We the Purple
by Marcia Ford
(thanks to Mike Morrell/the Ooze for hooking me up with this book to review and many others that will be coming to you quickly now that I’m “back in the blogging saddle”, as it were)

The Independent. Not unlike the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot or the legendary Chupacabra - if they do indeed exist, they are surely to be feared. Marcia Ford creates an Independent scrapbook of sorts in her book, We the Purple. Through snapshots, stories, statistics and studies she runs aground the mythical Independent revealing that not only do they exist, they are thriving in places like the Internet and local political landscapes all over the country.

Ford does two things well in this book; she maintains a light-hearted wit that makes otherwise droll political talk at the least, bearable and at its best, downright exciting and she keeps complex political issues simple enough for even the most daft to understand.

But be forewarned, this is first a book about politics - non partisan politics to be specific. Ford talks of issues for sure, but as every good journalist, she peppers it all with narrative - and we all know how every good post modern loves a good narrative.

Ford goes to great lengths to examine the sociological back story to the Independent voter. I consider myself an Independent even though I am technically a registered democrat (I wanted to participate in the Colorado caucus this year and it felt really naughty checking that “democrat” box after being raised in a dyed in the wool Republican family…and you all know how I like being a little naughty now-a-days). After reading this book however, I have been emboldened to consider officially becoming an Independent; which, to my pleasure, Ford has convinced me is even more naughty - primarily because Ford successfully articulates that there is an Independent “cause”, a fight to be fought in the political sphere…and that we are not alone.

One of the points Ford attempts to make throughout the book is that true Independents are not “undecided” and they also aren’t the “swing vote”. There are, no doubt, people who ARE undecided and people who can be “swung” but they are a different breed than Independents. This is important to grasp if you are to understand the reforms Independents hope to push forward, reforms that are certainly not the stuff of cocktail party banter but important to the political landscape nonetheless.

In addition to some of the more banal explorations of non partisan politics, Ford discusses the deeper issues at hand, including those for Christians in particular. She echos Jim Wallis’ sentiment that Christians really should ALL be Independents. We should never allow a party to capture our hearts, allegiances and subsequent votes because we are not to be loyal to the cause of a political party, we are to be loyal to Christ and the causes of being a Christ follower.

The final 45 pages or so of the book are dedicated to profiles of real-life Independent voters…just in case you still weren’t convinced that they actually exist.

This is a very timely book but not timeless so if you can, get over your cynicism and apathy or your devout party loyalty and get it while it’s still relevent - it’s a worthy read that is educational and inspiring…even if you decide not to make the switch.

Technorati Tags: we the purple, book, review, marcia ford, independents, politics

This is good stuff.

A Return To Greatness « Missio Dei

What made America great in the first place was not our cynicism, or even our ability to call out what was wrong with the old system. It was our capacity to gather together in the spirit of unity, which required love and sacrifice. This is the call of sacrifice and what has always made great leaders.

…Inspiration always appeals to the best in who we are as human beings. It reveals who we want to be, not just who we are. We want leaders who ask us to think outside of our own agenda and love our neighbor. We may not like it but we want it. Our greatness has always resided in our leaders ability to get us to think outside of our own agenda, one that is inclusive of our neighbor. Ultimately we want leaders who can help us grow into mature citizens, one who don’t need our government to tell us what to do. We want leaders who can help us self-govern.

Jonathan is talking about Obama here but I think he’s (maybe inadvertently even) alluding to something even bigger/broader than politics.

We’re not very expressively patriotic here in our family. My husband was born in Canada and I’ve never understood the pride people have in their birth country. After all, I’m an American because I was born to American parents in an American city - Fargo, North Dakota of all places, how can you be proud of that anyway?

I have always felt that I could happily live in many countries around the world, even ones that aren’t “western”. I’ve definitely lived in a diverse number of cities - from a town in ND called Killdeer with about 500 people to a city you might have heard of called Los Angeles (Hollywood to be specific).

So I struggle to find the balance between complete apathy or even loathing of my birth country (esp. in light of my country’s most recent behavior) and crazy nationalistic flag waving patriotism. I grew up in a faith tradition that married patriotism with the Christian religion - you weren’t a true Christian if you weren’t a true patriot. Most people I knew practically deified our founding fathers and to this day, they refuse to hear any negative words spoken about men like George Washington even when those negative points have been proven historically accurate.

