"The Kingdom of God breeds prophets; the Church breeds priests and theologians. The Church runs to tradition and dogma; the Kingdom of God rejoices in forecasts and boundless horizons. The men who have contributed the most fruitful impulses to Christian thought have been men of prophetic vision, and their theology has proved most effective for future times where it has been most concerned with past history, with present social problems, and with the future of human society. The Kingdom of God is to theology what outdoor colour and light are to art. It is impossible to estimate what inspirational impulses have been lost to theology and to the Church, because it did not develop the doctrine of the Kingdom of God and see the world and its redemption from that point of view."Walter Rauschenbusch, A Theology for the Social Gospel, 1917.
The point that must be remembered is that most of political and church history has been controlled and written by people on the Right because they are normally the people in control. One of the few subversive texts in history, believe it or not, is the Bible. The Bible is a most extraordinary text because again and again it legitimates not the people on the top, but invariably the people on the bottom—from Abraham to Moses to Jeremiah to Job to John the Baptist to Jesus.
After a while you might get tired of the rejected son, the younger son, the barren woman, the sinner, the outsider always being the chosen one of God! It is the biblical pattern—which we prefer not to see. It takes away our power to exclude “the least of the brothers and sisters” because that is precisely where Jesus says he is to be found (Matthew 25:40)! If indeed women, blacks, other religions, gays, and other “outsiders” Lare “least” in our definition, it seems that gives them in fact a privileged and revelatory position! They are not to be excluded, but honored. Jesus takes away from us any possibility of creating any class system or any punitive notion of religion. Unfortunately, thus far, it has not worked very well.
from Richard Rohr
A Lever and a Place to Stand: The Contemplative Stance, the Active Prayer
"Lord, if I thought you were listening, I'd pray for this above all: that my church set up in your name should remain poor, and powerless, and modest. That it should wield no authority except that of love. That it should never cast anyone out. That it should own no property and make no laws. That is should not condemn, but only forgive. That it should be not like a palace with marble walls and polished floors, and guards standing at the door, but like a tree with its roots deep in the soil, that shelters every kind of bird and beast and gives blossom in the spring and shade in hot sun and fruit in the season, and in time gives up its good sound wood for the carpenter; but that sheds many thousands of seeds so that new trees can grow in its place. Does the tree say to the sparrow 'Get out, you don't belong here?' Does the tree say to the hungry man 'This fruit is not for you?' Does the tree test the loyalty of the beasts before it allows them into the shade?"
-Philip Pullman's The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, posted as a comment by Casey McCollum, a reader of this page.
I'm meeting with the "missions" committee of a local church. The church sends us a nice contribution every month, for which we are most grateful.
But, the church has a problem.
They are very devoted to "mission work" and they have limited funds. At least half of their revenue is devoted to missions. Their challenge is how to define what qualifies as legitimate mission work.
We spend almost two hours together.
I review, explain, show and discuss all that we are up to among some of the poorest folks and neighborhoods in Dallas. I talk about health care services, food distribution, employment training, the Central Dallas Church, legal services, housing development, work among youth who age out of the foster care system, the summer lunch and reading program, our after school academies, the list gets almost unmanageable as I go over it.
Then at the end of our session the question, "Larry, do you do evangelism? Do you have a method for sharing the gospel as you do you work?" A discussion follows during which I attempt to make the case that the gospel is best revealed in the context of authentic responses to the pain and difficulty of suffering men, women and children. At the end of the conversation I want to ask these sweet people, "How much of the money that you spend on Sunday mornings is really evangelistic?" but I don't.
It is very frustrating to me to engage in discussions like this. From my perspective such conversations are a huge waste of time.
Cutting to the chase let me say this to church folks who are struggling with this very artificial distinction:
. . .stop talking about being redemptive, bring redemption;
. . .stop talking about salvation and insert a saving moment into the life of just one struggling person;
. . .stop preaching a message of reconciliation and become reconcilers;
. . .stop worrying about your message and live a message that produces hope.
I could go on, but I'll stop here.
I am convinced that things of the spirit that turn out to be eternal will always begin rooted in the here and now of the pain of people whom God hears, acknowledges and cares about. The church needs to save its breath and act redemptive.
We've edited and added to this post a bit, so that it seemed good to put it up one more time with the "enhancements." If you've already seen the earlier version, just scroll down to the video conversation that Brian provides below. We hope you'll join the crowd this weekend!
Through conversation, presentation, art, music, and reflection, we’ll explore how the way of Jesus can bring transformation in our contemporary world...locally, nationally, and globally... beginning with us, beginning now."
