, got to see baptisms performed in ways that were uncomfortable for some of us, and heard things said that we didn't all agree with.

I have to say, I was blessed to see the way people entered into the mess, cleaning up the water, engaging in relationships across dividing lines, and celebrating the beauty and potency of the Spirit's work in the lives of the saints.  This is a picture of how the church is supposed to be safe in the right ways, and dangerous in the right ways...

Celebrating Black History?

Why would a White man write an article celebrating Black History?

...thats a fair question, but I think the answer is obvious enough.  A better question, however, is why would anyone want to read an article from a White man celebrating Black History?

Hopefully that question is answered in the next paragraphs.

Permit me an observation.  Some of the most articulate African-American voices I interact with are often given a platform to speak to White people about issues of race and racial reconciliation.  White culture, and in particular, White Christian culture, is coming to terms with the fact that the gospel demands that we share meals with Christians of every cultural background (see Galatians 2).  In light of this, articulate African American voices are sought after by some White Christians...  but those voices are quite often only invited to speak about one thing: race and racial reconciliation.

The White Church will have a panel discussion around issues of race, and invite a multi-cultural group to speak, or will have an event focused on the issue and invite an African-American scholar to present some ideas the topic.  In and of itself, this is a good thing.  We need people of all cultures speaking to the issue of a reconciled and reconciling church.  In particular we need the voices of the Black community to share their perspectives and their pain regarding the racial history of our world and the Church.  The problem lies, however, in the fact that this is often the only space where White Christians are willing and able to hear Black voices.

Back to Galatians.

Paul's argument is not that Jews and Gentiles must resolve past hurts for the sake of the gospel, but rather, that Jews and Gentiles must eat together for the sake of the gospel!  Indeed, the entire point of resolving past hurts is precisely so that we can enjoy fellowship in Christ!

What this means to me is that, while it is indeed vitally important for me to hear Black voices explain the history of race from Black perspectives, it is equally, if not more important, for me to hear Black voices speaking about worship, poverty, Christology, prayer, Ecclesiology, discipleship, addiction, Missiology, evangelism, technology, leadership, business, philosophy of ministry, socio-economics, etc. from Black perspectives!

The Church needs the wisdom of the Black community's voice, not just on issues of race and racial reconciliation (although this is one of the great gems that the Black community has to offer the global church!), but on all issues.  The Body of Christ needs every member healthy and fully engaged for us to be healthy as a whole.  If we belong to Christ, then we belong to each other.  While this must be asserted when one part is suffering, it should also be asserted when there is no suffering!  Should we only give attention to our hands when they are injured, or might we consider using them for work, and play, and art when they are healthy as well!

So... back to the question at the top; why would anyone read an article celebrating Black History that is written by a White man?

Simply put, if we are to ask for the African-American voice to speak to every facet of life in God's good creation, then we ought to expect to hear the White voice speak to issues of race and reconciliation.  If I have asked African-Americans to speak about the breadth and depth of life and ministry, then perhaps I ought to speak to the issue of race and reconciliation.

Admittedly, this article has not actually been much of a 'celebration' of Black History or Black culture, so much as a push in the direction a multi-cultural future!  So I will end with a few practical thoughts that might help:

1) Recognize our failure at a multicultural church as a failure at believing the gospel (Galatians 2:14); as a failure at Christian maturity.  We must begin to talk like this and think like this.  "I won't eat at the table with 'them' because I won't trust in the power and truth of the gospel."

2) Start with eating together with those different from you.  Jesus scandalized his contemporaries precisely by who he chose to eat with.  This is because table fellowship builds intimacy.  Let us learn to eat the bountifully diverse fare of the Lord's Wedding Feast!

3) Look for collaborative projects with Christians of different cultures and traditions.  The word conspiracy literally means "to share breath with another."  This is the definition of intimacy.  Let us find conspirators amongst Christians of all cultures!

4) Move towards giving away control, power, and influence.  This means you will get things that you dislike and disagree with.  Do so anyway, for the sake of the gospel.

5) Be true to who you are in Christ, don't hide yourself or pretend to be something you are not.  But be humble and accept others as they are in Christ, allow them the same luxury to be themselves!

6) Expect this to be a painful process.  Don't be afraid to communicate your pain, but be even more attentive to the pain of others!  Think of it like a poodle dating a gorilla, it surely requires a great degree of sensitivity and creativity!

