I love msn. It keeps me connected with good friends and good conversation from the comfort of my cozy couch with my soft blanket, warm coffee and, honestly, my jammies. Now, normally, I wouldn't share said conversations but this one just happened recently and captures a lot of what I've been thinking about and praying about lately. My conversation partner shall be referred to as "friend" since I haven't asked this friend if I can actually post their side of the conversation but it just wouldn't be the same without it.
Perhaps this could get a gridblog or something going. I know there's a lot of questions in here but would love to have others join in the conversations...that's why I'm posting it...just in case explaination was required...anyway here goes:
stacey says:i think that's the thing...we journey together and learn from each other
stacey says:the point isn't how long you've been on the journey but where you are on the journey
friend says:Amen
stacey says:we look at people in ahead of us to learn from them
stacey says:we look to people behind to bring them along
stacey says:"knowing" isn't enough...that alone doesn't bring you any further in the journey
friend says:I am alright....I am just working through it....
stacey says:God gave us our stories and has left his fingerprints all over us b/c of them
friend says:Working through what it is He wants from me....
friend says:that is the truth
stacey says:so true
friend says:My passion is for the world....and how is Christ being reflected in my life...and in turn...
friend says:How can I bring His message to the darkness...to the hurting world....
stacey says:exactly
stacey says:you have a heart for the world in a different way than i do
friend says:It is only through these challenges that we grow....if we are willing to open ourselves and let God do His work
stacey says:b/c of my life in the church, i'm hurt by the damage we've done to the kingdom and passionate to help foster a new attitude in the church that is kingdom focused, not self focused, and yet i love the church enough to know that i can't give up on it
stacey says:my heart is for discipleship and really figuring out what this christian life is all about
friend says:that is amazing....living the life that plants teh seed of the kingdom...
stacey says:so true!
stacey says:it's funny how in many ways, both of us come to the same question
stacey says:just from different ways
friend says:we need those people who will twist the light bulbs and make them brighter...so then we can go out into the darkness
stacey says:i like the way you put that!
friend says:Totally....
friend says:Kingdom living and what does it mean to do church.....
stacey says:exactly
friend says:..am I willing to remain in my safe place or go out and take a risk for God
stacey says:what does it mean to be a christian today?
stacey says:what does that look like?
friend says:That is the key question....
stacey says:exactly
stacey says:steve mcmillan talks about how our christian faith isn't about going up to heaven but bringing heaven here
stacey says:i love that
stacey says:real kingdom living
friend says:If we are created in the image of God....do I develp authentic relationships because we are all cherished....
friend says:Do i roll my eyes in an air of superiority....how do my actions reflect what is at the core of me....
stacey says:b/c heaven is true and a reality but what difference does that make for today?stacey says:how does the gospel change things now?
friend says:Exactly...i am reading Leslie Newbigin....Gospel in a pluralistic world...or whatever
stacey says:oh ya
friend says:It is great that you believe Jesus is the Son of God....But so what....
friend says:What does that look like as we do life....as we walk out our faith....
stacey says:that's the question
friend says:It was convicting and gripping and transforming....as God will do if you are willing....
friend says:Yeah...I think that it goes so far beyond...this is what I believe.....
friend says:I am more interested in what does that look like
stacey says:exactly
friend says:It is fun....which is why I have so many deep conversations with [another friend left anonymous]....we are the epistle of Peter crowd....
friend says:He feels those books were written for people like us....who identify with the lost world....who know the darkness and have a passion to bring life and hope and joy and passion....
stacey says:there's actually a pretty strong movement going on in christian circles that are calling people thinking this way "revolutionaries"
stacey says:that's such a great way to put it!
friend says:I love it....Wycliffe's tag line is abandoned devotion to serving Jesus
stacey says:oohhh i like it
friend says:Abandoned devotion...revolutionary....looks like a theme running through here
stacey says:so true!
friend says:I love it....what are you willing to give up for the sake of....
stacey says:for the sake of the kingdom
friend says:amen....
5 comments:
Thanks for allowing us to read that!
