Theological and other musings from Fr. Neo. You might call it ‘Mere Christianity with an edge.’ Vade retro Satana! Nunquam suade mihi vana! Sunt mala quae libas. Ipse venena bibas!
Posted on June 4th, 2008 by fatherneo.
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As I wrote below, to find success in our culture is not to find one’s place in the group, but to transcend it. I was reading a recent Touchstone article (’Unmarried, Still Children” by Joan Frawley Desmond) and the author quotes Jeffrey Arnett’s recent work Emerging Adulthood, where Arnett says that those in their late teens and twenties define adulthood as “accepting responsibility for the consequences of your actions,” and choosing “personal beliefs and values independently of parents or other influences.”
Even the old Lutheran Hiedelberg Catechism, while emphasizing strongly individual salvation and individual justification says,
Question 54. What believest thou concerning the “holy catholic church” of Christ?
Answer: That the Son of God from the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and preserves to himself by his Spirit and word, out of the whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith; and that I am and forever shall remain, a living member thereof.
Posted on June 3rd, 2008 by fatherneo.
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A recent article in Prism (Ron Sider’s publication) by Wendy Bilgen shows a fascinating snapshot of life in Turkey. Bilgen and her husband, a Turkish native, recently returned to Turkey to live. She writes:
One day our son’s new Turkish friend asked my husband, a Turkish native returning to his homeland to preach the gospel,”Why do you follow Isa?”
“Jesus invited me to follow him,” my husband answered “His words are true. I couldn’t say no. Why are you a Muslim?”
“My chevre invites me to follow Islam,” the young boy answered. “How can I say no?”
What is a chevre? Bilgen says,
In the West community is sometimes considered optional, in Turkey it is difficult to do much of anything without your chevre. It’s the group you depend onto help you get that first job, pay your bills when money is tight, find a mate, even learn how to live with your mate. It’s the group that defines who you are and what you will do in life. Without a chevre you’re on the outside, unprotected and vulnerable.
In our culture, transcending the group is considered successful while being a part of the group is considered failure. You learn how to fend for yourself so you will not be ‘dependent’ or ‘defined’ by anyone except for y.o.u. Success is transcending family, church and anything else that keeps you from your ultimate goal–complete freedom and (mostly financial) independence.
We Christians can learn from the chevre, not in terms of intimidation or for control, but to point to what the Body of Christ is supposed to be about. Ours is the first Christian culture in history that acts as if it were disembodied. Jesus is necessary, the church not so much. Jesus saves, the church is a distraction or a necessary evil.
But the Church is God’s idea, not ours. Our calling is to be a Body which is consecrated, set apart, to be a light and a blessing to the nations. Being a part of the people of God is a privilege; being grafted in by baptism an awesome responsibility. Our promises made at baptism and our sacramental union with Christ in the church ‘defines who we are and what we will do in life.’ The Church is the ultimate chevre.
Posted on June 2nd, 2008 by fatherneo.
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There is a new breed of Christ-follower in America today. These are people who are more interested in being the Church than in going to church. They are more eager to produce fruit for the kingdom of God than to become comfortable in the Christian subculture. They are focused on the…spiritual passions that facilitate their growth as genuine people of God and citizens of the kingdom. These people are Revolutionaries.
So says pollster George Barna in his recent book. His argument is, since regular churches are not turning out Christians, the ‘new breed’ of Christ-follower of the future (and in many places right now) will be ‘non-churched’ Christians. This new kind of Christian will never darken the door of the church, and within a generation, most Christians will belong to a house church or some kind of other version of Christian community–Barna even sees online community filling the role of traditional churches someday.
Barna has some important points to consider. The so-called traditional church is not getting it done in a lot of ways. House churches and para-church organizations don’t have the ball and chain of a denomination or the curmudgeons of the church holding them back.
But, isn’t the trend to get away from the Christian community a denial of the very strengths inherent in the community? At our small but growing parish, for example, we have ‘ all various conditions of men (and women),’ from different backgrounds, economic situations, ethnicities and generations.
