Bible Study Number 2

Whooo hooo! Had another bible study. Thank you all for coming--it's always lovely to see you! Really. No, seriously, it is. You see, (and I don't know if any of you who actually came might be reading this but,) everytime we get together, we are forming a kind of community. We are coming together to participate in something bigger than ourselves and in doing so, make ourselves available to be changed as well as to faciliate change around us. We were talking tonight about how so many people talk about doing things, but never actually get around to doing them. We mentioned that many people don't feel that they have the power to do anything and so succumb to apathy. Well, I'm here to point out that the simple act of coming together for something as like a bible study is a first step to avoiding this type of lethargy. Believe it or not, Christianity, a faith community, is not about avoiding certain kinds of behavior, but is about taking on certain kinds of missions. Nor is it about getting people to believe in the same things as you. Instead, community in the Christian faith is about action; it is being present to the world by being in the world and doing so as an empowered individual serving in an empowered community. When we follow in the way of Christ, when we become disciples of his, we are taking on his work, his mission to be the light to the world. To each other.
It starts with the simplest of committments. Can you not see how powerful you are?

Facebook Group: I'm religious not spiritual....wha?

So, on facebook I've been invited by a friend of mine to join the group "I'm Religious, Not Spiritual." Intrigued, I went further to see what this particular group was about and discovered that many friends of mine are already in it--meaning that a fair bit of clergy were represented as well as some other young religious types. At first I thought it might be a sort of tongue-in-cheek group identity--at least I was hoping. It seems, however, that it really is a group responding to that oft-heard response of many non-church-goers to clergy: "Oh, I'm spiritual, not religious!" Meaning that while the individual may not go to church, it doesn't preclude him or her having a faith life and/or experience of God.

Admittedly, I once viewed this answer as the moral equivalent of Bill Clinton's 1992 rendition of "I didn't inhale:" wow, look, you're just lying to my face like I'm stupid or something...
Now that I have more experience with this sort of thing, especially due to my particular kind of work, I have come to a different understanding. Oh, I don't doubt that some people just say this to allude to some kind of churchy practice that they feel may appease the ecclesial powers that be (actual or perceived), I do feel that there is a great bit of truth underlying this statement.

For one thing we are actually spritual beings. So, these spiritual, non-religious people are wholly correct in recognizing this. Furthermore, there is growing disillusion among later generations when it comes to religious institutions. A disconnect has been growing between church and, in particular, younger people. From what I am hearing and reading, people want something tangible, something that can be felt, something that lets them know that God is present to the world. They want this experience to happen directly to them and not through the institution. They want an experience of the divine. Who could deny them this? While I represent the institutional church, I do not cling to it for its own sake. For me it is a tool to my experience, identity and vocation in God. It is the means, not the end. The end is always God, and things that start to get in the way of this should probably be re-evaluated or risk becoming idols. Church is who we are as the body of Christ, not our doctrine, not our buildings, not our hymns even. It is in the experience of being in communion with each other, in a relationship to both God and or fellow diciples that we come together to be Church. And it is in this context that our spiritual natures have full expression and meaning. Thus, I think it is fair to say that "I'm spiritual and not religious."

So, this is why I can't join this particular Facebook group (sorry Rick). Just as I preach that humans must engage with the bible dynamically, I must do the same with the idea of church (lest I be a hypocrite). Not that I'm throwing away 2000 years of hard work and tradition. In fact, many of these things I want to see maintained and re-adapted to the contemporary context. But I don't want us to get stuck in a hard-nose understanding of how church has to be done. Because if the world around us is changing and we refuse to pay attention then we all might as well be inhaling.

Bible Study is starting

Ok, so I have a bible study beginning--very fabulous--and I want to basically use this time with people to reintroduce the bible to them. I want to hear (if they wish to share) everybody's understanding/experience with the bible. We all pretty much have one, even if it isn't much. I am curious because people have many different ideas about what the bible is and what it should be. For some, their experience of the Scriptures has been fabulous, life-changing and powerful. For others, this book has been nothing more than a weapon to discriminate against those who might be different. Remember that movie, Saved? Well, there's a scene in there when, during a heated argument, one girl throws the bible at another (who is in the process of walking away) and hits her in the back with it, all the while screaming about the love of Jesus. Yeah, for some, it's kinda like that. Fortunately, most of us don't believe in bible-throwing.

However, what I've been running into in my conversations with people is an understanding or outside perception, that the bible exists to tell people how to live. I think most of us have had or now have this take on the good book. Hence, when they read it (if they ever do) it reads flat, like reading a phone book. This means then that engagement with the bible is one-dimensional meaning then that it is there to provide information that should go into our heads and stay there. We have to then believe what the bible tells us like we believe what we read in a social studies book. I have one thing to say about this: NO. NO NO NO NO NO NO! This is not what the bible does or is.

The bible is a story--a narrative of a people and their experience of God in the world. In being a story, the bible is then capable of engaging us as whole persons and not just our minds. It is meant to engage our minds and our emotions: our loves, our fears, our anger, or even our utter despair. This means a few things. 1) We can't read it in tiny little verses. Chopping up the bible and taking meaning from a single line of text is like taking a symphony, killing off all the musicians save for one triangle player and having her play, and only her. What's left? Nothing except that one little tinkle of sound which has been robbed of the richness of the composition that would be surrounding it if only the symphony was still around to accompany. The bible is too wonderful to be broken up this way, and far too complicated. 2) It would help to spend some time with the bible, without reading it. It may be that for some, they need to hear the bible read out loud, in its various translations so as to let the story come to life. This may mean acting out part of the story if that's what it takes. 3) The bible is authoritative, but as a story and not as a lawbook. Tricky concept, but doable.

