The Edge of the Inside » Peter Rollins

Modern Parables – Peter Rollins and “Being the Resurrection”

Todd Littleton — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:06:32 +0000

“You will speak in parables.” George H. Martin likens the manner given Isaiah to speak in Isaiah 6 to parables. He notes,

“How strange is that? Imagine telling teachers to teach so that children all fail, or imagine a world where we expect traffic cops to create congestion and cause accidents. Try to imagine a coach instructing his players on how not to tackle or when to drop the ball, rather than how and when to catch it. This is the kind of world into which Isaiah is pulled.” (Feasting on the Word, Year C vol.1, p.316)

Martin goes on to point out how Jesus applied this same experience to himself. Somewhere hearing the prophetic call it seems Peter Rollins responded ready to offer modern day parables for and to the church. And, his are every bit as provocative. Last year Paraclete Press published Rollins’ The Orthodox Heretic And Other Impossible Tales.

The collection of parables is among some of the most thought provoking stories I have read. One of my favorite parables from the book is, “Being the Resurrection.” Rollins addresses the tendency to substitute mental assent for transformative practice. That is, people tend to say they believe a “truth” and yet the very manner in which they live betrays the very truth allegedly believed. This reminds me of Dallas Willard who asserts our beliefs, real beliefs, are present in our actions. Anything we say we believe but fail to practice is really not a belief. So, you can imagine by the title of one of my favorite, Rollins targets the “resurrected life.” That is, believing in the resurrection is to live a particular way with others as an expression of that very belief.

The Season of Lent is on the horizon. If you purchase The Orthodox Heretic from Paraclete Press, they will send you another 7 parables giving you a total of 40 to use in your Lenten reflections. Watch the video below and listen as Pete describes his thoughts that take in an Easter Tour he will do titled, “Insurrection.”

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When It Is (The) Orthodox to Be a Heretic – Forgiveness

Todd Littleton — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:38:52 +0000

We live by transactions. Buying goods or selling services, we live by transactions. It is the nature of a consumer economy. Too often the economic structures influence our understanding of the way the world works – and to our detriment.

I would love to give a prolonged review of Peter Rollins‘ new book, The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales. Yet since many only read enough to get the “jest” of a post, I will illustrate the value of the book as it struck me.

Growing up we learn when we wrong another person we should apologize. “Now say you’re sorry.” We are told. We respond timidly, “I’m sorry.” We may hear, “That’s OK.” And, rightly when we have wronged another we should apologize. It is right. But just who is the apology for? Is it possible our transaction based, consumer economy influences our understanding of forgiveness?

Rollins offers adaptations of the parable of the Prodigal Son (Lost Son). He titles one, “The Prodigal Father,” and the other, “The Unrepentant Son.” It was this latter that caught my attention since finishing this intriguing little book. (You could read it in one setting but it is suggested to avoid such a temptation and think reflectively on each parable and the accompanying “commentary.”)

Consider the Father in the parable. Jesus makes clear the Father saw the “son while he was still a long way off and ran to him.” Such an action does not make sense. The boy owed an apology. Before getting the royal treatment he should have given account of his squandered wealth. “Now say you’re sorry.” The Father forgave long before the son considered feeding himself on the scraps intended for the pigs. He forgave long before any expression of repentance. He forgave before the son fell before his Father confessing his sin against heaven and against his Dad. In fact, it could be argued from the telling of the parable the son determined what would be accepted in order to have the best chance at a room in the bunkhouse.

The reflective monologue of the son could easily be said to have been a rehearsed speech so to earn a spot in the bunkhouse with the servants. The story gives the sense the Father was going to kill the calf, get the robe and ring before he heard a word the son uttered. Rollins offers a turn on the parable that the son was sorrowful after the party. After he had experienced the forgiveness of his father he regretted his course of action.

Rollins suggests, and I am thinking hard on this one, it is forgiveness that brought repentance. In our transactional take, we grant forgiveness when repentance is demonstrated; when we hear, “I’m sorry.” In other words, it was the experience of forgiveness which created the impetus for repentance. Certainly we quote Scripture, “It is the kindness of God that leads to repentance.” But in our human relationships it is often repentance that leads to our kindness.

