emerging mosaic

Today I got the chance to here Alan Hirsch talk at Grand Rapid Theological Seminary. These folks are constantly bringing some good people into town to stimulate conversation all across the theological spectrum of thought. This is a good thing. No they aren’t paying me to say that.

Now on to Hirsch. I read the shaping of things to come a couple years ago and used it when I taught a class on the missional church at GRTS a year ago. I own but have not finished reading Hirsch book the Forgotten Ways. It was helpful to hear him share his thoughts first hand. Hirsch talked about four critical shifts for the church to stay relevant and not die in the current context for ministry

• recovery of the centrality of Jesus
• recovery of discipleship
• recovery of  incarnational missional impulse
• recovery of apostolic ethos and movement

I think I have heard or read most of this stuff before. Some of it I have been saying myself for years. (Not that that means anything.) But what was interesting to me is how different his perspective on these issues were as opposed to whatI have heard coming from those who love his writing. The people who have talked to me about Hirsch’s SOTOK approached it in such an either or manner that I got the feeling that if I didn’t buy into every he said and follow is right now I was part and parcel of the death of the church.

Don’t get me wrong there is a prophetic urgency to Hirsch voice but he presents it with a much broader fuller, perspective and graciousness than many of his adherents (at least the ones I know) have. Maybe this is the way that books on this subject have to be written so that people will buy them. But after listening to Hirsch I didn’t get the same eiither or feeling about what he is proposing that I got reading the book. Instead I find myself in agreement with Hirsch that we need to learn how to rediscover what it means to be fully Christian fully human, and fully the church.

I beilieve he is correct when he challenges us to appreciate the fullness of the gospel and Jesus message and not simply attach to the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus like  some kind of a “cosmic fire insurance”. Or place so much emphasis on the ethos of Jesus that we make him into a nice example for good living. As Hirsch said many times in his talk that is not the whole picture of Jesus. Jesus is lord. he is lord of the church, Lord of our lives, and the author and finisher of our faith.

In this regard I find Hirsch to be completely orthodox in his thinking, His methodology my be radically different but we are in radically different times. It was refreshing to hear him talk about the way the evangelical church has subverged the message and minstry of Jesus with our subjective interpretation of Pauline theology. This amounts to what he calls Paulism not Christianity. If we are to be Christians then Christ/Jesus  must be at the center of everything we do. As Hirsch said Paul would be disturbed by what we have done since he specifically taught that this faith we live was not about him but about Jesus. I think our emphasis on Pauline theology and only the death and resurrection of Jesus rather than his whole life and mission provided a convenient means to fit the Christian faith in a western North American US box. Buy my ticket follow the rules and I will be home free. The reign and kingdom of God is much more than that.

Now in case you think that I have become a Hirsch groupie let me say that I was a little disappointed in his response to my question which followed some others about how all this translates into a multi-racial pluralistic culture. He basically said the US was another animal all together because of the long history of segregation and slavery. Yep knew that. He also said the kingdom of God is multi-racial/multi-cultural. Then he asked I thought. So here goes.

Writes like Hirsch must challenge their readers to a broader cultural and contextual understanding of their thoughts. The readers especially anglo readers to must learn to see the implementation of these thoughts those lens other than their own discomfort and disconnect the the modern western church. We all must learn to ask what if their are perspectives other that those I am familiar that shape the way that I think about how church looks feels, tastes and smells. Finally we must avoid at all costs taking our interpretation of any writer and elevating it to an absolute (by doing this we avoid the cult of personality that seems to be developing in much of the emerging/missional church conversation) . More on this to come in another post.

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Technorati Tags: alan hirsch, church, church planting, diversity, hirsch, incarnational, kingdom of God, mission, missional, missional church, Paul, reign of God, shaping of things to come

Welcome to another episode of adventures in missing the truth.
Priest Mocks Clinton in Sermon - AOL News

WARNING RANT AHEAD

Maybe I reading the wrong papers or viewing the wrong political pundits. But I heard them all say the same thing about Hillary Clinton thinking that she was the inevitable democratic nominee.

So once again Obama must be responsible for what everyone who is in anyway connected to him says. First it was a black man now he has to be responsible for whites as well. OK where is Clinton’s responsibility for here husband’s remarks. I must be so stupid because I don’t get it. How is it that anything no matter how true that ruffles the gender sensibilities of the Hillary Clinton folks be so rapidly overblown when patently offensive stuff others say about Obama gets downplayed.

This white priest is once again falling subject to the demonization of a particular group of people for speaking the truth. Does anyone say, This is one sermon from the guy. Look at who he is and what he has done to help people in the church the past?  Does anyone say yes maybe he didn’t way it is the nicest way but its true?

Instead it becomes another Barack Obama problem. For which he must apologize. Geraldine Ferarro has yet to apologize for saying that Obama was here he was because he was black. (read political affirmative action)

If the cost of having the first black president is having to miss, ignore or deny the truth about race, and gender issues; if we must deny the truth of white previlege rather than expose it, I wonder if it is worth it.

THIS RANT IS NOW COMPLETE

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Technorati Tags: church, Clinton, obama, pastor, truth

I came across this post a mustard seed church over at some strange ideas It has some interesting thoughts about the mustard seed being an appropriate metaphor for church growth and multiplication. Since our church Mosaic Life has been exploring possibilities of growing beyond addition I was engaged by the idea.

