The Back BLOG Burner

Unfortunately, sometimes the blogging has to take a backseat to life! I'm sure you all know what I mean. Starbucks, School, and Sickness are all on the frontburner at the moment. As soon as I can get some Greek out of the way, I'll be back. I can still keep up with your stuff though, so just point me in the right direction.

Chris

The Road Less Traveled: Detour

I’ve never been diagnosed ADD but you can probably tell by my blogging style that I have some tendencies in that direction, eh?!

Well, I just read something off of Big Brother’s blog (that’s not a reference to George Orwell’s writing) which really spotlighted another vista on this journey up the mountain imagery. Here’s the quote...it’s from Henry Nouwen’s book In the Name of Jesus...

“Christian leaders cannot simply be persons who have well-informed opinions about the burning issues of our time. Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance....Dealing with burning issues easily leads to divisiveness because, before we know it, our sense of self is caught up in our opinion about a given subject. But when we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be
possible to remain flexible but not relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle, and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.

"To me, that last sentence captures many of my struggles with the church’s expression of its mission over the past few years. (My struggle began 2 or 3 years ago...the church in general has struggled with this problem since its inception) To revert back to the image of the mountain, I believe our goal is to ascend towards God. Mountains have always been thought of as holy places and locations where accessibility to the divine is increased. Now I don’t want to confuse anyone to think I’m condoning some kind of religious pluralism...certainly not. There’s only one mountain worth climbing. There are other mountains (religions and paths to the divine) but you have to be on the right mountain to get to the Creator God.

But I’m afraid what the church often does is say, “You have to go up the mountain this way!” There’s a rigidity and inflexibility (as Nouwen points out) which turns the journey into a static route. Here’s where the analogy breaks down a bit...somewhere along the way, the church gets comfortable at a certain altitude or level spot and mistakenly assumes they’ve arrived.

I don’t know if this makes sense to anyone. My attempts at continuing to process my own journey and its irregularities push me to find adequate expressions. I’ll keep trying!

In stark contrast to the lush countryside of Ecuador, the majestic snow-capped peak of Chimborazo beckons one to ascend!

The Road Less Traveled By: Part 2

Now...if you can still see the picture of me standing a few miles from the snow-capped volcano, (scroll down a bit perhaps to previous post) notice the number of people you see headed towards the ominous summit. Let me backtrack a bit...I was in Ecuador with about 150 other people for a conference. Towards the end of the week, we began planning a few side excursions in order to experience some of the local attractions. Basically, we had about two days after meetings were over. On the first day, we chartered a couple of buses and visited a few local markets. We drove around Quito, the capital, and then to “el mitad del mundo” (the middle of the world) where you can stand on the equator and have one foot in each hemisphere. These were all the typical tourist places for us to be. But as we were driving around I could see snow-capped mountains...volcanoes even...in the distance. And I was drawn to them. Finally I asked one of the locals who was traveling with us if he had ever hiked up one of the volcanoes. His reply (in Spanish) had the kind of tone you’d hear when someone incredulously replies...well of course not! But he put me in touch with someone else in the group who had been.

So I began to hint around about this potential adventure. Most replied with comments like... “Wow! That would be cool! It sounds dangerous though.” Others just decided there wasn’t enough time or it sounded like too much effort. Then there were others who just flat out said “Oh, you can’t do that! It’s not safe. The leadership wouldn’t approve.” So the more I prodded, the more people nodded...no thanks. Finally, I found three others who were willing to make the trip with me. So early in the morning, we hopped on a bus to downtown Quito in order to catch another bus out of town.

I’ll save the rest of the story for later, but it’s interesting to notice some parallels already. For the past couple of years, I have been busy doing all the expected things and going to the usual places. But occasionally, I would look past the immediate context or task and catch a glimpse of something bigger...something a little ominous yet inviting. In the distance I could see the mountain. I began to talk to other people about the mountain and some would agree that it looked very adventurous and inviting. But few seemed to want to commit to such a journey. The more I toured the same attractions over and over, the more I began to be distracted by the mountain and drawn to its rugged unpredictable terrain. Soon I knew that it was just a matter of time before I left the comfortable climate and landscape for the mysterious mountain and the journey for which I was created. (The picture above this post is a photo I took of Chimborazo, the other major volcano in Ecuador. Chimborazo is a bit higher than Cotopaxi but inactive. So Cotopaxi is said to be the highest active volcano in the world!)

