Church, Christ, Culture

Yes, part of this title comes from Niebuhr’s work. There is much discussion today on the relationship between the three. If we are to be people of sustainable credibility, we must be as critical about our own “Christian” subculture as we are about the wider, nonChristian subculture. I read somewhere that perhaps Christians today are seeking to be more relevant because there is this almost unconscious awareness that we are not as spiritually heavy as we should be, therefore…

Examine the history of Christianity and when can it be said that at the core of our depths, Christians were ever spiritual heavyweights? Go all the way back to the original twelve and we discover they were bumbling fools, most of them. They argued more about their own popularity or place than they did about the noisy children wanting to see Jesus. Has there ever been a moment in our history where all was good? Where we reached our gracious potential? Not that I am aware.

Yet…we keep wanting to believe yesterday (or the day before, year before, decade before, century before, millennium before) was better and we must return. I always wonder, “To what?” Yes, there were those who were martyred—yet, letters had to be written for those who may have chosen to abandon faith rather than suffer torture. The existence of the Pauline epistles demonstrates in spades the continuous struggle of the followers of the Way to continue on. Golden eras don’t exist.

Any appeal to such an “era” represents, possibly, our tacit admittance that all is not well right now, and b), we have no idea what to do. Throughout Christian history, there are traces of the existence of both—seemingly aligned to Jesus’ story of the wheat and the tares. Perhaps we long for the good old days because a) the present days stink or b) we truly carry forth no hope for tomorrow.

Every generation must wrestle with the question of Church, Christ, Culture. It is the ongoing dialogue (see William Isaacs) generating renewable wineskins and/or earthen jars that can serve as a spiritual discipline if we are willing. Sometimes in our endeavors to speak clearly and concisely, we run through the nuances like a driver at a stop sign. Using the analogy of LOTR and the distinction between Boramir and Faramir, the first had incredible power and strength of will but failed to slow down long enough to take into account the subtle nuances of the Ring itself. Faramir slowed down long enough to understand those nuances and how they would eventually not only destroy his soul but the kingdom he longed to save.

There seems to be this line of thought which says, “Christians engage culture because they are strangers from God and therefore seek alliances with the world.” What is interesting is how Western these arguments appear to be. The question I wrestle with more than merely protecting what is ours (is it really ours?) is this: What does the Incarnation look like today, after two millenniums of dominantly church influences in the Western World? If the church is to be “counter-cultural,” what will that look like in a deeply multi-cultural, globalized world?

Indeed, we engage culture because that is what the One we worship did. He engaged both the wider culture of his day (see Wise men from the east and the Greeks who visited him at the end of his days) and his own Jewish subculture. Church, Christ, Culture—these three abide but the greatest of these…

Freedom Writers

Before I head out for a lunch appointment with a good friend of mine (we are going through the book, From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics together), I thought I’d comment about a couple things that came together over the past several days for me. As Cristina has been teaching, she wanted me to find some information on Sarah Winchester, whose Mystery House is not far from here. Sarah’s story is tragic. Lost an only child to death and then lost her husband a year later. All this, with her multimillion dollar fortune inherited from the Winchester bloodlines (creator of the Winchester Repeating Rifle), she decided to rebuild a house.

However, she decided to visit a medium to discover what she could do with her pain. The medium told her that as long as a hammer continued banging away at her house, all the spirits of those who had been killed by the rifle would not bother her. So, she built this elaborate house, with staircases to ceilings, etc. Sad.

I was then reminded from the message this past week about the sadness of the final years of Howard Hughes’ life. A recluse who lived in jaded fear. Both these people, isolated, lonely, entirely too fearful.

Commonality? Among other things, fear. How does fear direct our lives? Fear to speak forth when words are necessary? Fear to be silent when words aren’t necessary. Fear to launch due to failure? Fear to admit weakness and failure when it does occur? How is it that fear drives?

Again, my guess is we rarely pause to take stock of our fears and how they play out in our lives. Courage is not the absence of fear but the pushing on through fear, believing in a higher vision, a deeper calling, a life-altering value. Fearing the unknown, we settle for simplicity and apathy.

Having watched Freedom Writers with Cristina this past week, I could not help but see how fear did not force a teacher out, nor her students and their willingness to seek a better life than what they or their parents had. The death of football player Sean Taylor is the a sad reminder. Too early to tell (I’m sure someone knows something), but if someone is trying to break away from a checkered past to a more glorious future, there may be some not happy. Having lived in Miami, grown up in Chicago, the ridicule and scorn can create fear. Yet, as the movie depicts, the courage of students to move forward is more than encouraging. It is miraculous. As was mentioned in the film, they are the “heroes.”