Today we may need some “orthodox heretics” that would live out the way of Jesus in the world, forgiving 70 times 7, showing kindness before repentance, offering love before contrition. In so doing we may well represent the way of God in the world that draws people into the web of God’s love and works in people a Jesus kind of transformation.

Get the book.

*The image found here was found online at – www.stfrancis.edu/va/failure.htm by Andrei Rabodzeenko Prodigal Son 2006.

The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales

Todd Littleton — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:41:15 +0000

I read about this forthcoming book and immediately planned to own it. Several of the parables/tales found in this new book by Peter Rollins are available on YouTube. Today my copy arrived in the mail courtesy of Paraclete Press. The one I have on order will be given to a friend. I confess that I will likely set aside the new book by N.T Wright I am reading (Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision) and may jeopardize the completion of Raschke’s The Next Reformation.

If history is any indicator, I will simply add another to my currently reading stack and continue reading them all. But, this one will rise to the top to be sure. More on the book after I complete the read … soon.

Parables to Make You Go, “Hmmmmm” – Peter Rollins’ new book

Todd Littleton — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:36:32 +0000

I have offered a few posts on Peter Rollins and his two books, How (Not) to Speak of God and The Fidelity of Betrayal. Over the past couple of months I have offered a few videos of him reading a few of the parables to be found in his new work. His next book is due out this month. A glitch in the dust cover has delayed the release. However, I received an email noting the impending release of the new book, The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales.

The teaser from the email -

In Pete’s own words, this collection of original parables, “represents my own attempt to explore and testify to the impossible Event housed in faith. In that sense they are deeply personal and relative to my own life.”

These parables ask questions that often seem impossible to answer. But the questions themselves are worth living in and exploring, and offer a faith that is alive, fluid, and authentic.

Who knows, I might even give away a copy when it comes out. How is that for my own teaser?

Read on for a couple of the parables …

Christianity is illegal – is there enough evidence to convict you?

No Conviction:

In a world where following Christ is decreed to be a subversive and illegal activity you have been accused of being a believer, arrested, and dragged before a court.

You have been under clandestine surveillance for some time now, and so the prosecution has been able to build up quite a case against you. They begin the trial by offering the judge dozens of photographs that show you attending church meetings, speaking at religious events, and participating in various prayer and worship services. After this, they present a selection of items that have been confiscated from your home: religious books that you own, worship CDs, and other Christian artifacts. Then they step up the pace by displaying your many poems, pieces of prose, and journal entries that you had lovingly written concerning your faith. Finally, in closing, the prosecution offers your Bible to the judge. This is a well-worn book with scribbles, notes, drawings, and underlings throughout, evidence, if it were needed, that you had read and re-read this sacred text many times.

Throughout the case you have been sitting silently in fear and trembling. You know deep in your heart that with the large body of evidence that has been amassed by the prosecution you face the possibility of long imprisonment or even execution. At various times throughout the proceedings you have lost all confidence and been on the verge of standing up and denying Christ. But while this thought has plagued your mind throughout the trial, you resist the temptation and remain focused.

Once the prosecution is finished presenting their case the judge proceeds to ask if you have anything to add, but you remain silent, resolute, terrified that if you open your mouth, even for a moment, you might deny the charges made against you. Like Christ, you remain silent before your accusers. In response you are led outside to wait as the judge ponders your case.

The hours pass slowly as you sit under guard in the foyer waiting to be summoned back. Eventually a young man in uniform appears and leads you into the courtroom so that you may hear the verdict and receive word of your punishment. Once you have been seated in the dock the judge, a harsh and unyielding man, enters the room, stands before you, looks deep into your eyes and begins to speak,

â??Of the charges that have been brought forward I find the accused not guilty.â?

â??Not guilty?â? your heart freezes. Then, in a split second, the fear and terror that had moments before threatened to strip your resolve are swallowed up by confusion and rage.

Despite the surroundings, you stand defiantly before the judge and demand that he give an account concerning why you are innocent of the charges in light of the evidence.

â??What evidence?â? he replies in shock.

â??What about the poems and prose that I wrote?â? you reply.

â??They simply show that you think of yourself as a poet, nothing more.â?

â??But what about the services I spoke at, the times I wept in church and the long, sleepless nights of prayer?â?

