Ade Jensen, this young woman has known me
her whole life, because I am her dad. She is a strong, confident and
passionate young lady, who I am very proud of.
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Hello I’m Adriahna or Ade, John Jensen’s daughter. I’ve been thinking and thinking what is
worth guest blog posting? I originally wanted to post on sexuality specifically homosexuality,
but lately I have to admit it all seems irrelevant. The last two years of my life I’ve been dealing/
struggling, whatever words are typically used to describe; telling your family and yourself that
hey…. I think I’m gay. I like this girl. I love this girl. It’s been a whirlwind of emotions and
growth, and I must say I am in a very happy and secure spot in my life now.
The reason I say irrelevant is that I’ve been working with children a lot lately. I work at an art
studio for kids teaching them all kinds of art styles and how to use different mediums. I’ve been
working there almost a year, but recently quit my other job in order to focus on this art studio
and well… my well-being. I can’t explain what kind of growth and change occurs within the
self when working with kids. With my own experience seeing all these different types of people
interacting with others, most of all themselves, my whole perspective on life, and humanity has
changed drastically. I must note: you have to be open and listening, absorbing, and thinking.
Otherwise working with kids could be simply, working with kids.
Mather 18:1-6
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven?”
He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth,
unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven.
“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes
one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large
millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea…”
I just want to talk about one lesson I’ve been learning recently. I was doing some art
curriculum in our high school class rather than teaching. My friend was right next to me and I
commented, “man this is the loudest class I have, it’s weird you would think the little kids would
be more rowdy.” And his response was: “They know the most words.”
Being a lame artist who thinks the smallest of things is profound, I found this very profound.
Children know the least words. They speak with their colors in art. They speak with their big
hugs, and they speak with their tears. Every emotion a child feels, you will see it and understand
it. A child will never preach at you. When a young class gets loud I realized the reason for the
noise is that all the kids are talking about their unicorns and making strange noises with their
mouths. They blabber and laugh loudly; they fall off their chairs and can’t seem to stay still.
I have a really hard time with the kids who will quickly give up on a drawing and make up
their minds that they will not touch that drawing again. If you sit next to the child and try to figure out what it is exactly they do not like with their art work the harder it is to get them to
try. Words do not work very well, the younger they are. I have learnt that I have to literally grab
their paintbrush and start fixing the piece until they get mad enough at me, they want to do it.
I watch how frustrated they become with their piece of work because it doesn’t look how they
want it to. Kids dream big, and they have very great visions. Their worlds are full of colors and
the imaginary, and they do not use their words to create that world. When I imagine an adult
humbling his or herself like a child, I imagine no masks.
It’s hard for me to connect to a lot of people on a level that I need. I can do the small talk thing
really well, I am very good at socializing with practically anyone. I am John Jensen’s daughter,
I have to be good with my words. But what I need is a deep emotional connection to people
that makes me feel I am not alone. That’s what is hard to find. Grown –ups like to walk around
with their words and their clothes trying to hide who they really are, trying to project another
image. Children walk around with their clothes expressing who they really are, their emotions
protruding through their faces. They do not have any masks. They lie, but they aren’t lying to
deceive you into thinking they are someone they’re not. They lie to obtain a cookie.
Most of all… children do not care if you have different colored skin or are with someone of the
same-sex. They will embarrassingly point it out, but give them a minute and it’s like nothing
happened. They don’t give a shit about your theology, as long as you are nice to them. They still
hug you, they still love you. Children are little bundles of selfish, beautiful, and simple love.
They do not wear masks, and they know the least words. Experiencing a child’s love is the most
exciting and awesome experience because you know that they are not faking it. You know that,
that child genuinely loves you for who you are.
So I am challenged as a Christian to take off my mask daily, and love fully. I will try not to hide
my emotions and I will try to use little words doing so. So it’s all irrelevant; all this theology, all
of this arguing over who is right or wrong. I am gay and it’s irrelevant to a child. I love a woman,
and they love me, and I love them..
Showing posts with label Guest Post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guest Post. Show all posts
Friday, September 16, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Ellen Cooper-Davis: The Five Smooth Stones of Unitarian Universalism [Guest Post]
Reverend Mother, a self described heretic whom I am enjoying interacting on the interwebs with
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Unitarian Universalism is a religion without a creed. Instead of creed, our membership in this faith rests on covenant. We agree to walk together in the ways of Love, to serve one another and the church, to seek truth.We are a direct expression of Liberal Religion. That is to say, we are a religion--one created fifty years ago through the mutual cooperation and partnership of two other religions- -and we use, in our common endeavor, the forms and language of religion. We are a church, engaged in ministry to and with its members and our community.
