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Knowing God, Knowing Self

I was reading the recent (Winter '06) copy of Congregations, the magazine of the Alban Institute, and came across an article by Jeffrey D. Jones proposing metaphors & traits for future Christian leaders.  Jones gives a good, evocative list: heart of a servant, mind of an architect, spirit of an ascetic, arms of a hugger, strength of a gymnast, legs of a marathoner, and soul of a poet.  (I'd replace "mind of an ecologist" for "mind of an architect," perhaps, but that would be another post.)

While I think he is right-on in identifying "the spirit of an ascetic" as a key quality for 21st-century Christian leadership, and I am glad he points us to the desert fathers & mothers, I think he misses the mark in a significant way.  The question is one of knowing ourselves, and knowing God: how are they related?

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  Matthew 6, Psalm 51, Joel 2, 2 Corinthians 4.

Ashes.  Marking foreheads with the sign of the Cross.

"Remember you are dust..."

On the face of the woman who just buried her mother. 

The little child.  The newborn baby.  How can I make sure not to get any of it in his eyes?

"...and to dust you shall return."

On the forehead of the young man now a couple of years into living with a brain tumor.  On the wife of a man whose doctor just had to use the "c" word, cancer.  Do I really need to remind these folks of mortality?

The almost intimate act of brushing aside hair, the sloppiness of ashes.  The heartbreak of saying those words to someone who likely won't be with us next year.

The teen who is invincible.  The retiree who can hardly stay standing as I touch his face.

"Remember you are dust..."

To the man who labors for the church behind the scenes every day.  To the couple who backbite and spread gossip but are sweetness and light to your face.

The man whose secret sin, exposed for the world to see, would crush anyone not sustained by the grace of God: he staggers away, stained and tear-drenched.

"...and to dust you shall return."

I can still feel the ashes on my own face, my visage marked by a sign of cleansing, repentance, mortality, and renewal.  I need those ashes.  I need God's grace.

But I can still feel the ashes on all of their faces too.  What a terrible, wonderful beauty God's mercy is.  What a piercing love Jesus brings; a sword, indeed.

Remember that you are dust.  And to dust you shall return.

Remember that you are God's.  And to God, may we all return.

Technorati tags: Ash Wednesday Lutheran dust repent

 

What We Profess, and What We Believe

Why is it so hard for USA Christians, particularly mainline Protestants, to do ministry around stewardship and evangelism?  These two essential dimensions to deepening Christian life and thriving Christian community are often the two aspects of a congregation's ministry that struggle the most.

The "evangelism committee" (or team, or group, or task force) always needs more members.  Stewardship always has an uncomfortable feel to it.  Congregations are always asking for help in these two aspects of mission.  And they are also frequently the flashpoints around which congregational anxiety and conflict erupt.

Stewardship and evangelism.  Why?

Well, I'm sure that part of it is they're both so "personal."  They imply vulnerability.  (I have to confess - talking stewardship doesn't feel invasive to me the way I perceive it does for so many.  I think a big part of that is having my full compensation package publicly voted on every year.  But I think I'm in the minority on this one.)  For some reason, we are so awkward when it comes to talking about how we give, save, and spend our money.  And for some reason, we get so scared when it's time to share with others the news we are convinced is the best there ever will be.

I have a guess at one of the deeper, more powerful, reasons why this is all so.

Sometimes, It Just Doesn't Work

Hippolytus, The Refutation of All Heresies:

"It is said that Thales of Miletus, one of the seven wise men, first attempted to frame a system of natural philosophy...  And he, looking toward heaven, alleging that he was carefully examining supernal objects, fell into a well; and a certain maid, by name Thratta, remarked of him derisively, that while intent on beholding things in heaven, he did not know what was at his feet."

So why does Hippolytus, in his (oh so modest) endeavor to refute all heresies, start here?  The obvious answer is chronology: start with the earliest Greek philosopher.  But maybe there's something else going on in this account of an egghead scholar being mocked by a common maid.

Thales was brilliant; enough so that he is remembered, in reputation and by repetition at least, to this day.  That's wonderful, Hippolytus would grant.  But his deep learning didn't accord with the mundane, messy (dare I say incarnate?) realities of lived existence.  He fell into holes in the ground.  Maybe Hippolytus starts his defense of the Christian faith not on the basis of scholarly accomplishment (how many thinkers will be remembered thousands of years after their death?), but on the basis of where a person's feet end up.