For many suburban or urban professionals, this kind of mix is too much to handle. Barna uses an example of a couple of men who meet on the golf course before prayer and study. This is one of his shining examples of something that finally ‘works.’ While these faithful golfers may be accomplishing decent things in the name of Christ, they never have to struggle with living as the Body of Christ. There are no crazy family dynamics to worry about. You have a good time, put your clubs away, and you never have to mess with crying babies or complaints from old-timers or different colored faces. You have pure, unadulterated, convenient Christianity on your own terms.
Like it or not, God chose a group of people to be ambassadors of his name, not a bunch of individuals. First it was Israel, and now the Gentiles are grafted into the vine of the people of God to point the world to God’s work in Christ. We may bugger it up on a regular basis, but if we learn to act collectively, rather than as mini-messiah’s, the world might just take notice.
Posted on May 29th, 2008 by fatherneo.
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I took an opportunity to visit with Denver’s ‘Jazz Theologian.’ His blog is
http://www.jazztheologian.typepad.com
and he has a book coming out in February of 2009. What follows is our discussion.
Neo: What is your passion?
JT: Discovering and being the Body of Christ.
Neo: What is unique about the Body of Christ?
JT: We are the only people with the potential to honor but not allow distinctions of race, class and denomination to keep us from being ‘one’ as Jesus describes in John 17.
Neo: What does that look like?
JT: A jazz ensemble. Distinct instruments, playing the same song with room for improv. Call and response; playing in concert with and for each other.
Neo: I see Obama calling for Americans to move away from our polarization to embrace our unity, to look at what unites rather than divides us. Is this a realistic goal?
JT: ‘E pluribus Unim,’ from the one, many. This is the fundamental challenge of our country–how do we make the many one? It seems to be an elusive goal. I believe the church, however, can be the vehicle that brings it about. The Spirit can bring it about. Look at Pentecost…unity without uniformity. Obama is echoing what many desire–what Dr. King desired–but Obama hasn’t necessarily pointed to the answer.
Neo: What is your opinion of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright?
JT: One’s response to Rev. Wright reflects your awareness of the prophet he is named after-Jeremiah. If you have read Jeremiah from the Old Testament, then Rev. Wright is no big deal. Rev. Wright got himself in trouble when he called America to be damned when, as Christians, we should be calling for mercy. We must have room in our ensemble for people to improvise with solos we do not necessarily like. Don’t forget what Billy Graham said, ‘If God does not judge America, then he will have to personally apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.’ That’s tough stuff.
Neo: The Immigration debate is often characterized by more heat than light. How does the Body of Christ respond?
JT: The question of national security, borders and immigration are public policy issues that I do not have any easy answers to. What I do know, is that whenever God allows mass movements of people, he seems to be up to something. Whether it is the Israelites migrating from Egypt and then in the wilderness for 40 years, or the massive number of people who had to migrate in Herod’s time for a census. It is clear that God is willing to move massive amounts of people, just to have one baby born in the right city!
Posted on May 14th, 2008 by fatherneo.
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We had our memorial for Daniel last Saturday. I have to say that, despite the great pain, it was the most profound worship experience I have ever had. It is ironic to say that about a memorial service for a young man who died way too soon.
We found that while we were digging in the cave of darkness and grief, that we were actually mining gold in God’s eternal country. Sometime during that service we went from earth to the eternal realm of glory.
I am not one to exaggerate. The Spirit of God really descended on 780 grievers on the eve of Pentecost 2008 at Christ Episcopal Church in Denver.
The cynic in me wonders where He was while we were praying desperately for Daniel to recover, but I have to say that I was moved to my core at His palpable presence among us last Saturday.
Christ is risen. I didn’t think I would feel that as powerfully amidst the reality of death. I did not think my song would be ‘Alleluia’ looking at mourners.
