Community… the journey into we

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For much of my life, I have longed for community.

I have experienced flickers of what this might mean- but only in shadow, and sometimes only in hindsight.

The motivation for community comes through my understanding of the way Jesus called us to live- a collaboration of imperfect people who make a decision to love and to lay down self in order to serve others. And in doing this, others might see the Father God reflected in their gathering and their living.

If I look honestly at myself, this longing for community also arises from my own need to find a place of acceptance and security. A home from which to adventure, and a place to return to for healing and encouragement. (Perhaps in this longing, community starts again to be about ME?)

And mixed in with this is a sort of unexpressed idealistic theory that tells me that if we are able to move towards a pure community- then all things will be possible. Broken people will find healing, creative people will find expression. Needs will be met through sharing and burdens will be carried together. And because this community will shine like a beacon into its context, then it will become infectious- missional.

Kind of reminds you of the stories in the book of Acts? These stories have always been my inspiration. The homes opened up, the holding of things in common, the motivation towards the poor. Above all, the resting and the working of the Holy Spirit…

So, what gets in the way?

I know from my own experience that community is not always benign. Sometimes, the closer we get to one another, the more damage we do- the old hedgehogs analogy. The more we open up our lives, the more our facades of niceness are eroded, and the inner grasping kids emerge into the gathering.

Some people bring a toxicity with them that most communities will struggle to contain. There were people like that in the early church- Paul mentions them, and advises his friends to have nothing more to do with them. I bear the scars of broken and hurtful relationships- like we all do. I still torture myself in the making of decisions to walk away.

Then there is the issue of leadership and power. It will always become an issue at some point. Some take power deliberately, and use it indiscriminately for their own ends. Others are surprised to find that something of themselves has become oppressive to others almost unwittingly.

But perhaps above all, in Christan communities, we have lost the meaning of WE, and allowed our spirituality to be centred on the ME. WE have allowed our connections to one another, our way of living, and our spirituality, to be indistinct from the world about us.

I have spoken elsewhere about Kanyini, and how the original Australian people understood community. Once lost, this community is in danger of loosing themselves. We Christians began as people defined by community. It was out identity, and the beauty of it changed the world for ever.

But now, we see an overwhelming emphasis on personal morality, private experience, and even the accumulation of personal wealth, health and happiness. The danger is that people come to gather together in churches that are removed from the dirty messy stuff of life, to celebrate an abstract form of collectivism that is almost like a fossil version of the real thing. We forget our calling, our identity as people defined by our communality, our communion together, with God.

I have no answers of course- this would imply that I have sorted this out, and I certainly have not. But neither am i prepared to let go of my idealism.

I will lay down again for friends, knowing that I will be trampled on at times.

I will open wide the doors of my house, even though I resent the intrusion.

I will believe that this network of people God placed me within has a transformative power- not just for the community itself- but for all who are blessed by contact with it. And where the contrary is true- I will ask forgiveness for my own imperfection.

And I will chose to believe that where we gather, there is God in the midst of us…

The management regret….

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Stress on Flickr – Photo Sharing!

I have had a bellyfull of managers this week. I have to be careful, because I often become a breeding ground for a depressing cynicism about my work.

I am a Social Work Manager to earn my mortgage, but at times I look around and wonder if I have been cast on a foreign shore amongst some kind of fish people who breathe a different substance and speak in bubbles.

There is a certain kind of management culture that values one dimensional toughness, and measures progress by the attainment of irrelevant goals. Failure to fit in to a certain stereotype is punished subtly and unsubtly- and I am never really going to fit in- both as a choice and as a consequence of the way I am made.

On good days I feel that I have a whole set of skills that mean that I can do my job in my own particular way, and do it well.

But then I spend time with management colleagues who rail against the failures of their staff and have no good words to say about anyone but themselves, and how they are going to sort out the slackers that work for them. And I fear for those people- who will no doubt become slackers, even if they are not already.

And I a brought up sharp by a higher management who do not treat members of staff fairly and with respect- even though their rhetoric (which they even seem to believe) suggests otherwise.

And I am angry with myself for my complicity, and my inability to challenge or walk away.

But I am a person who believes that God uses us as Trojan horses to gain entrance into the very fabric of our humanity, and there to tend the fragile but tenacious seeds of the Kingdom.

So as I wheel my horse into the office for another day of solutionless problems, what should be my calling?