We are a religion, indeed, but being a Liberal religion means that while some of those forms might be similar to others’, our use of religious language, ritual, and the ways in which we minister to and with one another may not point to the same ultimate truths as other churches. In this faith, we pray, we speak of grace, we learn from Jesus, we do ministry to make lives better and to bring healing and wholeness. There are thousands of congregations and churches that do the same. But for many of them, the conclusions that they will come to about Life, the Universe, and Everything will be very different. We approach the questions, while many of them are sharing answers. The opposite of Liberal, here, is Fundamentalist. We do not belong in this faith because of our affiliation with any particular political party or outlook, or because we prefer either coffee or tea. We belong to this faith because our approach to the questions of ultimate value and worth and meaning and purpose is a religiously liberal approach.
Fortunately for us, while we have no creed, we do have a heart. A center. While we have no dogma, we do, in fact have doctrine--core understandings of what Liberal Religion and Unitarian Universalism are that are teachable, sharable, and can even be said concisely. I have made a commitment to all of you and to myself to find a better way to share the heart of Unitarian Universalism and Liberal Religion, most especially in my Southeast Texan context. It names our religious identity--how we fit into the world of religious context. It also names our doctrine--the beliefs we carry that help us slay giants in our lives and in our world. Here’s how it goes:
Unitarian Universalism emerged fifty years ago out of two historically Protestant denominations, which asserted the unity of God, the humanity of Jesus, and that there can be no hell because nothing can separate us from Ultimate Love. We believe in Possibilities, Love, Courage, Responsibility and Hope.
James Luther Adams, Unitarian minister, liberal religious theologian and professor at both the University of Chicago and at Meadville Lombard Theological School, articulated this heart for Liberal Religion. He called them the five smooth stones of religious liberalism, after the five smooth stones used by little David. They are our center, the heart of our shared faith, names for the tools that we carry with us and which help us find our way.
The first smooth stone is this: Revelation is open and continuous. There are those on the opposite side of the religious spectrum who believe that revelation is set down in one book only, and is sealed. Sealed! We, on the other hand, believe that not only is revelation not sealed, but it comes in a variety of forms. The truths that we learn, that get us closer to being the people we are capable of being and the world we are responsible for building, come to us in many ways. A bible verse, yes. But also a Buddhist sutra, a therapist’s observations, a work of fiction. In words, yes. But also in the particular tension of a chord in a particular song, in the way the light hits the trees just so, in the silence of a Quaker meeting. Revelations--glimpses of truth, of meaning, of purpose--may break into our lives an any moment. Any person we meet, like us or different, may contain just the next piece of revelation that connects our personal lives with the broader human and cosmic story. Thus, we covenant to promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people. They are all potential instruments of revelation, along with our books and learning and contemplations and dreams and scientific conclusions. We are open to all of that. We believe in possibility.
The second smooth stone reminds us that authentic human relationship is consensual. It is mutual, and never coerced. Our churches are built on covenant, not on hierarchies. Our membership, too, is based in the mutuality of covenant, and not on the tests of a creed. Likewise, our relationships with one another are mutual ones. “We need not think alike to love alike” said the 16th century Transylvanian Unitarian minister, Francis David. Our love for one another does not rest in our willingness to be persuaded. Our love for each other does not depend on the same understandings of God. Our community does not depend on a pecking order. Rather, it depends on all of us choosing to be a part of this faith of our own free will. It depends on our walking together...and on helping one another back to the path when we stray from it. We believe in love.
We know that the love between individuals must find expression in the community as a whole, as well as in the wider world. The third smooth stone of Liberal Religion is our obligation to the establishment of a just and loving community. When a certain political commentator recently attacked the pursuit of social justice in churches as an expression of communism and nazism, I recoiled. Does Glenn Beck know nothing of the life and work of Jesus? I stand with James Luther Adams, who notes that “a faith that is not the sister of justice is bound to bring us to grief.” In this faith, we understand that we have a moral imperative to create communities, large and small, that are just and loving for all people. We believe that we must be on the side of justice and love--we believe in the courage that such building can take.
We must gather our courage because of the next truth, the fourth smooth stone: We deny the immaculate conception of virtue. Good does not appear, set down among us by a giant heavenly hand. There is no goodness, as such. There is, instead, goodness in specific forms and expressions, like policies, institutions, or actions. Good is brought about by hard work, and our human hands must be set to the task of building the forms of goodness. While the moral arc of the Universe may bend toward justice, it will only do so when we are engaged in helping to direct it. Our hands and lives must take on the obligation that we acknowledge as part of our very humanity. The just and loving community is not created ex nilhio, anymore than the earth was created in six days. It is created when we look into the eyes of another, when we walk together, when we bridge divides, when we insist on equality for all people, when we change our personal and social systems to heal this wounded earth of ours, when we speak up for the voiceless, when we raise our fists against oppressions, when we acknowledge our own participation in broken systems and seek to make amends. We can not sit on tidy porches, sipping tidy drinks, while off in the distance the battles rage on. The just and loving community does not just appear. We know that ultimately, we must get in there and be part of its birth.
