lifeasmission
exploring the mystery of life and mission as one and the same
-
Archive of "Paul" Category
An Interview with N.T. Wright
The guys over at Homebrewed Christianity recently posted an interview they did with N.T. Wright. The interview was full of some really great sound bytes that I went ahead and divvied up to make your life easier
You can listen to or download the interview in its entirety here.
On being a bishop.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On the unfortunate split between church and academy.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On returning to fulltime academic work.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On Bart Ehrman.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On Marcus Borg & John Dominic Crossan.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On Jurgen Moltmann.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On E.P. Sanders.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On Karl Barth.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On Stanley Hauerwas.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On his most recent book, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters and why he chose to write about eschatology before ethics.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On the difference between Aristotelian virtue and Christian virtue.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On the role of character and virtue in other religions.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On cultural virtue.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On the renewing of our minds when they have become largely detached from the rest of who we are.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On Christianity Post-Postmodernity.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
On the after-after life.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
What NT Wright is reading, thinking, and planning for his “big book on Paul” as the next in his Christian Origins series.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
What we can expect from NT Wright in his new role.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Emotional Culture
Emotions are tricky little buggers.
I want to tell 2 short stories and try to weave them together into a theological reflection.
Dodger Baseball. Or, What Sporting Events Have In Common With Hell
A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to a Dodgers game where Barry Bonds was expected to tie to break the home run record – I am not a huge baseball fan, but I thought it’d be cool to be a part of that sort of history. I was jolted almost to tears when Barry came up to bat for the first time and the group of 25 or so 10 years olds behind me were led in refrains of, “Boooo. Barry sucks. We hate Barry.” My first thought was, “My God, we are teaching these kids to hate for no good reason – just flat out hate people completely indiscriminately.” It was sad in the truest sense of the word and I’d venture to say that this is very much what we might expect Hell to be like – unbridled, shallow hate.
Enslaved to Emotions
Last night I was hanging out with my good friend Ryan and we were talking about the ways people tend to engage one another. Ryan pointed out the tendency we have to either build people up or tear them down in our minds based on our emotional reaction to who we understand or perceive them to be. By that I mean, we have emotional responses to peoples ethnicities, religious or political stances, their social status, or just the way they look. And it’s out of these emotional (and therefore supercharged) starting points that we tend to look for things to confirm our emotional perceptions. For example, if I initially have a negative emotional response to someone, for whatever reason, not only will it be easier for me to point out their character flaws, but I will associate those flaws with my initial emotional response. It works the other way too. If I begin with a positive emotional perception of someone, I will be more inclined to notice good things about them and attribute those things to my positive emotional perception of them. All this leads me to the conclusion that in different ways, we are slaves of our emotions.
An Emotional Sanctification and an Emotional Culture
I don’t for a second consider this a detriment or a bad thing. Quite the opposite, I think that in much the same way as Paul implores communities of faith to become “slaves of God,” we ought to aim for a sort of “emotional slavery” that is actually liberating and filled with joy. Christians ought to be those who are seeking, not the abdication, but the sanctification of emotions. Sanctified emotions are those which are brought into harmony with the character of God in Christ. Feeling love toward enemies, feeling a righteous jealousy for the good of others, feeling passion for justice and righteousness, these are some of the things I mean by sanctified emotions.
Like anything else pertaining to the cultivation of a particular way of living life and engaging others, this is a matter of communal practice. These sanctified emotions do not materialize out of thin air and they are not brought about (thought perhaps helped) by individual prayer, study, and reflection. Just as our emotional responses are what they are on account of our upbringing, experiences, and cultural conditioning, it is as we live out a particular vision with others in specific contexts that our emotions come to be sanctified. It is to this end that I think churches are quite justified (and responsible) for attempting to create a certain kind of “emotional culture” as they seek a holistic discipleship which encompasses the emotional dimension of what it means to be human. Maybe it’s better to say that, in fact, all church communities already do this, it’s just a matter of awareness, intentionality and vision.
