Faith Journey #3

Brian McLaren was raised in an evangelical home and even thought of becoming the Billy Graham of this generation.  He married a Roman Catholic and they started having homemade soup and bread suppers once a week.  These morphed into a fellowship and Bible study group and eventually a church.  He eventually was asked to be its pastor.  


He observed that, for the most, part church pastors preach to the choir institutional maintenance.  "Normal" people didn't understand the language and pastors didn't understand their questions, doubts and concerns.


40% of the American population attends church regularly and this number is shrinking.  Of those that streamed down the aisles at Billy Graham crusades and prayed the sinners prayer, over 90% them were already lifelong churchgoers!  


Unless the church wants to become a small, isolated enclave we need to welcome the unchurched majority with all of their questions, uncertainties, skepticism and honesty - requiring us to listen without judgment or condemnation.


He found that giving the pat answers we often hear in church just didn't work with his congregation or with him, after a spiritual crisis he went on a quest looking for authenticity.  He felt his theology unraveling - rather an occupational hazard for a pastor!  Long walks alone, praying and wondering - this was a scary and tough time. 


Historically, nearly all of our Protestant denominations have been formed in the modern era - the institutional children of the era of Sir Isaac Newton, the conquistadors, colonialism and capitalism.  Each denomination made sense of Christianilty through the "lines and boxes" (or lens) of modernity even rewriting and rearranging the ancient "data" of Christianity in a modern program, paradigm or framework.


Today the modern paradigm with its absolute scientific laws, consumerist individualism and rational certainty is giving way to a new post-modern paradigm of pluralism, relativism, globalism, and uncertainly more akin to humble confidence.  Liberal and conservative Christianity, both protestant and Roman Catholic increasingly react to one another and are losing touch with the changing world around them.


By and large all churches have lost the 18 to 35 generation and Catholics extend that to 55.  During the 80s and 90s the conservative Evangelicals seemed immune to this trend - suggesting their theological and socioeconimic conservatism was the secret to their statistical success.  However, their trend lines are also going south now.


Phyllis Tickle claims that every 500 years or so the Christian faith holds a "rummage sale"  and eliminates extra baggage that has accumulated during that time and retains "essential travel gear" thus opening a new chapter in Christian history.  [500 AD - Great Collapse of the Roman Empire. 1000 - the Great Schism, 1500 - the Great Reformation, today - she proposes the Great Emergence]  Others have said similar things, Kunz's paradigmatic shifts, Harvey Cox's Ages... He proposes that today we are thankfully leaving the Age of Belief [which busied itself burning heretics].  "Dynamic faith that moves mountains was out; static belief that burns or banishes heretics was in.  Catalytic faith as an agent of social transformation was out; codified belief as a tool of social control was in...I recall Wood Allen's statement that if Jesus could see what people have done in his name, he would 'never stop throwing up.' "  Today we enter the Age of the Spirit and something is trying to be born among those of us who follow Jesus Christ.  Now nearly  500 years later, Martin Luther's ninety-five theses have completed their job.  It's time for another tipping point; it's time, we might say, for a ninety-sixth thesis.


But different - we already have a enough hate in the world - and enough debate much of which is inversely proportional in intensity to the actual importance of the topic.  Questions inspire new conversations that can launch us on a new quest.  A quest for new was to believe and new ways to live and serve faithfully in the way of Jesus, a quest for a new kind of Christian faith,


W go back to the pastor of our Pilgrims whose sermon I quoted out the outset of this discussion - "If God reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive it as you were to receive any truth from ministry; for I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth from His holy word...For though they [Luther and Calvin] were precious shining lights in their time, yet God has not revealed his whole will to them.  And were they now living, they would be as ready and willing to embrace further light, as they had received."


My prayer [as written by McLauren]:  Lord, I acknowledge that I have made a mess of what Jesus started...I understand that many good Christians will not want to participate in our quest, and I welcome their charitable critique...I choose to seek a better path into the future than the one I have been on.  I desire to be born again as disciples of Jesus Christ.  Now grant me wisdom and guide me in my quest, and create something new and beautiful in and among us for the good of all creation and to your glory, Living God.

Faith Journey Continued

Most of this entry is direct paraphrase or even quotes from a New Kind of Christianity by Brian McLaren - I am using a Kindle version and will not even try to cite the pages.  This entry comes from Chapter 2.

Question #3 - the God question:  Is god violent?  It seems that all monotheistic religions seem to be hell-bent on inspiring people to kill each other.  Why does God seem so violent and genocidal in many Bible passages?  Does God play favorites? Does god sanction elitism, prejudice, violence, or even genocide?  Is God incurably violent and is faith capable of becoming a stronger force for peace and reconciliation than it has been for violence in the past?

