You are responsible forever for what you have tamed.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
resources
- 2 samuel 23:20-22
- the guts of leadership
share your thoughts
What does emerging ministry for Peace mean to you? Why is it risky?
What do you think might be the most difficult lion-chasing skill for you to master?
- defying odds?
- facing fears?
- reframing problems?
- embracing uncertainty?
- taking risks?
- seizing opportunities?
- looking foolish?
10 comments:
To me it means getting outside categories of inside and outside, believer and skeptic, respectable and disreputable, in order to make peace with and be useful and available to our surrounding community. It means making church where people are, instead of where we feel safe. It meand going in to branded culture, not to become it, but to share and learn in the space that most people live in. For me it has an additional meaning of integrating parts of my life, as I'm kind of living in three worlds, a rebellious, countercultural world, a striving materialist suburban world, and a faith community. All of us have our feet in different places, and we have a bad habit of putting on and taking off our faith like a costume... jargon, behavior, and expectations "turn on" when we walk in to Peace. I think the difference between "emergent" church and traditional church is centered in the ideas that "believers" don't have an exclusive hold on God's attention, and that we have as much to learn from the "outside" folks as they do from "us." peacemaking and bridge-building are terms that keep coming up for me here. It's been said that you can't build a bridge from one side only, and though I'm not an engineer, I like the analogy and its implications. Church has become too much a way of being different from the world, rather than a vehicle for God's purpose IN the world. We really can't do it from inside the building... we have to make new spaces, new patterns, new practices, in order to go into the "harvest field" that God has placed us in the middle of.
It's scary because it means being radically honest with each other and with our friends outside of church. It's scary because it means giving up a lot of what we thought we wanted church for: stability, safety, trustworthiness, peace and quiet. It's scary for me because it means letting "non-believers" see what a mystical fruitcake I am, and it means letting other church-ians see what an unrepentant rock and roll rebel I am. It's scary for me because at a time when salaried work in a church has given meaning to previous struggles in music, I'm advocating for a model that might make my job irrelevant, or at least much less necessary.
I don't really know what emerging church is, or even if it is supposed to 'be' anything, other than different. I know it sounds harsh, but I really think that our church is decidedly 'non-emergent'. There are some signs of change, to be sure. And a lot of what goes on is both good, and cool. But emergent? Doesn't that imply we are out there?
I used to think that posting my thoughts on-line was somewhat bold and risky, especially if I could be a bit more provocative (perhaps more authentic). Instead, it feels hauntingly similar to standing on the edge of a beautiful lake, alone, skipping rocks. I find it peaceful and somewhat therapeutic. I see God out there. But, I feel pretty much alone. Ocassionally a fellow traveller journeys by, and stops to say hello, then travel on to their favorite spot. Rarely does a 'stranger' engage. Is there someone -- someones -- hiding in the woods, observing, afraid to come out and be seen?
I think of other places I go -- mundane places, mostly -- the public square -- the market -- restaurants -- other walking paths. There are people there. People I used to largely ignore. I am not, by nature, an out-going person. It used to be: strictly in and out, do what had to be done, the fewer words, the lesser interaction, the better.
Lately I find myself having brief conversation. Not exactly small talk, either. Christians (how ironic is this name?) late last night, for example -- I had not eaten since noon, just too busy, driving up to Warrenton and back for training, then preparing for Spanish Class, then going to class. I had to have something to eat. It was 10 minutes before closing -- no ordinary shop would have served me. A very bright, cheerful, young (at my age, almost everyone qualifies as young) latino woman took an order without protest. Latin music filled the store while I waited. Really good Latin music. And, after just sitting a while, eyes closed, listening to the music, I felt moved to engage. I used a butchered mix of Spanish and English to talk with her about the music, the artist, and somewhere along the way, Spanish classes at Peace, then mission trips to Honduras, and finally, how awesome God is. 5-10 minutes of conversation. A sharing. A connection. An invitation extended.
These days I fiind myself doing that often. The clerk at Food Lion. The restaurant proprietor. My barber.
You know I started out my career as an engineer. Ken is right to say that it is said that you cannot build bridges from one side only. That is conventional thinking. All things are possible. Brideges can be, though they are not often, built from one side. In fact, doing so takes more faith, ingenuity, perseverence. I don't think that "they" will come inside to "us". We can invite; but, I think if we do so, we must do so much more boldly than imagined.
