-
IChristine Sine sent me an invitation to write (alongside so many other wonderful writers) in response to a question she posed about Spiritual practices. If I can summarize Christine’s question (no doubt very badly), and premise for the series, she asked why do most people experience God outside church in the world, whilst Christians see only prayer, bible study, and going to church as spiritual practices, for knowing and experiencing the death and resurrection of Jesus?
It was a good question for me, in that it bothered me and got me thinking. In particular, how tragic it is if the bible, church and prayer become self referencing static mediators of the gospel, with no connection to the real world. But also, how equally tragic and a measure of gospel paucity, if spiritual practices, are about experiences of God in the world, with no framing by the canonical-linguistic grammar of the gospel, prayer, and Christian community. Both are as bad as each other, or perhaps at least lead to a question, what are the nature of spiritual practices, and how are they connected to the world, and church, and scripture?
Otherwise without some understanding of that, it’s easy to accept the opening premise at face value as fact, and in response as a Christian to reach for what I do in the world as ‘a spiritual practice’. That is to respond by listing what I do in the world, outside of the bible , prayer, and church, as where I meet God. It’s to locate spiritual practices on those terms, and that’s something I’m uncomfortable with. Just as I am uncomfortable with collapsing ‘spiritual practices’ into bible study, prayer and going to church.
I can easily reach for how having turned 40 years old this year, I became a cliche, and I decided to get a motor bike. I can describe how the training process in the UK, with four separate tests and requisite training, have been forming me as a biker. How I for the first time have a hobby away from my work, and the pressures of Church community. How a ride through the english pastoral countryside, clears my mind, connects me to creation, and how close to God I feel compared to going to Church. And if I were to imagine that Christians who see spiritual practices as solely the domain of prayer, bible and going to church, were to ask me, how can you ride a motorbike as a spiritual practice, my reply might be like that of Charles Spurgeon, when asked how could he smoke cigars? That I do it to the glory of God.
But I misrepresent Spurgeon, and do him a disservice, as do many Christians, when we use his most wonderful aphorism, as a thin veneer, to baptise everything we do as a ‘spiritual practice’. For if I justify all I do as being done to the glory of God, everything is a spiritual discipline, perhaps apart from going to Church, prayer and the bible.
So how might we begin to respond to this separation of ‘spiritual practices’ from church community, the bible and prayer? How did we arrive at this separation, and how might we begin to frame this theologically, to understand the nature of ‘spiritual practices’ and how they form us as human beings before God?
-
I hope your enjoying the great guest author posst from Elizabeth & Steve this past week.
Over the next few weeks things might be a little more quite, but in terms of things coming up we hopefully have:
1. Mid/Late August: Ben DeVries guest author posting for us again
2. September/October: Steve and I will be writing a series together, on why we are still charismatics and missional/emerging, within our Vineyard traditions/locations, and what that means for us theologically and in our church plant contexts.
I hope this summer brings you the rest and recreation you need.
-
Paul writes… I read an interesting comment piece in the Saturday Independent. The piece was written by Christina Patterson, confesses that she… “…found the Anglican church so boring as a child that I flounced away at 13 never to go back, and who then had an adolescence as a born-again Baptist nutter, and who now has no religious belief whatsoever, and believes that religion is responsible for some of the biggest disasters in human history and some of the biggest threats to our planet, now love the Church of England? (The traditional Church of England, not its evangelical, Alpha-armed wing.) Why do I love it? Let me count the ways.”
Christina then goes on to write…
“I love it because it is patient. It does not expect the world to change in an instant, or to be bludgeoned into belief, because it knows that certain things take centuries. I love it because it is kind. It is kind enough to welcome strangers, whatever their beliefs, and shake their hands, and offer them drinks. It is kind enough to suggest that the biblical teaching on sex before marriage is a mere technicality that can be disregarded, and to offer couples with clear evidence of this disregard (in the form of children) its blessing in the form of weddings when they want them and baptisms when they want them, and even both at the same time, if they want them.
I like the fact that it is neither envious (of more flamboyant, more attention-seeking and more successful-at-proselytising religions) nor boastful. I like the fact that it is not arrogant or rude. I like the fact that it does not insist on its own way, but is genuinely tolerant of other religious beliefs and none. I like the fact that it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but quietly presents an ethical framework of kindness. I like the fact that it believes in the values of the New Testament, and of St Paul’s description of love, which I’ve just paraphrased, but also believes that it is more important to embody them than to quote them.
