Thin~Spaces

Happy Halloween?

Egging houses and the like is your standard Halloween fare but when I got into my wife's car this morning to go and get some medicine I saw this.  *** Update - A replacement is going to cost $200***

Television or Hot Sex?

I'm back in my 8-5 job and am finding life rather unexciting once again. While I appreciate having a job, the Suburban routine of commuting and working can be quite a bore. No wonder suburbanites anesthetize themselves with the television after a long day of work and chores once they get home. The routine of life gets exhausting.

Part of me would just love to chuck the whole thing, get a Harley, and then tour the country for six months. I wanted to do that in my early 20's but never did. I'm 40 now and the responsibilities of life just suck some days. This is just one of those days when it is really apparent.

I'm sorting all of my pictures of our trip to the emergent gathering and am ready for next year. Of course I could not have gone if I did not earn the money to go…. The proverbial Catch 22.

Cheryl and I have been trying to understand the culture of suburban Puyallup since we moved down here. I think we have been absorbed by it rather well. I'm now a Puyallup native who is simply bored with his routine.

W'hooo . . . .as a missionary to this area, I have learned a thing or two about the lifestyle here.

Well enough blogging for tonight. I've got just enough time for a little television viewing or some hot sex with my wife. Hmm....   ;-)

Consumers of Religion vs. Sacrificial Witnesses

(Warning: this post begins with a rant)
Now I remember why I have such a difficult time reconciling the biblical story with modern American Christianity. I had only been home from Emergent for one day when I heard that yet another minister I know has resigned from the church he served. His family had dedicated their lifes to serving a church in our city. Yet, in a bloodless coup several factions within the church voiced so much dissent that he had to leave. Yuck!

It is the politicizing of what we commonly call church that I find so disturbing. My only thought was “Shame on you.” No wonder people stay away from church as it is so called. I certainly don’t want to be a part of this petty bickering and self-centered crap. I guess that is why so many people today have a deep-down distrust of all denominational and institutional church systems.

Those outside of the church see that there is just too much sin and selfishness in our camp. I don’t believe that this has to be so. If we take the mandate to radical discipleship seriously then we will be too busy living as missional witnesses to argue and bicker about the inconsequential forms of our church service.  ARGH ! ! ! ! !

Ok. . . .i’ve ranted enough.

I’m sure that as the Emergent church gains popularity, such stories will also be found there as well. After all, we are fallen human beings who daily need to remember that we serve Christ and the Church. The Church does not exist to meet our needs. It exists to bring Christ to those who do not know him.

I’m sickened by how easily we can get off track and become mindless consumers of religion instead of sacrificial witnesses. Avoiding institutions is not the answer as over time we only create new ones. There is an equal potential for good, evil, selfishness and love in the church in America. Yet we often see the dark side of human nature in the painful situations like my pastor friend is going through.

If a church body or institution is not always questioning themselves and seeking a repentant transformation, they often times will have these self-destructive episodes. The collective selfishness (dare I say, sin) of the people begins to deconstruct the church so it is evident that the Spirit of Christ is not in control. Unless the spirit of Christ transforms the community, these churches don’t survive this deconstruction and may split into two or more congregations or simply die under the weight of their deconstruction.

I’m sure you have seen these churches before. They were once vibrant communities that reached into their community with the witness of Christ bringing redemption to those who were hurting, disenfranchised and in need. Now the only visible remains of their congregation is a building that once housed them. It may be empty, converted into a nightclub, restaurant, home or other structure.

For a body of believers to survive their forced deconstruction, they must submit to Christ and not leave for greener-pastures like rats fleeing a sinking ship. Better yet, if they let Christ transform them, they may escape the deconstruction caused by their own petty, selfish desires.

The church in America is a powerful force but one that must be continually transformed by the Spirit of Christ. It is the apparent lack of this transformational essence that is the heart of my critique of the American brand of Christianity and its churches.

I’ll stop now……

Processing the Emergent Gathering

I’m getting back into the swing of things after a weeks vacation in New Mexico. Spending time with family and making new friends at the Emergent Gathering was a great way to spend a vacation. I’m currently indexing my photos from the gathering and will be posting them in the next day or so. Aside from that, I’m still processing the experience.

There have been several mentions on various blogs about the format and goings on in Glorieta. If you want to get some good descriptions go and read some of the blogs over at emergent village. I tend to share their initial impressions of the gathering and see no reason to re-write their posts. But several things do stick out in my mind.

—    Everyone was simply hanging out regardless of their fame or lack thereof in the emergent conversation. The very 1st person I met at the gathering was a guy named Brian. I met him in the lobby of the hotel style dormatoy. During our brief conversation I realized that he was Brian McLaren. He was totally casual with his notoriety in the emergent church and downplayed it. It was at this moment that I realized that the gathering was going to be something special. There were no Troy McClures’ here.