Question #4 - The Jesus question: Who is Jesus and why is he important?  Jesus appears to be a victim of identity theft.  Contemporary Christians can't agree with one another and these portraits of Jesus could hardly be more different from the four gospel portraits in the Bible.  What accounts for the differences in understandings of Jesus?  Which versions of Jesus are more trustworthy than others?  How can we tell?  Why does it matter?

Questions #5 - The gospel questions:  What is the gospel?  Some see it as how to avoid hell and go to heaven after death.  Some see it as a message of liberation and transformation for select people in this life.  Some see it as a message of liberation and transformation for all people and all creation.  Who's right and why is there such a divergence of opinion of this essential matter?  Why does Jesus's gospel of the kingdom of God seem to morph into another gospel - that of justification by faith - in other parts of the New Testament? Are the gospels of Jesus and Paul (and other apostolic writers) different and opposed to one another?

Question #6 - The church question:  What do we do about the church?  this question has to be grappled with and understood in local faith communities in light of the new understandings opened up by the previous questions.  What must changed for the church - local, denomination, world-wide community? How are we to conceive of God's Spirit at work in the church and in the world?  How do we cooperate with God's work in, through, outside-of, and in spite of the church?


Question #7 - The sex question:  Can we find a way to address human sexuality without fighting about it? Anxiety about human sexuality may be related to our discomfort with our humanity.  Why does the issue of homosexuality polarize and divide to the extent that there is an unwillingness to tolerate disagreement in spite of the fact that diversity of opinion is tolerated on many other important issues - pacifism, nuclear war, torture, wealth and poverty, consumptive affluence.Why is this issue so hot now?  How do the provious questions open up new ways to thing about homosexuality, gender identity and sexuality in general?  Can we move beyond paralyzing polarization into constructive dialogue about the whole range of challenges we face regarding human sexuality?


Question #8 - The future question:  Can we find a better way to viewing the future?  Eschatology (theology of the future and what lies beyond this life) sells books, raises money and influences foreign policy (the US and Iran come to mind).  If eschatologies are self-fulfulling prophecies, what kind of eschatology will contribute to a more just and joyful future? [many people I know would disagree with the statement that these are self-fulfilling prophecies]  How will a new kind of Christianity develop a new kind of eschatology?


Question #9 - The pluralism question - How should followers of Jesus relate to people of other religions?  We wake up each day in a world whose very future is threatened by inter-religious fear, hatred, and violence.  Many of us wonder if there is a way to have both a deep identity in Christ and an irenic (formal aiming at peace), charitable, neighborly attitude toward people of other faiths.  So we ask:  Is Jesus the only way?  the only way to what?  How can belief in the uniqueness and universality of Christ be held without implying the religious supremacy and exclusivity of the Christian religion?


Question #10 - the what-do-we-do-now question: How can we translate our quest into action?  What happens next?  How can we on this quest pursue truth and hope ina loving spirit when our quest is opposed or ignored by many of our fellow Christians?  How can we learn from history to introduce needed new ideas without also introducing needless division?  How does our search for a new kind of Christianity relate to a renewed kind of spirituality?  What new questions open up for us once we begin grappling with these?  How can the kind of reflection we have engaged in be translated into reflective practice and action?


These ten questions are, to recall Dylan's epic line, blowing in the wind around us.  Even if we've never heard them articulated, they have been hovering just outside our conscious awareness.  they trouble our conventional paradigms of faith just as the ten plagues of frogs, gnats, flies and hail plagued the Egyptians in the Exodus story.


When people tell us to be quiet and accept the conventional answers we've been given in the past, many of us groan like the ancient Hebrews...we cry out to God, "Please set us free!" ... "Let us go!  Let us find some space to think, to worship God outside the bars and walls and fences in which we are constrained and imprisoned. We'll head out into the wilderness - risk hunger, thirst, exposure, death - but we can't sustain this constrained way of thinking, believing, and living much longer.  We need to ask the questions that are simmering in our souls."


We are driven out of familiar territory and into unmapped terra nova by ten questions stirring in our hearts.


The author reiterates that the book is full of promising responses he has cobbles together on this journey- and that responses are not answers with the goal that they start the interplay and get things rolling. the goal is not debate an division..but questioning that leads to conversation and friendship on the new quest.


I am excited to be on this journey!  I know that these questions, or something similar, have been "blowing in the wind" around me for many years.  Seminary only gave voice to questions that have been in my brain for a long time.  I just read an article about a book written by Kinnamon called "You Lost Me" which sites studies of why young adults are leaving the church more today than ever before. One of the reasons mentioned is the inability to ask the hard questions without getting pat answers or feeling ostracized.  This looks like a good place to start.  Let's ask the questions and civilly talk about what God had in mind in sending Jesus Christ.  This is a journey that I need to take.

