Common Grounds Online

SYNERGY CONFERENCE TALKS ONLINE FOR FREE

Three CGO contributors spoke at the last Synergy conference for women in mission. You can hear Carolyn Custis James talk about her new book The Gospel According to Ruth: Loving God Enough to Break the Rules, Leigh McLeroy’s encouraging message entitled The Plot Thickens: Following the Story’s Twists and Turns, and Reggie Kidd’s Our Sister Phoebe.

There are also a number of excellent seminar messages from writing to exploring orality. My do-not-miss is Angel Richard’s The Broken Leader. All here for free: http://www.synergytoday.org/audio.html

Glenn Lucke, Come As You Are Church

One evening, with notepad and pen in hand, I visited a community that wouldn’t be mistaken for a PCA church. What struck me from the website first and then embodied at the gathering was their intention to be a church for dropouts and misfits. Whatever sins and idolatries encumber this particular ekklesia, phoniness is not among them.

I estimate that over two hundred twenty-somethings filled the cafeteria in the basement of large church building from whom this community received space. The young adults seemed to love the singing, which included both hymns with homegrown musical arrangements and other ‘organic music’ created by the worship leaders. We recited the Apostles Creed.

The minister preached for approximately 40 minutes on the subject of “Jesus Is My Hemi.”  He referred to Scripture early on, but mostly this was a topical theological message not dependent upon a close reading of Scripture. He surprised me by his use of terms like “ahistorical” “non-foundationalist” and “hermeneutic,” which left me wondering if the 22 year-old skater types that comprised a good chunk of the congregation knew those terms. (Perhaps they did.) They took up an offering, we sang some more before they prayed for the new leadership team, and then came the Lord’s Supper.
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Douglas Gresham Interview About Prince Caspian

Christianity Today has an interview with Douglas Gresham, stepson of C.S. Lewis, and the one in charge of Lewis' estate.  The interview ranges around Prince Caspian, Gresham's role in the movie, and crazy fans.

Reviewer Raps Prince Caspian Movie Because of Spirituality

Alonso Duralde has written a review of the new Narnia film, Prince Caspian, which opens in two days across the country. Duralde writes mostly positively about the film and recommends it.

In criticism he raises a question as to why the enemy Telmarines look and speak like Mediterraneans. It's a question worth thinking about, but at the end of the day, wouldn't a representation on film of a people group look and sound either like some earthly people group or some alien group? If you don't want to use imagined alien culture to represent a people group of  'bad guys', to what else will moviemakers turn?

More troubling is Duralde's incapacity to bracket his ideological objections to Lewis' story sourced in the Christian faith. He criticizes the filmmakers for doing something that Lewis did not-- extirpate the Christian material from the story. More damning, Duralde criticizes the filmmakers for what he himself does not do: keep a lid on his ideology.  The filmmakers ostensibly tried to do what Duralde does in his review essay: be true to oneself.

I may infer incorrectly, so I'm open to correction, but if I do infer correctly, Duralde wants Christian material to be kept out of filmed versions of Christian stories.  Is this a bigoted position he requires only of Christian stories? I have not read enough of his film reviews to know.

Perhaps in his career Duralde critiques multiple films for including  ideology- socialism, communism, capitalism, voluntarism, democracy/freedom, imperialism, anti-imperialism, various stripes of religion, various ideologies of identity, various ideologies of sexuality. He may be a consistent critic of ideologies being present in film.

Or...he may be a bigot who discriminates against Christian material.   

John Hagee Apologizes For Criticisms Of Roman Catholic Church

John Hagee, pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, and passionate advocate for Israel, has apologized to some individual Catholics and to the Roman Catholic Church for offensive statements he has made about them. Read the specifics (here).

As I read the reported excerpts from Hagee's  apology letter I applauded.

Some people think that the Religious Right is going to change American society, but I think it's more likely that society will change the Religious Right. To quote Steve Brown, "You think about that."

Glenn Lucke, There Is Another Way

[Editor’s note: The piece below is from a conversation I had last week. I’ve summarized my side of the conversation, enlarging on it in places, and you can discern what my conversation partner was saying and asking. For what it’s worth…]
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Hundreds of companies, institutions, and people compete for our love, our time, our money.  Few of them care about us, and of those that do care about us, many of them only do so because we play ball with them.  If we got off their agenda, they’d be done with us.

If you and I serve these companies, institutions, and individuals, if we will follow them, they will give us something we know is essential: normal. If some people are talented, resourceful, blessed and persistent, such people will attain an type or level of ‘normal’ that also confers elite status and comfort.

The brands, the scripts, the jobs, the accessories for what a normal, successful life looks like....all this seems so utterly true, so inescapably necessary, that we cannot imagine life another way.  Our ability to reflect upon these matters is often limited by our busy-ness to mere snap judgments; “loser” or “winner”, have and have not.