The MOVE: The Journey from Attractional to Missional
At the risk of confusing those who associate “The Move” with my friend Babs’ dancing talents…
I actually feel like offering a thought or two on a different kind of move – the one from an attractional way of being the church to a missional way.
More and more churches are attempting (or at least saying they are attempting) to make this transition. For those of you interested in this phenomenon, I wanted to try and spark some discussion.
1) Attractional churches exist because they are predicated on a certain understanding of the gospel. Therefore, there is no true movement from attractional to missional where there is not a renewed understanding, articulation, and demonstration of the gospel. The distorted version of the gospel which undergirds an attractional model of church was largely inherited on account of a Christendom context within modernity. As Western culture increasingly moves out of modernity, we are having an opportunity to rethink our understanding of the gospel and this is the starting place for those churches who are seeking to be missional.
2) Not unlike Paul, who thought the gospel was one thing and discovered it was another, churches looking to make this transition ought to do so in sackcloth and ashes. They need to be prepared to ask forgiveness from those they have injured, ostracized, and neglected. Churches who fail to experience grief over the damage they have done and embark on the journey toward healing and restoration probably have no idea what they are talking about. Such has been the lot of the people of God down through the ages. May it not be true of us.
3) This transition needs to be a cautious and patient one. Much undoing and unlearning needs to take place if this transition is to be genuine and lasting. More than this, until we acknowledge that we have been heading in the wrong direction and make the decision to do some back tracking, then all perceived forward movement is actually just more deviation, just with new fancy language.
4) This “new” way is not really new at all. It is not a transition predicated on changing times, postmodernity, or the emerging culture. This “new” way forward is actually the way of Jesus. It is simply being rediscovered in the wake of the crumbling of modernity and Christendom. If there is something intrinsically right and good about the missional church movement, then it will not be a passing fad only to be replaced with the next cultural shift. Being missional is not about being relevant, it’s about being faithful.
5) What it means to be missional is not to be equated with serving others. It is not a simple matter of shifting ones attention and focus from drawing people in to becoming more service-minded. Instead, as I was alluding to above, it is a major shift in our understanding of what it means to be saved, what the good news really is, and what it means to be the people of God. In short, the move from attractional to missional is not primarily a church matter (How do we do church?) It is a theological matter (Who is God?)
Getting Personal
Yes, I have been personally burned and hurt by the modern, seeker-sensitive, attractional model of church. Like many others, who I am quick to defend, but whose incessant whining I also tire of quickly, I sometimes have a tendency to lash out and I am quick to criticize.
However, what I am offering here runs quite a bit deeper than that. What I offer here is an authentic desire for those churches wishing to make this sort of transition to succeed. To be honest, I am not sure how well I would do as a leader in a church trying to make this sort of transition – perhaps that will be what God has for me down the line. Whatever the case, I pray for my brothers and sisters seeking to make this sort of transition. I stand on their side as they seek to honor and remain faithful to the call God has on their lives, and I hope that if I am ever in the situation to help maneuver a change like this, I will hold tight and fast to these reminders.
Missional Pastoring
Click here to see the first part of Mark Driscoll’s interview about the difference between seeker and missional churches.
Click here to see the 2nd part.
In usual fashion, I’m gonna try to bite off more than I can chew here and both make good on my previous promise to post more biblical/scriptural reflections on the issue I mentioned before, as well as offer some comments on what Mark Driscoll (pastor of Mars Hill church in Seattle) had to say in these promotional trailers for the upcoming 2006 Desiring God conference hosted by John Piper and Bethlehem Baptist Church. I think I can creatively combine the two.In his first interview Mark critiques the seeker sensitive movement for being too consumer driven and business like. His concern seems to be that churches like this are driven more by pragmatisim than theology. He suggests that missional churches begin with theology and then find ways to make it translatable within a given context and culture. Here’s where I differ.