We believe in human responsibility.
God knows that there is work, yet for us to do, and that task of building the beloved community can seem, at times, impossible. But our faith does not fail us. In the fifth smooth stone, we are given hope. The fifth smooth stone assures us that resources are available--both human and divine--that can help to bring about the changes we seek. These resources are a reason for ultimate optimism. James Luther Adams, writing on the other side of World War II, is quick to point out that this does not always mean immediate optimism, but rather in an enduring spirit of humility and renewal which is the foundation of continuing progress. Optimism and hope is a part of our tradition--our Unitarian forbears proclaimed their unwavering faith in “the progress of mankind onward and upward forever!” There are resources that are human--our collective knowledge and experience, our never-ending drive toward life, our capability to love, our ingenuity and creativity. There are resources that are divine--the mysteries of grace and coincidence and synchronicity, the unfolding book of the Universe, an unassailable and ever- present interconnectedness and overarching Love. Because revelation is open and continuous, no doubt we will discover more resources along our way. Our optimism is justified. Thus, we believe in Hope.
Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
There are giants in our midst. Forces that stand between us and wholeness, between what we are and what we are capable of being. Forces that seek, by their own might and power, to render the beloved community merely a pipe-dream, a naive vision of silly liberals and our disgusting bleeding hearts. There are giants in our midst. Consumerism. Polarization. Fear. Hatred of the stranger. Intolerance. Jingoism. Violence. Apathy. Greed. These are the battles of our age. These are our battles. And we will not fight these with a sword; we will not shield ourselves with unwieldy armor. It is not our way.
Here, on the front lines, we can stand with our feet firmly planted, holding the legacy and the tools of our faith. Five smooth stones. Possibility. Love. Courage. Responsibility. Hope. Used with a little skill, giants don’t stand a chance.
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Rev. Ellen Cooper-Davis is the minister of Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Church in The Woodlands, Texas, and a proud Twitter-follower of John. You can find her @Rev_Mother online, or on her blog, Keep the Faith.
><> ><> ><>
Unitarian Universalism is a religion without a creed. Instead of creed, our membership in this faith rests on covenant. We agree to walk together in the ways of Love, to serve one another and the church, to seek truth.We are a direct expression of Liberal Religion. That is to say, we are a religion--one created fifty years ago through the mutual cooperation and partnership of two other religions- -and we use, in our common endeavor, the forms and language of religion. We are a church, engaged in ministry to and with its members and our community.
We are a religion, indeed, but being a Liberal religion means that while some of those forms might be similar to others’, our use of religious language, ritual, and the ways in which we minister to and with one another may not point to the same ultimate truths as other churches. In this faith, we pray, we speak of grace, we learn from Jesus, we do ministry to make lives better and to bring healing and wholeness. There are thousands of congregations and churches that do the same. But for many of them, the conclusions that they will come to about Life, the Universe, and Everything will be very different. We approach the questions, while many of them are sharing answers. The opposite of Liberal, here, is Fundamentalist. We do not belong in this faith because of our affiliation with any particular political party or outlook, or because we prefer either coffee or tea. We belong to this faith because our approach to the questions of ultimate value and worth and meaning and purpose is a religiously liberal approach.
Fortunately for us, while we have no creed, we do have a heart. A center. While we have no dogma, we do, in fact have doctrine--core understandings of what Liberal Religion and Unitarian Universalism are that are teachable, sharable, and can even be said concisely. I have made a commitment to all of you and to myself to find a better way to share the heart of Unitarian Universalism and Liberal Religion, most especially in my Southeast Texan context. It names our religious identity--how we fit into the world of religious context. It also names our doctrine--the beliefs we carry that help us slay giants in our lives and in our world. Here’s how it goes:
Unitarian Universalism emerged fifty years ago out of two historically Protestant denominations, which asserted the unity of God, the humanity of Jesus, and that there can be no hell because nothing can separate us from Ultimate Love. We believe in Possibilities, Love, Courage, Responsibility and Hope.