When ‘Christianity’ is presented to us, or when it was presented to us years ago, we did the only thing with it we could imagine: we added Jesus or more likely we added ‘Christianity’ to the scripts, the brands, the jobs, the accessories. If we can be normal and add Christianity, super.

The companies, organizations, individuals competing for our love, our time, our money? With the exception of family and some friends, they do not love us.

They do not love us. 

If we weren’t convinced that there were no other way to live, we might have the guts to test their love and try to do life apart from them and see for ourselves whether or not they genuinely love us.
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Katie Ashby, The Common Meal

I would like to introduce you to my wife, Katie. We recently had a conversation on our couch, after which I encouraged her to put her thoughts down on paper. I had a hidden agenda, of course. Ask her, I usually do. I wanted to share them with you. It didn’t hurt that I couldn’t think of anything worthwhile to say this time. So what follows are the words I asked her to share. Treat her kindly or you’ll have to deal with me!

Women have an experiential understanding of the way that a common meal nourishes. As I reflect on every birthday party, family gathering, church potluck and neighborhood social that I have ever attended, the women have always been in charge of preparing and bringing the food. Most of the time, we bring our best to the common meal, though sometimes we’re running late and have to make a quick stop at KFC for a bucket of chicken. But, nevertheless, we women make it a priority to gather for common meals. The food nourishes our bodies and the gathering creates space for relationship to nourish our soul.

Amy Lauger, While the Poor Clamor for Justice

I had the privilege yesterday to visit International Justice Mission’s headquarters in the Washington DC area. I attended the daily staff prayer meeting, and for the first couple of minutes I sat in appreciation of an organization that believes enough in the power of prayer that the whole staff is called together each day to pray for the work of the ministry. The president of IJM opened the meeting by reading a Psalm that spoke of justice, and then the staff prayed for just that – justice. Only it wasn’t some sort of distant, nebulous prayer. They prayed for specific people, men and women they knew. One by one they interceded before the throne for those suffering from cruel injustices including forced prostitution and other types of slavery and those endangering their own lives to work toward justice for both victim and oppressor. As I listened to their prayers, I thought of Blaise Pascal, who once said, “Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.”  IJM is but one example of an organization striving to do precisely that.

Rusty Kelley, Uncertain Times

As an investment banker, I commonly get asked my thoughts on the stocks, the market, and the economy as a whole. It's no surprise to hear these questions now, given that we are currently seeing very difficult economic times for many people in America. You don’t have to read far in a newspaper today to hear about how many people have lost their jobs, had their houses foreclosed on, or are having difficulty affording the rising costs of food and gasoline. 

For some, this is more an annoyance on their wallets, for others though, it is a critical hurdle to taking care of their family. As a former Enron employee, I lived through a similar situation during the last economic slump which stretched many to their very limits. I know what it's like to not sleep for days due to uncertainty about the future. I understand not knowing where you’ll able to work, or how you will support yourself or others in the future. I can also tell you that I likely learned more during that year from the Lord about what it means to trust Him, to seek His will, to be content and yet to face the very facts they lay before us in our situation. 

The common advice given to many Christians in response to difficult times is to “be content in all circumstances.” Yet to some, contentment models the eastern concept of nirvana which crushes one’s desires until apathy ensues. For others, difficult times are the very fuel that may drive them to work harder and find a way to overcome. Many times though, this ambition is without any recognition on their dependence on the Lord, and creates an independent mindset apart from God. Rather than take a common view that “balance” is required, take a look at the way Paul describes his utter dependence, yet unyielding ambition regardless of his circumstances: “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

To Paul, it’s fair to make a distinction between contentment in circumstances, and a greater goal after which we strive. Paul’s contentment can be translated as “in the situation in which I find myself.” This releases him from dependence upon human resources, or to put it another way, it releases him from dependence on the cards that he was dealt at any given time. For Paul, he is content with whatever situation he finds himself on the journey to fulfill the ultimate call which he has been given, to which end he is fiercely driven. 

One of Paul’s chief concerns in Philippians again is “what is driving us.” For those of us who are truly seeking to glorify God, and to seek first His kingdom, we must realize through scripture that this is not a call to do so only in times in which we find ourselves blessed with the material resources we believe necessary to accomplish this goal. Most of our worry, our depression, our anxiety and our stress when hard times come are not as much a result of our fear that God will not be glorified, but fear that our own goals that we’ve set out are in danger. Please don’t misunderstand that I am belittling the needs of feeding one’s family, providing shelter, education, protection and general necessities to those you love as selfish. What I’ve found, though, through time is that most of our effort tends to be spent chasing after the things of ourselves rather than the things of God, and if that was our chief priority, our anxiety and biblical contentment would likely look very different. 

Sometimes the only way we can see this though, is when uncertain times come. Whether you are having a hard time financially through this period, or just finding it irritating when you fill up your tank, I pray that we would all take this time to re-evaluate what our chief goal is that we are chasing after, and how all the rest of our goals fall into place in view of that calling. 