A word on heroes—they are not perfect but they do not let fear dictate the terms of life!

BTW, waiting for the local library to notify me that a copy is ready for me. Can't wait to read it...

Culture, Paradigm, and Willow

as i've been following the continuous threads regardig REVEAL (Willow's study of it's own church and others), it still amazes me! i read comments from some who say it is just another program to sell itself more, etc. i find the arguments less than convincing. understanding that some from the emerging generations cohort may not like the "slickness" of the willow model, i am reminded even as they write how culture continues to inform and express our faith.

people do not like large churches for various reasons. our family has a friend who is a member of willow. it would seem if willow really want to sell themselves, they head into the television market, something they have resisted doing. critiques of willow (saddleback, etc) also arise from a particular framework, a particular paradigm--both with cultural components throughout.

scripture was written within the context of certain cultural components which informed and shaped the contours of its composition (and collection into one bound book). we then attempt to read this sacred text from our own context back into the biblical context. yet, how often do we stop and reflect what those components may be and how they may be informing our reading, our interpretation?

more to follow... have a great thanksgiving!

Find "Community"

It was great to come across this website this morning. for those who come from my own faith tradition (Seventh-day Adventist), you may want check out this blog. while the web seems to have brought the world together, it is atomized it as well.

http://reinventingsdawheel.blogspot.com/2007/11/masters-workshop-all-you-need-to-know.html

i was reminded that worship has taken on so many forms as it has evolved over the past two decades. i wonder if anyone has come across someone who has written about the evolution of media usage through the past fifty years. i say this because i read so many from the emerging generations who now take shots at the older (i.e. boomers) generations, at megachurches, seemingly uninterested in how the cultural forces have shaped those churches and that indeed, right now, there are just as equally powerful cultural forces shaping the emerging generations. while i may not agree with all of Strauss & Howe's conclusions, their work on the generational cohorts i believe can contribute to our understanding. the central, core principle is the incarnational principle for ministry in context. this gets back to my earlier post on the three texts of ministry: life (experience), scripture, and culture.

this has led me to become more interested in sociology and anthropology, understanding the wider ramifications for how we express what is at the core of our "belief." as Fowler and others have indicated, "belief" is not merely the ascent of the mind, it is the engagement of the whole being, the leaning into something that draws the whole person.

anyhow, i am puzzled by those act surprised by Willow's admission. how many organizations, much less churches, when they've conducted some kind of "organizational audit," have discovered that what they had been doing in some arena was not working? every church attempts a "program" to accomplish something, whether it be a "alt. worship" or some involvement in the community, or some kind of Christian education pursuit. find me a church that hasn't had to make course corrections. how many churches have equated activity with spiriual formation?

one final inconsequential note, the bears continue the roller coaster ride.

happy trails!

"Rock" Worship

Okay, so i came across a NYTimes video report on "rock" worship and thought i'd post it here to get feedback. unfortunately, my skill level at the blog level is low so i cannot embed the video here but i've put the link. maybe one day when i get my dmin project complete, i can go to the next level in blogging. today, i got a phone call from a "coach" in the dmin prog who really helped give me some direction toward my dissertation. kudos, kenley.

finally, not being a musician (my wife is), what constitutes "rock?"

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=02dc92c26aaaea495b5ccf52a7f42897c19bf70d

This Week

This week i head into examining the relationship between context, culture and spiritual formation. rarely have i seen considered these two important two components in spiritual formation. typically as Christians we say to read your bible, study, pray, witness and yet rarely do we examine how our context and culture influence the ways we go about doing these kinds of things, or how they inform our Christian practices.

if i am going to attempt to optimize those practices for the purpose of spiritual development, i must understand how particular contexts and cultural factors come into play in my spiritual development.

this past weekend we launched our spiritual development class with about 15 in attendence. i look forward to building a little community with this group over the course of the next several months. i am amazed at the grace of God in bringing people together. to see a multi-generational group gathered is encouraging. i am hoping we can also experience a mult-cultural group that will add to both our learning and practice. off we go--let's see where God leads!

Conservative and Traditional

Okay, i'm a little slow, freely admit it. it came to my attention while speaking with a friend of mine this morning there is a distinction to be made between "traditional" and "conservative." perhaps there is a political side to this distinction, i do not know. but in local churches there are people who hold to conservative views and yet, can let go of traditions. then there are others who cannot separate the two.

i know, labels are a mess. i don't like to use labels (can't tell from the previous paragraph, huh?). they serve more to exclude then include. i use it as a means of distinguishing--never wanting to exclude. no part of the spectrum has got it all. for example, it could be said that Warren and Hybels are indeed conservative. yet nobody would ever say they are traditional.

btw, why do people brake at green lights? how's that for random?