A weekend with Brian McLaren and friends: "We Are In Deep Shift"--A time of transition, rethinking, re-imagining, and re-envisioning. A time for asking new questions and seeking answers that are both new and old fresh and seasoned surprising and familiar.
What does it mean, in today’s world, to be a follower of God in the way of Jesus?
What does it mean to be a faith community engaged in the holistic, integral mission of God in our world today?
How do we, as individuals and organizations, respond faithfully to the crises facing our world?
What is our duty to God, ourselves, our families, our neighbors, our enemies, and our planet in light of Jesus’ radical message of the kingdom of God?
How can we engage in personal formation and theological reformulation for global transformation?
Living in "deep shift" can be exhilarating and energizing, but it can also be disorienting and frightening.
Deep Shift was created to provide spiritual guidance for organizations. Deep Shift provides support as leaders make their own personal deep shift and guide their organizations through the transition and transformation necessary to ignite the loving energy of people to work for the good of the world: coaching, consulting, and resources for people leading in deep shift — faith community and church leaders, nonprofit leaders, ethical business leaders and others.
February 22-23, 2008: Dallas, Texas at Cliff Temple Baptist Church.
My good buddy, MikeCope, posted this quote from Barbara Brown Taylor’sLeaving Church: A Memoir of Faith on his blog not long ago. A fitting entry for a Sunday morning.
If you are a church person, it's more than worth pondering.
“I know that the Bible is a special kind of book, but I find it as seductive as any other. If I am not careful, I can begin to mistake the words on the page for the realities they describe. I can begin to love the dried ink marks on the page more than I love the encounters that gave rise to them. If I am not careful, I can decide that I am really much happier reading my Bible than I am entering into what God is doing in my own time and place, since shutting the book to go outside will involve the very great risk of taking part in stories that are still taking shape.”
"The God whom Jesus bore within him was not the God of one nation. The reign of God which he meant to establish was not a new imperialism with the chosen people on the top of the pile. The gospels show us Jesus in the act of crossing the racial boundary lines and outgrowing nationalistic religion. He recognized the religious qualities in a pagan; he foresaw that the Kingdom of God would cut across the old lines of division; he held up the hyphenated and heretical Samaritan as a model of humane kindness. Every time a wider contact was offered him, he seized it with a sense of exultation, like the discoverer of a new continent. That world-wide consciousness of humanity, which is coming to some in protest against the hideous disruption and hatred of the War, was won by Jesus at less cost under the tuition of God and the Kingdom ideal."
(Walter Rauschenbusch, A Theology for the Social Gospel, 1917, page 161)
I've been wrestling with Jesus for almost 50 years.
I mean, the guy has this way of getting all over you, under your skin, moving inside your head and never letting go!
The longer I have studied, listened to and observed him in the biblical record, in terms of his historical impact and in regard to the effect he has had on my own life and world, the more convinced I am that most people don't really understand him, what he said or who he was.
Jesus didn't talk much at all about church things.
He didn't provide much instruction on worship services or music styles.
He wasn't into institutional matters. In fact, he chaffed against the institutional leaders and voices of his own day. In my experience he continues that same tact today.
Jesus didn't talk about ordination or education or anything related to status in positive terms.
He talked about life. He talked about this world, its pain and how he wanted to open folks up to a new way of navigating their way through this life. He connected the here-and-now of my life to the there and then of the next life.
So, if I were preaching this Easter Sunday (and, to the relief of so many, including myself, I am not!), my sermon would be a bit different than it was 15 or 20 years ago.
I would be pointing beyond the particulars of the resurrection narrative to the significance of the story, the claim and the man, as each relates to the real world in which I live today.
What, after all, is the power of the resurrection story for my world?
The resurrection story declares that death will not have the last word and that life beyond this life is certain. But, remember, this is a story about a person who dies, passes over and then returns. This movement toward this world is very important, or so it seems to me.
If my afterlife is squared away, I am free to concentrate on this world--its beauty, its ugliness, its pain, its joy, its need and its assets.
If I truly believe in the truth back of Easter, I am not carried farther away from this world. To the contrary, Jesus shows me that I am pressed deeper into it and its messiness.
So, my one-point message would be simple beyond belief.
To celebrate the resurrection, to signal your belief in its power and its truth, be a resurrection in your world! Live your life as an agent of resurrection, life, renewal and hope.
Reading for today--for this Sunday, but more, for this challenging time. . .
Matthew 5:38-48
Love Your Enemies
38-42"Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
43-47"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
48"In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."
