Check out Pistol Pete recounting of Burning Down the Church . Tearing down a few more church walls would certainly helps us to break out of that fortress mentality that we are prone to.
Category: Being the Church
Waving Palms and Fools
John Andrews from my home state has a nearly perfect piece for this Palm Sunday over at Townhall.com. He succinctly says what I attempt to preach week after week; the Jesus of the Triumphal Entry is the Jesus of love, acceptance, and forgiveness. As John says, “the bottom line is this whole love thing.” Amen.
Jesus Offended by Chocolate?
The planned display of the crucified chocolate Jesus sculpture during Passion Week has melted down. The gallery that was to display the work relented to pressure from Christian groups calling for a boycott of the businesses that supported sculpter Cosimo Cavallaro’s work.
Good, right? Christian effort was able to quash the display of what is an obviously offensive portrayal of the Lord. Sunday, we can gather together in our sanctuaries secure in the knowledge that we protected the name of Jesus. He will smile on us and bless our gathering.
Or, will He?
Is the Creator of the Universe, the Savior of Humankind, our loving Lord this easily defamed? Through the centuries His name has been subjected to every conceivable defamation, every incorrect portrayal, every curse and damnation, and yet through it all He remains our Lord and Savior. If this is true then we have to ask ourselves if we’re devoting our energies to the right things. In other words, are there things in this world that He finds more offensive?
“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.”
“I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,”
“I was a stranger and you invited me in”
“I was sick and you looked after me,”
“I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Are these the images that offend our Lord? His name and image are glorified and lived out by His Church…by you and me. A statue of Jesus made of chocolate is bound to be forgotten weeks from now. Then, how will people see Jesus through us?
Technorati tags: Jesus, Chocolate Jesus, Faith, Passion Week, Hunger, Thirst, Refugee, Love, Acceptance, Forgiveness
A Dangerous Meeting
C.S. Lewis wrote in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,
“Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or just plain silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver, “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you.”
He 
is good and He is the King and he most definitely is dangerous. Next Sunday morning I’m willing to bet you will sing the praises to the first two but how often have you considered the third?
I’ve been reading Mark Labberton’s new book The Dangerous Act of Worship for the past couple of weeks. Well, maybe reading is too active a verb. Savoring, contemplating, worshipping, repenting; these are far better descriptions of how a reader will encounter these pages. The book is constructed on the idea that we have lost the danger of worship by turning it into an hour of safety and complacency rather than a way of life. Labberton reorients our thinking to worship as life and how our recognition of God and His place in life must translate into a renewed concern for biblical justice.
I’m going to post further on this book in the days to come. I would encourage you to pick up the book and read it. Join me in a conversation about its ideas and together we’ll kneel at the altar of justice and danger.
Technorati tags: Worship, Faith, Being the church, Missional Church, Christianity, Mark Labberton, Social Justice
The Words That Cannot Be Spoken
Scot McKnight again asks an important question at Jesus Creed, “Can anyone tell me why Mary is so often neglected when it comes to talking about women in ministry?” The answer obviously has a number of complexities based on the nuances of belief that one brings to their practice of following Christ but in its simplest form, I think the answer is fear.
For the same reason that Mary is often a subject of irrational fear in Evangelical circles, the topic of women in ministry is often cloaked in apprehension as though the very discussion of the topic is heretical. Mary suffers from the Catholic bias in Protestant thought; because she plays such an important role in Catholic practice, the evangelical unreasonably avoids her contribution to the gospel outside of the birth event. After spending a few months reading The Real Mary, meditating on her appearances in the Scriptures, and coming to realize the enormous role she plays and commenting upon it, Mary is no longer an object of fear.
In the same way that Mary is avoided or involved in heated debate, the topic of women in ministry is a flashpoint that either is shunted or argued vociferously. As a believer in the leadership of women in the Church, I have come to the belief through careful study and prayer that just as God calls men to positions of leadership, he is also sovereignly free to elect women into those same positions. If God gifts a women to lead and preach, who are we to throw up patriarchal tradition roadblocks?
Perhaps a discussion about Mary as a minister and leader is just the thing to tear down the curtain that hides our need to reconsider the equality of women in ministry. The risk we run in not carefully considering this topic is the same risk we run in avoiding Mary; we miss what God was and is doing through our sisters and we are poorer for it.
Does He Reign or Do I?
During this morning’s reflection on the Sermon on the Mount, I came to the passage in which Jesus instructs His followers on where the correct motivations for merciful actions come from…they come from a deeply held belief that He is Lord and we are not. The Newsboys say it well…
Be blessed.
On the Mountainside with the Radical Jesus: Lent 18
“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Jesus again reminds His followers that our motivations are to be radically reoriented in the Kingdom of Heaven. No longer will we strive to appear righteous in our actions and gain the approval of other men and women. Radical Jesus will examine what lies at the heart of your actions, what motivates you to initiate acts of justice such as giving to the poor. If the hand you reach out to another is waving for the attention of others, those that gaze upon Your righteousness will be giving you the reward you desire. The motivation of a transformed heart that moves heaven and earth anonymously to right the injustice of poverty will find its reward in our moment of Glory.