Just about this time last year, I had a cool opportunity to visit Ecuador. One of the most memorable parts of the trip was disengaging from the conference and meetings long enough to join one young college student from my group and two young (college-age) Ecuadorians for an all-day adventure to the nearest Volcano.

The Road Less Traveled By

The Road Less Traveled By

I got to see an old friend from college tonight who turned out to be a real encouragement to me. I love how the journey unfolds! The two of us are pursuing a different context within which to minister to others, but have both started from similar points. Let me clarify what I mean by "ministering to others" since some have probably accused both of us of "leaving the ministry."

As someone who is a “God-Follower,” my ultimate journey is to continually position myself to get closer to God...through a relationship with Jesus Christ...and by the transforming power of the Spirit, to daily impact the lives of others with the awareness of that journey. That statement is perhaps oversimplified and incomplete, but sufficient for this discussion.

Now...I want to tie in the image of this Volcano in Ecuador, Cotopaxi. I see some interesting symbolism in my Cotopaxi adventure in Ecuador. But before I go on...I want to reflect a bit more. I’ll get back to you when my thoughts begin to emerge a little more fully. Anyone else ever hiked up a volcano??

For some reason...this picture stimulates reflection.

Nothing Worth Reading Here

I might as well confess right off the bat...I got nothin’! And my nothing was multiplied by nothing when I did something I swore I wouldn’t do again. I was typing directly into my blog instead of creating a draft in MSWord first then saving it. So when I went to publish the page...something happened (of course) and I’m starting all over again.

Actually, I’ve been fighting off a cold & sore throat the past couple of days. When it comes time to concentrate, read, and focus...it seems hopeless today! And yesterday my youngest daughter got sick from something. She literally puked her guts out and I just about cried watching her little lip quiver after the heaving stopped. I hate when my kids are sick! But my oldest daughter is great at the moment. She’s got a cool new haircut and her first basketball game tomorrow in our church league for kids. She’s five :-) Already, she has made one basket at practice and is hitting “the red box a lot.” Fun! Fun!

We’re supposed to be getting 4 to 6 inches of snow tomorrow from a little “Alberta Clipper” which has charted its course across Ohio. Unfortunately, that could turn my 8-hour shift at Starbucks tomorrow evening into a “felt” 16 hours. The afore-mentioned basketball game might very well be cancelled too. That would be a bummer...for our daughter and her dad!

I had a few interesting conversations today...including one with my wife (marital communication is always a plus). I am so fortunate to have such a steady rational woman to live with. (Although, if she was completely rational she wouldn’t be living with ME.) Anyway...a couple of those conversations had to do with a difficult decision I am facing. It appears that my pursuit of a simpler and reductionistic lifestyle is being challenged by my tendencies towards over-commitment, helping others, using time efficiently, and just slipping back into some old life-patterns. How is it that we...or more accurately...how can I over-analyze, rationalize, and legitimize to the point of completely contradicting myself by the end of a dialogue??!!

Well, stay tuned for more on that decision and what the outcome will be. This quarter’s worth of Masters classes is proving to be my heaviest load ever. And unfortunately, the final four weeks of my quarter coincide with my four-week management training program at Starbucks. I’m not behind in my classes just yet (except maybe one) but the plan was to actually be ahead of the syllabi...knowing how the final two weeks of my quarters usually look. Somebody pray!

As always, the simple therapeutic process of blathering thoughts into this medium seems to stimulate the sense of balance and retrospection which have become so valuable to me of late. So what about you?? Fellow journey-er...blog thyself.

THE CELTIC APPROACH: Part 2

Sounds like I need to read some Os Guiness too! (regarding the idolatry of relevance) And since my last entry, I’ve gotten into the first few pages of Hunter’s Celtic Way of Evangelism. I’ve yet to read anything from Hunter that I haven’t enjoyed...of course, I’ve only read 3 of ???? how many! Radical Outreach is next on the list from Hunter. He’ll be visiting our campus next month for a few lectures so I look forward to a little dialogue with him (or monologue at the very leastJ).