In fact, I think God expects us to move more boldly, take more risk, than would seem prudent.
How else would we be ready to trust in Him?
I like the quote from the Little Prince. It is part of a dialogue about a flower... a rose. Is our faith a rose? Do we admire it? Cherish it? Worship it? Coddle it? Forget to use it? Share it? Proclaim it? Is it too precious? Too fragile? Too personal?
Are we like the drunk man, drinking to forget, fogetting our shame, our shame that we drink? Is that how we live our faith? For our eyes only? For our heart only? For our mind only? Drinking to forget our shame that we chose to drink alone?
That's what I sometimes wonder, when I hear the arguments. The rationale for doing things my way, for my comfort, on my terms, in my time. Where is God in that? Am I pretending to reach down to Him? No wonder we mainstream Christians are seen as foolish.
The only -- only -- basis for Christianity is Faith.
How often do we show it?
Ken, I have to say that I have long admired your willingness to show your mystical fruitcakiness. I think that if more of us were as transparent with our resemblance to certain baked goods, then people on the "outside" would be able to see the transformation that occurs when someone becomes a Christ-follower.
I think that those on the outside expect and need to see that we are different. They need to see us practice what we say we believe. Why should they listen to us when we say one thing but do another? (Or in some cases, say nothing and do nothing.) That is a difference I see in the emerging church--more emphasis on mission and community: caring for and about the things God cares for.
However, I am learning lately that the boundaries between inside and outside are not always where they appear to be. We cannot assume that everyone "inside" is a believer any more than we should assume that someone on the outside isn't. So the whole costume-changing thing is a bad idea on two fronts.
Inside/outside, us/them--do the labels serve any purpose, other than to divide? But how do you show transformation while at the same time erasing boundaries?
I took so long to write this that Eric posted a comment in the meantime. I think he answered my question in his post. He was out there, being himself, engaging others in a (somewhat, since he said it is not his inclination) natural, authentic way.
Ok, I should probably go read the chapter now, since this may have nothing to do with what we are supposed to be talking about.
"Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop criticizing and start creating. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilacs. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Laugh at yourself. Keep making mistakes. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. And remember: if God is for us who can be against us?"
If these words don't speak to you, what does?
I also found myself screaming yes !!! at the following from Chapter 1:
"Spiritual maturity is seeing and seizing God-ordained opportunities."
Then (no, I did not make this up, or plant it):
"At the end of the day, success equals stewardship and stewardship equals success. But our view of stewardship is far too parochial. Sure, how we manage our time, talent, and treasure is a huge stewardship issue. But what about being a good steward of our immagination? ... Stewardship is all-inclusive. We've got to be good stewards of every second of time, and every ounce of energy. But right at the top of the stewardship list is what I'd call opportunity stewardship."
Isn't that largely about fear? And fear, is that about the absence of faith?
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Angela, your comment about not assuming that "insiders" share a common set of convictions seems very important to me. Experience with bible study and triad here has led me to the same observation. I was sort of dancing around the same point by talking about putting on a "costume" of expected behavior and jargon.
The upcoming series on doubt will deal with some of this, but maybe not in the way we need to address it in order to really move forward on the things you and Eric are raising.
I think maybe we're too cautious in talking about authorship and scripture; about faith and science; about our theology of reliance on grace as it appears against the dominant view (both inside and outside the church) of self-reliance and competition; about the ways in which the church clearly fails (so far) to meet the spiritual and social needs of the culture around it, and of many who are "inside" it at least in terms of regular attendance.
We speak well about this stuff to each other, but two questions linger: do we really believe and follow it "inside"? and are we really equipping each other to talk about it with people who don't share our jargon and our (sometimes loosely held) assumptions?
The idea of "emergent" church to me is not so much important as some particular new model we can agree on and then go do; it's more a question of being ready to question EVERYTHING about what we do and say. EVERYTHING abotu our place in the community and the culture. It's about freedom of thought and action, forgetting about the proprieties of denominational membership and congregational expectations COMPLETELY.
