systamatic. mystic. systa-mystic.
has our systematic approach to theology, the Gospel, the church, etc., taken us to a place where we write off the mystical and mysterious that surrounds our God? has our mystical approach to theology, the Gospel, the church, etc., taken us to a place where we write off the absolutes and promises that surround our God? is there another choice?
"the Gospel is... a truth widely held, but a truth greatly reduced. it is a truth that has been flattened, trivialized, and rendered inane. partly, the Gospel is simply an old habit amoung us, neither valued nor questioned. but more than that our technical way of thinking reduces mystery to problem, transforms assurance into certitude, revises quality into quantity, and takes the categories of biblical faith and represents then in managable shapes... there is then no danger, no energy, no possibilty, no opening for newness! ...that means the Gospel may have been twisted, pressed, tailored, and gerrymandered until it is comfortable with technological reason that leaves us unbothered, and with an ideology that leaves us with uncriticized absolutes." walter brueggemann
makes ya think... or at least it should.
a church full of Johns...
community.
this word has become the poster child of our churches... only the child is nothing but a cartoon pencil drawing, erased as quickly as it was created.
this word has become the rallying cry of the people who occupy the pews on sunday morning... only to have the cry fade to a whisper, as we exit the building and set out on our own journeys, alone.
this word has become the way we desire to live, the way we will be “identified as followers of Jesus”. only we live this way the first and third wednesdays of the month from 6pm - 7:30pm, and not a minute later or we’ll miss simon, paula, and randy. (ironically we may have a deeper connection with them compared to those we were just with)
community has been my poster child, my rally cry, and the way i desire to live, but i’ve got a long way to go.
i have experienced the life changing power of community. as look back on my spiritual journey, and i look to the times when i felt God molding and forming me, and i see people. i see community. i see God’s face in the face of others. i feel his direction in the hands of others. i hear his comfort in the words of others. over and over again in my life, God. people. God. people. God. people. community. community. community.
but as i look closer, it was rarely organized. it was simply the heart of God coming through the heart of people.
henri nouwen wrote, “community is primarily a quality of the heart.”
this has been a reality for me. the more i surrender my heart over to community with God, the more my life is surrendered to the life changing power of community. it becomes the way i live, not the way i choose to live. because within that community with God, my heart finds security, it finds peace, it experiences comfort, and it grows in love. when my heart is experiencing these things of God, i am able to give these to those around me. my relationship with God overflows to those around me. and those around me overflow their relationship with God on me.
we are making a mistake by making and offering community as a “program” or “pillar” in our bodies of faith. to do this is to call people to a result of God’s love without experiencing it first. within a community, people can and will see God’s love and even feel God’s love, but we need to remember it’s God’s love, not the community, that touches their hearts. the community is God’s love in action. by pimping community within our churches as a part of “spiritual development” or as a piece of “spiritual formation” is a dangerous place for us to be. we are flirting with making community our idol. and i think we know how God feels about idols.
Jesus said to love God and to love people. i know their was purpose in this order.
i think instead of calling people to “live in community” or to “live life together” or to “come along side of people”, maybe we need to call people to fall deeper and deeper in love with our Creator. i’ll say it again, call people to fall deeper and deeper in love with our Creator. to introduce people to our Creator. to show people the peace within our Creator. to offer them the strength found in our Creator. the more i fall in love with God the more God’s love falls out of me. when we cultivate organized community, without having a heart cultivated by God first, we end up with a watered down, day old, clearance rack form of life, and we label it community. i want more. i want more God. i want more people. i want more God in the people. that would bring about a life-changing, life giving community.
more God in more people.
i think the key to understanding and living in a life changing and life giving community can be found in the perfect relationship shared within the Trinity. Father. Son. Holy Ghost.
it makes sense doesn’t it? we’ll never fully understand the depth of love and harmony that is shared within the Trinity in the season of eternal life.
community is the same.
i think...
i love it...
i find inspiration and challenge and creativity in much that comes from the creations of the david crowder band. the latest has streched my mind and burst forth laughter from my mug.
check out, www.whatdoesthissay.com it comes from the jacket of their latest cd, "sunsets and sushi".
enjoy the journey,
n8
the simple life?
Place Your Life Before God So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. romans 12v1-2
is this the path to "life to the full"?
it seems that every time i have a chance to share God's word with people, this text is always at the forefront of my thoughts. everytime i look to theology, i look at it through the context of the reality in this passage. it seems that all of our interpretations of spirituality - traditional, modern, post-modern, emergent, post-emergent; try to communicate this truth in a way that calls it's followers to a deeper conviction to live out this "life of surrender".
one could argue that the path to full life is one of "loving God and loving people". no more and no less. and while i agree, i wonder if a life of loving God and loving people can only take place
after we surrender every aspect of our life to God. then, and only then, will we be able to love God and people without any selfish agenda. no motives of saving people, no desires to prove our love to God. isn't this the life Jesus lead? one of complete and total surrender to His father, a complete and total devotion to His father, and then a complete and total devotion to people.
can the path to "life to the full" be this simple? and this hard?
...or maybe i'm just simple.
making these follow our God
thinking more about who Jesus was makes me realize that the best way for me to discover, understand, and be the kind of man He was, is to make these walk as He did... not as i want.
seek God and discover.
listen to the Holy Spirit and understand.
follow Jesus and be.
did Jesus have a job description?
many seem to think, at least those who are evangelical christians, that the job description that Jesus had was "to save the world", to "pay the price", or to "take our punishment". now, i don't see this as wrong... but i don't exactly see it as fully right.
i think we are missing some of the story.
not the story of the gospels or the bible or the story of the good news, but the story of the why. i think by simplifiyng Jesus down to the ultimate martyr, we miss out on the relationship with our Creator. that was the intended purpose of Jesus. Jesus came to bring unity. i am beginning to see Jesus not as just the Savior of my soul and the path to my eternity, but fully the Savior and Redeemer of a broken relationship with His father.
Jesus came to bring unity. unity between me and God, between me and you, between christians and muslims, between homosexuals and bigots and right wing conservitives. not just "to save", but to bring life. life to the full. life to the full with God AND life to the full with the fullness of God's creation.
not just those who are "in", but all of God's creation.
isn't that what Jesus did when He walked our earth? connected with those who needed to be unified with His father? and if Jesus is to be my model to follow, i can't just view Him as a Savior from my sin, but as a Savior to Life.
if i begin to understand Jesus' role as a role of unity, a role of Redeemer to a relationship with His father...then maybe i'll begin to see myself as a unifier, as someone who is empowered to help people meet Jesus as the Redeemer, and i'll stop living a life that is safe and self centered.
i'll start living the life Jesus modeled.
life to the full.
i think...
my thoughts
so this is where i'm suppose to start writing down my thoughts, we'll see.
