Do we listen to our own? … Maybe we should …

A number of years ago I took an on-line course from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with Dr. Grant Lovejoy. Grant taught the preaching lab I took during my M.Div. work in the late 1980’s. He spent his sabbatical in Africa working through the concepts leading to the course on, "Chronological Bible Storytelling." He shared the story of a people group with whom humanitarian agencies worked. Infant mortality rate among this group did not abate despite the efforts of relief workers to provide powdered milk. It had been determined one of the chief reasons for the high infant mortality rate was due to malnutrition and specifically an infant’s need for milk. The indigenous group received the powdered mild with the instructions in their tribal language and yet the milk went unused. Someone conceived the idea to provide the instructions in the form of a story about a mother needing to feed her newborn. Once the information reached the hands of mother in the new format the infant mortality rate began to decline. Sometimes we must learn to offer the right information the right way.

Working through the Lectionary text for this coming Sunday provided an opportunity to think about current events in my denominational context. Blog posts, articles and announced conferences regularly point to the growing tension between groups within the SBC. Some would like to pretend they do not exist while others would as soon dismiss dissent as a group of ungrateful youngsters.

Growing up I often heard our mantra, "We are a people of the Book!" Schism occurred when one’s view of the book became the central issue. Call it takeover or resurgence, the operating agenda seemed centered on the Scriptures. I noted in one of yesterday’s posts how a young seminary student senses the day coming when we must choose between two new sides apparently cut from the same "conservative cloth." There is little doubt sentiment and some events appear to be leading us to a line in the sand where cooperation may be more and more difficult if you do not abide the hegemonic/power group position.

Reading from the comments surrounding Mark 9:38-41, I found James A. Brooks comments to be spot on. They seem to be in the right form - a commentary on the Scritpures. The words seem to come from an approved source - offerred in," The New American Commentary" put out by Broadman Press. Mr. Brooks inclusion in this series implies he is a trusted and respected scholar. He taught at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. We appear to have all the necessary criterion to hear from Dr. Brooks on the matter of interpretation and application of his commentary on the Gospel of Mark. Do we listen? He writes,

(commenting on Mark 9:39-40) Jesus’ - and Mark’s - point was that all who with any degree of sincerity do something for or on behalf of Jesus (note "in my name") were to be recognized as allies, if not fellow disciples. The lesson for the church today is that tolerance, acceptance, and recognition should be extended to other denominations and to person of other theological persuasions. Sadly, few individual Christians and Christian groups throughout the history of the church have followed this teaching of Jesus. Exclusiveness rather than inclusiveness has been the rule. (Brooks, NAC- Mark,p.151)

Our own mortality may depend on our ability to read in the forms and from the people we accept.

Will it really come to this? … Prophetic Weaving …

There is going to come a day soon when you will assuredly be called to
voice your approval and support to one side or the other, whether it be
in your church, your school, or your job.

Big Daddy Weave offers a couple of posts on an upcoming conference - The Joshua Convergence and Update on the Joshua Convergence. The above quote was taken from the first post. I could not help but recall the time just before moving back to Oklahoma. Things were heating up in Texas and I shared with the Deacons at the church I pastored there would come a day in Texas when they would be forced to choose a side. Sure enough the day came. Yes, it is possible to be dually aligned. But, in the early days there wa a push to force a choice.

I wonder how many will finally throw in the towell should what the above quote suggests comes to pass. If indeed it is prophetic, some may decide the battle has gone on too long and not be willing to see the fragmentation continue. For everyone who did not care for the book, this quote offers  one more indication Bill J. Leonard may have himself been more prophetic than most would like to think in his book, God’s Last and Only Hope. Where will they go? What will they do? For all the urgency of the dispensational camp that consitutes the largest body of conservatives in the SBC (yes that is a generalization that I cannot support with a survey but my years in the SBC and the wildly popular Left Behind ought to serve as indication enough) you  would think someone would stand with statesman like courage and say enough. We need to be about the work of the Kingdom of God rather than one conservative camp versus another.

I am tired …

Apocalypse is revelation …

Images communicate powerfully. I read the following from Pete Rollins blog this morning and found it strikingly similar to a quote from John Franke’s, Barth for Armchair Theologians,

The question to be explored was how to bear witness and give glory to God without blurring the Creator-creature distinction and lapsing into religion. In order to pursue this task, Barth develops a dialectical approach to human language and speech about God. He speaks of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ as the center of human knowledge of God and yet also asserts that human beings do not have the ability to understand what has been revealed. Hence, Barth can sepak of the revelation of God that occurred in Jesus Christ as being the aftermath of an explosion of an artillery shell. We discern from the large crater that is left behind that something significant has happened, but we are unable to make sense off it within the framework of the knowledge and experience available  to us. The way of the cross of Christ leading to our adoption as God’s children comes only through the death of the present world, including us. (Franke,BAT,p.47-48)

Rollins offered,

Apocalypse

Question - What does it mean to affirm intervention as primary?