It seems to me that seeker churches are in fact driven by their theology and have done an incredibly great job of making it translatable within their contexts and cultures (most of which are middle to upper class, white, suburbs). The problem is not that they are overly pragmatic, it is that they need to rethink their theology (something Mark seems to leave little room for by believing that issues of women and preaching/theological education are closed for theological discussion).
All the seeker churches that I have been a part of for any length of time seem to operate out of a theology which understands salvation as believing the right things, namely, that Jesus was God and died on the cross as a penalty for my sins (I am not disputing this by the way). But, if that’s the crux of the matter, then guess what, the best thing for us to do is attract people however we can, make them feel as comfortable and receptive as possible, and then ask them to believe the message we have to tell them. Seeker churches have written the book on doing this well. The danger is that if they are operating out of a deficient theology, we’re in big trouble. Here’s where I’ll make the link to what I call missional pastoring.
Missional churches, in my opinion anyway, operate out of a theology which understands salvation not merely as believing the right things, but participating in a certain way of living. This is not salvation by works, it is life as a saved/redeemed/transfigured/covenant people who seek to embody the present reign of God. It’s saying the truth we proclaim is worthless unless we can lead lives which exhibit it (no, not perfectly, but consistently and with repentance amidst failure).
If what it means to be a follower of Jesus isn’t just about believing the right things, but living a certain kind of life then we need seasoned and mature pastors, teachers, and leaders to model and equip us to do so. Pastors of hundreds, much less thousands or tens of thousands can’t do that. If character, lifestyle, and spiritual formation are seen as the key issues of authentic Christian witness (as opposed to getting people to assent to propositional truth claims), then we need pastors who can help us transform our minds and lives on account of God’s reality, not just convince us of the right things to believe, make us feel guilty about our sin, or manipulate our emotions through their preaching.
I am thinking about Moses and how he lead Israel, how his father-in-law helped him to see the necessity of appointing leaders over smaller numbers of people. I am thinking of the way God set up the family structure, placing responsibility on parents for raising their children well. I am thinking of Paul who advised early church communities to appoint and heed their leaders. I am thinking of Jesus who took 12 disciples “that they might be with him…”
There is one theology which leads us to believe that what is really important is helping people get into heaven. There is another theology which would have us believe that what is really important is getting heaven out into the world amongst people. For the former we need a seeker church, for the latter a missional one. In either case, I pray we never think that we are finished with our theological task and that we are constantly open to what the Holy Spirit may be saying and doing, whether amongst the people of God or the people of the world – for both are equally loved by their creator.
Reaching
I am taking an online class this quarter with Dr. Ray Anderson entitled, “Theology of Community and Ministry.” It is his version of Systematic Theology III (Ecclesiology and Eschatology). Dr. Anderson is a noted practical theologian and from what I understand, the inventor and creation of the D.Min degree. I love the way he teaches. He also teaches his own versions of Systematic Theology I and II. Whereas Sys. I is typically, “Theology and Anthropology,” and Sys. II is typically, “Christology and Soteriology,” his are entitled, “Theological Anthropology and the Revelation of God” and “Incarnation and the Healing of Persons” respectively. He is totally concerned that our theological reflection and insight be joined with ministry and practice. Not only does he lecture in a way which begs this kind of reflection, the questions he assigns for homework and exams do the same. I thought I would post the most recent journal entry I needed to do for his class as an example. Feel free to respond to it or anything else. PeaceFor several years, close friends of yours have been active members of a “seeker sensitive” church, hosting outreach events in their home as well as playing a leadership role in the church. They recently expressed dissatisfaction to you, however, over some activities in which their church had sought to reach “the world” on its own turf. These included videos in a worship service and a women’s fashion show — both, according to your friends, in questionable taste. “Of course, we must reach out to the world,” one of them told you, “but I’m beginning to think we’ve gone a little overboard. What are we calling people to? What about holiness? I need to be fed, too!” How might you use the themes of our study this week to help your friends to determine what a proper balance in their church might look like?