James Luther Adams, Unitarian minister, liberal religious theologian and professor at both the University of Chicago and at Meadville Lombard Theological School, articulated this heart for Liberal Religion. He called them the five smooth stones of religious liberalism, after the five smooth stones used by little David. They are our center, the heart of our shared faith, names for the tools that we carry with us and which help us find our way.
The first smooth stone is this: Revelation is open and continuous. There are those on the opposite side of the religious spectrum who believe that revelation is set down in one book only, and is sealed. Sealed! We, on the other hand, believe that not only is revelation not sealed, but it comes in a variety of forms. The truths that we learn, that get us closer to being the people we are capable of being and the world we are responsible for building, come to us in many ways. A bible verse, yes. But also a Buddhist sutra, a therapist’s observations, a work of fiction. In words, yes. But also in the particular tension of a chord in a particular song, in the way the light hits the trees just so, in the silence of a Quaker meeting. Revelations--glimpses of truth, of meaning, of purpose--may break into our lives an any moment. Any person we meet, like us or different, may contain just the next piece of revelation that connects our personal lives with the broader human and cosmic story. Thus, we covenant to promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people. They are all potential instruments of revelation, along with our books and learning and contemplations and dreams and scientific conclusions. We are open to all of that. We believe in possibility.
The second smooth stone reminds us that authentic human relationship is consensual. It is mutual, and never coerced. Our churches are built on covenant, not on hierarchies. Our membership, too, is based in the mutuality of covenant, and not on the tests of a creed. Likewise, our relationships with one another are mutual ones. “We need not think alike to love alike” said the 16th century Transylvanian Unitarian minister, Francis David. Our love for one another does not rest in our willingness to be persuaded. Our love for each other does not depend on the same understandings of God. Our community does not depend on a pecking order. Rather, it depends on all of us choosing to be a part of this faith of our own free will. It depends on our walking together...and on helping one another back to the path when we stray from it. We believe in love.
We know that the love between individuals must find expression in the community as a whole, as well as in the wider world. The third smooth stone of Liberal Religion is our obligation to the establishment of a just and loving community. When a certain political commentator recently attacked the pursuit of social justice in churches as an expression of communism and nazism, I recoiled. Does Glenn Beck know nothing of the life and work of Jesus? I stand with James Luther Adams, who notes that “a faith that is not the sister of justice is bound to bring us to grief.” In this faith, we understand that we have a moral imperative to create communities, large and small, that are just and loving for all people. We believe that we must be on the side of justice and love--we believe in the courage that such building can take.
We must gather our courage because of the next truth, the fourth smooth stone: We deny the immaculate conception of virtue. Good does not appear, set down among us by a giant heavenly hand. There is no goodness, as such. There is, instead, goodness in specific forms and expressions, like policies, institutions, or actions. Good is brought about by hard work, and our human hands must be set to the task of building the forms of goodness. While the moral arc of the Universe may bend toward justice, it will only do so when we are engaged in helping to direct it. Our hands and lives must take on the obligation that we acknowledge as part of our very humanity. The just and loving community is not created ex nilhio, anymore than the earth was created in six days. It is created when we look into the eyes of another, when we walk together, when we bridge divides, when we insist on equality for all people, when we change our personal and social systems to heal this wounded earth of ours, when we speak up for the voiceless, when we raise our fists against oppressions, when we acknowledge our own participation in broken systems and seek to make amends. We can not sit on tidy porches, sipping tidy drinks, while off in the distance the battles rage on. The just and loving community does not just appear. We know that ultimately, we must get in there and be part of its birth.
We believe in human responsibility.
God knows that there is work, yet for us to do, and that task of building the beloved community can seem, at times, impossible. But our faith does not fail us. In the fifth smooth stone, we are given hope. The fifth smooth stone assures us that resources are available--both human and divine--that can help to bring about the changes we seek. These resources are a reason for ultimate optimism. James Luther Adams, writing on the other side of World War II, is quick to point out that this does not always mean immediate optimism, but rather in an enduring spirit of humility and renewal which is the foundation of continuing progress. Optimism and hope is a part of our tradition--our Unitarian forbears proclaimed their unwavering faith in “the progress of mankind onward and upward forever!” There are resources that are human--our collective knowledge and experience, our never-ending drive toward life, our capability to love, our ingenuity and creativity. There are resources that are divine--the mysteries of grace and coincidence and synchronicity, the unfolding book of the Universe, an unassailable and ever- present interconnectedness and overarching Love. Because revelation is open and continuous, no doubt we will discover more resources along our way. Our optimism is justified. Thus, we believe in Hope.
Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
There are giants in our midst. Forces that stand between us and wholeness, between what we are and what we are capable of being. Forces that seek, by their own might and power, to render the beloved community merely a pipe-dream, a naive vision of silly liberals and our disgusting bleeding hearts. There are giants in our midst. Consumerism. Polarization. Fear. Hatred of the stranger. Intolerance. Jingoism. Violence. Apathy. Greed. These are the battles of our age. These are our battles. And we will not fight these with a sword; we will not shield ourselves with unwieldy armor. It is not our way.
Here, on the front lines, we can stand with our feet firmly planted, holding the legacy and the tools of our faith. Five smooth stones. Possibility. Love. Courage. Responsibility. Hope. Used with a little skill, giants don’t stand a chance.
><> ><> ><>
Rev. Ellen Cooper-Davis is the minister of Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Church in The Woodlands, Texas, and a proud Twitter-follower of John. You can find her @Rev_Mother online, or on her blog, Keep the Faith.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Whiskey Preacher: Are We Listening [Guest Post]
Phil Shepherd aka Whikey Preacher, a fellow outlaw preacher, and like a brother I never knew. We have
shared some difficult times, and some joyous fun in the last year.
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When John asked me to write a guest blog for him while gets in touch with his inner-hippie trucking all around Zion National Park, of course the question that arose in my mind was, “What the hell am I going to write about?”
Although seemingly most-likely-to-become-friends in a packed room, for we both have good looking tattoos, great taste in cigars, even better tastes in sing malt Scotch Whiskey, we both married up, and we both believe that Mark Driscoll is a misogynistic ass. In other ways it’s not like John and I have tons in common – John is a self-proclaimed Christian Anarchist (whatever the fuck that means) and I lean towards a self-sustaining capitalism, which makes John quiver with nausea anytime I mention that to him – so I try to do it as often as I can. John believes that the book of Revelation may be one of the greatest books in all of scripture and I think it should be yanked out of the bible because of the shitty theology, songs, and book series it has inspired. John sometimes acts like Shane Claiborne on crack, calling all to a radical social gospel, which I feel is needed; however, I also feel that the social gospel is incomplete at times, creating margins of a different kind. John is a house church planter, and I am church planter that has no desire to create a house church - although I find the house church a valid and a beautiful part of the greater body of the Resurrected Son; it simply is not my particular calling.
I could spend this entire blog post sifting through the differences that John and I have and though that would be fun (at least for me it would be), I would rather focus on why (despite our differences) we still call each other “brother.”
Over the years I have realized that not everyone is going to agree with me – no matter how much I try to persuade him or her to do so. I’ve also learned whether you are a self-sustaining capitalist pig such as myself, or you subscribe to anarchy with a Christo-centric twist, we as the body of Christ have conditioned ourselves not to listen to one another, but only kill time waiting for our turn to promote our views. Pete Rollins in his book “How (Not) To Speak Of God” articulates this point in a more detailed way and he suggests that we as “Christians” only wait for our turn talk and we have lost the art of conversation. We as “Christians” have bought into the farce of apologetics, thinking that it is still a relevant way to communicate, while closing off ourselves to the richness of diversity of different opinions.
Apologetics encourages us to take the posture of proving a point, rather than creating a dialogue. We get so worked up when someone disagrees with us, taking their views as personal attacks, getting angry or upset. We often then respond like a honey badger stalking its prey, not giving a shit who or what gets damaged by the verbal carnage that we are about to inflict. And for what reason do we do this? To prove that we are right? We’ve limited conversation to attack and counter-attack. The notion of apologetics is right or nothing – harmoniously believing the same thing at the end OR being right/wrong and having no ground to move forward. Apologetics is more about talking AT than talking WITH someone. We simply don’t know how to speak with someone AND agree to disagree.
That is what I love about my friendship with John: we agree to disagree on many things and yet we still call each other brother. He has even invited me to speak to his house church and I would one day love for him to come speak at the mega-church that I work at (note the irony here: The Eucatastrophe is by far *not* a mega-church). We find value in each other despite our differences. We love each other despite our differences. It’s not that I think John and I have evolved into a version of Christianity that is better than anyone else’s. Hell, if you look at us, you may think we haven’t evolved at all; some say we may look more like the missing link (especially when John grows his Castro beard out). I think we have at least learned to try to listen more, not just wait for our turn to speak, and have agreed-to-disagree when we don’t see eye to eye on an issue (or many issues in our case).
I am not interested in what is right or what is wrong, but what is healthy. And I think healthy is finding value in our differences – as long as both voices are being heard in the conversation. I love John and I love the voice that he brings to the table. And though I don’t always agree, I try to listen to where he is at, truly hear him out and engage with his perspective; I believe he tries to do the same with me….or at least he fakes it well.
