Heritic

I've been reading Newbigin's The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. He wrote this on page 40:
"In a pre-Enlightenment society there are only a few heretics in the original sense of the word, that is to say, only a few people who make their own decisions about what to believe. For the vast majority faith is not a matter of personal decision: it is simply the acceptance of what
everybody accepts because it is obviously the case. There is no alternative and no personal
chose. By contrast, in a post-Enlightenment society we are all required to be heretics, we are all required to make a personal choice."

I like this imagery of heresy as describing the authority structure Christians need to appeal to in a post-Enlightenment society. He opens the chapter discussing how an argument based on the authority of the Church or the Bible is not a valid approach because it is making assumptions about other people that simply aren't true, namely that others value the authority of the Church and the Bible.

However, to engage in this culture, we need to develop the idea of heresy. Namely, why is our personal choice to follow the traditions laid out in the Bible or through the Church. I think this is the challenge of the modern church. How will we communicate the validity of the traditions we hold to, when those traditions are no longer a valuable source of authority in our culture.

This has massive implications. Evangelism, for instance, has long been thought of as getting people to assent to some doctrinal statements (i.e. virgin birth) . If people believe, in the sense of affirmation, that certain doctrines are true then we have been successful in the evangelistic activity of the church. This also drives our discipleship. Christian education is concerned about getting people to believe the same thing, instead of getting people to be somewhat heretical in the sense that they need to understand the truth behind the authority for themselves. This a challenging viewpoint, especially in a non-congregational church polity.

Confessions of a Young Elder

This came from a paper I wrote for my internship. With General Conference in full swing, I think it is appropriate to publish my grievances.

The United Methodist Church is overburdened in institutionalism. A quick look at the Book of Discipline will show the great institutionalism of the church. Many leaders I have come across are more concerned with the institution that they are concerned about the local churches that make up the institution or the actual people of the local churches that make up the institution. A district superintendent, for instance, told me of the process of making appointments. Three questions are asked with each appointment. First, is the appointment made for the good of the annual conference; second, is the appointment made for the good of the local church; third, is the appointment made for the good of the pastor. That is completely wrong. The annual conference question should be the last questions. The annual conference exists for the good of the church, not the church for the good of the annual conference. I wonder how I can spend my life supporting a church with such thinking.

One of the things I like about the United Methodist Church is the fact that we were founded based on the pragmatics of preaching the gospel, as opposed to a doctrinal system like so many other Protestant denominations. Early Methodist polity was simply about the best way to spread the good news. Now, we support a polity that hinders are spreading of the gospel. Why? Because we love our institution more than we love those who are Lord loves. Itinerancy, in our current form, does not help us in reaching new people, it simply helps us keep churches open that should otherwise close because they are not doing anything evangelistically and are not concerned about the gospel. I wonder how I can spend my life supporting a church with such thinking.

On to ordination. The ordination process is supremely concerned with supporting the institution. The reason the ordination process is so cumbersome is because the local church has given up her responsibility of raising up men and women who are called by God to invest their lives in vocational ministry. The local church has instead sent these men and women to seminaries far away from their local church and then asked the Board of Ordained Ministry to then evaluate them when they exit from their graduate theological training. The problem here is the zero investment of relationship. How is this living the gospel where there is no community investment? I was contacted rarely by my home conference, and never to care for me or offer me encouragement. The BOM is simply a way of forgoing the community of the redeemed that we call a church. The BOM is interested in finding men and women who can operate in a bureaucratic institution and then later on support that same institution. I wonder how I can spend my life supporting a church with such thinking.

Now that I have hashed out some of my grievances, I will move on to my anger. Much of my anger stems from a call I feel from God, and a lack of ability to carry that out with real integrity in this system. I see many clergy in the United Methodist Church with no creativity, and no zeal for Christ, and especially no zeal for preaching the life transforming message of salvation. I can’t believe they were always like this. I can’t believe they entered seminary with this cynicism and jaded outlook. Where did it come from? In my eyes and from my perspective, it looks like the church just beat the shit out of some of these pastors. I fear for my future when I see them. Never do I want to be in their shoes. If I stay in the connection long enough, then I imagine that I will feel like they feel.

In addition to the depressed pastors, I don’t see much willingness from conference leaders to engage young clergy, which infuriates me. The United Methodist Church is almost dead! If we would wake up and have a sense of desperation that finally welcomes the idea that we have no idea what we are doing as a denomination then maybe we can start to make some headway. We are not living in the 1960s when the church was a large institution with much sway. We are living in a society with no interest in the church. We are losing scores of young members because there is enough arrogance in the older generation that refuses to listen to the idea that maybe, just maybe, they don’t know what they are doing after all. The younger clergy, like myself, also might not know but we are willing to try. We haven’t been beat up yet, we have some optimism, some hope that Christ did in fact raise from the dead and in that we have hope that this message still has some power and can still transform a heart.

Preaching on defeat

One of my goals when I preach is to take an idea and think about how my audience would not have heard it preached like that before. Usually, that just means I do my homework and provide some exegesis and that satisfies my creativity and my desire for something fresh. So few pastors take the time to read and study.