Somehow, eternity was not that far away and I am still feeling its effects.
Posted on May 5th, 2008 by fatherneo.
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This Saturday we say goodbye to one of our young parishioners, Daniel Burtness, who was killed as a result of a car accident last weekend. Dan was attending Whitworth and was in his first year. Dan–only 18, was a faithful, called, wonderful Christian young man. His call to ministry was obvious.
From my perspective, this is the most difficult situations I have ever been a part of. I have had a hard time keeping my tears away and my emotions in check. I have been involved in funerals of young kids who died, but almost always, there was some kind of irresponsibility, or an alcohol related accident or mishap.
Not so in Dan’s case. It was just a good kid in a car accident.
The Sunday before he died, the entire church held hands and prayed for a miracle. That night, his Young Life leader and I also prayed for a miracle and, I admit, I felt a great sense of hope that God would pull of the impossible.
It was not to be. The Lord did not answer our prayers.
This was perhaps the most frustrated I have ever been with God. “Has [God’s] loving-kindness come to an end for ever? Has his promise failed for evermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he…withheld his compassion? And I said, ‘My grief is this: the right hand of the Most High has lost its power’” (Psalm 77:8-10).
The ‘whys’ can never be sufficiently answered. Even if we saw the script from the hand of God, there would be little consolation.
The only consolation I have was expressed by one of Dan’s classmates: ‘Dan is exactly where he wants to be, in the presence of Christ. ‘ Daniel was wired for God in a way that was unusual. He was the budding youth leader who was full of joy and was becoming quite the prankster. He was the gentle warrior, quiet, yet full of unusual depth.
His call has now become a call to the presence of the Lord. While we mourn and grieve, he fulfills his desires and destiny, to walk directly in the Light of Christ.
And the Lord says, “Come, Daniel, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.” Grant this, O merciful Father, through Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Redeemer.
Posted on April 15th, 2008 by fatherneo.
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I live in the East side of Denver. I went to the movies last Friday with my wife. Monday I went to Denver Health with our Sudanese guy and his mom, and later went to Wal Mart. I distinctively remember that in each of these three places, nary a word of English was spoken. I heard French (from Africans), Arabic, and Russian, but mostly Spanish.
For me, it is rich to hear ‘divers of tongues’ in my own nation. I know for others to hear other languages, especially Spanish, it is a huge threat. Sheer numbers have brought the Hispanic language and culture to a neighborhood near you.
I’ll let you decide as a citizen how you feel about a wall around the southern border of the U.S. What does it say? What does it not say?
I’ll also let you decide why the Northern border is no threat to Homeland Security.
There are deeper questions to consider, though, if you are a Christian. The people of God have always been told that they were once sojourners and aliens (Exodus 22:21; 1 Peter 2:10), therefore they ought to treat the “stranger” with mercy and even to give them a share in the blessings of the covenant. Yet are Christians willing to do this in their own church communities?
The deeper question might pertain not to the wall around the Rio Grande, but to the wall around all of our hearts. It is trite, but you know what hour of the week is the most segregated in churches in the U.S. The movie theater, the mall, the restaurant, the marketplace, Starbucks, all of these places are more representative of Acts 2 and Revelation 5, than the Christian community.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Bible is a dangerous and radical document–if we would just let it speak. We have an opportunity to see the massive immigration to the U.S. as a huge test for the church, but also a huge blessing. Millions of God-fearing, hard-working ‘family values’ folks, just a neighborhood away. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few–at least the ones with papers.
Posted on March 31st, 2008 by fatherneo.