John and I are not the end-all-to-be-all on every topic and perspective, even though we both like to believe we are at times. In all honesty, we are only but one example of how we can learn to listen to one another, agree to disagree, and be a part of the greater community of God.
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Phil (aka The Whiskey Preacher) is a Christian Church (Disciples Of Christ) minister who co-founded The Eucatastrophe with his crazy-smart beautiful wife Stephanie in the fall of 07 in downtown Fort Worth. You can find more of Phil’s writing & other musings at www.whiskeypreacher.com
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Although seemingly most-likely-to-become-friends in a packed room, for we both have good looking tattoos, great taste in cigars, even better tastes in sing malt Scotch Whiskey, we both married up, and we both believe that Mark Driscoll is a misogynistic ass. In other ways it’s not like John and I have tons in common – John is a self-proclaimed Christian Anarchist (whatever the fuck that means) and I lean towards a self-sustaining capitalism, which makes John quiver with nausea anytime I mention that to him – so I try to do it as often as I can. John believes that the book of Revelation may be one of the greatest books in all of scripture and I think it should be yanked out of the bible because of the shitty theology, songs, and book series it has inspired. John sometimes acts like Shane Claiborne on crack, calling all to a radical social gospel, which I feel is needed; however, I also feel that the social gospel is incomplete at times, creating margins of a different kind. John is a house church planter, and I am church planter that has no desire to create a house church - although I find the house church a valid and a beautiful part of the greater body of the Resurrected Son; it simply is not my particular calling.
I could spend this entire blog post sifting through the differences that John and I have and though that would be fun (at least for me it would be), I would rather focus on why (despite our differences) we still call each other “brother.”
Over the years I have realized that not everyone is going to agree with me – no matter how much I try to persuade him or her to do so. I’ve also learned whether you are a self-sustaining capitalist pig such as myself, or you subscribe to anarchy with a Christo-centric twist, we as the body of Christ have conditioned ourselves not to listen to one another, but only kill time waiting for our turn to promote our views. Pete Rollins in his book “How (Not) To Speak Of God” articulates this point in a more detailed way and he suggests that we as “Christians” only wait for our turn talk and we have lost the art of conversation. We as “Christians” have bought into the farce of apologetics, thinking that it is still a relevant way to communicate, while closing off ourselves to the richness of diversity of different opinions.
Apologetics encourages us to take the posture of proving a point, rather than creating a dialogue. We get so worked up when someone disagrees with us, taking their views as personal attacks, getting angry or upset. We often then respond like a honey badger stalking its prey, not giving a shit who or what gets damaged by the verbal carnage that we are about to inflict. And for what reason do we do this? To prove that we are right? We’ve limited conversation to attack and counter-attack. The notion of apologetics is right or nothing – harmoniously believing the same thing at the end OR being right/wrong and having no ground to move forward. Apologetics is more about talking AT than talking WITH someone. We simply don’t know how to speak with someone AND agree to disagree.
That is what I love about my friendship with John: we agree to disagree on many things and yet we still call each other brother. He has even invited me to speak to his house church and I would one day love for him to come speak at the mega-church that I work at (note the irony here: The Eucatastrophe is by far *not* a mega-church). We find value in each other despite our differences. We love each other despite our differences. It’s not that I think John and I have evolved into a version of Christianity that is better than anyone else’s. Hell, if you look at us, you may think we haven’t evolved at all; some say we may look more like the missing link (especially when John grows his Castro beard out). I think we have at least learned to try to listen more, not just wait for our turn to speak, and have agreed-to-disagree when we don’t see eye to eye on an issue (or many issues in our case).
I am not interested in what is right or what is wrong, but what is healthy. And I think healthy is finding value in our differences – as long as both voices are being heard in the conversation. I love John and I love the voice that he brings to the table. And though I don’t always agree, I try to listen to where he is at, truly hear him out and engage with his perspective; I believe he tries to do the same with me….or at least he fakes it well.
John and I are not the end-all-to-be-all on every topic and perspective, even though we both like to believe we are at times. In all honesty, we are only but one example of how we can learn to listen to one another, agree to disagree, and be a part of the greater community of God.
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Phil (aka The Whiskey Preacher) is a Christian Church (Disciples Of Christ) minister who co-founded The Eucatastrophe with his crazy-smart beautiful wife Stephanie in the fall of 07 in downtown Fort Worth. You can find more of Phil’s writing & other musings at www.whiskeypreacher.com
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sean Ferrell: Sacramental Universe [Guest Post]
Sean Ferrell, Sean is one of the smartest and well read people I have met, and a heart of a pastor. He is someone I call when I need advice, or a shoulder.