To find precious integrity, and to hold on to it- not as a position of superiority, but of survival.

To see people not as a reluctant resource that requires the insertion of a rocket where the sun don’t shine, but instead as creatures of unique gifting and abilities. To search for strengths, not failings, and encourage them out.

To build bridges not battlements between groups of staff.

To understand the need for boundaries, but not to hide behind them.

To be first, an Agent of the Kingdom…

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Blessings for an old friend

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Blessings for an old friend

Memory

Like a magic lantern

Leaked some old light

And it fell on you

Back when we walked together

Then bid adieu

And though the images decay

Some part of you will always stay

In me

What purpose

Ties us in this state

Of marriage in the mind?

Perhaps you formed me a little

Somehow my shape refined

In turn I trust the marks I made

Have aged kindly

From the man that now I am

I tore some strands

And wove for you this blessing;

I hope the years have kissed you

And the sun has often shined

May you have known of love and laughter

And in God’s grace reclined

Now may the stones be soft under your feet

As the long roads ahead unwind

And may the Good Lord give you life

In interesting times

Words cost little my old friend

But these are no mere token

They fit only you-

Bespoken.

Christmas 2005

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Greenbelt,

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Well, for good or ill I have persuaded Michaela to come along to Greenbelt this year, along with the kids Emily and William (Emily was desperate to go so took no persuading at all!) This means taking the kids out of school as the school hols are different in Scotland to those in Englandshire.

This years speakers include Brian McLaren and Philip Yancey, and I am very much looking forward to hearing them both. Music looks less exciting, but there is always something that grabs you that you had not heard of (I really enjoyed ‘Over the Rhine‘ last year.)

Greenbelt gives me the feeling of connection with something bigger- something vital and creative, and fills me with hope for the people of Jesus in this country.

It is a chance to meet up with some old friends, particularly Mark and Dee from Wales. It will be good too meeting up with Si Smith, and perhaps getting to meet some of the Emerging Scotland folk…

It looks like we might be performing some of ’40’ also at a Proost lounge evening during the festival (see here for details of 40, or check out the ‘my writing’ bit of this blog- here.)

Hope to see you there!

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Choosing my religion

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I was thinking today about the huge variety of Christian groupings and denominations. I get so tired of the antagonism and suspicion that we have for one another…

One of the inescapable facts that those outside the faith hit us with is the divided, sectarian nature of our denominations. Many of them split, then split again. Always there is the spectre of TRUTH looming over discussions- we share so much, but the devil (if you see what I mean) is in the detail.

Even within a particular denomination, it seems that there is considerable variation in emphasis from group to group, church to church.

So, assuming that we are looking for a spiritual home, how do we choose? What influences our eventual choice?

I suppose you have to return to TRUTH- but, beyond the core tenets of our faith, what might be true for me might not be so for you. Either we accept that most of us have got our choice of faith community WRONG, or perhaps God is prepared to deal with variation. Perhaps he even likes it!

So there must be other factors that influence our choice of church and its associated theology.

  • Background/upbringing? We are all someone’s children. Perhaps we follow, perhaps we reject and forge a rebellious path…
  • Influential friends? People we admire and are influenced by will of course leave their marks on the way we think about faith.
  • Past baggage? Most of us have had some bad as well as good experiences of church- either through leadership issues, or broken relationships. With this baggage on board, we are less likely to get on a similar train (to mix a terrible metaphor!) Neither are we likely to look favourably on the opinions of those who may have hurt us.
  • Personality type? We are all so different in the way we are wired. Some of us are more confrontational and risk oriented, and may thrive in a dynamic noisy atmosphere. Others are more contemplative, or organised- and will look for environments that fit.
  • Convenience/lack of alternatives? If you live in an isolated area or have limited mobility, then I suppose your choice is made for you! Locality locality locality…
  • Special interest? I think many of us look for something fairly narrow- a social or sociable agenda, the presence of lots of single available men/women, or good music. The rest, well so long as it is not too intrusive…

Increasingly, it seems that people are less likely to remain loyal to any particular brand. Everything is global, and the right to CHOICE is trumpeted everywhere. It remains to be seen what implication this will have to our churches.

What is clear though, is that diversity is here to stay.

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Salt and light…

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SaltOfTheEarth1.jpg (JPEG Image, 720×540 pixels)

Matthew 5:13-16

13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

14“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

What does this mean?