So....where was I? Something about relevance...Celtic Christianity...oh yeah... it’s all coming back to me. My brother also chimed in with a comment and got me thinking about aspects of culture. One of the ways in which the light has “dawned” in my journey is the realization that we are not calling individuals to an alternative culture. I feel like that’s what we’ve been trying to do...especially in my experience with youth ministry over the past 10-11 years. We attempt to convert people to this alternative culture of Christ and forsake their previous culture. Although there are some pieces of that process which ring true...I think the mistake has been to create a sub-culture of Christianity (especially suburban Christianity) which begins to substantially lose relevance to the contemporary culture. I prefer the idea that the “God Life” is more about allowing the person and truth of Christ to infiltrate one’s natural/native cultural environment. Much like the Roman method of evangelization, I find our methods of church and evangelism today are demanding in the wrong ways. Some of those demands include programming, attendance, dress code, Christianese, cultural-suicide, etc. The demands we need to be more concerned with are found in Matthew 28 and other such missional statements. Just as in the Roman missions, people are thought to be evangelized today if they’re attending all the right services and programs in the church and using the right language and not smoking or drinking. The missionaries/monastics from Rome thought they were successful if the community was brought into conformity with the Roman way of doing church and if the “barbarians” had reached a certain level of civilization. So within a few generations, Christianity had devolved into a purely religious, political, and social endeavor...having little impact on the lives of its “adherents.”

My blood pressure is rising a bit...so we’ll break here for more comment!

THE CELTIC APPROACH: Part 1

In my first class of the day on Wednesday mornings, at the bleary-eyed hour of 8 a.m, I am digging into various perspectives on World Missions. The assumption, of course, as a follower of Christ, pursuer of God, and seeker of truth...is that we who know the hope and grace of being reconciled with God through Christ should be sharing that hope and grace with others.

As one studies the efforts to bring people into relationship with the Creator across the historic eons (perhaps an exaggeration)of mankind’s existence, it is obvious that some of those efforts have been more successful than others. When looking at the approach to missions from the time of Christ until about 1500 AD, one might observe two basic approaches. The Celtic approach, exemplified by Columba and Patrick in Northwestern Europe (Ireland, Scottland, & Great Britain) sought to contextualize the message of Christ within the cultural environment. The Roman approach to missions sought to colonialize and bring other cultures into conformity with the Roman church. Unfortunately, the Roman model was the dominant method practiced for most of the history of Christendom.

Now, I have not read George Hunter’s Celtic Way of Evangelism (though I certainly plan to soon), but I would imagine that the lesson we need to learn from history is that it is possible and quite preferable to contextualize Christ in ways which reveal the relevance of the gospel to current culturally-informed individuals and communities. I was reading someone’s tirade against relevance the other day, however, and would partially agree with the critique that “relevance” is sometimes played as a trump card in inappropriate situations. We must not simply seek relevance for its own sake. To be relevant without being revelatory would be remiss! Historically, we may identify syncretism as the unhealthy result of being overly relevant. This in fact often happened in some of the areas where Roman Christians failed to fully disciple new adherents to Christianity. So in South America, for instance, many expressed forms of Christianity are co-mingled with animistic and superstitious native and pagan religions. In the North American context, syncretism looks like a mixture of anemic Christian convictions with the passionate pursuit of materialism and secularism.

Before I go on...I’d love to hear some feedback in order to turn this into a bit more of a dialogue or threaded discussion! What are you thinking??!!

A GREAT BLESSING

I believe strongly that there exist...moments...appointments even...which are divinely orchestrated for our benefit. For those of you outside a supernatural worldview, you might call it “fate” or perhaps even coincidence. But that’s really the easy way out, isn’t it? Irregardless, from my own experiential point of “brew” I must report to you that I had such an appointment today...a divine appointment.

In my own mind and estimation, I was just helping out a buddy...pinch hitting...filling a void...I really was not expecting significant results (probably my first or second mistake...low expectations). But I am quite certain that God was at work on a higher level and my cognizance of that extra-human activity was nonexistent until some time for reflection awakened me to the moment. In order to avoid misperceptions I will spare you the specific details of this encounter, but in general...a great blessing was breathed into my soul! Have you ever experienced such a thing?? A gift of words was given to me that could only have been inspired by the Spirit of God. As I reflect on it again in this format, I am amazed all over again.