One of the recent challenges of around church planting and growth has been the growing sense that bigger isn’t always better. But how to stay committed to growing the church for the kingdom? I have never felt comfortable the either being a large church or a house church which are the two options that are most commonly presented. So this mustard seed church which grows to a certain size and then propagates itself through multiplication is intriguing. As much as I hate the idea of another adjective based church, this is definitely worthy of further exploration.

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Technorati Tags: church, church growth, church multiplication, mustard seed church

So here’s another set of reasons why we can’t ignore the issue of race if the church is to emerge into something other than refuge a disgruntled white intellectuals. There is a credibility gap in our society and it strains belief. Were it not for the history of race and class in this country it would be unbelievable.

• Last week a judge acquitted NYC police officers black and white people of power in the case of the shooting of a young man fifty times because they thought they were in danger. The witnesses (all black and some of whom were also shot) the judge said were not credible.
• Jeremiah Wright former pastor of Barack Obama’s church has been reviled and called everything from unpatriotic to a loon and even worse. This because he expressed a perspective of the black community on a national tragedy. Remember black folks died that day along with people of other races. While white pastors who support current presidential candidates express their extreme opinions without impunity.
• Hillary Clinton wins a primary based on the notion that she (who was raised with privilege and has been in the highest seat of power in this country) has more credibility with working class folks than a black man raised by a single parent who worked his way through college and passed up a big time law office for working with the very class of people he now has no credibility with.

The thing is that Jesus brought credibility to the incredible. He brought God’s credibility to a poor and oppressed. He brought God’s credibility to disenfranchised. He brought God’s credibility to those who were outside of the status quo. He brought God’s credibility to people on the margins. He brought God’s credibility to an pregnant young girl, a motley crew of twelve followers, an adulterous woman asking spiritual questions. He brought God’s credibility to all human beings by breaking down the barrier between us and calling us to reconcile to God and each other. His first followers though they stumbled initially followed his pattern (after being prompted more than once by the Holy Spirit.)

So how will the church today, the church emerging deal with the credibility gap? I am fast losing hope that the church emerging or has the guts to take on this critical issue. We will tackle gays rights, worship wars, poverty in other countries and gender equality but race and by virtue of our cultural reality class right here in the USA, not so much.

Check out this post on the EV blog

The church not speaking out strains its credibility but then this is the church which increasing has less and less credibility anyway.

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Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, church, class, Clinton, credibility, diversity, Jeremiah Wright, race, Sean Bell, why race matters

I got this today from someone is concerned as I am about how we continue to live Dr King’s dream

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OK everywhere you look it seems there are nooses being hung. First Jena then a long Island police station, then the door of a Columbia university professor. Note that two of these are in the north where it is suggested racism is long gone.  SO why aren’t more Christians talking it about. I don’t know but I know the church can’t be the church until we deal with this uniquely American sin.

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Technorati Tags: church, conversations, diversity, inclusion, race, racial_reconciliation, racism

I just came back from Jamaica where I discovered this incredible biting critque and satire about the church by reggae artist shaggy.

Church Heathen Lyrics

If yuh tek this too serious, then yuh really need som chuch    

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Technorati Tags: church, faith & culture, Jamaica, jamaican_culture, my life, shaggy

For truly biting satire about the church modern and otherwise check out this site

TheChurchYouKnow.com Homepage

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I found this interesting definition of a green house church at WatersEdge: David Rudd’s Blog

a greenhouse church is one which strikes a balance between the "organizational" model of the garage and the "organic" model of the meadow. the following marks are the foundation of a plan for spiritual formation within a greenhouse church:

1. organic beginnings for each formation group/community (LIFEGroup)
2. united sense of the desired outcome (spiritual formation/christlikeness)
3. guiding principles which promote healthy growth (formative, caring, missional)
4. regular communication and evaluation (life-support/coaches and self-evaluation) 
5. flexibility (recognizing that every group is different) 6) reproduction (launching groups from groups)

Now we don’t need anymore labels for church but I feel some real connection to what he is describing especially the part about the balance between organic and organizational. Maybe that is what Mosaic Life is becoming.

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Technorati Tags: church, church planting, emerging church, group_community, house_church, mosaic, spiritual_formation

It finally had to happen I guess. I’ve just felt to often that the values I embraced for living the faith and I thought I saw in the emergent conversation have not materialized in reality. So I finally have to admit (not that anyone cares) I’m post emergent. Why? Here are five reasons.

1. The conversation still looks to much like the old conversation, white, male and academic. The dominant culture still dominates.
2. The values behind the conversation aren’t readily expressed in actions. No generous orthopraxis to go with the generous orthodoxy. (see my previous post)
3. The lexicon of the white European theological framework which still dominates. There is very little inclusion of black theologians and the theological framework of people of color. People of color seem to be included in the conversation only if they are willing to use this language and framework. It seems we all need to read NT Wright in order to have any credibility.
4. Talk, talk and more talk. My experience is we love to talk about this stuff but other than retro worship stuff we don’t get around to acting on it. Even so talk about diversity has never come to the fore. I want to be the church and act like the church not just talk like the church.
5. Ultimately its about relationships and I have made some good ones which go beyond the whole emergent (non movement) thing. So I’ll go about the spiritual practice of reconciliation through relationships with my brothers and sisters and leave emergent tag to others.

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