How many times during this Lent walk have we been righteous-exhibitionists? It is a difficult line to discern that divides sharing for accountability and sharing to gain attention. This passage with its suggestion to have one hand give without letting the other hand know what is going must cause us as the church to consider limits in all that we do from advertising who is conducting an outreach to welcoming the congregation to “So and So” church on Sunday; The Radical One drives the outreach and it’s His house we meet in on Sunday.
Where Did Our Love Go?
I bet the chorus to that song started playing in your head the minute you saw the title, didn’t it.
Baby, baby, where did our love go?
And all your promises
of a love forever more?
Go ahead, hum it a little bit more….I’ll wait. I wonder if Jesus gets the same song stuck in His head when He looks at His Church. We’re good at a lot of things and we could be better at some. Loving one another and those yet to join the family is one of those things we could be a lot better at.
If we tried.
We’re good at loving Jesus. We praise Him, proclaim Him as our personal savior, and talk in glowing terms with our brothers about Him. It seems to be the people around us where we struggle. Now,there are innumerable reasons why we struggle to love others and we can provide a justification for every single one of them. People push our buttons, they’re different from us, they’re consumed with bad habits, and on and on and on. It’s no wonder we love who we love and don’t who we don’t.
Except, Jesus didn’t leave us that option.
Love your neighbor as yourself. No conditions, no out clause, no way out. He demonstrated this for us by loving and associating with those who had been segregated by the culture in which He walked. He loved through words and His companionship. He loved without words through compassionate action. He loved through angry correction that put people back on the rails. He loved through sacrifice.
Where has the love gone? Each of us might want to ask ourselves this question each morning as we greet the day. The most emergent, missional, seeker sensitive, purpose-driven thing we can do is love others in the same way that Jesus loved others. Love them as they are, Accept them as they are, Forgive them as they are.
Just don’t leave them there. Introduce them to the one who loves, accepts, and forgives you.
Calvinism, Arminianism and Interior Decorating
If my good friend Donald Trump invited me to his home, I’m certain that I would have the same visceral reaction in person that I have to seeing his pictures of his palaces in the media. I am very much the opposite of the man in our tastes; I tend toward classic lines and a touch of austerity while he tends toward gaudy flash and ostentatiousness. But, since he’s my friend, I would not blurt out, “That is the ugliest gold plated faucet on a marble sink supported by two carved cherubs I have ever seen!” as he shows me the downstairs powder room. Evaluating the long term effects of him enjoying his home and my retaining his friendship, I would probably nod and say that it was very nice, maybe adding that it was not my style if prompted to install a similar room in my house.
This week, perhaps goaded on by the increasing shrillness of modern politics, I was moved to write responses to two posts with Calvinist tags. I felt that each one had either been snarky or inappropriate in their presentation but moreover, they showed an uncharitable attitude toward anyone who didn’t agree with the Calvinist theological system. In other words, the connotation of the words was “We’re right, you’re wrong, so quit being a fool and accept it.” The danger in the increasing obstinacy that is creeping into the Calvinism versus Arminianism debate is that it has much larger implications that affect those outside of details of the debate.
Reading the titles and snippets of posts that appear in Calvinist forums, blog aggregators, or even print media often gives the impression that there is a hubris toward anyone who doesn’t agree. Rather than making a case for the efficacy of the system, the posts taunt and challenge those foolish enough to believe otherwise. But I ask, is this how the Master Teacher taught?
1 Peter 3:15 is taken to heart by many Christians. The problem is that many have only partially memorized and internalized the scripture. “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” An excellent verse and one that I’m willing to wager that nearly everyone who reads this post will agree with. Except that is not the complete verse. In its complete form it reads:
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,“
and the last line continues into verse 16:
“keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”
So I ask my Calvinist brothers and sisters, are we speaking and writing with gentleness and respect? Is our conscience clear in that we have fairly and accurately considered both sides of the debate and with full knowledge of both positions, decided in which camp we will plant our tents? Are we charitable in our words, so much so that those who disagree with us are ashamed by their slander?
In an Oprah dominated world where some gnosticism like ‘The Secret’ can dominate the popular imagination do we really want to present ideas that have eternal implications in the form of the the Dave Hunt & James White book ‘Debating Calvinism’ where it looks like nothing more than a name-calling schoolyard rumble. I don’t think so. If we are willing to be kind to others in insignificant matters like their taste clothes or paint color, why are we not willing to also temper our debate when the eternal destinations of others are at stake?
Technorati tags: Calvinism, Arminianism, Faith, Christianity
Organic Church Planting
Jerry over at Becoming Missional pointed out a great post on Organic Gardening and the nurture of a church. As the author contemplated the parallels of gardening and church planting he came up with this gem of an observation:
The organic church foundation is a theology of compost, breaking down into simple and abundant life. There is more things alive in a handful of good compost than there are people on the planet, or stars in the sky, so I’ve heard and believe. Another reason why the next big thing is smallness. A good small group of people on a mission is equivalent to the enriching power of good composted soil
This brought a smile to my face as I thought of how powerfully our small missional community has touched people in our city. Without the fortress attitude that seems to sprout as the size of the group demands greater and greater hierarchy, a small mission-minded crew can feed, clothe, love and heal without worrying about upsetting other ministries.
Thanks Ron for a thought provoking post.
LOVE | ACCEPT | FORGIVE 