For years, I kind of thought it was all about personal morality. And I suppose, it is.

I also thought that it was about evangelism. And I suppose, it is.

But I heard something today that brought me to a broader meaning. A Chinese minister speaking on radio 4 this morning said something like this.

We are called to be salt of the earth, and light to the world. This is not the same thing as making the whole earth salt, or setting the world on fire. Rather we are called to bring out the flavours of all the mixed ingredients that we come into contact with, and shine light to illuminate things of all shapes and sizes.

Not the same thing as salting the whole earth or setting the world on fire.

Could it be that the deepest meaning of what Jesus meant by these words is those of us who live according to the rules of the Kingdom of God- we are to seek beauty and grace, and truth and justice and shine light on it? And by salting it, we are to bring out the flavours of grace and hope wherever we find them?

Because, in doing this, the Kingdom is advanced.

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1 Corinthians 13

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Even if I pack the Albert Hall with the power of my salvation message

Or my books require their own Amazonian warehouse

If the God Channel carries my healings back to back

And I make theology the sport of masses

Should I become the spider

In the World Wide Web

And Google all for Jesus

…but I have no love

Then I am like a dropped biscuit tin

In an empty kitchen

I am a like a bad busker in a windy street

Competing

With a massed brass band.

And even if I can predict the future price of a billion stocks and shares

Or know the coming weather

If my wisdom knows not the limit of Oxbridge

Nor lacks the ears of those with power

If I know all the words of God for this our time

And shout them loud

…but I have no love

I am nothing.

I am like a stain on the shirt

Of a crack addict

I am like a dandelion

Growing in the gutter

Of a derelict building

If I should I sell my penthouse flat and

Give my widescreen TV to Oxfam

And if I walk into a war zone

Waving flags of peace

Or become the world’s best known eco-warrior

And single handedly heal the Ozone hole

And even if all this should cost my final breath

…but I have no love

Then I am empty

Like the pockets of a gambler

Or the stomach

Of a starving child

Like a road laid

To nowhere

Like a life lived

For nothing

8.8.08

Emerging church- a useful label?

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In our small group in Dunoon, Scotland, we have only fairly recently started using the term ’emerging church’ in a way that is not wrigglingly self conscious.

This was in part because although our group has many of the characteristics of what the EC supposedly represents, we have never agreed that this is the label or yardstick that we would use. It is only as other Christians have attacked us for being ’emerging’ that some of us have had a look at this label again, and thought- yes, that kind of fits.

But it is not as if the label is well defined anyway. The 2006 Gibbs and Bolger book ‘Emerging Churches‘ took a well researched swing at this, and I found it really helpful- but to be honest, I also had this feeling that if you look at a diverse movement of Christian activists and malcontents, and search for common strands- you then become responsible for creating a movement as much as defining one.

I wonder if there is also a kind of intellectual snobbery about not wanting to be defined. Many of us have escaped from solidity and predictability in the way we practice our collective faith, and the last thing we want to rush towards is another denomination.

Perhaps others felt the same way- the Methodists, or the Anabaptists- do you think in the beginning, with all the excitement and promise of something new, that they enjoyed the fluidity and freedom of lack of form and structure- and they enjoyed the lack of definition too?

I see that Andrew Jones, AKA http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com has started a survey asking whether we should ditch the label altogether. He is suggesting ‘Emerging missional church’ as a possible alternative- although this seems likely to raise lots of issues too. Andrew does a great job of putting some structure to these concepts here though. I am looking forward to hearing him speaking at Greenbelt festival in a couple of weeks…

Other so called EC leaders have already dropped the label too, like Rob Bell. Brian McLaren also appears to wish there was a better term. Someone put together some clips on youtube that gathered some of these thoughts.

This clip hints at some of the battle lines that are revealed when the EC label is invoked. I suspect that some of this heat alone might make leaders under fire want to find a better label.

I suppose ultimately, we will no longer be emerging- but emerged. And then we will submerge, to be replaced by another generation who emerge all over again. And God bless them as they challenge all of our cherished and no doubt concreted and inflexible doctrines and practices!

But as for me, I am not ready to get rid of the label yet. Apart from anything else- it gives us somewhere to navigate from.

And it might help us find fellow travelers of like hearts and minds to support and encourage, because Lord knows, we certainly need this.

Here in Scotland, some of us are in the early stages of trying to network more effectively- if you want to know more about this, then check out this earlier post