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Karl Rahner may well be the most important theologian of the last 500 years for both Roman Catholics AND non-Roman Western Christians. And if you are an evangelical or a mainline Protestant, he may be the most important theologian you've never heard of. It was the theology of Karl Rahner that was the basis for the reforms of the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church which happened October 11, 1962 - December 8, 1965. (Yes, his theology is important.)
Rahner’s theology radically changed all of Western Christian thought, and the theological transformation he began is sometimes known as the Rahner Revolution. This great revolution changed the emphases of sacramental theology, and of grace itself. Perhaps the most important concept to arise out of that theological revolution is the idea of Sacramental Universe. Though the concept takes hold in Rahner's theology and the theologians who follow him, the term is normally attributed to William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury in a former age.
Until very recently, Western Christians (Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Evangelical), perceived that God was somehow not always present with us, and that God’s presence was to be experienced in church (only), and that God’s presence was invoked primarily, if not exclusively, in the sacraments (Baptism, Holy Communion, etc.) The Church was seen as the primary arbiter of God's grace by its administration of these aforementioned sacraments. Rahner’s theological revolution turned these ideas on their heads. In this theology, God has been taken out of the box of being owned by the church. Rahner and other modern theologians assert that God is always and everywhere present, and that the problem is not God’s presence to us, but our presence to God. In other words, even in the most mundane of moments of our daily lives, God envelopes our very being, and the whole universe with God’s gracious love and presence. Even still, for lack of vision, we find it difficult to recognize God’s presence around us.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Poem, Aurora Leigh includes one of the best metaphors for the Sacramental Universe.
She writes,
Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries
Browning refers, of course, to the Old Testament story of the burning bush where God’s presence is so concretely manifested to Moses. The story at the heart of the Old Testament from Exodus 3 where God enjoins Moses from the burning bush to “remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” clearly ring through Browning’s words. Like the concept of Sacramental Universe, Browning does not only locate God’s presence in the burning bush on the mountain of God, but in every common place, everywhere. We who see take off our shoes and live reverently. And “the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”
For years now, I have used one of Scott Mutter’s photographs from his book, “Surrational Images” called “Church Aisle” in teaching confirmation classes to adults. As is his practice, the image is actually a juxtaposition of two photographs. The clearest image is of the interior of a church. When you looks more closely at the photo, one finds what appears to be a New York City street down the center aisle of the church.
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| Scott Mutter's Church Aisle |
I have oft pictured myself standing on that city street. If I take the time to re-tune my vision and if I can listen beyond the noisy street, I can see the Sacramental Universe: God’s glorious presence all around me. But more often than not, I am concerned with the passing car, or avoiding being hit by a bus, (the mundane stuff of life), and join the rest in plucking blackberries.
Perhaps the greatest joy of the notion of Sacramental Universe is a spirituality that is grounded in the Incarnation and the stuff of everyday life. Unlike the gnostic forms of Christianity, it does not seek to catch God out of the air, but to see God more clearly in the world around us in our everyday lives, and experience God physically and tangibly.
This way of seeing holds the potential to make any of us an ordinary mystic. And as many ordinary mystics know, Brother Lawrence’s practice of seeking God’s presence in the mundane – even when he cleaned toilets – is a model for seeking Christ.
Brother Lawrence wrote,
“I drove away from my mind everything capable of spoiling the sense of the presence of God.... I just make it my business to persevere in God’s holy presence... My soul has had an habitual, silent, secret conversation with God.”
When the God who created the cosmos and saw fit to write grace into every nook and cranny, when the whole universe is a sacrament, when God is always and everywhere present, when we are never in a place of not being loved by God, every breath and heartbeat become prayers ascending, and every moment is filled with the potential of deep divine encounter, every place in the cosmos a burning bush.
Open your eyes...
Open your eyes...
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| Mary Jane Miller's Christ is Present at All Times from the series "Line,Blur and Halo" moderncatholiciconography.com |
Sean Ferrell is a priest in The Episcopal Church. He lives with his wife and two sons in Jackson, Tennessee, and serves as Rector of Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Daniel Tharp: Corporate Christendom [Guest Post]
Daniel Tharp is a friend from the mma community, his knowledge of history, and his willingness to be skeptical about the present makes him a trusted voice in my life, though he hits hard with words and fists :)
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It’s no coincidence that with the Rage of the small business owner we have the Rage of the church planter. A young man just out of Bible College ( or an MBA in the secular world ) has been equipped for ministry. He has spent his parent’s money or taken out loans to learn the trade and earn a living. He has honed his homiletics and his selling skills, often referred to as outreach. He has learned organizational skills and probably interned at a church. Um…Discipled, I mean. Savvy in all of the latest marketing technology, communications and proper dressing for success, he is ready to start his own business.