So, this week, I'm preaching on Elijah in 1 Kings 19. I love the story of Elijah, but it is somewhat difficult to preach because there is just so much there. Following the prophets of Baal confrontation in chapter 18, Elijah hits the bottom. In the end of chapter 18 we see that he is curled up in a little ball unable to even look to see if the rainclouds are coming. One commentator says that he is in a state of intense prayer. I see him more like Rainman with his knees to his chest rocking back and forth trying shut out the world. Been there, done that. Also reminds me of Don Chafer song, Leave Me Alone on the album Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth. The song lyrics:

Turn out the lights
Close the door
I’ll not be taking visitors anymore

Shut off the power
Take down the sign
And let the machine answer the line

CHORUS
Leave me alone
Not because I’m angry
Just because I need to hear myself breathe
And be alive
And wonder why she’s gone

Since I was a boy
Always her voice
Was ringing in the air around our home

How still the air
Winter is here
But missing is her warm familiar tone

It is a pretty powerful song about the death of his mom.

So, I see this story of Elijah and I hear this song playing. Melancholy. Depression. Despair. Defeat. Elijah has been enormously successful in his career, he singlehandedly confronted the prophets of Baal and the powerful King Ahab of the northern kingdom, and yet he is still depressed and still feels the need to run away. I don't really get that. I think he would be on cloud nine soaking up the affirmation of his success. If I read the chapter before (1 Kings 17) I read about how Elijah correctly prophesies a drought (which is an affront to Baal- the Phoenician storm god); how he flees but is fed by ravens; how he gives a woman an unending jar of oil and flour to make bread; and how he raises that woman's son from death. Then he goes on Mt. Carmel for the showdown, and wins. Pretty successful guy.

But then he changes. He has to flee once again and finds himself in a deep depression, and what I would describe as he feels defeated, which could be debated on whether or not he really is defeated. He then goes off into the desert and reenacts the Exodus story: runs into the desert, prays for death (Nm 11:5), is provided food, eats unleavened bread, goes to Mt. Horeb, goes into a cave and has a theophany (Ex 33). Sounds familiar, a little too familiar. It reminds me of how God has always been a savior, especially to those who are down and out.

Then comes the theophany. A mighty wind. An earthquake. A fire. YWHW is not in any of those forces of nature, those signs of judgment. Then comes the "sound of sheer silence." Oxymoron- sound of silence? Almost as if God is present even in absence. That's powerful!

If I think about Elijah's life, I am struck by how this experience came here in his life. Why did this powerful theophany occur here, and not in the "victorious" moments of his life? Not in the "wins." I'm not sure I understand that, except that it seems entirely consistent with Scripture.
God chose Israel. Weak. Little. Insignificant. Slave nation. Unfaithful. Israel. He didn't chose the "winners" in Egypt, he chose the losers in Israel. God came as flesh, Immanuel, in the darkest of times for the Hebrews. Not in times of independence and wealth, but while they were under the control of the most powerful empire ever. On top of that, Christ did not achieve our salvation through means of victory, but through means of defeat. Through destruction. Through death. Through obedience to authorities who had no authority over him. In this way he overcame death and sin. Victory was won through the strangest way. It was won through death and defeat. Victory was won in a way that makes me very uncomfortable.

Major implications to this. How can I align myself with the culture of winning? Our culture is bred to accomplish and overcome. Afterall, survival of the fittest. I must be the fittest in order to survive. I must be great an makes others weak. I must win at the expense of another. Even the way I understand God, better come through my winning, my achievement, my accomplishment to not sin or to glorify him with what I can do. I must be the champion in order to glorify God, or even to approach him. Can God accept me and be pleased with me, when I am defeated? When I am in despair? When I am depressed?

This is exactly what Elijah teaches. God comes to us when we are at the bottom. When we are hungry and not full. When we are weak and not strong. When we are humble and not proud. This is the gospel. This is the gospel that brings freedom and brings new life. That in him, my life is totally changed. The pressure of measuring up and "winning" is gone because in Christ my victory is won and now I don't have to wonder what to do when I am not victorious. Can the grace of God spread even to me?

Blind Spot

I remembered this story last week during my sermon on Wise Counsel.

After the ice storm, my car was left without a driver side mirror. I waited until after Christmas to get it fixed, and the day before it was scheduled to go in for the repair I was driving on 71st and Harvard and glanced over my shoulder but didn't see anyone so I started to change lanes. A large white Dodge pickup had been driving in my blind spot, which was even bigger because there was no mirror and I slammed my car in the side of his truck. It turned out to be an Asbury member and so I was hoping for some special treatment but I still had to pay my deductible.

OSU Campus Visit

We went to OSU three weeks ago on a campus visit. Going on this campus visit helped me to understand Asbury in a much better way. Asbury is a church that has invested heavily in student ministry, and it shows. These students have a heart for God, and a heart to serve God through missions. I heard story after story about students choosing to go overseas for the summer or the year after graduation to serve God in missions. I couldn't believe how ingrained it was in the students. My respect level sky-rocketed for the work of the student ministry at Asbury.

Jon Bon Jovi

Last night, Todd and I went on a campus visit to OU and on the way back met up with the Blagg who had free tickets to Jon Bon Jovi. Now, I am not a big Bon Jovi fan, but I can't pass up a free arena concert.

The whole experience was like I was stepping back in time. The guitarist looked like he was straight out of the 80s wearing a top hat and a long coat with tails. Bon Jovi was wearing a vest with nothing on underneath, and the sound was straight from I love the 80's.

I looked around the sea of people to see 16,000 40 year old men and women reliving their glory days as high schoolers. Many were rockin it out with Jon and making out and grooving with people around them. At one point Todd said to me that if I was around in ten years and ever saw him acting like that to quickly point out the ridiculousness of the action.