â??Evidence that you are a good speaker and actor, nothing more.â? Replied the judge, â??It is obvious that you deluded those around you, and perhaps at times you even deluded yourself, but this foolishness is not enough to convict you in a court of law.â?

â??But this is madness!â? you shout. â??It would seem that no evidence would convince you!â?

â??Not so,â? replies the judge as if informing you of a great, long-forgotten secret.

â??The court is indifferent towards your Bible reading and church attendance; it has no concern for worship with words and a pen. Continue to develop your theology, and use it to paint pictures of love. We have no interest in such armchair artists who spend their time creating images of a better world. We exist only for those who would lay down their brush, and their life, in a Christlike endeavor to create a better world. So, until you challenge this system and become a thorn in our side, until you die to yourself and offer your body to the flames, until then, my friend, you are no enemy of ours.â?

and …

The Last Supper

It is evening, and you are gathered together with the other disciples in a small room for Passover. All the time you are watching Jesus, while he sits quietly in the shadows listening to the idle chatter, watching over those who sit around him, and, from time to time, telling stories about the kingdom of God.

As night descends, a meal of bread and wine is brought into the room. It is only at this moment that Jesus sits forward so that the shadows no longer cover his face. He quietly brings the conversation to an end by capturing each one with his intense gaze. Then he begins to speak:

â??My friends, take this bread, for it is my very body, broken for you.â?

Every eye is fixed on the bread that is laid on the table. While these words seem obscure and unintelligible, everyone picks up on their gravity.

Then Jesus carefully pours wine into the cup of each disciple until it overflows onto the table.

â??Take this wine and drink of it, for it is my very blood, shed for you.â?

With these words an ominous shadow seems to descend upon the room â?? a chilling darkness that makes everyone shudder uneasily. Jesus continues:

â??As you do this, remember me.â?

Most of the gathered disciples begin to slowly eat the bread and drink the wine, lost in their thoughts. You, however, cannot bring yourself to lift your hand at all, for his words have cut into your soul like a knife.

Jesus does not fail to notice your hesitation and approaches, lifting up your head with his hand so that your eyes are level with his. Your eyes meet for only a moment, but before you are able to turn away, you are caught up in a terrifying revelation. At that instant you experience the loneliness, the pain, and sorrow that Jesus is carrying. You see nails being driven through skin and bone; you hear the crowds jeering and the cries of pain as iron cuts against flesh. At that moment you see the sweat that flows from Jesus like blood, and experience the suffocation, madness, and pain that will soon envelop him. More than all of this, however, you feel a trace of the separation he will soon feel in his own being.

In that little room, which occupies no significant space in the universe, you have caught a glimpse of a divine vision that should never have been disclosed. Yet it is indelibly etched into the eyes of Christ for anyone brave enough to look.

You turn to leave â?? to run from that place. You long for death to wrap around you. But Jesus grips you with his gaze and smiles compassionately. Then he holds you tight in his arms like no one has held you before. He understands that the weight you now carry is so great that it would have been better had you never been born. After a few moments, he releases his embrace and lifts the wine that sits before you, whispering,

â??Take this wine, my dear friend, and drink it up, for it is my very blood, and it is shed for you.â?

All this makes you feel painfully uncomfortable, and so you shift in your chair and fumble in your pocket, all the time distracted by the silver that weights heavy in your pouch.

Commentary from Peter Rollins:

This reflection was on outworking of my first interaction with the enigmatic figure of Judas. Here I wanted to play with our tendency to identify with the favorable characters in the Bible. For instance, when reading about the self-righteous Pharisee and the humble tax collector, we find it all too easy to condemn the first and praise the second without asking whether our own actions are closer to the one we have rejected than the one we praise.

Judas is here a symbol of all our failures, and Christâ??s action to demonstrate his unconditional acceptance. Judas helps to remind us of Christâ??s message that he came for the sick rather than the healthy, and that he loves and accepts us as we are.

Denying the Resurrection

Todd Littleton — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:04:06 +0000

A few years ago a friend pointed me to some original music he had done. I was intrigued by the title, Practice Resurrection. In the description of the song he pointed to a Wendell Berry poem as inspiration. Since then I have been tying that song title to Dallas Willard’s assertion that belief cannot be separated from practice. In other words, if we say we believe we should exercise and we do not exercise, then we really do not believe we should exercise. As you can imagine this line of reasoning would call into question many of our closely held beliefs. Especially as they expose the fact we really do not practice those same beliefs.

