Neglect

In my often overly romantic teen years I once wrote a poem about killing a flower. The idea was that there are dramatic and violent ways to kill it, but doing so by depriving the flower of the basic things it needs to survive is ultimately more devastating.

I've been neglecting this blog for the last few months.

If you want to see where my head is at these days you should chase me down at the Catalyst Foundation or on facebook.

When can I walk to school?

Shortly after getting out of the van from dropping off three children at school and daycare this morning I came across this from Al Hsu.
Life for me is in some kind of constant tension between competing convictions. I want my children to be confident, curious, and independent; but I worry whenever they are out of sight for too long. I want to minimize environmental impact; but driving less is terribly inconvenient. I want to spend more time connecting with my neighbours; but our own calendar already feels full.
The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, it is always easy to identify the sell-outs and compromises in the lives of others. When I hear of those doing much more good than I am I feel guilty. At the same time I can't imagine the sheer research load of doing something like Ben Bowen does.
Anybody else enjoying the angst?

Cosmo-Christians

Really like this article from Skye Jethani at Our of Ur, so I'm going to just post the whole darn thing:

Cosmo-Christians
A new breed of believers is challenging the nature and scope of Christian engagement in the world.
by Skye Jethani

Last year during the presidential campaign, the Christian segment of the population once believed to be a monolithic voting block turned out to be more diverse than previously believed. The hold of the Religious Right, Christian Coalition, and other GOP-leaning groups over the evangelical brand started to loosen. What emerged was a new, generally younger, more urban, and less politically idealistic group of Christian voters. Michael Lindsay, author of Faith in the Halls of Power, refers to them as "Cosmopolitan Evangelicals." According to Lindsay, they:
• reject signifiers of "populist" Christianity, such as the Left Behind books and Thomas Kinkade paintings.
• are less involved in local churches, but highly involved with parachurch organizations.
• may not theologically agree with same-sex civil unions, but they don't see them as an assault on the culture.
• remain definitively pro-life.
• are more engaged with matters of local and global justice. AIDS, poverty, and human rights have been added to "traditional family values" in their set of concerns.
• recognize the legitimacy of environmental matters and view them through the theological lense of "creation stewardship."
The movement of a number of evangelical heavy-hitters like Rick Warren and Richard Cizik toward poverty and environmental issues is an indication that cosmopolitan Christians are gaining influence, as is the inability of Religious Right pillars like James Dobson and Pat Robertson to rally young people in high numbers.
Lindsay's definition, heavily slanted to political issues, is an interesting starting point, but I believe the characteristics of this new breed of evangelicals may be broader than he's articulated. Consider the definition of the word cosmopolitan:
To be free from local, provincial, or national ideas, prejudices, or attachments; at home all over the world.
In a real sense, the younger cosmopolitan Christians have grown up with a global awareness on a scale unprecedented in American history. They are more connected via technology to the realities of global injustice, mission, and economics. And unlike populist or provincial Christians who carry a "God and country" value into their cultural engagements, the cosmopolitan Christians are more likely to downplay the role of patriotism in their faith and see global concerns as paramount.
But there may also be a common theological thread among cosmopolitan Christians as well. There is a significant debate occurring within the church about whether social justice is central to or is simply an implication of the gospel. In other words, did Jesus' incarnation, life, death, and resurrection seek merely to redeem humans who then express their redemption through good works on the earth? Or, was healing of social injustices part of Jesus' redemptive mission?
Increasing numbers of Christians are coming to the belief that healing the world's injustice is part of God's kingdom mission. A gospel with a wider scope than men's souls, as articulated by N.T. Wright's reflections and Robert Webber's Christus Victor perspective, is providing a theological framework for cosmopolitan Christians to hang their values upon. And they are not without biblical basis. The Apostle Paul says in Colossians 1:19–20:
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
The reconciliation and redemption of "all things" that are broken, fallen, and rebellious in the world give cosmopolitan Christians a strong rationale for engaging issues of justice, poverty, environmental stewardship, and culture, as well as evangelism.
So the newly branded "Cosmo Christians," as I like to call them, have at least two qualities that define both the nature and scope of their mission. First, they are cosmopolitan-Christians concerned with the world's pressing issues and injustices. Second, they are cosmic-Christians who see the scope of God's redemptive work in Christ as extending to "all things," and not simply the rescuing of people's souls from a world destined for destruction.