The 4th of July carries with it a weird mix of feelings for me. My birthday is July 6 and my mom always tells the story of how she was in labor with me while watching fireworks. Growing up, we took our annual trip to visit family in ND and MN around the 4th holiday so we would always get to buy fireworks in MN and light them off at my grandparents dairy farm (those poor cows) and then I would celebrate my birthday with my family. So if we could have the fireworks and family bbq’s and all that without the excessive patriotic sentiment I’d be happy but the flag clothes and national songs at churches really just inspire me to stay home.

But then I think I’m probably just a grumpy killjoy and should get over myself.

Technorati Tags: independence day, patriotism, nationalism

I’ve been reading the missional posts from the synchroblog and processing through it all. At its best, missional is the life we are called by Christ to live. The underlying theologies and understandings of Jesus’ teachings are beautiful and simultaneously extremely challenging…just like the Christian life should be. Living a life of incarnation, redemptive life and crucifixion with Christ is filled with joy and sorrow, healing and pain, death and resurrection. It is rich and nuanced in every sense.

But like everything from God, it has to be understood by human minds and expressed through human lives and because of that, it needs to be held humbly with an open hand.

There are a few things that keep nagging at me and I’m wondering if others see what I see so I thought I’d flesh out a couple things here.

I (and apparently many many others) LOVED Erika’s post. It was beautifully challenging and poignant. At the same time, it stirred some caution in me, something that Andrew said keeps ringing in my ears and it’s also come up in conversation in our faith community. This is how Andrew put it.

4. It [missional] suffers from a compulsive activism, as if God was a workaholic who constantly drives on his team and never rests from his labours.

This is a vibe I get every once in awhile from various posts on missional and realized recently that I can sound this way too, because I often feel this way. I often hear something like this (this is what I hear, not what is being said). “If you poor schmucks think you can just have church on Sunday you’re WRONG. Have you slept in the gutter with the homeless today? What about getting your drug addict neighbor into treatment? Did you let that runaway stay in your home and take your kids’ piggy banks on the way out? WHY NOT?! You’re not a REAL Christian are you?! What?! You live in the ‘burbs?! What kind of lukewarm loser are you?! Are you saying you actually drink lattes, you know you could donate that money to help save child slave prostitutes or donate it to the One Campaign.”

I genuinely believe there is a risk from, as Andrew says, “compulsive activism”. And a side risk from this is compassion overload…I think it’s possible to care too little by caring too much. I also think it’s possible to confuse missional with “doing more stuff”. Yes, living a mission shaped faith can be challenging. For most Christians, esp. those who came of age in a church that emphasized a more “evangelism” faith, being missional does not just happen, it takes some effort. But at the same time, we need to be careful that we’re not creating a new form of legalism or works-based faith.

Andrew expressed another concern of mine putting it this way.

5. It lacks an immediate connection with worship which might be the flip side and a necessary balance.

It would be a tragedy if a missional paradigm shift caused people to forget about God. Sabbath and setting aside time to gather in sacramental community to worship the One always needs to be central. I strongly believe we need a push away from the “performed” Sunday service that usually does more to drain the people than glorify God but that doesn’t mean we should abandon the gathering completely. After all, as a Christ follower, I still believe in the need for the breath of God to infuse our lives.

There is no doubt that I’d rather live a flawed mission shaped faith than a perfectly expressed “other way” but I would foolish to hold on so tightly to missional that I never examine its expressions.

Technorati Tags: church, mission, missional, critique

(Chorus)
Wade in the water.
Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the water.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

~ Black American Slave Traditional (I don’t think it has an “author” but please correct me if I’m wrong)

I wrote awhile back about the changes that are afoot in all domains of society. Since then, I have read several articles and statistical reports discussing this very shift. So I thought I’d take some space to share (only) some of my observations.