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Sider’s work was one of my Lenten books. Daniel Clendinin writes in sum of the book:
Drawing upon scientific polling from groups like Gallup and Barna, Sider takes the measure of American evangelicals on five data points: divorce, care for the poor, sexual infidelity, racism, and physical abuse in marriage. He is appalled. People who claim to be born again divorce at a slightly higher rate than the general population. Evangelicals give a meager 4% from their income. The most likely people to object to neighbors of a different race are white evangelicals. Sexual promiscuity among evangelical kids is rampant. Is it any wonder that “a mere 22% of people have a positive view of evangelicals” (p. 28)? Sider contrasts these findings from Chapter 1 with an overview in Chapter 2 of the Biblical vision of what God’s kingdom on earth ought to look like, with successive paragraphs full of Scripture quotations from the Gospels, the book of Acts and the Epistles. In stark contrast to our current reputation, Sider notes that the early Christians had a well-known and well-deserved reputation for integrity and care for the weak. Tertullian (AD 155–220), for example, wrote, “Our care for the derelict and our active love have become our distinctive sign before the enemy…See, they say, how they love one another and how ready they are to die for each other.” Even the pagan emperor Julian the Apostate (ruled AD 361–363) acknowledged the radically counter cultural life of the early Christians: “The godless Galileans feed not only their poor but ours” (p. 52).
I was reared in evangelicalism and still consider myself evangelical, so this was not a ‘point the finger’ read for me. The book made me wonder what progress has been made by creating a ‘Religious Right’ and a ‘Dittohead’ culture over the last couple of decades if we cannot get our own house in order. Are we ‘gaining the world’ at the expense of our souls?
I long for a ‘third way’ in the way the church can engage culture, perhaps it is being the kind of polis that the Scripture describes–a holy and loving people. A people who love God, neighbor, and each other. A people who are attractive to the culture because of their holiness, wholeness, and love.
Posted on March 23rd, 2008 by fatherneo.
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NT scholar Marcus Borg says,
“I think of the great Easter hymn, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” with all its soaring hallelujahs. And I see that hymn as profoundly true even though I don’t think its truth depends upon the tomb having been empty or something happening to the corpse of Jesus.”
I’m not exactly sure what he means. Without going into the ‘proofs’ for the resurrection, Borg’s perspective is a pretty boring take on the whole thing. Last night at our Easter Vigil, 12 Burundians were baptized. Amidst the clouds of incense and the ringing of bells, a group of them sang in thankful celebration to Jesus for what he had done 2000 years ago and what he did among us.
All of the Burundian children baptized last night were born in refugee camps. The living Lord Jesus has been their companion and has brought us to our parish. Should I tell them that the empty tomb is ‘irrelevant’ (as Borg says elsewhere) and that the corpse of Jesus may be lying around somewhere? If Christ is not risen, I pity us all for the sham we are a part of!
Posted on March 17th, 2008 by fatherneo.
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Stealing from my boy Chris Martin,
http://chrismartinsblog.com/2008/02/19/the-celtic-way-of-evangelism-george-hunter/
who is the real St. Patrick and when did St. Paddy’s become an excuse to drink ’till you puke? George Hunter provides an exceptional work in which he says that Patrick’s ‘way of evangelism’ is possible to imitate even and especially in our day.
What was Patrick’s ‘way?’
Patrick took a group of men (and women), clergy, seminarians and others to live among the ‘barbarian’ Celts (who had previously enslaved Patrick years earlier) to plant ‘holy communities.’ In these communities, Patrick’s folks would live in community to pray and work together, as well as to invite the locals to participate–to ‘come and see’ what Christians were all about. They built churches, prayed, partook of the sacraments, fed the hungry and healed the sick. These so called barbarians discovered that Patrick’s communities were ‘thin places,’ holy places where the presence of God penetrated space and time in an unusual, palpable way.
The Celts found their own experience of the world, with its violence, fear, and degradation, could not hold a candle to Patrick’s holy and peaceable communities. Violence, killing and idolatry ceased wherever Patrick’s communities took hold.
Perhaps people use March 17th as an excuse to drink themselves senseless because Patrick’s story has never been told by his spiritual descendants. Perhaps they don’t know that Christ can actually change people en masse, transform people groups and neighborhoods and that Kingdom living is possible to find–if you look in the right places.