We must begin by defining what we mean by “reach.†Many seeker-sensitive churches seem to define reaching as drawing the biggest crowd possible to hear (and hopefully respond to) the message of the gospel. If people hear and affirm their belief in this message, usually stated in propositional forms, then we consider them “reached.†If this is what it means to reach people then we ought to be quite alright with using whatever means necessary to draw a crowd.
But this does not seem to correspond well with the way in which Jesus (or Paul or the early church for that matter) “reached†people. We are told that Jesus emptied himself and became a servant on behalf of others. His mission and message were marked by healing, forgiveness, and the constituting of a particular kind of community, the kind which would joyfully live distinctively under the reign of God and would likewise see itself crucified for the sake of the world.
Within the Church, there is perhaps no “balance†to be aspired to in terms of “feeding†the congregation and “reaching†the lost. Rather, it seems to be the case that the Church is that peculiar community whose very food and sustenance is siding with God in his mission to the world. “But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’†(Jn. 4:32)
Things I never thought
Sometimes it can be crazy to think about the course or events of your life and how the most unexpected of things can wind up being the things that most shape and define you.
I never thought I would go to a Christian college, but in so doing, I found myself a part of a community of friends who shaped the way I think, see, and dream.
I never thought that when I graduated I would step into a youth ministry position at a megachurch, but these were three of the most formative years of my life.
I never thought I would relocate to California to attend Seminary, but the time I have had to spend with my family out here, living in a culturally and ethnically diverse community, and the friendships I have made are all some of the most important things in the world to me.
I didn’t plan for any of these things, they all sort of snuck up on me unexpectedly. In each instance, I ventured into stages of life that were both scary and held little intrinsic promise.
Many people told me that going to a small, Christian college was a horrible decision. Everything inside of me told me that accepting the position at RiverTree was a bad idea because of how far in over my head I would be. Coming to Fuller tore against every fiber of my being – it made so little sense.
What do all these things have in common then? They all share the common feature of being what I (and others) discerned to be the leading of God.
Sometimes I think about where I’d be, what I’d be doing, and who I’d be if I had decided to do what made sense and what was comfortable rather than taking risks and doing be best to follow what seemed to be God’s leading. I feel like I know 2 things for sure…
1) God would still be present, He would still love me, and He would steal work in and through me
2) My experience of Him, His grace, His provision, and the excitement of what it means to follow after Christ would be incredibly lessened.I don’t think God’s promise to be with us is necessarily contingent on whether or not we take the risks and challenges he places before us, but like any good teacher, God can only give us what we are willing to receive. Once when I was completely stressing over a major decision I had to make, a good friend and mentor asked me, “JR, how many people do you know from Scripture that felt ready and equipped to do what God was asking of them.” None. There were none. Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Mary & Joseph, the disciples, Paul, even Jesus himself, they all balked at, questioned, or otherwise demonstrated the insecurity they felt toward the task to which they were called. Why should we expect any less?
Heaven forbid that I ever lack the courage to follow where God seems to be leading – that I trade the depths to which I might know and expereince God in all his fullness for the sake of doing that which makes sense, seems logical, and ensures safety and security.
Popular Posts
recent posts
tweets
- A bight & shining light has dawned on the future of theological education! http://bit.ly/bZr7Ty #FB 16 hrs ago
- If men could only know each other, they would neither idolize nor hate. - Elbert Hubbard #FB 21 hrs ago
- RT @bensternke: Why higher education in the US is doomed - http://j.mp/9BH4fH // everyone should read this article! 21 hrs ago
- lifeasmission ReDeux:: A War Over War http://bit.ly/9OT9it #FB 21 hrs ago
- Bye bye Google Buzz. You're just too redundant and hard to manage. My blog, twitter, & Facebook are all the mediums I can manage. 1 day ago
- More updates...
Recent Comments
- jrrozko on John Piper
- jrrozko on John Piper
- Tim on John Piper
- Dad G on No, no, please NO!
- jrrozko on Bonhoeffer: Life Together
Ecclesia Bloggers