I like the fact that it doesn’t speak like a child, think like a child, or reason like a child. I like the fact that it is mature enough to recognise doubt. I like the fact that it is calm. I like the fact that it recognises that the religious impulse is here to stay, and that the more you try to crush it, the stronger it will be, and that all human beings, irrespective of their beliefs, have yearnings for the transcendent.”
-
The new doctor of ministry program that I will be leading/directing for George Fox Seminary, has been in development for 18 months, and now has accreditation and authorization and is gearing up for launch January 2010.You can now download this prospectus for the Global Missional Leadership D.Min program.I am so excited about the possibilities for this program, in particular:
1. Theological: A vigorous and rigorous theological exploration of leadership, church and culture2. Relational: Co-hort based, and with face to face experiences3. Global: The face to face experiences in Europe, Africa and Asia, meeting with leaders, churches, missions on the ground, and the online international community around the program.4. Open Source: The learning community around the program that is open to anyone who wants to be involved whether they are on the program or not.5. Social Media: The use of social media and technology that will be integral to the program delivery and learning activities.In trying to get the word out, could you forward this to friends, tweet, facebook, and blog with a link to the program? Thanks in advance for all your help.
Here are a sample twitter and facebook message that you could post, tweaking as you see fit. :
- Tweet: Check out the new Global Missional Leadership Doctor of Ministry program: http://bit.ly/VngV9 – launches Jan 2010 in Nairobi #dmingml #gf
- Facebook: Check out George Fox Evangelical Seminary’s new Doctor of Minstry program in Global Missional Leadership:http://www.georgefox.edu/seminary/dmin/gml/index.html, The first cohort lauches January 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya. The seminary is now accepting applications.
-
What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well. ~Antoine de Saint-ExuperySteven writes… Recently one of the conversations begun by Jason on this blog – MacGyver & Bricolage – moved both myself and an online acquaintance to go back to read about cultural identity and class/caste systems of oppression before we seek to understand taking our bricolage deeper and then “using whatever is at hand.”
As I was re-reading Gustavo Gutiérrez, Peruvian scholar and the father of “liberation theology”, this passage stood out to me as relevant to the discussion:
Continue reading »
-
“Killing God?!” I received many warnings from concerned Christians about the movie The Golden Compass. I was warned to avoid the movie because the author of the books it was based on was an atheist and the goal of his books was killing God. I rarely take these type of forwarded emails seriously but decided to investigate this claim for myself. I googled the author and discovered indeed, he is an atheist. And indeed, the books do culminate in the killing of the “God” character called “The Authority”. But, I wondered, was this an assault on the God of the Bible? Was there really any danger to Christians if we watched such a film and allowed our children to watch it? Since I am not one who is easily motivated by fear, I took my kids to see the movie and we even bought the DVD. I have since bought the trilogy it was based on and read it from cover to cover. “The Authority” portrayed in Pullman’s trilogy is nothing like the God I have come to know and love. If the “God” portrayed by Pullman were real, I would want to kill him too! Where did Pullman get this idea of God from? Why are so many Christians afraid of Pullman’s view of God? Pinnock and Brow seem to have wondered something similar inspiring them to write Unbounded Love: A Good News Theology for the 21st Century.
Pullman’s fictional God figure was likely inspired by the models of God he had been exposed to in his life. While clearly fictional and obviously created in his imagination, his God figure offered a critique of a prevailing view of God. “The Authority” in Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy was authoritarian, capricious, dictatorial, controlling, power hungry, and fearful. And the religion founded upon the image of that authority likewise has leaders who are authoritarian, capricious, dictatorial, controlling, power hungry, and fearful. Ultimately, Pullman’s “Authority” is revealed as weak and impotent and able to be killed. Pinnock and Brow assert in their introduction that, “modern atheism is often not so much a denial of the existence of God as a denial of a God like that one.” (pg. 10, emphasis mine) They propose that their book “will arouse debate and cause a degree of discomfort, because it is never altogether comfortable to be asked to reconsider one’s model for understanding God.” (pg. 10) But if we are holding models of God in our imagination anything like Pullman’s characterization of God then we desperately need to reconsider our model for God. Unfortunately, most people tend to equate their “model of God with God himself – and this we should never do.” Nevertheless, we do need models to inform and guide our thinking about God and Pinnock and Brow invite us to consider a different model of God than the traditional model hoping to clarify our vision of God where it may have been clouded. The model they offer, creative love theism, reveals God as a “dynamic and loving triune being who wants to have meaningful interaction with us.” Continue reading »
-
I’ve been asked several times by people about the Time Magazine article earlier this year, that suggested that The New Calvinism was one of the 10 ideas that is changing the world.