We all desire to live a life of significance, don’t we? I do not mean that we just want fortune and fame. Significance is much deeper than that. I think we all want to know that our journey is purposeful...meaningful...impactful. We want to believe that our “footprints” on the impressionable soil of life will lead to joy, fulfillment, and hope...and perhaps even lead others to the same. Well, this morning, my journey was affirmed. My “impact” was celebrated in a humble but significant way. I won’t soon forget the words spoken. I certainly won’t forget the goodness of God to provide such a divine moment...surprising me on what seemed like a mundane little detour on the path.

A GREAT OPEN DOOR

Well, I’ll just begin with the great news. I was offered a position as Assistant Store Manager with Starbucks. My training will begin February 14th (how romantic!) and will be placed in a new store at the end of that four-week training time. This whole Starbucks journey has been quite enjoyable. And I think the fun has just begun.

A coffee shop (especially of Starbucks quality and environment) is such a great place to interact with people and build relationships. My experience there, after less than a year, has expanded my world in some great ways. As my pursuit of God and faith shifts into a much more contextualized approach, I can only imagine that the journey is going to get really rich!

“Bad” Community Beats No Community?

In a recent blog entry, Chris Erdman writes...

“Alan and Jane are engaged in a Christian community. Al lives a life feeling extraordinarily disconnected from a local community because of his apostolic ministry throughout the world. Stability, even within a troubling Christian community, is nevertheless a virtue . . . and one I would not presume to veto without spiritual direction. And I certainly am no advocate for walking out and finding one's own, self-prescribed experience of worship (some doctors may self-prescribe medication, but even they know it is a dangerous practice). Frankly, I don't know it nearly well-enough to avoid it entirely, but the path of self-pastoring is a path of dangerous self-delusion. Even bad Christian community and a limpid liturgy may well be more healthy in the long run (there certainly are exceptions) than what we presume is better.”

I guess what bothers me here is that I see myself in Alan’s situation...disconnecting from a “community.” However, what I hope is happening is the development of an alternative community and quite frankly, a more healthy one. It is interesting though, as I had a conversation earlier today with a professor/mentor, to admit that I have some baggage to deal with in this area. I need to be sure that I’m not escaping community merely because it became too uncomfortable. I think there’s much more to it than that, but one’s perception and judgment can easily be clouded in such a situation as ours.

Insight from Dostoevsky

I was reading someone recently who constantly referred to the writings and journey of Feodor Dostoevsky. So I made a little trek to my public library and picked up a copy of The Brothers Karamazov. I’m not sure if that’s the best one to start with, but I’m dipping my imagination into a bit of Russian history and culture and his style of writing has captured my interest already. I have not gotten very far into the book yet, but I keep coming across some great statements that are worth noting. Here’s the most recent...regarding the elder Father Zossima from the local monastery...

“They fell down before him, wept, kissed his feet, kissed the earth on which he stood, and wailed, while the women held up their children to him and brought him the sick ‘possessed with devils.’ The elder spoke to them, read a brief prayer over them, blessed them, and dismissed them. Of later he had become so weak through attacks of illness that he was sometimes unable to leave his cell, and the pilgrims waited for him to come out for several days. Alyosha did not wonder why they loved him so, why the fell down before him and wept with emotion merely at seeing his face. Oh! He understood that for the humble soul of the Russian peasant, worn out by grief and toil, and still more by the everlasting injustice an everlasting sin, his own and the world’s, it was the greatest need and comfort to find some one or something holy to fall down before and worship.”

That final sentence struck me because of a conversation I had today with a fellow partner/employee at Starbucks. The exchange boiled down to this (in my own estimation)...the young lady is on a journey. She’s on a journey to find authentic spirituality and a relationship with the God who has been distorted through flawed interactions with institutionalized religion. She’s beginning to read a book which could be a very formational experience with a bit of guidance and community mixed in. An interesting statement she made though...about just investigating...and not necessarily being ready to make any changes. What a telling statement! What honesty! I found it incredibly refreshing to affirm her in the process and encourage her continued interest and investigation. One of the most damaging ways the church has abused its authority as God’s chosen vehicle for revealing His Kingdom, is the tendency to require individuals to clean up and “get it straight” before the community is really available to them. That’s just not how Christ modeled sharing the Good News.

Well, it’s going to be very interesting to see how the next conversation goes! I too will be reading the same book and hopefully we’ll be able to dialogue together and perhaps even invite a few others into the investigative journey.