Answer
- It means that we affirm the idea of apocalypse as something that has
happened in our life. Or that we are open to the incoming of apocalypse
in our life

Question - What is an apocalypse?

Answer
- Apocalypse is the incoming of the Event which we could never have
foreseen, anticipated or predicted and whose presence strikes us as
utterly incomprehensible, bedazzling and transformative. An apocalypse
is the Happening which ruptures our world, which acts as a rent in our
being, ensuring that we are never the same again…

apocalypse is revelation

My educational experience did more warning about Barth than reading Barth. After Marty’s post this morning I find the logic connecting new  music with staff members falling to infidelity to be similar to suggesting the free fall into liberalism by reading those considered "neo-orthodox." John asserted earlier this year future generations may well consider Karl Barth the most influential theologican of the 20th century. I cannot say I have read enough to form that kind of opinion. I can write that at the very least we ought to be paying attention to Barth’s historical location, his theological development and the manner in which any insights from his writing may help us wrestle with our context of ministry as he seemed to as a result of his pastorate in Safenwil.

Musical Worship …

"Have you seen "The Rock and the Rabbi?" Judith told Patty it would be worth the trip. Firday evening we made a date to go see the new off Broadway musical. Thanks to an arrangement with the producers and the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma we obtained complimentary seats. The last time we attended a show at the Civic Center was to see Cathy  Lee Gifford for a Christmas special.

Derrick Williams (Rabbi) and Peter Penrose (Rock) combined for a splendid performance. The band created an effective group of fishermen as well as setting up the differing scense with great timing. Gary Richardson (Storyteller) drew the audience in like a master "storyteller." There were not dull moments. We found each piece of the production to be powerful. My favorite must have been the, "Follow Me." The Reprise of "You are the Christ/Follow Me" closed the performance with a great sense of inspiration.  We really did come away not only thinking we had seen a great performance, but that we worshipped in wonderful ways.

The Rock and the Rabbi only has two shows left tomorrow (2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Civic Center). On Tuesday it will be presented at Oklahoma Baptist University’s Raley Chapl. If you have the time, it would be worth the trip.

Where’s the podcast? …

The past few weeks have offered little time to produce my podcast, "Meditations form The Hill." This coming week should afford me the opportunity to get back on track and offer reflections on the Lectionary text for the coming Sunday.

Which Jesus? … Which Cross? …

Nearly ten years ago I enjoyed a conversation with Hance. We talked of what we were currently reading. He told me of his latest read Philip Yancey’s, The Jesus I Never Knew. Hearing him describe the subject and his reaction led me to purchase my own copy. Thus began a long and conitnuing appreciation for anything I could find by Yancey. A fews years later I attended the first National Pastor’s Convention with my friend Jeff. I still have the talk given by Philip Yancey on tape. His text, "we have this treasure in jars of clay." Beautiful. Stirring. Human.

This past Sunday I found the impetus behind The Jesus I Never Knew to be of value for wrestling with both the Gospel and Epistle texts from the Lectionary. When I first read Yancey’s book, I found a resonation with the understanding that we had so domesticated Jesus that our picture of him was something of a truncated view we find in the Gospels. In fact, the political climate in our denomination and some of the tactics on both sides of the "battle" became central I was convinced our view of Jesus held little sway over our ethics. In fact, I would say I found myself often wondering if we understood the ethic of Jesus.

In much the same vein I found the chapter "The Seven Jesus’ I Have Known" (in Brian McLaren’s A Generous Orthodoxy to follow a similar trajectory to Yancey. For many of the same reason McLaren exposed the different "pictures" given of Jesus and the need to see the beauty in them all. Unfortunately he gets a knock or two for such an attempt.

I am not thinking this something of a personal quest for the historical Jesus. I simply think we have selected what we like about Jesus and fixated on that particular aspect. So when I read John O’Keefe’s post today I stirred in me much of the same feeling he expresses. He wrote (in part),

let’s be honest, it has zero meaning. i could care less what jesus
would do in any given situation, because in reality the people who
shout it the loudest never do what i think jesus would do anyway. so,
my question is not "wwjd" [what would jesus do], it’s "wwyd" [what
would a YOU do?]

you see, telling me that "this is what jesus
would do if he was alive today" is meaningless. sure it sells book
binders, pencils, note pads and the occasional bumper sticker, but
other then that what has it done to change the world? i know of nothing
that has changed because we spent millions of "jesus junk" called
"wwjd." given that, the first thing i would have to say about the jesus
i know is that it does not matter what he would do, but what he did to
change my life and caused me to act in a different and new way.