The Millennial Generation: a Rock in the Path

In 1 Corinthians 1:23 St Paul refers to Jesus as a 'stumbling block.'   A stone that is in the way.  Something to trip over.  Something to prevent you from your headlong pursuit of your own way.  Something to impede your progress.

Not exactly flattering terms for our Savior.

The American Church is facing an interesting problem.  It's dying.  In short, the younger generation wants nothing to do with it.  This is true of those raised in church, and its true of those raised outside of it.   The church is growing largely irrelevant to the culture of America.   Some of us are seeing this trend and growing morose and resigned to our impending doom, others are growing more shrill and frenzied in an attempt to forestall it.   I suggest the radical middle; a different way of doing and being church that actually makes sense to the next generation.  In short, I suggest that we listen to those people who have rejected us, and we learn from them.  I think they have a lot to teach us about how to live in the Kingdom of God.

In fact, what I would say about the 'Millennial Generation,' (specifically those raised in the church) is that it would be most helpful to think of them as 'third culture' people.  For example, Ara was raised in a home that was culturally and linguistically Greek, but went out into a world that was culturally and linguistically American.   This led her to become increasingly adept at navigating both cultures, while becoming increasingly uncomfortable in both, and ultimately led to a crisis of identity.  Not knowing who she was, hating one or both cultures, and even rejecting one or both cultures. Eventually, instead of trying to be Greek, or American, Ara figured out how to be Ara.

I observe that there is a group of people in the church (but probably not in fellowship) going through the same kind of struggle.  The difference being, they don't have the convenient cultural markers of language, food, etc. to distinguish between the two cultures they are navigating.  In short, very few people understand that this is a cross-cultural situation, including the people going through it.

Many are familiar with the conversations around the 'emerging church' and 'post-modern cultural shifts.'  This is, essentially, all I am describing.  The church and the christian home are one culture, the rest of society is another.  The Millennials are learning to navigate both cultures, but have a hard time articulating the disconnect between the two worlds.

Indeed the church doesn't see it either.  It is too simple to dismiss as 'worldliness.'  After all, the church isn't supposed to live the way the world does!  But that isn't what I am describing here.  If American culture truly is shifting into postmodernity right before our very eyes, then this situation is fundamentally not about rejecting worldliness in the church, but rather it is about learning how to be missionally sensitive to our culture.  We would find it strange if Congolese missionaries came to America and refused to worship in English because they didn't want to let the world into their church.

So, what are we talking about here?  What is this difference in culture?

There are many, but one of the key cultural markers of the Millennial Generation is the priority that is placed on the perception of authenticity.  (Emphasis on perception!)  The more slick the production, the more off-putting it is.  (Of course, advertisers are aware of this, and have long since learned to take advantage of this by simply changing their production techniques… but that is another story.)  When someone approaches a Millennial in an over-priced suit, with well-groomed mannerisms, a gleaming smile, and a perfect sales pitch, it doesn't matter if the product is a cheap gym membership, a great financial opportunity, or spiritual bliss, the Millennial feels for his/her wallet and slowly backs away...

"You can't trust a man with perfect teeth."  This is something that makes great sense to Millennials who prefer a matte finish to a high gloss (metaphorically speaking).

But who can blame them, they are inundated with sales-pitches and advertising slogans and they can smell an ulterior motive coming a mile away.  This means that many of the tools the church learned in the last 50 years are actually repulsive to people in their 20's not because of their content, but simply because of the glossy sheen.

It would be easy to discount the Millennials.   They won't just 'get on board' and 'get with the program.'  Indeed, they have become for us 'something to trip over, something to impede our progress.'

I would suggest, however, that they actually have quite a lot to offer us in our mission to reach the culture around us with the Good News that Jesus is King.

Abortion, Gay Marriage, and Worldliness in the Church

Worldliness was a serious concern of the authors of Scripture. Paul, in his letter to Titus, proclaims that grace "teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." John, in his first letter, bluntly instructs, "do not love the world or anything in the world."

It is a serious concern of the church both past and present. Thomas a Kempis writes that "grace is precious, and may not be mingled with worldly concerns and pleasures." A popular radio preacher states, "worldliness is the sin of allowing one's appetites, ambitions, or conduct to be fashioned according to earthly values."

It is, dare I join such company, a concern of mine. I join with the Apostle Peter, as one "having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." I share the biblical concern that I, along with the church at large, would remain free from such worldly corruption.