Ok, enough for today!

San Joaquin

Well, the Diocese of San Joaquin has voted to leave the Episcopal Church. Like you do. While I don't know much about this particular diocese, I've always known it was "one of those dioceses:" conservative, not so open to the women priests, and certainly not to the gays. At least, this is what I think I know about the diocese of San Joaquin--it's what I've heard. And while the recent action of said diocese appears to only confirm this perception, I still really don't know these people; given the recent decision, my likelyhood of ever getting to know them is diminished. They have opted to sever their relationship with the Episcopal Church and thus with people like me. My first reaction is to say "Fine, go. You're wrong (and nasty to boot)." But at the same time, I am sad about this. Believe it or not, I feel that we need these people to remain with us even more (not necessarily the attitude, but the people). While I strongly disagree with their action and their interpretation of Christianity, I also need them to remain with me, and hold me accountable and stretch me in my daily faith life.

I am a church planter, I have a particular openness to people who aren't comfortable with many things that the "traditional" church holds to be "true." (humor me while I abuse quotation marks) I also hold a particular understanding of faith that resonates with what these people are telling me on a day to day basis. So far, the people I have gotten involved in my ministry here often hold similar views to my own. But I don't necessarily want this, because I want to avoid my own hypocrisy. I want to be faithful, not right. I want the community i am a part of to be radically open--open in the way that answers with love the inhospility we have all experienced at some point or another. I want it to be open, not merely another exclusive place singing the same old tune, just in a different key. A community, a church, needs to be the model of reconciliation that recognizes differences yet commits to remaining one. It is easy to leave each other, the hard work is remaining in a kind of relationship (notice I am speaking of relationship in a very broad sense.) I don't think Jesus' work made him the most "correct" teacher, the smartest or the most believable. I think his work showed him to be present, showed him committing to breaking bread even with those who would betray him, In remaining linked to all people, Jesus showed us that salvation is not escape to a place like heaven, or even the "church." It is doing the hard work of staying in at-one-ment with each other. I think this might just be eternal life.

Is it Christmas yet?

A friend of mine recently found a website dedicated to answering the question: Is it Christmas yet?

Bible Study/Heresy

I just finished a Bishop Spong book which questions pretty much everything that could be considered a pillar of Christian faith. It was titled Why Christianity Must Change Or Die. You know, subtle. For those who don't know, Bishop John Shelby Spong is well known in Christian circles and particularly in the Episcopal Church where he served as bishop of the Diocese of Newark for many years. What makes him special is his ability to deconstruct traditional Christian understandings of oh, say, the Nicene Creed (problematic), the Trinity (doesn't exist?) or the Divinity of Christ (oh, yeah--he was a guy). Since this blog is not a book review, I'll leave it to the reader to go dig up Why Christianity Must Change for themselves. However, I will say that Spong doesn't embrace any kind of literal understanding of these things, rather he roughly reinterprets these doctrines in a manner so as to allow them to have meaning in his life. As one might guess, this approach usually doesn't fly so well with many people (think modern day heretic burning which usually involves denouncement, pouting, and dramatic exits on the part of those offended). At the same time, he argues that he is speaking to and for a large section of the population who feel and believe in the same manner as he.

So let me add myself to the pyre. I had never read a Spong book (and there are several); however, I was surprised to find that the questions he poses are very similar to the questions and assumptions I run into in my daily conversations with people (I know, bear with me, I've been in Seminary for three years...). Not only that, but I found that often I was on the same page as he was with his questioning of such doctrines as well as in his concern for those with similar perspectives. This is not to say that I hold his ideas exactly, but there is a commonality; furthermore, and more importantly, he is concerned about the faith of individuals who cannot hold the same "literal" beliefs of the traditional church but still possess a spiritual life (which is indeed an aspect of being human). His concern is that the church is not speaking to these individuals and by doing so, only works to futher marginalize itself from the world when it should be in the world, calling it into a new kind of being. I worry about this too. And certainly theology in the church has not always remained static, right? So, yeah, I like what he had to say.

Isn't this precisely what the emerging church is doing as well? Working to seek to speak to a new understanding of reality, in a new generation, that is meaningful to that community, generation, etc? In an effort to begin doing this, I'm going to be meeting with others for bible study, and meet head-on one of the most loved and contested works in the world: Holy Scripture. How does this ancient narrative speak to us today in a way that is neither dismissive nor paralyzing? I'm gonna find out...

What is the Emerging Church?????

Hi everyone! Now that I have returned from the wonderful New York City, I can refocus on those looming questions that I had set aside. Much of what I have been reading over the last three months has fallen under the label (yes, it kinda is a label) of Emerging Church (I have to use something, so let me shamelessly employ this current buzzword--though I am trying not to taint it). One thing I haven't really tackled is offering all you lovely people an overview of what Emerging Church is. To remedy this, I found a nice and concise overview of what might make up an emerging church. Nanette Sawyer, who pastors Wicker Park Grace, an Emerging community in Wicker Park Chicago, posted on her blog a summary of Marcus Borg's understanding of "emerging."
This is by no means an exhaustive overview--there are many manifestations of what it means to be emergent. And this is ok, because each community, each church, has its own context--its own culture. For some people, this aspect of emerging may be threatening; I do not find it so. God is much bigger that one faith tradition, one approach. What I feel emerging does is remind us of the larger truth that is out there, but which we alone cannot fully grasp. We need each other and each other's little holds on truth in order to start approach the whole of what is actually true (of what is God). This is both humbling and empowering and for many of these communities, is uncharted territory.
Is this a different approach from the kind of church you grew up in?