I've had somewhat related questions spinning around in my head and heart, so thanks for allowing a forum for them! How does my faith manifest itself? How does the church instill the idea that it's not just about an inward relationship, but rather it's also about reaching outward? I often consider the field I work in, and how influential the college crossroads are to a young person. How are all of our institutions, whatever they might be, building up mission-minded people? How are we inspiring them? How are we equipping them? How does all this impact the vine, and the fruits of the vine, and the harvest?
Funny how all I have are questions. But that's where things have to start...with a question. With a blank to fill.
I like the idea of "revolutionaries" because it points to a change in mindset...a change in perception of how the world operates, and how we can affect it. Jesus was a revolutionary; he was a radical. That's something I really love about Him. Maybe that's one aspect I need to emulate more often, both in my own personal faith and in my interaction with the world. What that actually means, I do not know for sure. But I do know it does not mean resting on my laurels. Faith without action does not accomplish what we're called to accomplish.
So what to do...?
Hey thanks for jumping in, Dunn. Working at a Christian College whose mission is to equip students for ministry is part of what opens up these questions for me. What does it mean to equip for ministry? To train up leaders for the harvest? I'm realizing more and more that it doesn't look like it always has before. That our teaching and training needs to change. Thing is that that is a scary concept to start flagging around our institutions, especially since one of the things many professors in our area provide themselves in is their combination of academics and experience. There is no experience to share as far as this is concerned. This is a whole new mission field...and its scary for all involved...but exciting too. So yes, as I ask these questions and have these conversations, there are many motives: personally related, church leadership minded and, for me, even career minded as I influence more leaders. What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it look like to be the "rock upon which [Jesus] will build [his] church?"
I hope MSN has a cut and paste option otherwise that was a lot of typing
One conflict we're having in our institution is over the issue of reconciliation and reflecting God's kingdom...how we strive (or don't strive) to recruit minority or under-represented students. I don't want to open up this issue for its own sake, but rather to use it as an example...
We train a lot of missionaries, as well as ministers who serve in predominantly non-white areas in the US. But our institution itself doesn't represent the diversity of God's people. And it's due to institutional mechanisms, such as financial aid. So it's our own institutional bias that pulls us away from where we claim we want to be.
I don't know how we can preach one thing, and not BE that thing. But that's what a good portion of the Church is doing.
But then again, some folks would point out that a college is also a business, and that we need to survive. If we didn't pursue those ends, we would cease to be the institution that we've been for 136 years. Some would use the same argument about churches and para-churches...that they have to draw the line somewhere.
But maybe, as you have pointed out, that's the point. That we need to shift our paradigm. Where is God calling us? Change is more than just building another fancy dorm, or adding a new major (using college examples).
I think about Covenant Bible College, who are closing their doors this year. They were a great Bible college, one that had an international reach. They did not survive, but they served their purpose...God's purpose. I'm pretty sure that they had to take some risks. And they paid for it. But did they really? From my standpoint, they did what they set out to do. Churches come and go. Sometimes it's GOOD that a church dies out, because a new one can arise in its place.
I think it is time take risks, even if it means creating one end. From ends come new beginnings.
Whew...sorry, I tend to ramble. After all that, what I'm simply doing is agreeing with you =)
Dunn, I really do appreciate your ramblings. It seems as though you're asking the same kind of questions that I am. This kind of discussion has some pretty big implications for the way we do things, doesn't it!?
You've hit some of my college specific questions right on. I've really been wrestling with how we're equipping students and what we're equipping them for. Are we actually equipping them for what they're going to need to truly do kingdom ministry in the world or are we setting them up for failure? How do we let go of our assumptions of what church should look like and how it should be done in order to equip them to BE the Church (notice the big "C", little "c" church distinction!)?
If we're really thinking kingdom ministry, then, I believe, we will have to be ready for change...and you're right, that's not just adding a new building or program.
If it's really not about us, how do you look at something like Covenant closing down? Do you trust that God is working in new ways, thankful for the impact that that the institution had during it's time?
See, more questions and more rambling...it's my passion, though, to see us, big "C" Church, move in a direction that's finding and living out answers to these bigger questions.
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