Reflection on Jesus Calling - August 21 and 22

Jesus Calling (Sarah Young) - August 21 and 22 speak right to my heart. Yesterday this devotional said (excerpts): "You are walking along the path I have chosen for you.  It is both a privilege and a perilous way: experiencing My glorious Presence and heralding that reality to others.  Sometimes you feel presumptuous to be carrying out such an assignment...The work I am doing in you is hidden at first.  But eventually blossoms will burst forth, and abundant fruit will be borne...Trust me wholeheartedly, letting my Spirit fill you with Joy and Peace."   Then today's devotion opens with "Trust Me, and don't be afraid...You live in the midst of fierce spiritual battles, and fear is one of Satan's favorite weapons...resist the devil in My Name and he will slink away from you.  Refresh yourself in My holy Presence.  Speak or sing praises to Me, and My Face will shine radiantly upon you.  Remember there is no condemnation for those who belong to Me.  You have been judged not guilty for all eternity!  Trust Me, and don't be afraid:  for I am your Strength, Song, and Salvation."

I really needed to hear these words today.   Fear is Satan's tool and one that is easy to "turn on" in me.  I forget that  "Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world!"  Today I recommit to being the clay in God's hands for God to mold and shape; afterall God has a plan and a purpose for my life.

I pray that God will help me recognize when I think or say the words 'scared' or 'afraid' - Jesus is the overcomer and I wish to live in His confidence, power and peace.  "Trust me wholeheartedly, letting My Spirit fill you with Joy and Peace."

Faith Journey

Prayer written by Brian McLaren in A New Kind of Christianity:  Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith.  I am reading this on a Kindle so the best I can do is provide a chapter where the text is found.  

Lord, we acknowledge that we have made a mess of what Jesus started. We affirm that we are wrong and Jesus is right. We choose not to defend what we have done and what we have become, We understand that many good Christians will not want to participate in our quest, and we welcome their charitable critique. We acknowledge that we have created many Christianities up to this point, and they call for reassessment and, in many cases, repentance. We choose to seek a better path into the future than the one we have been on. We desire to be born again as disciples of Jesus Christ. Now grant us wisdom and guide us in our quest, and create something new and beautiful in and among us for the good of all creation and to your glory, Living God.

This is not as radical as it sounds.  Brian quotes the prayer of John Robinson, the leader of a group of Pilgrims  in Holland that are about to embark on a journey to a New World.  He is not traveling with them and though he plans to join them later (he dies before making the voyage) sends them out with this message:

I charge you before God and his blessed angels that you follow me no further than you have seen me follow Christ.  If God reveals anything to you by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive it as you were to receive any truth from my ministry, for I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth from His holy word.

The Lutherans cannot be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw.  Whatever part of His will our God has revealed to Calvin, they (Lutherans) will rather die than embrace it; and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they were left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things.  This is a misery much to be lamented.  For though they were precious shining lights in their time, yet God has not revealed his whole will to them,  And were they now living, they would be as ready and willing to embrace light, as they had received.

Brian McLaren chooses 10 questions - I will state them here and then elaborate on them in future posts as I read about them.

1.  The narrative question:  What is the overarching story line of the Bible?  Is there a discernible plotline of the biblical library, and if so, what is it?  What are the deep problems the original Christian story was trying to solve?  What's the big picture?  Where did we come from, where are we going, and where are we now, according to the Bible and its stories and story?

2.  The Authority question:  How should the Bible be understood?  What is the Bible and what is it for?  If the Bible is God's revelation, why can't Christians finally agree on what it says?  Why does it seem to be in conflict with science so often?  Why has it been so easy for so many people to use the Bible to justify such terrible atrocities?

Silver Bay - Day 1

It is a beautiful day here at Lake George!  I am sitting inside playing on my laptop but my time is my own and I can do what seems right for me.  This will be short because I really do want to get down to the boathouse and enjoy the view and the breeze :-)  D and I are here the annual Lutheran Conference - mostly an excuse fo a family reunion in a gorgeous setting where no one has to cook or clean up and there are many things to do.  D is down at Slim Point swimming and snorkeling in the clear lake water.  I could go up to the craft house and cane a rocking chair for the porch or weave among other options.

I decided to attend two Lutheran Conference classes this week and both started out well.  One is on longevity and health which fits with my new goal to make my own health and D's a priority.  I have so much weight to lose and all my numbers are bad (except blood pressure).  Neither of us have a family physician so there is much to do when this vacation is over!