There's Something in Your Faith That Needs An Enemy...

"Fundamentalist."  It's a word that gets thrown around a lot.  We know it has historical roots in those Christians who, resisting what they saw as the modernist-liberal distortion of Christianity, subcribed to certain non-negotiable "fundamentals" such as the bodily resurrection of Jesus.  Rejection of "higher criticism," belief in miracles, etc.  (See here for the books.)  Well, the word has escaped that meaning and has taken on a life of its own.  Now, "fundamentalist" is an adjective that can be added to almost anything: fundamentalist Islam, fundamentalist Christianity, fundamentalist Judaism, even fundamentalist secularism! 

Wiser heads than I have seen that the "fundy" label often gets used by secular/ progressive folks for anyone who takes religious faith seriously enough that it influences their behavior.  In other words, if your faith isn't entirely private, you must be a fundamentalist.  That's not exactly useful.

There is a certain mindset, though, that the term evokes.  Is there a way to use it in a helpful, descriptive manner?  I'd like to take a stab at it.

Road Trip!

What a cool weekend, spent with 200+ youth at the DE-MD Synod's senior high youth retreat, Road Trip.

The band Daniel's Window was there.  Holy buckets, do they rock.  Their versions of "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand" and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" (the latter played during Holy Communion) are just phenomenal.  My favorite tune of theirs, though, is "Trading My Sorrows."  For all you orthodox Lutherans out there, it's Luther's "happy exchange" in a contemporary worship song.  Much fun.  Great worship.

The theme was "against the current," and in large group presentations, compelling faith stories shared by folks, and small group Bible studies from the book of Acts, the theme of being called, transformed, empowered, and led by the Holy Spirit to go against the tide of our world was explored.  Video clips, stories, lively teaching, and small group conversation allowed the material to be presented in a wide variety of learning modalities.  Good Shepherd's youth got a ton out of it, had a blast, and also conducted themselves in an amazing way.  One of our kids has been going through very challenging times, and was only able to be with us for a fraction of the weekend.  But when he was there, I was so impressed by how the other guys (we only brought guys on this retreat; our high school group is overwhelmingly male, which is pretty unusual) reached out to him and made him feel welcome.  I'm pretty dang proud.

Nowhere near as proud, though, as I am of my wonderful wife, Paige.  She was the event's chaplain, meaning she was one of the main "up front" presenters, teachers, and worship leaders.  She rocked!  It was awesome.  She's got a great presence (even when some youth were being pretty disruptive during a key teaching time), she really connected the Scripture passages with the kids' lives, and kept the focus on what Jesus has done/ is doing/ will do for and through the youth, rather than on what the kids "have to do now."  Much Gospel was proclaimed.  And I got to spend the weekend saying, "I'm her husband!"  Yay!

Technorati tags: Lutheran Road Trip youth ministry Daniel's Window

So You're a Part of the Religious Right? Wrong!

Labels like "conservative" and "liberal" annoy the heck out of me, even as I sometimes use them as convenient, yet awkward, shorthand.  Let's face it; they have become nearly pointless.  Think about a standard evangelical church.  Doctrinally, they'll be "conservative."  But in terms of worship, they'll be very "liberal" - with a non-sacramental practice and a pattern of the service very different from the historic ordo of Christian worship.  Many of them will believe that they are being "conservative" in their worship, though, because, well, "we're conservative Christians."

And don't even try to sort out what "conservative" theology really means!  Is it "conservative" to insist on the essential centrality of a model of the atonement (vicarious satisfaction/ penal substitution) that was perhaps present, but certainly not prominent, for what, the first millennium of Christian theology?  Is it "conservative" to insist on claims about the Bible that are not found in the Bible itself?  Which is more "conservative:" strict TULIP Calvinism, Nicene Orthodoxy, or hard-core Gnesio-Lutheranism?