John emphasizes we must have an embodied ethic impacted by our experience with the life of Jesus. How Jesus lived must make a difference in our lives or it really does not matter what Jesus did nor what he might do were he living in our day.

Looking for a way to open up the hosted text from Sunday led me to this whole conversation all over again. I wonder if it would not be good for someone to write, The Cross I Never Knew. Many have undertaken to point out the complexity of the Cross only to be accused of missing "the" most important aspect of the Cross. It is harrd for some to understand we cannot reduce the Cross to one view and call that "the" Gospel. Sometime before Jesus hung on the "bloody cross" he told the disciples and the crowd to embrace the Kingdom Cross - "if anyone would come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me."

There is something inherent in the call to "learn how to die." After all once Jesus announces this in Mark 8 he illustrates all that includes learning how to die. On the  other side of death there is resurrection. He well noted the way of the Kingdom Cross - suffering, rejection, murder and resurrection. Much of our lives look for the avoidance of the first three still wanting the last. Certainly we want resurrection. We want to "gain heaven." But the call of the Kingdom Cross is to die before resurrection.

I knew well the need to trust in Jesus’ "Calvary Cross." But, there was little talk about what about me needed to die. Someone may say, well you just must have lived in the wrong hamlet and did not hear the "whole gospel." The problem is many, if not most, live out an ethic that may well take into account the "bloody cross." I am glad someone died for me. Yet when it comes to living out that life we have missed the call to die.

My ego needs to die. In our denomination we celebrate ego under the banner of charismatic leadership. My way needs to die. In our denomination we honor leadership that keeps the end in mind, don’t bother with the method to get there. My desires need to die. In our denomination we reward loyalty with bigger churches and better seats at the table.

Some will pass by and think my critiqe a good one. Others will think, "Man that is why I am not in your tribe." To do so misses the point of this post. Much, if not most, of what passes in "Evangelicaldom" fits the bill. We reduce to sell. After all as it was noted in a conversation recently, "We are a business. We are selling the best product." We sell nothing. We declare with Jesus, "The Kingdom of Heaven is near."

Weaving Gourley and Burleson …

Big Daddy Weave notes a post by Bruce Gourley. Combine these thoughts with Wade’s relaying of a recent conversation and one may well wonder just why the SBC leaders did not follow Gamaliel’s advice. I know, they did not live when Gamaliel did. Yet, the story is found well within the undisputed pages of the Scriptures. Did anyone ever offer such advice? Indeed, but they were of no consequence then nor now.

Working it out …

I ran into CB at the first Tuttle home football game. He noted he had not seen me in a while which meant he had not seen me at the Burris home gym. All I could say was it was hard. He understood the variety of reasons it was hard. I confess to mixed feelings about being at the first home game knowing Lyle would not be sitting with us. I can say he would have been pleasantly surprised at the "coming out" party for Sterling Koons. He had a solid game at quarterback.

This morning I got up thinking about CB’s reminder of the need to get back to working out. I went to the hotel work out room (no not weight room, not a weight in sight). Two treadmills, two stationary bicycles and one of these - an eliptical corss-trainer. I thought I would give it a go. WOW! When I run at home on the treadmill, I usually run for about thirty minutes and log a mile and a half our so (includes warm up and cool down). After the first ten minutes I was left wondering if I would make it the thirty minutes I plugged into the display. Thirty minutes and more than 2 miles later and I felt like I had been tortured.

I needed the workout. I needed to think through some things to work out in my head. Exercise is good for the body and the soul.

Hopefully my legs will recover by early morning basketball on Friday …

Consultation … always learning …

Often we miss occasions to learn. A couple of youth boys sat across the table during an "interview" regarding youth ministry at their church. Each agreed they needed interaction with older youth. When pressed to describe the value of this kind of relationship the young men pointed to what they would learn given the opportunity. I thought to myself, and then mentioned to these two helpful young men, what the senior high youth could learn from the eagerness of these two to bee mentored.

Consultations create the occasion for me as a pastor to hear others describe circumstances that may run parallel to our own. One of the things to come out of today’s interviews centered on the differing narratives in a given local congregation. Some in the congregation live near the church building. Proximity to the facilities makes participation convenient. Others live 20-30 minutes from the building. Concern for distance and regular road work mean a regular consideration about the hour round trip involved in attending a "second" time on a given Sunday. Many choose to stay home. Neither group is more "spiritual" than the other. The way they view  life is vastly different.

Every church contains competing narratives. Generational differences may be described as differing stories. Family context presents the occasion for competing narratives - age of children, children at home or grown children describe different stories for families. Needs for these families are different. Rather than a one size fits all we need to consider ways in which our communities may honor these differing places, stories, locations of our families. Participation should be encouraged around the differing locations families experience.

What do you think?

Do you see the humor? …

I recently read the following,

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