Here, then, is the problem. The moment we start talking about 'worldliness creeping into the church,' it seems we all want to talk about two things:

Gay Marriage…

     …and…

…Abortion

I won't deny that the church should be thinking, praying, and responding to these two issues, nor that they might very well be places where the attitudes of some christians are indeed being swayed by worldly opinions, but lets be honest, these two things ain't the problem. Not even close!

The place where worldliness is creeping into our church is the place where our culture has entered in without our knowledge, the places where we are so controlled by what our culture dictates that we just assume it is part and parcel with christianity. If we want to talk about worldliness creeping into the church we have got to talk about the unholy trinity of materialism, individualism, and consumerism.

We live in a culture saturated with the message that YOU are the most important thing on earth, and that you should celebrate this by exercising your right to have whatever you want. Indeed, in our culture, we have come to the place where the greatest sin would be to leave personal desire un-pursued! The mantra of Americana is to look deep within your heart, find your truest yearnings, and then do everything in your power to realize them. From billboards and junk mail, to banner ads and commercials, our culture screams, "Have it Your Way," and, "Make the Most of Now." We are told to buy it "Because You're Worth It," and that "Pleasure is the Path to Joy." It is, after all, one of the inalienable rights bestowed upon us by our founding documents as a nation, that of the 'pursuit of happiness.'

The sad reality is that a short search could produce church slogans that could fit right in with the slogans above! (I will refrain from posting some, because I don't want to offend anyone who might come across this.)  Our christian culture is, in most places, built upon the same assumptions about the role of the individual, and individual desire, and individual fulfillment, as the culture around us. Our messages, explicit and implicit, our programming, our evangelistic strategies, our discipleship methods, and our definition of christian maturity, all are deeply tilted toward providing individualistic consumers of religious goods and services the fulfillment of their expectations in return for their giving and their attendance.

That, my friends, is the world creeping into the church.

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18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Philippians 3:18-20 15

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15-17

Lost in Translation

The other day I had a friend of mine ask me my opinion of The Message (Eugene Peterson's translation of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament into contemporary vernacular)...

After having that conversation I looked online for some of the specific critiques of The Message just to see what people are saying.  It prompted a response!

To begin with, I really like The Message, and use it in both teaching, and personal devotions, but I do not use it exclusively.  The simple truth is that points of doctrine should be established through appeals to the original language!  If we are reading an English language Bible we aren't reading the original Bible.  Comments about changing the word of God, or playing loose with the truth miss the point entirely!  The word of God was written in Hebrew and Greek!  If we wanted to affirm the word of God in a literal way, we would do what the Muslims do with the Qu'ran, and force anyone who wants to follow Jesus learn to read the Bible in its original language.

"In religion, nothing fails like success."

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.

Missionary?

"Stop using the word 'missionary' and stop sending people out to the 'mission field.' Or keep the word, but also commission public school teachers, and dentists, and CPA's, and construction workers, and those people who take your money at the toll booth. We're all disciples, all ground is holy, every interaction and conversation is loaded with divine potential, anytime, anywhere. Ordain everyone, call everyone a minister, invite the whole church to be on staff."

Rob Bell

The Secret pt VI

Contemporary Gnosticism: The Story we Find Ourselves In

The fascinating and prescient aspect of 'the Secret' isn't its content.  As we have breifly discussed, it isn't all that new, or insightful.  First, it is as old as Christianity (which isn't a bad thing).  Second, it advocates the dismally naive idea that we just need to find out what we want, want it more, and then the world will be a better place (which isn't a good thing).  The insight of 'the Secret' is its framing narrative, its packaging.

In point of fact, 'the  Secret' isn't alone in this, much of the contemporary gnostic discussion is framed in the same way, whether it is Dan Brown's 'DaVinci Code,' or Elaine Pagels 'Beyond Belief.'  The framing story always goes something like this: 'ancient wisdom of significant power has always been known to those iconoclastic few who attempted to share their wisdom with the masses, but were silenced and persecuted by conspiracies of powerful elites who were threatened by the democratic nature of that wisdom.'

Contemporary gnostics have managed to capture the popular imagination as the defenders of democracy and egalitarianism, as a persecuted minority, as an explosively radical and powerful movement, and as the purveyors of a hidden truth.  Setting aside the simple historical fact that gnosticism has never been all that radical, and never been persecuted, because it has never been politically dangerous to those in power, it remains a remarkable feat of marvellously succesful marketing!