Creative Cold Needs a Cure

i came across this post today and found it particularly articulate of my own experience. the post http://www.evotional.com/2007/10/creative-margin.html partly answers why i read and track bloggers. life has a way of narrowing down stuff so that i miss larger pictures, clearer images, sharper focusses that broaden and expand. as the journal i edit suggests, all of life becomes truly technicolored if i am willing to cross-discipline train and live. each discipline provides an angle to life, a way of seeing, a way of opening the mind to new expressions.

again, the 3 Texts (3T) gives me a foothold to practice, evaluate, and ongoing learning. reading, writing, tracking significant bloggers becames a way to continue the journey. besides, he pointed out to me another book on SB, what can i say:)

3 Texts

the more i think about all of life, the more i see my life through three texts: the text of life itself, primarily my own experience along with the experience of those closest to me; the text of scripture, the sacred text which has passed through the community of faith over the centuries of time; and the text of culture, the ways God reveals himself throughout time and space. the question more and more is how do these three texts interact throughout my journey?

i listen now to Annie Lennox sing the theme from the LOTR3, recalling the scene where the grey ships came to pick up Gandalf, Froto, and Bilbo. what is it that every story has an ending? why is there always an ending to something and a beginning? does this not say something about the nature of life? threshholds and transitions, they seem to dot the landscape of each life.

so, i ask as i embark on a journey with a class regarding spiritual formation (the rough outlines of graceformation), what does each text say about life, about all that is, about the nature of all that is? am i open to the interaction of these three so that life may be richer (not in a mere economic sense), fuller, more meaningful, more fruitful? how can i learn to better live as a result of engaging these three texts?

Bon voyage!

Curse Obliterated!

yeah, watched the final game, as a lifelong Cub fan happy for the Red Sox (never the white sox), wondering if a world series on the North Side will happen in my lifetime. honestly, tired of the excuses given as to why it cannot. one reason i'd love to have Cuban is because i know he wouldn't be concerned with money. nope, don't want to be the yanks and rent a team. what red sox have done is developed a good nucleus and then filled the cracks from the farm system. finally, what is a-rod thinking, not only in leaving but the timing of the announcement. if he ever was on a world series team, would he want to upstage all the others on the team right after they won?

oh, well, wait till next year!

Catching Up

It's been longer than i've wanted since getting back on the blog. Yet, joyfully, here i am. Had a great time this past weekend, being treated to a "pastoral appreciation" sunday by being chaufeurred to an undisclosed location for a Hawaiian party. it was great! a busy weekend! Skate night sat night for our kids.

just a brief comment about the "willow mistake." I think people are making this bigger than it reallly is. What organization, even the church, doesn't have to make course corrections? some who appear to dislike megachurches for whatever reason seem to make this an opportunity to pile on, if there is anything to pile on!

had a fun time teaching this past weekend in a class where we looked at crucibles. identified some good books to consider when reflecting on the heated moments of life. here's the list i presented:

• Geeks & Geezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders. Warren Bennis and Robert J. Thomas
• The Way of Transition: Embracing Life's Most Difficult Moments. William Bridges
• Reaching for the Invisible God. Philip Yancey
• The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth. Gerald May

what can the "heroe's story" contribute to the crucibles? this is something worth considering another time. needless to say, examining the texts of life, culture, and scripture must all come into play if i am to continue as a lifelong learner.

Another Voyage

Well, had a great weekend. Catching up on emails, etc. from the weekend. BTW, where is the biblically evidence for "redeeming culture?" I enter the blogosphere never knowing what awaits. Right now, I am preparing for a seminar I will hold on the relationship between human development (specifically lifespan development) and spiritual growth. I read the recent Barna report (I hope to embed the links once i learn how to do that) about younger nonChristians and their view of Christians. Some of it is expected because of the issues of human development and the need for differentiation.

I videoed the segment on Joel Osteen and can understand his central thrust. I have felt what he has said. My sense is that most people get beat up much during the week and don't need it more on the weekend. Is there an island of hope? Is there a place to "carefront" life and my own blindness and still be hopeful? The Jukhari Window reminds me that I have many blindspots. Is there hope for my blindspots?

This week is another week, living and yet preparing to live. Sometimes i think i spend more time preparing to live than living. Stay tuned!