How We Hear the Word

Fellow Lutheran blogger Melanchthon made a great comment on an earlier post of mine.  Here's a quick excerpt of his comment:

I wonder if maybe we've turned the demand side of this into a caricature. As Lutherans, when we think "what does this demand of us" we have a tendency to think in terms of "the law always kills". What I'm trying to feel my way toward is a position where the command of Christ can also be seen as a Living Word -- not in the sense of making us righteous if we obey it but as a life-giving gift.

Ahhh....  This is good stuff.  I'm going to fall back on what one of my OT professors taught me, which I've quoted a number of times, but which I think really works here.  In addition to asking what the Bible says, what the Bible means, and how to apply that meaning to my life (a great 3-step process I was taught through InterVaristy), we also have to ask the question, "What does the Bible do here?"

There Is No One Righteous, Not Even Damon...

Further empirical proof for the doctrine of sin.

Technorati tags: traitorous weasels rapacious greed the Evil Empire Johnny Damon turncoat Red Sox bitterness

Illuminating the Word

Earlier, I blogged a bit about "The Splendor of the Word," a NYPL special exhibition.  That was just preliminary stuff.

Here's what really fascinated me about the manuscripts: intertextuality.  Or, "how we desperately need the help of pre-modern,  long-dead medieval artists to read the Bible in a modern & post-modern world."

My Wife, the Cookie Nerd

Yes, Paige is a cookie nerd.  And believe me, that's a very good thing.  (Mmmmm.... chocolate chip cookies!)  I'm a blessed guy.

For proof of Paige's cookie-nerdiness, read this post on Come to the Table, her newly-launched food blog (especially the last picture)!  Give her blog a look, and check back often for recipies and other foodblogging goodness.

Technorati tags:

chocolate chip cookies, nerd, food blogs

Great Article

For some appreciation of the Apostle Thomas, as well as the great title, "Stop Channeling Marsha Brady," check out this article on the Next-Wave ezine.

Placing Ourselves in the Word?

If your church could provide Bibles to people with their own pictures inserted into the text, should they?

Why do I ask?  Well...

Paige and I recently took a short trip up to New York City.  One of the things we did was visit a special exhibition at the New York Public Library called "The Splendor of the Word."  It featured breathtaking medieval & Renaissance illuminated manuscripts.  They included Bibles, public worship books, private devotional materials, and secular/ scientific writings.

The artwork is gorgeous and the accompanying text and audio guide are quite informative.  The exhibit raised some fantastic questions about how we honor, interpret, and apply Scripture.  And it also demonstrated that even some very new, very "post-modern" questions really are quite old.

Inter-Religious Emergers?

Some very interesting conversation going on in regards to this release from Emergent-US.  Basically, emergent Christian leaders meeting with post-modern Jewish leaders in an attempt to talk about building sacred communities in our cultural context.

You can read some of the debate here and here.

The main area of concern seems to be that McClaren's words may indicate that Jewish-Christian cooperation will advance the Kingdom of God. 

Hmmm.  What does this mean?

Pastor Hack - Juggling Liturgies

"Pastor, can you explain to me the meaning of life?"

It's a joke one of our lay leaders has gotten in the habit of making.  As he is taking on an increasing role in leading our worship life, he is becoming more and more aware of how much "focus" is needed in the pre-service moments, AND of how likely it is that someone will, within 90 seconds of the start of a worship service, come up to a pastor/ leader and ask a question on par with "I need to know the meaning of life NOW." 
 

But it's a reality of ministry life.  People don't mean to be rude, but they try and engage about the meaning of life, a profoud pastoral care concern, or an important church decision right before worship, sometimes literally as I'm walking into the sanctuary, with my mic on!  And then you try and write yourself a note to follow up with them...  Where's the pen?  (Under your vestments, of course!)  Piece of paper, piece of paper...  Well, there's 3 of them stuck into each of the 2 worship books you're carrying, with announcements that need to be made, a prayer list, etc.  Can't keep track of them, never mind which one I can use as scrap paper...  Ugh.  Oh yeah, and the person who's supposed to help lead worship didn't show up, so do I have an extra copy of the prayers???

So any little advantage you can get in this situation, to help you serve your people in and outside of the worship service, can pay off big time.  Here's one little trick that takes a fair amount of time, but is easily worth it in my book: a weekend "worship book" with everything you need right in your hands.