It is, of course, historically false to see gnostics as radicals who threatened the status quo.  They were never persecuted for their claims in the way Christians were and are to this day.  It is the Christian narrative that threatens the political authority of nations with allegiance pledged to the sovereign hand of God.  (It is precisely this radical, explosive, subversive, power that is bleeding out of the church in the bastardized forms of faith that we see so prevalent in the West.)

It is the Christian narrative that provides the moral imperative for egalitarianism and democracy (although the Greeks were responsible for the political form).  Gnosticism was actually an elitist sect, with tiers of purity that formed a hierarchy, with those outside viewed as beyond the pale.  The Christians were the ones lifting up the poor and marginalized of society; admitting slaves and women to not only enter the fellowship, but to lead it; serving and helping their pagan neighbors.

The only claim the gnostics make that IS true is the claim to esoteric truth.  The Christian church has a long history of publicizing its creeds.  The gnostics like to hide theirs...

...in our final post we will look at just what this marketing angle has to say about our culture, and what that might mean for the church.

The Secret pt V

Contemporary Gnosticism: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

We've looked at the good and the bad of New Age beliefs, now lets take a deeper look at what the implications might be for contemporary Christianity.

The Ugly:

1) Bastardized Christianity
Just as Westerners have bastardized the Gnostic tradition, we have bastardized the Christian tradition.  We have taken bits and pieces of data from the Biblical framework and have embedded them in a completely foreign framework.  From eschatology to ecclesiology, soteriology to pneumatology, we have kept the biblical terms but redefined much of what they mean.  We have kept the characters, but changed the story.

2) Ascetic Christianity
Christianity has become a religion that denies the world, denies pleasure, and denies passion.  Even in the places where we are able to enjoy the world, we do so with an apologetic stance.  We call it 'worldly' to enjoy culture, music, art, wine, food, dance, and other forms of beauty.
The biblical faith, however, is one that embraces the creation as God's good work.  The biblical faith embraces pleasure and sees it as a gift from a wise and loving Father.  The biblical faith seeks to encourage and direct our passions, not to eviscerate us into a dull and sober existence.   Contemporary gnosticism is, in this way, much more biblical than contemporary Christianity!

3) Powerless Christianity
Alongside our asceticism, contemporary Christianity has lost its practical wisdom and transformative power.  We have removed so much of contemporary life from the power of the gospel by removing so much of life from the sphere of the gospel.  We label university education and film-making 'secular' activities and then lament that professors and film-makers don't engage in their work with Spirit-led aims.  We label construction and medicine 'secular' activities and then wonder why carpenters and doctors don't see the need for the Holy Spirit to guide their work.  In short, we do not think God cares much about anything that happens outside of the 'sacred' arena.  Unfortunately this is the arena in which we spend most of our time.

The Secret pt IV

Contemporary Gnosticism: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

We've looked at some of the positive attributes of contemporary gnosticism, now lets continue with a look at how the teachings of 'the Secret' are contradictory to reality, and antithetical to God's Kingdom.

The Bad:

1) The path to accomplishing our purposes requires more than 'believing.'

The so-called 'Law of Attraction,' whereby one thinks and desires something in order to attain it, is sorely misleading.  We cannot get what we want by wishing for it.  Although it is absolutely true that desire is a part of the process, there is also much more involved.  Wise understanding about the nature of the world around us is needed, and a practical course of action by which our goals can be attained, not to mention a resolute commitment to that course, and a practiced diligence.

2) Truth does indeed exist, whether or not we are inconvenienced by it.

New-Age spirituality's embrace of 'inner truth' coincides with a willingness to ignore universal truth claims.  We cannot have what is contrary to reality.  This includes spirituality.  Not all paths lead to fulfillment, and not all paths lead to God.  Either the claims of Christianity are true, or they are not; either the resurrection happened, or it didn't; either Jesus is divine, or he isn't.  One must chose.

3) We aren't the only power at work in the world.

Contemporary gnostic navel-gazing downplays the reality of other actors effecting our reality.  If it is true that I have power, then it must also be true that other humans have power, and their power can impinge upon my life.  As well, there are beings other than humans who exercise power over us.  Demonic forces are indeed real, and have the ability to effect our world.  What's more, God Himself is an actor in our world, and He is the true power at work in our Universe.  A belief in the inherent power of individual human beings must be tempered by these truths; indeed the power inherent in us must be submitted to God in order to become truly powerful and truly good.  Which brings us to the next point...