One caveat I feel I need to make is this: Making statements about the things that are changing does not require a value judgment on either the past or the present/future. That’s another quality of my generation, we don’t feel the need to judge every single thing we observe. In other words, I’m not suggesting that “then” was bad and “now” is better or vice versa. They are simply what they are, observations…and of course, as always, they are generalizations and trends that I personally have observed so take it for what it’s worth.

• Most people around my age and younger have discovered that the American dream is… well… it isn’t….a dream that is. It doesn’t work anymore. This is due to many factors including the fact that income is not keeping up with increased cost of things like homes, food and transportation. Yes, we are probably still too consumeristic and greedy but not in proportion to the problems we’re seeing. This reality is shifting our values and forcing us to change our expectations. More and more people are cohousing with peers or their parents, to cite one example. Another example is an increase in exploration of alternatives to college. Attending university is becoming increasingly beyond the grasp of many especially as more and more of us are attempting to live without debt.

• There is an increased desire for the government to become more involved in areas such as health care, hunger, homelessness, the sex slave trade, etc. AT THE SAME TIME there is increased suspicion of politics (there seems to be a separation of politics and government in people’s minds) heirarchical models and authority. This is causing people to re-think their notions of how to influence governmental change.

• There is a growing concern for the decline in the value of life across the board resulting in more opposition to torture and death penalty as well as abortion AT THE SAME TIME there is a strong desire to take a different approach to these issues than in the past - focusing more on the grassroots level and addressing the root causes instead of taking a top down approach. This is leading to a shift in how people choose the president (for example).

• There is a more nuanced view of “value issues” such as homosexuality AT THE SAME TIME there are more dogmatic views of other value issues in the arena of justice, i.e. there is much less tolerance for intolerance unless someone is intolerant - then there’s lots of intolerance.

• Acceptance of the beliefs of the other is on the rise, seeking to engage people of different religions and antireligions AT THE SAME TIME many are seeking out beliefs and expressions of those beliefs for themselves that are solidly rooted in a dogmatic tradition.

• Even though many in the old guard are still lamenting at the loss of community and the increased individualism in our generation, I would argue that if that WAS the case, it is no longer so. There is an almost frantic feel to the seeking out of honest community, especially community that also makes a difference. AT THE SAME TIME these relationships must be life giving and must not carry any air of superiority - which means old notions of mentorship and accountability make most of us shudder.

All of this is manifesting in different questions and many people becoming increasingly frustrated by those who are asking the same questions while at the same time seeking new answers. (And this is not limited to age/generation. There is a whole younger generation picking up where their parents left off.) This deep shift that is occuring is affecting everything. The old addages and expectations do not apply as cleanly as before and the previous binary options manifest dichotomies that we no longer buy into.

The question I’m asking is this: Will Christ followers be moving along WITHin the stream of this shift, able to engage and provoke, able to be a prophetic voice? Will we be riding the waves right along with everyone else demonstrating a stability that can only come from a confidence in our God or are we going to continue the same trend of running along the shore line waving our arms phrenetically and yelling at people about the four spiritual laws and the reality of an eternal home? And if it’s the former (I hope and pray it is), how will we do this and how do our faith communities, theologies, notions of discipleship, reading of Scripture etc. need to shift in order to be successful?

Technorati Tags: futurism, church, culture, postmodern, shifts, trends

Reclaiming the Mission :: The Weblog of David Fitch

Blogger Len Hjalmarson said…

“Proving to be examples to the flock..” This is the killer for me. I’ve known many busy pastors, and while they are often examples of a moral life they are not examples of a well-lived and missional life. They have no time for family, and little time for friendship. I’ve known too many pastors who really have no friends at all. This if nothing else, should cue us to the reality that such churches are not biblical communities and therefore are not places of gospel wholeness. In such cases they function ok as business but are not really “ekklesial.”

David’s whole post is excellent but I really liked what Len said in particular - I have seen this in every single church I have ever been involved with and I have seen it happen to my husband and myself as well. (granted, I have never been actively involved in a mainline/liturgical church)

I know that being bivocational isn’t a popular solution but full time vocational ministry has yet to solve any of these problems, perhaps the definition of insanity applies here. If nothing else, if a pastor is full time vocationally (and I know many wonderful people who are friends of mine who are), he/she needs to have a support structure and encouragement to live life well, not just be a good, moral, christian pastor. If a pastor cannot model a kingdom gospel of wholeness, how are the members of the congregation supposed to “get it”?..esp. if a top down model currently exists.

comment: missional now - YES! how do you get there is the question, when folks are so used the saving/evangelism mode of being missional. i don’t know the answer, but i know i am very weary of thinking it is the church’s job to “save” folks.