The other class looking at defining moments in the Bible.  The instructor is fun and knowegable.  It is nice to hear the Bible taught again.  Today was Adam and Eve - he considers it humankind's defining moment because they chose to hide after they did wrong.  Interesting perspective.  It is also refreshing because even though they did wrong, God searched them out and then clothed them even though there was punishment also applied.  I correct my granddaughter with the hope that she will do better next time partly because life is more fun when we are happy and not fighting.  I cannot know the mind of God but wonder if the idea of "Fall" might be overstated.  On the other hand, their clothing was animal skins and this is the first recorded death on earth and this could be construed to be animal sacrifice.

Well - the longevity class advized more exercise and using a rocking chair was included - so I think I'll go exercise!

Pre-Graduation

My house is in desperate need of cleaning.  My friend M will be here tomorrow and her bed is covered.  After enjoying 10 days in FL with Mom I am having difficulty gearing up.  Graduation events begin tomorrow and I still I have no idea what I am going to wear.  Saturday we are having a party and nothing is ready.  I feel very lazy and just can't get moving.  I think I will be the Fly Lady thing and set the timer for 15 minutes and work a bit at a time.  I am sure once I start I will feel more motivated.


Today is my son's 32nd birthday and our daughter will be 35 very soon.  My 40th high school reunion is around the corner and our 39th wedding anniversary.  I guess that age is creeping up.  When I first became a grandmother, Mom sent me a little plaque that says, "Grandmothers are just antique little girls."  However, I have to say that my body is tired.  Maybe all the schooling has worn me out.  I have ideas and images of what I want to do and look like but having difficulty moving them into the action column.  Guess I'll give myself a few days, try to be kind to myself, and start fresh next week. 


Right now I need to move a load of wash into the dryer and start another load.  Maybe I'll set that timer and see if it helps.

May 2nd

It is a beautiful day outside today and I am trying to complete my final assessment for CPE.  Just can't seem to concentrate!  The sad thing is that almost anything will be good enough.  They are not looking for research or complicated reasoning, but just to express what I have learned while doing chaplaincy in the hospital.  I am thinking about ditchng the first page I have written and just starting over!  Fresh words, fresh insight.  In the first draft I am caught on the meaning of spirituality and I'm not sure I want to go there right now. 

I hope that I will find time soon to make this blog an effective way to communicate deeper thoughts and share wonderful photos and videos of V and her soon to be sibling, images of the family as I begin to scan older photos, my quilt/handwork projects and the house as I paint and decorate.  So much to do!

School will be over by the end of the week.  Four years of work!  Wonder what I am to do with my seminary degree?

Food Pantry

I just can't seem to keep up with everything right now.  The food pantry volunteer schedule changed and I am not sure that everything is covered.  I started out well several years ago but right now it is a bit out of control and I hate that feeling.  I'm working to pull it together but wonder if it is time to hand it off to someone else.  It is my baby and I don't like to admit that I can't handle it!  I got the additional days started but that doesn't mean that I have to keep it going.  There is a meeting tonight - should I ask for a new volunteer coordinator?

Adding photos???

Haven't figured this out yet!

CPE

I am a bit nervous about starting CPE tomorrow.  I am kind of ready to just take care of my house and quilt and go to FL visit my mother.  On the other hand, getting into the spring semester was a real gift.  I contacted VCU on Monday afternoon last week.  The director called that evening to let me know that soemone had just cancelled and therefore there was a position available if I could get the application done the next day and be prepared to attend orienation that Wednesday!  I did my part and, thankfully, orientation was postponed until tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan 18th).  So I amstarting tomorrow!  I mentioned it to one person and they started to tell me that when people have good pastors there isn'tmuch need for a chaplain.  But then she shared a really tragic story that happened to her and their family.  I hadjust been reminded that the primary purpose of the chaplain is to be a non-anxious presence for a patient and the family.  I think that is the role I ended up playing with my friend.  There was nothing I could say, there was no solution or problem to solve, it was simply a matter of listening and treasuring that I was being honored to share in this very private and intimate moment.  I really do want to do CPE, I think I am just tired and nervous because I am starting one more new thing.

Appalachia and Mountaintop Destruction

Still need to write about my experiences in Appalachia! It is hard to believe that we have been home for a week already.  I did notice on the news today that the EPA has stopped mountain top destruction because it destroys the water for those that are left behind.  Moutaintop destruction seems to me to be the ultimate in short-sighted thinking - blow up a moutain to get the small amount of coal that is trapped inside it.  It takes very few people to do, so truthfully employment is not really a factor, and permanently destroys the landpscape!  Honestly, I do not like it when a non-elected government agency makes law (this is a violation of the Constitution), but in this case I am glad that someone is stopping a most awful abuse of the land.