4) Our identities are broken, and so our desires are corrupted.

Ancient gnosticism prescribed the renunciation of desire, contemporary gnosticism encourages the pursuit of desire.  The genius of Jesus' ethical teaching is that neither course of action is the correct one; our desires must be retrained before they can be pursued.  Human beings are a walking jumble of alienation, angst, fear, and pain.  Encouraging a human, broken in such a way, to look deep within and pursue whatever is found there, is a recipe for disaster.  New Age teachings are blind to the simple truth that evil in the world results from the pursuit of untrained desire.

The Secret pt III

Contemporary Gnosticism: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

If you are familiar with contemporary New-Age teachings, or if you simply watched the videos in the previous post, then you should be able to spot the obvious lies.  But the most effective lies are half truths and partial deceptions.  This is no exception and a deeper look will be illuminating.

So lets look at the Good in contemporary gnosticism, the Bad in it, and then we will look at the Ugly in contemporary christianity.

The Good:

1) The emphasis on human potential.
The power and potential of human beings is real and indeed immense! We are the image of God, set in the garden as a mirror to reflect God out to the created order and to reflect the worship of creation back to God.  We are indeed created to rule and reign in God's authority; we have been vested with the power to re-create the universe!

2) The focus on tapping into our deepest desires.
The pursuit of something bigger than ourselves is vital to our own health and that of the world around us.  Dreams are to be encouraged and pursued!  Our desires do indeed have the capacity to take us into the realm of something larger and more comprehensive.  Even more, the desires that flow out of our identity should not be repressed; it is indeed dangerous to deny who we are.

3) The awareness of energy in all things.
The universe is indeed full of vibrancy and life; the rocks cry out, "Hosannah," the oceans reveal glory, the mountains display righteousness.  In a universe that contains the Incarnation, material reality is indeed imbued with deep theological significance!
4) The embrace of a holistic spirituality.

Spirituality should indeed effect everything in our life; family, housing, occupation, relationships, are all impacted by the spirituality we embrace

The Secret pt II

Bastardized Gnosticism

Gnosticism, and ancient spiritual philosophy, is making a resurgence; even to the point of the popularization of ancient gnostic texts.  Now ancient gnosticism was characterized by several defining emphases: a disgust of the material world and the eschewing of physical pleasure; a belief in esoteric wisdom (hence the name); a commitment to the inner spark of divinity of some human beings; and the goal of escaping from the prison of the material world through the pursuit of that inner spark and ascetic practices.

Contemporary Western gnostics have (in true Western form) taken bits and pieces of the ancient forms, and used them to suit their own purposes...  Contemporary gnostics are attracted primarily to the concept of inner divinity, but of course, they democratize it; each human carries the spark of divinity, unlike the ancient beliefs.  Wisdom remains esoteric and otherworldly to the contemporary gnostic, but the asceticism of the ancient way is rejected for a hedonistic pursuit.  In short, contemporary gnosticism has bastardized the old; where the old was the renunciation of desire, the new has become the unshackling and divinizing of personal desire.

No where is this contemporary gnostic impulse better displayed than in 'The Secret.'  A popular book, concept, teaching, film, movement.

The following two video clips highlight this for us:

The Secret

The Power

The Secret pt I

The Western Approach to Culture

There is a phenomenon that I have observed in our culture that I rather abhor...  perhaps you have observed it yourself?

Have you ever met a 'buddhist' or a 'hindu' who grew up in a nominal christian home in a middle-class suburb of America, visited India and bought a necklace and came back calling themselves a Hindu?  They don't own a Bhagavad Gita, don't worship in shrines, don't (in point of fact) know the first thing about Hinduism, they just like proclaiming, "namaste," over everyone they meet.  It is the aesthetic of Hinduism that they love.

Our culture predates on others, cannibalizing them for the parts we like and leaving the rest of the carcass to rot.  We then take those parts, devoid of their original intentions and significance, and we use them for our own purposes.  Yoga is perhaps an obvious case of this kind of bastardization, but examples abound.  American Christianity is itself bastardized in this way; a child removed from it's lineage and brought up in another.  We will return to Christianity shortly...