10 Ways to NOT love your neighbour

I've been thinking a lot about what Jesus means when he tells us we are meant to love our neighbours and why us church people seem to find that so hard. I've been thinking a lot about my neighbours, the people who live on my street and what it would mean for me to love them. Here are ten ways I know that I can show I don't love them:

1. Drive more than 20 minutes to church: If my spiritual community and my geographic community are only connected by highway it is almost certain they will rarely connect. Part of Christian love is desiring to merge those communities.
2. Move more than 3 times in a decade: Love requires familiarity, moving makes it nearly impossible.
3. Never ask for help or admit your struggles: Hiding our faults doesn't make us look more godly, it makes us look fake; fake isn't love.
4. Spend lots of time in your back yard: In the suburbs (where I live) backyards are where we go when we don't want to see people, front yards and driveways are where we might end up in a conversation.
5. Don’t borrow things: Being self-sufficient is ultimately wasteful and exclusive.
6. Invite them out, but only to church events: Treating the folks next door only as projects is offensive.
7. Stereotype them: Take a little time to find out some of the stereotypes people have of Christians, especially evangelicals and you'll understand why this is so harmful.
8. Pray for them without asking permission: This one is a bit sketchy I admit, but how much more loving is it to ask someone what they want from God rather than pursuing your own agenda.
9. Spend at least 4 evenings/week not at home: More nights at church events does not equate to more love for neighbours. When do you expect to know them if you're never around?
10. Have church friends over often: The corollary here is that you don't simultaneously have neighbours over. If our social lives are filled with people from church we give the impression (usually accurate) that we have no interest, need, or time for getting close to those who live next door.

I admit that by these standards I don't love my own neighbours very much...I'm committed to changing that this summer.

Final Final Post

New posts are going up at www.catalystfoundation.ca
Update your reader/bookmark to keep up with what's happening at Catalyst.

De-baptism?!?

(This one's for you Yaksman)

Came across this article today about 100 000 people who have downloaded a certificate of de-baptism to signify that they are no longer in agreement with the decision made by their parents to ritually include them in the church. I've gotta say that I kinda like the idea.
While I have been baptised both as an unaware infant and later out of my own conviction as a teen, I do feel badly for those who feel tied to a faith they don't, can't, or won't adhere to. If this de-baptism is a sincere act of integrity to reconcile personal conviction with religious ritual I'm all for it. If it is being done just for laughs and mild rebellion, that's okay with me too.
The best thing about this is that people are considering whether they agree with the implications of baptism on their current life and beliefs. Nothing is much more Christian than regularly reconsidering the compatibility of our character and our stated convictions. If we genuinely don't desire to live in responsive obedience to the revelation of God we have received or what we believe isn't matching up to the spiritual community we are part of it is better that we face that directly and deal with it.
I would love to see a church offer a de-baptism day where they could provide the certificates and meet individually with people who wanted to be officially relieved of any expectations of identification or involvement with the church...

I want my pastor to...

During the 7 years I spent working full time in church I often came up against the expectations various people in the congregation had for what my role should be. In the beginning I spent far too much time and energy trying to figure out what was expected by everyone. I actually become much more effective when I stopped trying so hard to be a "good pastor" and tried to focus on being myself...

This week's Breakfast With Fred piece gives the late Fred Smith's perspective on what a pastor should be:

“I was asked to address the topic, “A Layman Looks at the Pastor.” I changed one word: Looking TO, not looking AT. Here are my personal views:.

1. I want my pastor to commit himself to building community. We live in a fractured world. Our cities are not friendly. Our workplaces are often combative. Sadly, even our homes are dysfunctional. As a group of believers, we need the fellowship of believers where people feel accepted and blessed.

2. I want my pastor to encourage the “priesthood of the believers.” He is not my agent negotiating a better deal with God than I can make. I want him to remind me that he isn’t a professional Christian with greater access. I want him to join with me in prayer --- not do the praying for me.

3. I want my pastor to teach me how to think about God, not just know what he thinks about God. My pastor is to awaken the teacher within me. He is to help me and guide me, but the responsibility for my spiritual health is mine.

4. I want my pastor to maintain his own spiritual vitality. I want his teaching to come from the artesian well of his walk, not the dead sea of old sermons and seminary classes.

5. I want my pastor to be my spiritual dietician, helping me to develop a spiritual regimen that is uniquely based on my gifts and opportunities. I am grateful for those who invested in my spiritual growth.

6. I want to be a regular person around him --- and I want him to be natural with me, as well. Maintaining images can alienate us from each other.

7. I want my pastor to know truth, not just the facts of the Bible. Just as information is not knowledge, and knowledge is not wisdom, so facts and word studies do not comprise the truth of the revelation.

8. I want my pastor to personify humility. I don’t want him to act humble – I want him to be humble. Our son, Fred, Jr., once gave me a great definition of humility: “Accepting your strength with gratitude.”

This week think carefully about: 1) What do I want my pastor to be? 2) How am I partnering with my pastor for encouragement? 3) What does it mean to be real with my pastor?