So what would this mean to the Christian conviction or belief in the resurrection of Jesus. How would we demonstrate such a belief? Is it merely mental assent? A vocal delcaration? Peter Rollins posted “My Confession: I deny the Resurrection.” Always the provocateur, Rollins shared a response to a question posed while at Calvin College,

I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.

Rusty and I were talking today about this piece and I could not help but think how rousingly we sing, “Amazing Grace.” He, Rusty, introduced us to the version that includes the verse, “My Chains Are Gone, I’ve Been Set Free.” But, if in our experience of liberty and freedom we do not practice resurrection, would it not be as inspiring to singÂ from the lastest Top 10 of your preferred musical genre?

To illustrate what it might look like to practice resurrection, that is belive rather than deny in our commitments, Rollins notes,

However there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those who have no more tears left to shed.

What are your denials and affirmations?

Stetzer Calls On Baptists to “Get Out More” … Gives Draper the Keyboard

Todd Littleton — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:28:38 +0000

Maybe some will listen. In Southern Baptist life there is likely not a more high profile personality that “gets around” than Ed Stetzer. Sometimes the name dropping is over the top, but underneath it all is a model for “getting out more.” Follow Ed on Twitter and you will need to be in shape to keep up. If he is not on the phone with someone outside the SBC, he is speaking at others’ venues.

Occasionally Ed suggests I get out too widely but that stems from walking the fine line that is role of leader in the SBC. I am glad Ed is using his very public pulpit to draw attention to what some of us have felt for years – Southern Baptists do not have the market on the Christian faith – even the conservative variety.

In an interesting illustration helping others to “get out more,” Ed connects one of the more congenial Southern Baptist personalities/statesmen with the missional guru Alan Hirsch via Alan’s, The Forgotten Ways. Jimmy Draper gave some young pastors hope in the SBC a few years ago. Likely too little too late. But, he has been a friend to those who have often decried the complete disconnect between the espoused theology and the practiced ethic in the SBC. For a current illustration, read here.

After what one commenter deemed the longest introduction in blog history, Ed gives the keybard to Jimmy Draper for his reflections on Alan’s book. Carefully read his words. It should be apparent there is still quite the divide. In other words we need to encourage getting out more intentionally than vicariously through books and blogs. We need to meet folks who do not share our point of view, practice of the faith, and yes our often complicated view of Scripture. We need each other across ailses, across denominationa, across traditions, across categories. For one day, we may end up a peronsality in a Peter Rollins parable. (The anecdote begins about the 20:05 mark in the podcast.)

Peter Rollins – The “Orthodox Heretic”

Todd Littleton — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:11:15 +0000

I just received a notice Peter Rollins new book will ship sooner than later. The parables Rollins uses in his writing, some of which are included in the new book, help paint a picture of the way of following Jesus. Sometimes these ways are less than black and white despite contentions to the contrary. Listen carefully to the parable read here. If you have read Fidelity of Betrayal then you will find this one familiar.

Peter Rollins – The Third Mile

Todd Littleton — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:29:32 +0000

Another compelling parable from Peter Rollins.

Peter Rollins – “No Conviction”

Todd Littleton — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:44:48 +0000

Carl Raschke writes,

Like ancient Israel’s subtle entanglement with local pagan cults, many evangelical Christians, including many postmodern adherents, have seen the power of the gospel dwindle in their lives and their churches because they have gone whoring after the false gods of spiritual and material consumption. Just as the ancient worshipers at Jewish shrines could not differentiate between worship of the one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and local fertility rites, contemporary Christians fail to distinguish between worship as self-surrender and self-gratification. (Raschke, GloboChrist: The Great Commission Takes a Postmodern Turn,p.107)

More than just and Advent Reflection

Todd Littleton — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:58:38 +0000

Quite a bit to be done around here. I plan to tweak the blog and adjust the content. Who knows when that will go live. In the mean time, consider hopping over to listen in on the Nick and Josh (Nick and Josh Website)Â podcast featuring Peter Rollins. The show offers a talk/sermon/reflection by Peter Rollins while on his Fidelity of Betrayal book tour. Listen carefully and you will find plenty to take away not only about advent but some of the kinds of things that attract me to Rollins.