The point is, we refuse to accept a tradition or a culture on its own merits and instead deconstruct it to create our own syncretic hybrid.  This would not be such a problem if we didn't label such things 'Hinduism,' or 'Christianity.'  It is as though we adopt the bastard child, but don't allow her the use of our family name.

Play On

Ray Hollenbach framed part of the conversation by essentially asking 'where exactly is the playing field?'

I'd like to continue in that vein:

Just who is 'everybody?'

This is largely a strength of the Vineyard. When we say everybody, we really do mean it. We make a real effort to train and include laity in ministry; women and men, even children, people of all backgrounds and social classes. The only real 're-thinking' I see necessary at this point is in the inherent tension between 'excellence in ministry' and allowing the visibly broken to play.

I have seen new Christians, non-Christians, those with drug problems, and even those presently under the influence of drugs, all ministering in Vineyard churches in some capacity. However, there is a real attempt to prevent these types of people from engaging in 'real' ministry. We will let them hold the door (if they're pretty enough), or let them print fliers, or play the drums (if they're capable enough), but there are real boundaries we place upon just what they are allowed to do.

For the record, I am not advocating placing drunk agnostics in the pulpit, I would certainly agree that there are standards for Christian ministry. The question that must be grappled with is this: Is the bar we set for Christian ministry about 'excellence' or is it about 'health?' Do we prevent some from certain places in ministry and Church life because they are unseemly, or because they would hurt themselves or others? I contend that Scripture has no value for 'excellence in ministry' that is ultimately a cover for excluding those people who might make things slower, uglier, or technically flawed.

Our decisions to include someone in ministry should be based on whether the individual is healthy enough to step into a particular role, not whether they are skilled enough. This decision has tremendous communicative properties...

Just what do we mean by 'play?'

It is here that we must give significant energy to re-thinking current practices. We largely conceive of ministry in terms of practices and care/direction given to Church members or performed on their behalf. Ministry is preaching and teaching, ministry is playing musical instruments, administrating the needs of the church, leading Bible-studies, praying for people, even maintaining church buildings and running technical equipment, etc.

The results of such a definition is manifold, the most problematic are the two following: 1) Christians who are deeply engaged in ministry yet have little or no involvement in mission, 2) Christians who view 'real ministry' as being done by the professionals while viewing their jobs as distractions from Kingdom work. We must rethink this conception.

Play must fundamentally mean mission! Leaders should be player/coaches who equip others for ministry to the world. As a pastor I am naturally focused on the local faith community of which I am a member/leader. This must not be allowed to divert my own focus from the wider community that is the object and context for the Church's mission. This must not be allowed to 'leak down' onto the church, causing the stale atmosphere of spiritual inbreeding that is a result of a church that ministers to itself.

Play must include the entire scope of human activity. Almost all occupations can be Christian vocations. As a pastor I am resourced to take future church leaders through an equipping process. I can teach someone how to lead church activities. I am competent to teach people how to live a life of spiritual disciplines. But when it comes to the single largest fact of most peoples daily lives, I am left with one of two options for discipleship. 1) Quit your job so you can do 'real ministry.' 2) Pray for and witness to your co-workers while maintaining personal integrity at your workplace. What is largely missing is any sense of training people to view their occupations as their vocations.

Scoring Goals

It is here that the Church has the largest problem, and hence, the largest need for re-imagination. Our system rewards and reinforces a view of ministry that is largely out of sync with our stated philosophy of ministry. We say everybody gets to play, but the rules of the game, and the way in which we 'score goals' (ie incentives and definitions of success) are set up to prevent everybody from playing.

Of course this is unintentional, but still true! A 'winning' church (to continue the metaphor) is defined by characteristics that have nothing to do with 'everybody getting to play.' Because of this we simultaneously recognize a need to have everyone play, while attempting to keep the star players in the game as long as possible; in our system you can't score goals with mediocre performance.

Because of this, we give some attention to the idea of workplace ministry, but it somehow never really makes it into the playbook; you can't score goals by practicing law, or building bridges, only by proclaiming the gospel or praying for people. In short, our definition of success prevents us from implementing this value more fully. Our most essential task is to create a system of in which 'everybody gets to play' is itself one of the markers for success, is itself defined as one of the ways in which we 'score points.'

Perfect Imperfection!

"These christian-themed entertainment venues need to stop using the word "church" - it clearly confuses people."