This comment was in response to my missional post earlier this week. I think this is a very good question and one I don’t necessarily have any one single answer to. However, I think the question brings out some other areas of discussion that might be helpful to explore.

The first issue that comes to mind is the notion of whether or not we save folks. This is where the fundamental theological issues come into play. Recently, Alan Hirsch suggested that if one is to “emerge”, it must come after an embracing or rooting in mission.

I personally do not feel the need to question the inherited theological tradition as many of its adherents do.
…don’t emerge before you have a mission.

I originally agreed with this but after processing some of the nagging issues I had with some of Alan’s (otherwise well stated) post, I don’t think it’s that simple and certainly wasn’t for me (for the record, I don’t feel in any way that Alan and I are at odds, I loved his book and agree with almost everything the man says - and besides, he’s wicked smart and just a really cool guy). I think this CAN happen but in my experience, emergence often needs to occur before the paradigm shift toward a mission shaped faith can form. Maybe folks like Alan and Michael (Frost) emerged so long ago they have forgotten the fundamental theological shifts that had to occur first.

Either way, this question of salvation is one example. If one holds to traditional evangelical notions of “how salvation occurs” (for example), living a truly mission shaped life is almost impossible in my experience. Making a missional paradigm shift is very hard when you believe the number one most important job of all Christians is to get people saved and by saved you mean “into heaven”. And the idea that our job is to get people saved comes from certain theological understandings of very core issues such as the atonement, what is the kingdom?, etc. that must be engaged/challenged (emergence) in order to understand and embrace the missional paradigm.

To put a finer point on it, even something as foundational as our understanding of the atonement directly affects how we engage our neighbors in issues of faith. If people don’t understand what they believe about the soteriology and examine how that relates to the living out of their faith now then all they will do is enter into this missional conversation with old theological understandings.

I honestly believe that a HUGE reason why missional is getting misunderstood or distorted or co-opted is BECAUSE these very people are holding onto certain theological understandings without examining them…without engaging. They’re taking their current beliefs about salvation and subsequent notions of evangelism and trying to paste on a missional label which ultimately equates to trying to stuff a size 9 foot in a size 6 shoe.

Tony Jones explains this thoroughly in his newest book, partially by telling the story of how some in the early stages of Emergent eventually left because what they really wanted was a new packaging for an old “product” whereas others felt a strong need to gut the product. As Tony puts it, ugly theology creates ugly Christianity (paraphrase).

All of this to say - I think the question of “how do we get there?” is a good one and I genuinely believe an engagement of WHAT we believe has to occur. Perhaps a good place to start for folks trying to wrap their brains around missional is with their theology. Maybe this paradigm isn’t clicking because your theology just doesn’t fit. In which case, I’m not suggesting you have to change your theology necessarily but you might need to explore the possibility of dropping missional from your vocabulary because like a too small pair of shoes, it’s gonna cause you pain.

What shifts had to occur in your theological notions (if any) before missional made sense to you?
What theological notions have you always held that helped you live a mission-shaped faith?

Technorati Tags: missional, tony jones, alan hirsch, the new christians, theology, soteriology, evangelism

Jake Bouma on Reuters
Bob at the Corner
Ed Cyzewski

I’m telling you, a new wave of prophetic voices are picking up the bull horns and they are SPOT ON. Either catch on that we’re living in a different world or step aside because most of us are tired of beating the proverbial old dead horse. In fact, most of us are just tired. This fatigue is leading to very different questions and very different actions.

What are you seeing, hearing, feeling, experiencing that rings true with a fundamental (dare I said it, deep) shift?

Technorati Tags: church culture, cultural trends, jake bouma, reuters, bob carlton

[ Swinging from the Vine powered by Wordpress | Skinned Bare by Matthew Trevino. ]