On one level the development of more black and white ways of seeing the world, and beliefs isn’t a surprise given the free for all, believe in nothing nature of our western culture. Certainty at a time of uncertainty is to be expected.
But with this article, and some recent questions, beyond my gut feeling that I’m not a New Calvinist, I’ve realised that most of my responses to Calvinism are based on little knowledge and crude stereotypes.
Whether new Calvinism embodies Calvin is a big question, and what Calvinism is itself beyond the stereotypes are important questions. So Im approaching this in two ways.
Firstly I just got hold of ‘Why I’m not a Calvinist’, by Walls and Dongell, to try to form some sensible answers and reflections. Secondly I took this online test, which is probably based on some crude stereotypes, to measure my Calvinistic tendencies.
One was fun and waste of time, the other worthwhile and educational.
BTW my results were that I am apparently 50% Calvinist, and detailed results below. What are yours?
-
I had my latest PhD supervision just over two weeks ago, at just under the 2.5 year point into my 6 year part time programme, with my first literature review chapter written. My supervisions have progressed from events that left me reeling with no idea of what I was trying to focus on, to times of major revisions to my focus, to what is now more a tightening and trimming of an outline, method, topic and thesis.
So much so that the next 3.5 years are scarily mapped out with reading and chapter writing goals, one per term for the next 7 terms/semesters. So trying to stand back and look at the bigger picture, what am I trying to do? This post is for my benefit and those of you who need some coma inducing reading.
And of course my outline below betrays the lack of focus and desire to do everything, that only a full time minister/pastor, pragmatic church pragmatic planter, and part time student could have in spades, and of course where my reach far exceeds my grasp.
Ecclesia Res Publica: At it’s heart I am exploring how consumerism and secularism organise relationships, beliefs and practices, and what kind of people this makes us into and the implications of this for how we do church. Within this I’m diagnosing how my evangelical tradition has lost (if it had any in the first place), an idea of the public nature of church between the market and the home.
Church has been reduced to an optional club or society, unnecessary for Christian identity and formation, and if the modern evangelical church was captive to the market and consumerism, many of its new emerging forms of church, might continue to have more in common with consumer and secular identities than Christian ones.
And ultimately without this understanding, we’ll continue to see fewer and fewer people convert to Christianity as a way of life with others. So I want to be honest to my church context and ask how has my evangelical tradition been complicit in a relationship with consumerism and the market, and does it have within itself the resources to respond to those problems. Rather than become post-church, post-evangelical, does my tradition have within itself the ability to renew itself?
Method:I’m locating my work within political theology, which takes the concrete nature of the church as it’s focus, but then draws on ethical and theological reflection to understand that action. I’m particularly concerned that much of what passes for critiques of church is the application of social theory, and less to do with a traditioned, biblical and theological understanding of the church in history. I’m also trying to avoid over theologising of church, thinking about it in the abstract, producing great theories that have little or no connection to the real world.
So political theology attends to these problems, has within it the traditioned resources of the church in history, provides descriptions of the social and economic of life, and around issues that my problem area is about, the public nature of the church and christian life.
Chapter Outline – How I hope to do this: So lastly an outline of what I hope to do chapter by chapter to fulfill this.
Chapter One – What is the relationship of the evangelical church to consumerism and the market?:
In this chapter I am going to explore the question of whether evangelicalism is a creature of modernity, and response to industrialism. I’ll be trying to provide an historical account of how much the evangelical church is a carrier and distributor of the market.
Continue reading »
-
It’s encouraging to see my denomination trying to develop a space for theological reflection and resourcing. I’m hoping to get along to this ‘Society of Vineyard Scholars‘ in Feb 2010.
More details are below, and blog post from the Vineyard USA director on the importance of theological reflection is here.
Continue reading »
-
There is a free webinar tommorow, with TIM HUGHES (UK, Here I Am To Worship) and DAN WILT, M.MIN. (CA, All You Are) billed as giving worship leaders, musicians, pastors and all followers of Jesus practical tools for “keeping their ego in check” as they authentically lead others.You can register to listen live, or receive the MP3 for download later, by going here.
Whilst I’m mentioning Dan Wilt, do take a look at his blog. He is one of the most thoughtful, inspiring worship leaders and thinkers I have come across at the intersection of worship, culture and creativity.