One Size?

Whew! We are finally getting close to our next issue of The Journal of Applied Christian Leadership to go to press. Hopefully by this time next week it will be in the hands of our subscribers. We are working on getting our next issue out by the end of year. I love being a part of the conversation of leadership taking place in Christian circles. If we truly believe in what local churches can become, we must invest many resources in understanding how best leadership can be developed in local churches--including studying and resourcing ways.

Browsing the bloglines today, I couldn't help but notice the churches considered most influential by pastors. These are megachurches, many of them influencing me. My question is this: what percentage can a megachurch influence, really, a church of 220 in attendence? How do things like the organizational stage, the organizational culture, the undergirding basic assumptions of a megachurch (largely built on a megapastor) influence a church in Smalltown, USA? How much take home is there? I know for myself, these churches influence me in that they encourage me to lead. The how's and way's of leading get much muddier in my local context. Transposing larger percentage of megachurch learnings can get dicey in microchurch settings. We can learn, the question is what can we learn?

Final, ambivalent note. Cubs go in a whimper and Bears appear to have come off life support!

Influential Writers

As i've been catching up on my blogsites this morning, i came across this one identifying influential thinkers and began to reflect on mine. This will lead to "influential leadership thinkers," "influential movies," influential...yep, you guessed it, the list could go on and on. Since time is short, i will launch with the central writer/thinker of my life--Clive Staples Lewis, without a doubt. His ability to capture the imagination, to examine the larger questions, to unabashedly direct his best thinking and writing to the difficult questions of life, all the while examining life in all its complexity, inspires me to slow down and give consideration. Yet, what may be most influential was his willingness to create an immediate community around him (Inklings) that, in themselves, kind of became the "Fellowship of the Ring." Have I done this? To some extent. We all need a community.

Simplicity

Having been a follower of megachurches and keeping an eye on the ecclesiastical blogs, there appears to be a trend shifting from the complexity megachurches offer to the simplicity of a "quieter" life. Possibly this may be driven by emerging generations now being weened off the polished creations of their parents to a more raw (i.e., "real") engagement with church and God. I am not sure, however, that this solely derives from a "Christian" perspective. The shift seemingly takes place on the small screen. The continued success of AI (this acronym more known as American Idol rather than "Artificial Intelligence," --though both might be considered synonymous:)) and Survior demonstrate the wider cultural shift influencing the Christian subculture. Once again, i find we cannot so easily separate the wider movements of the "host" culture (i.e., North American culture) from the intimate shifts within Christian subculture. As much as we'd like to denounce such intimate connections, they are present (and always have been). Perhaps our failure to either admit or honestly see the relationship between the Hellenistic, Judaic, Roman host culture and the emerging church of the First Century created almost an "institutional defense mechanism" that has allowed us to put our heads in the sand.

Perhaps in a future blog, i will discuss more this relationship between the cultural shifts in our wider culture with the cultural shifts in the Christian subculture. Stay tuned.

As i re-read this post, irealize one of my intentions is only to join the ongoing dialogue taking place as we seek to better serve God and those around us. One of the greatest gifts we can present to those we serve is an honest assessment (thus, dialogue) regarding our own influencers and condition. It seems our greatest challenge can be our own blindness! I know i have blind spots. I'm reminded every day as i drive about this "truth."

Welcome to Graceformations!

Several years back, I was struck at the centrality of grace for my life. Whether it be the undeserved kindness of the driver to let me enter her lane, the cashier asking me honestly how my day was, or one of my kids coming by and just giving me a hug without asking for something--all these kinds of happenings reminded me that grace is at the heart of life. I don't know, it seems that our globe today experiences a lot of anxiety. Any person who flies knows about that anxiety. Yet, there are these outcroppings of grace continually bubbling through. It slowly dawned on me (as these kinds of things normally do with my molasses mind), if I will get out of the way, grace will have her way and my life will be transformed throughout the short days of my existence. Grace can transform and form me.

So, this website is dedicated to the transforming power of grace. Of course, one of my favorite recent stories of grace flows from the popular Broadway musical (adapted from Hugos classic), Les Miserables. The transformation of Jean Valjean through the story and the implications from his reception of grace, model the power of graceformation. So, here, at the outset of this journey of graceformation, I hope to periodically identify through the passion areas of my life this rebellion of grace. Stay tuned. Enjoy the ride!

Finally, this picture was taken about a year ago with my wonderful wife, Cristina, and my two boys, Jason and Kristofer. Every day, they are grace incarnated in my life!