Early the next morning I was in the lobby again looking for some coffee. A small group of people were sitting on the couch having a rather animated conversation. They got up and headed toward the door on their way to have breakfast at Harry's. Brian asked me if I’d like to join them. That is how Cheryl and I ended up having Breakfast with Brian, Grace, Ken, Debbie, Frank and Tim. It was a very interesting morning. I got the impression that like us, Brian looks for opportunities to hang out with new people over a meal and just chat.

—    We met some very cool people at the gathering and that made it a great trip for us. We were planning to go a year ago but the fundage was lacking. Given that there were 50 people last year and 160 this year, it would have facilitated a deeper relational connection. Even with the large size of the group, we felt very welcome and included in this community. My thanks to all the old timers for extending your friendship to us.

—    Regardless of the type of event I attend, there is always someone I was supposed to meet. The Emergent Gathering was no exception. Some time after Andrew’s pizza party I met Fredrick. We struck up a conversation and gradually entered a heart level conversation about our experiences of deconstruction. True reconstruction cannot be carried out by an act of our will. It takes Christ to reconstruct our lives if it is to be of any value. We were both encouraged by the conversation and stayed up till 2am talking and sharing.

I live for times like this! In my mind, this is what the gathering is all about. Making new friends and sharing our lives in an honest and meaningful way. I guess that is why I usually make a habit of staying away from large conferences. You don’t really get to talk with people and have a meaningful dialog in my opinion. The Gathering in Glorietta was the exception to my rule.

Now I’m back in my normal 8-5 work a day routine again. I’ve been renewed by the experience and am full of hope for the future of the church emerging. I’ve always maintained that it has been doing so since its inception in Jerusalem.

My vision to be part of an alternative community of faith has never been stronger. Upon reflection, I can see how far I have been absorbed into the mind numbing routine of a suburbanite. I almost lost my way for a while yet even that is a good thing. I now have an experiential view of the pressures that life in the suburban frenzy imposes on you. I’m now praying that God will help us find some like-minded people to be in community with. Who knows what type or form of community will develop from our lives together.

That is about as far as I have processed things so far. I’ll post some pictures and more thoughts later.

Emergent = New Jesus People?

Last night I was showing some friends the pictures of our trip to New Mexico. As the pictures from the Emergent gathering flashed on the TV screen Steve said, “This reminds me of hippies.” Now that comment was much unexpected.

“Hippies.?.”, I replied.

“Of course, just look at your photos.”, Steve said with a large grin. “Don’t they remind you of the pictures from the hippie movement in the 60’s? Sure not everyone is wearing tie-dyed clothing but the activities seem rather similar. After all, the Hippies were trying to change the world and you are trying to change the church.” ( I dissagree with steve here. Emergence is about becoming something new.)

I had never thought of Emergent as being new Hippies.  Yet here we are, cultural creatives gathering as a counter cultural group of people trying to find a new way to live our faith. I still don’t think that 21st Century Hippie fits the bill but the sociological analogy was intriguing.

Although I have not studied the sociology of the social movements in the late 60’s and early 70’s this sparked my thinking about it. On a surface level, I’d look to the Jesus movement of that era rather than Hippies as an analog of Emergent. The spirit of that movement still lives with the community of  Jesus People USA.

I think that our emergent dialog must also include voices of those who balzed the trail in past. What do we have in common with them and what lessons can we learn from their successes and failures as they dealt with the predominant culture.

I think it necessary to look back at the more recent movements in history to see what characteristics we share and where we depart from them. I’m not sure that Emergent is the “New Jesus People” but I’d de interested in hearing from people who have studied this in greater depth.

In New Mexico

Cheryl and I are finishing up our trip in New Mexico by spending some time with her great Uncle Phil. I’m amazed at how well he gets around for some one who has been around the sun 80 times. We are going to be traveling into the mountains today to see the wonder of God’s creation and worship in the wilderness.

I’m still processing my experience at the Emergent Gathering. I met some awesome people and have found a group of people that i am completely at home with. I’ve often felt like an outsider in my own denominational "conventions" and gatherings but not here. The sense of belonging that I experienced was simply liberating.

For me, this gathering was just what I expected, a time to meet new people and start some new friendships. It made no difference how new you were to this group of people, you were just as welcome as those who had been with "Emergent" since its beginnings. I’m planning on going to the next gathering in 2006 as there are many people I will want to reconnect with apart from their blogs.

I have hope that the "emergent church," as a brand, will escape the trap of co-option by the larger church culture in America. I've always believed that we are the church that has been emerging for the last 2000 years. It is the continual transformation of the gospel into new cultural forms that embodies genuine emergence. It is unfortunate that may cultures are buying in to an "American Gospel" instead of letting the church emerge in their unique cultural setting and heritage.

Let the church emerge!