This was a comment on the event documented in the Youtube video below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJDqVx3RlzI

Consumerism and Mission

The Church in the West has built a model of church growth that attracts people to attend congregational events, and ultimately join a local congregation, by providing services to the individual.  A local church will provide excellent child-care, professionally played music, state of the art facilities, and ministries specially tailored to individual desire.

This has resulted in a Church where individual Christians choose their congregational affiliation based on the fulfillment of personal desire.  Christians might live on the West Side of Buffalo, but attend worship services in Williamsville, or even further away.  This is not entirely problematic in and of itself; one person leaving their neighborhood to worship and witness elsewhere has little effect, but when the entire church pursues this same pattern of relationship, there is a deep disfunction that settles on the Church.

The Mission of God consists in getting the salt out of the salt shaker and into every corner of society, but when the salt continues to seek out larger and larger salt shakers within which to seclude themselves from the world, that mission suffers.  The Mission of God requires each and every Christian to take personal responsibility for seeing God's Kingdom Come to the little corner of the earth that they inhabit, this is impossible if we refuse to labor towards the blessing of the place we are at, and instead seek our own blessing by going elsewhere...

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This doesn't mean it is a sin to drive past one worship service to attend another, but rather this is a check on our motives.  God called Paul to leave Jerusalem, and then to leave Antioch; it would have been sinful for him to stay when God said, "Go."  This is not about which congregation we choose to belong to, but about how we make that decision.

People want the Church to provide child care, excellent music, air conditioning, clean carpets, good teaching, hot coffee, and a single's ministry with lots of attractive and wealthy members.  God wants the Church to provide people who will live for His Kingdom, love each other sacrificially, work tirelessly for justice, and live their lives as a shining light in a dark world.  We must chose which list we will use to determine the course of our lives, and the course of our Church.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer tells us that, "discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ."  What this means, simply put, is that God is offering us an opportunity to get involved in His project, He has no real desire to get on board with our agenda.  He is not merely a planet in our sky, important and beautiful, but ultimately in orbit around us; rather He is the sun around whom we must find our orbit.

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What this all boils down to is this: Consumerism is the enemy of Mission.  Consumerism, simply put, is making decisions based upon the fulfillment of personal desires; I will do what satisfies my needs.  Mission, simply put, is making decisions based upon the fulfillment of God's desire to bless other people.  When the Church embraces consumer values we eschew missional ones, and vice versa.

Sunday?

I am unsure of myself...

Some of the things we do take so much effort. We don't mind the effort if something fruitful happens because of it.... but what about when there isn't much positive result?

This is a constant concern when it comes to some of the things we do as a church. Even more specifically, corporate worship gatherings. It just seems like it isn't all that important to people. ...is it?

It takes quite a lot of effort to make a Church service happen. Setting up, and tearing down; selecting music, practicing it, playing all of the various instruments, setting up the PowerPoint so others can sing along, running the sound board and the projector; preparing lessons for the kids, teaching the lessons, training people to teach; preparing a sermon and preaching it...

But what is the fruit of all of this effort? Dozens of hours of labor that involves at least a dozen people to pull off, and what is the result? Do other people value this? Is God honored? Are people committed to participate, or even show up?

Here is where I am unsure of myself. Is this question only arising because of my own self pity? ...my own sense of personal worth? ...my own ego? Is it just that I don't like preaching to a sparse house?

If this is true, then shame on me. ...but being as honest with myself as I can, I don't actually think those things are what causes me to ask these questions.

What I want to know is this: Is all of this effort producing the results that we all say we want? If not, why are we continuing to spend all of this time, energy, and money? If it is producing results, is it possible that we could produce the same results at the cost of significantly less resources? In short, why do we have a worship gathering if people don't value it? Why do we have a worship gathering if it isn't causing our church, and the neighborhood, to draw near to Jesus, His people, and His purposes?

Women in Church Leadership

Pastor Rose was the host of the Society of Vineyard Scholars conference in Seattle. She is a really neat lady that I had the good fortune to meet while at the conference last month.

This is an issue that can be quite divisive in certain corners of the church, but the Vineyard movement had resolved this issue before I even knew what a Vineyard church was... local Vineyard Churches have the authority to ordain/license anyone they wish, male or female. This means an individual local Vineyard Church could be either complementarian (a euphemism for men wielding the power) or egalitarian, but the national body is functionally giving support to the ordination of women.