We can make nice inside the building, in fact I've been arguing that we need a healthy dose of proactive peacemaking among the congregation. But here at Lion Chasers Inc., we need to be bold, reckless, even dangerous, in order to break out of the box we've trapped ourselves and each other in.
Question for the group: what do you think are the biggest unmet social needs in the neighborhood surrounding peace Lutheran? How are these needs made visible, and how might Peace respond to them? If you tell me that no one in Hollymead/Forest Lakes has any unmet needs beside spiritual ones, I will go and cry, so please don't say that, my children hate to see me cry.
acckk! Too much to digest...
I find it difficult to wrap my mind around the idea of emerging. I tend most to re-word or re-define it as relevant. Is Peace equipping us to go out there? Do I even have a clue what God even wants me to do out there? If I were to stick to the notion of emerging... I see an image of something coming out of a cocoon. Emergence... awakening.. blend together in a sense that God is waking up our souls, our spirits.. praise and praiseful worship, prayer hours.. (not a 3 minute deal)... song and dance.. and YES! Stewardship of imagination and opportunity were phrases that jumped up to play with me ...
In regards to out there...
I really feel that my job is a daily mission in so many ways. Yet.. I can't really speak about my faith in 'faith-based' words. I like the challenge apparently. But sometimes I wonder if that just isn't a convenient cop-out. But I would love to feel comfortable bringing my I'm-not-so-sure-about-this-God-thing friends to a church that was prepared to welcome them.
I want Peace to reflect all of the diversity and all of the strengths we have in our family. Not just one view. I want Peace to celebrate a great many expressions and representations of what God is up to.
It's risky.. because some people might get pissed and leave. It might upset our financial foundation. It might mean we lose some of our friends.
It might even mean that people leave offended and hurt without really understanding the issues. Are we prepared to risk friends and finances?
Or are those false choices? I would have to say the risk(s) lie within our own internal understandings. I have at least enough faith in God to trust that He wouldn't let anything happen that wasn't suppose to happen for each of our greater good.. and for the good of His Kingdom.
Hurray - comments, I wasn't getting any notification, so I was starting to get worried. Guess I better get in on the conversation.
On the way home from church today, we saw a taxi with a bumper sticker - "Please Lord, save me from your followers!". I totally understand this sentiment, it's why I think the church needs change. As Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, "Is organized religion to inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world?" I hope not and I feel that the emerging church movement is wrestling with just this idea.
What does emerging ministry at Peace mean to me? It means looking & giving voice to those outside our walls priority. It means meeting people where they are with love and service, not expectations. It means having a strong, effective voice for those whose voice has been ignored and repressed.
Why is it risky? Because it makes everybody uncomfortable. Those who want change and don't see it happening fast enough or don't know exactly what the next step is and those who don't want change.
What will be the most difficult lion-chaser skill for me to master? I imagine it will be embracing uncertainty. I love a plan. I like knowing how to get from point A to point B. This idea that there's a point B out there somewhere that I feel compelled to try and find, but without GPS or google maps. The only thing that gives me any hope is that I don't appear to be alone.
I know I'm a little late to jump in on this, but here it goes anyhow:
Emergent ministry at Peace:
Authenticity is a word that you hear over and over again as people talk about emerging ministry, regardless of the context. But I cannot help but wonder (along with Ken and Angela), "What is authentically Peace Lutheran Church?" We are a collection of believers, some of whom have radically different practices and beliefs in matters of worship, evangelism, discipleship, even scriptural authority. One of the things that I love most about Peace is that there is space within the community for these differences, because we come back time and time again to those four phrases:
love God
love one another
grow in Christ
go in Christ
If the halmarks of emerging ministry are transparency and authenticity, then I think that we should be very honest about our differences, but equally honest about what keeps us together. In fact, I think this could be one of our greatest assets. Christianity gets a bad rap for laying out a sort of spiritual checklist and only once you can check enough boxes will you be welcome into our fellowship. What if we were authentic enough, transparent enough, to say, "Look, we come from a lot of different places, and there are things that we just don't see eye to eye about. But we do these things together because we have felt the love of God and we want to share that love with others."
We are told in the scriptures that God's power is made perfect in our weakness. Could it be that what so many people have looked at as a weakness could actually become a tool for ministry? a place for God's light to shine through?
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