As college has become available to virtually everyone, from online classes to for profit universities, people expect a payoff from their education. Why else would you put yourself through and pay money? The American Church has moved away from the missionary sentiment and narrowed their worldview to missions in their hometown. I have to say, there are people who should plant churches that have a niche working with the outliers. Those that don’t fit the mold. However, it seems that every strip mall church I went to had the same formula. Different faces, the same seeker friendly formula. I was shocked to find a pastor friend of mine that had his year’s sermons in a cardboard box. He had bought the series for a year in church from – an entrepreneur. God in a box. Bought and paid for.
From Bible Colleges to the famed tough guy with the spikey hair and affliction T-shirts, Mark aka Angry Tough Dude, Driscoll, there are church planter training courses that you audition for. He says explicity in a youtube video that you either have the look and feel or you don’t. Those that don’t, get sent packing, looking for another line of work.
So like a good business man, you have invested time and money into yourself for education, clothing, merchandising, technology, Sermons in a box. You have cultivated the lingo of the profession and networked like crazy. You’ve thought long and hard about branding yourself in a certain way to reach your target audience.
Like any new business in town, you begin to advertise. Seed money is taken to print up the most eye catching flyer you can come up with. It puts Obama’s campaign tactics to shame. No, wait, you paid someone to do that. A business that serves churches. The church planting package. You skipped the free stuff and bought the Full Service Package.
The School District made you a good deal on renting out the gymnasium. It’s a little rough right now but the market is good for property buyers and in this area of town, people have money. After surveying the town, you knew God wanted you here. The other side of town would scare people off. We are family based.
The music has to be right. You are a promoter and businessman. Your education has taught you how to capture the consumer and make him want your product. Your tech guy is a good man. In fact, all of your employees are perfect. After the interviews, you didn’t know who to go with. After a good long prayer retreat, God has spoken. God bless volunteers. There is a benefit to getting in early with a compa…church. Likely to move up faster.
You are ready to go. You hustle up leads. The best customer is the one who is dissatisfied with the service they received at their current retailer. But you know how to meet that need and your product is superior to your competitor by a long shot. You got the newest most innovative marketing and service in town.
The doors are open for business. You are the right man for the job. Thank God you have Dad’s head of hair. Grandpa on mom’s side went bald at 25. Word spreads and the coffers…I mean chairs are filling up. This new groundbreaking sermon has really hit home with these people.
Your wife is such a blessing. Her beauty is more than skin deep. Meeting at Bible College, you both knew the Lord would bless you in ministry. It’s all coming together. She represents the church so well that sometimes you don’t know who the owner of the business is. Her mothering skills are really attractive to other moms. Perfect time for a women’s group.
Your clientele are really amped each Sunday. You’ve found two point men to start cell groups with. They already have job experience at that other church. But this is where God wants them.
After a year in business, you have established a base budget. This is a good time to expand and get a more permanent home. You have to weigh the pro’s and con’s of this. Right now, you are making enough to start setting aside money for those student loans and a bigger house. The kids are growing and you need more room. It’s obvious that God’s Blessing this ministry. More people, more money to do his work.
It’s time to go legit with this business. You need a board of directors to manage your money. You can’t be bothered with paying yourself and taxes. You have an accountant at church. Thank God for volunteers. He plays the guitar so well and expressed his feeling that God is leading him to minister in music. There is Rod, who owns a construction company. He has discussed possibly teaching on Wednesday nights. He has felt the call since a child but now he has an avenue to use his gifts. All of the jobs were filled at his last church.
After a church retreat you are going to announce that God wants them all to have a spiritual home. Rod tearfully says that he is willing to donate land he owns and give it up to God instead of make a profit from it and he can contract the building. Wow, God had laid it on his heart to do all these things.
You and your wife are so thankful for all that you have built. God was in control. Only he could have brought all of this together. You can focus solely on your passion. Reaching out to your community and continuing to grow ………..You are making money and in control of your Destiny.
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Dan Tharp
With a degree in ancient history, I have pursued my two lifelong interests through reading and
writing. Early Christianity and Military History. The last 5 years have challenged me to explore
Good, Evil and War. I have a modern Military Adventure Novel coming out this Fall. ‘The Gold of Katanga’ and early next year I will release ‘The Crimson Cross’, a full length novel set in World War Two. Meticulously researched and written for Sinners and Saints alike, it spares nothing on war and faith. If you are looking for a Janette Oake novel, this is not for you.
Facebook me, if you blog, lets exchange blogs and if you write, lets share !
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