Lastly, there is also a time when God does place those who seek Him in utter need as we see illustrated in the letters of Paul. It is here that I pray that the body of Christ as a whole comes together to care for those in true need. May those who currently are blessed with material needs be generous to the body to care for those whom God has ordained to receive the blessing of generosity. May we each recognize that this too is a part of glorifying God by giving and that it is a blessing to be part of how God is caring for His people.

Meghan Gouldin, Lunch conversation

Lunch was drawing to a close, and the group somehow got on the topic of religion. I don’t quite remember how we got there; it seemed like a rather abrupt transition. The conversation unfolded at what felt like rapid speed, as those present shared their opinions and experiences.

One young woman shared that she and her boyfriend had recently visited the church that she used to attend regularly. At the end of the service, an older woman approached the couple and, it sounded like as without so much as a greeting, proceeded to speak words of judgment about the young woman and her boyfriend’s decision to live together. If I were in this young woman’s shoes, it would be enough to make me not want to go back to church, ever.

There’s a piercing line in the song “Come, Lord Jesus” by Andrew Peterson that says:

And it feels like the church isn't anything more
Then the second coming of the Pharisees
Scrubbing each other 'til their tombs are white
They chisel epitaphs of piety

It’s funny to me that we (and I ashamedly include myself in this category more often than I’d like to admit) still act like ushering in the kingdom is about us. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. His Spirit lives on as the convictor and as the one who breaks open hearts and transforms individuals from the inside out, not from the outside in.

The conversation continued, and I listened as several people shared their reactions to the young woman’s story and proceeded to offer their own perspectives on church and religion.  The perspective that received the most number of fervent nods was, “what’s right for me is right for me, and what’s right for you is right for you. I just don’t want anyone else to impose their views on me.”

I prayed silently for wisdom on whether or not to speak up and if so, what to say. Several continued to share and I had sporadic responses in my head to each– usually incisive one-liners that I’d heard in the seminary apologetics class I took a few years ago. The conversation wove its way around, and just as quickly as it had started, the conversation and the lunch gathering ended.  My heart sunk in my chest. “I’m sorry, Lord, should I have interjected? I’m sorry.”

After the room cleared out, a friend said, “Meghan, I really appreciate how you just listen.” My heart rose up a little from its sunken position. “I was interested to hear what you thought because I know you're religious, but I didn’t want to put you on the spot.” Somewhat comforted but still unsure of whether my listening posture had been the right response, we filed out of the room. As we did, the words of Saint Francis of Assisi came to mind and brought additional comfort: “Preach the Gospel at all times--if necessary, use words.” 

I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to be present for a conversation that helped me to see a little more about where my peers are, how they’ve experienced Christianity, and how they've been wounded. As I wandered away from the lunch table, I wondered at what points I’ve been the judgmental churchgoer in someone else’s story. When have my words or actions pushed someone farther from the church rather than nudging them closer to coming to know Christ and his redeeming love?

Tim Frickenschmidt, Bammit! That's What She Said.

“Bammit!”  That’s what I heard my four-year old son cry out in frustration at one of his toys the other day.  I didn’t think too much of it, figuring he had recently seen one of the old Batman television episodes.  But then a few minutes later my six-year-old yelled out “Dammit!” when he broke the Lego ship he had been building.  Ah, the cussing years begin.  My oldest son, in his defense, had no more an idea of this word’s meaning than he did last Monday when one of his baseball teammates told him his last name had the “f-word” in it.  I guess “Frick” is the elementary school f-word of choice nowadays.  Anyway, the point is that the question of appropriate language for Christians has been raised in our household in explicit fashion.
 
I categorize this issue as a question because in my ten-year journey from para-church-involved, broadly-evangelical college student to PCA-pastoring, reformed, Bible-over-Christian subculture father of three boys I have observed a growing comfort in my Christian circles with language for which my grandmother would have cuffed me across the head.  Now don’t hear what I’m not saying.  I’m not throwing hyper-spiritual, Victorian-era language stones here.  Michael Scott has also invaded my vernacular with his “that’s what she said” quip.  So whether it’s American-classified profanity or sexually implicit (though very funny) Michael-Scott innuendos, I’m asking these questions of myself.  Remember, it’s my kid who sounds like he works at dock with the other foul-mouthed sailors.  (And yes, I know that Paul uses the word skubalon in Philippians 3:8, but does anyone really know exactly what sense of that word he meant to employ?  There’s a pretty big translation difference between rubbish and !@#$%.)

Aaron Menikoff, The Church and Social Reform

What ought church involvement in social reform or social ministry look like? Prescriptions for evangelical social engagement are always very interesting. As believers we certainly have a responsibility to investigate Scripture that we might understand our role in the community. This of course is the impetus behind such great works as Niebuhr’s classic Christ and Culture and even Don Carson’s more recent reflections on the same topic, Christ and Culture Revisited in which he called us to a robust biblical theology that will produce

a biblical vision that focuses on Christ and his cross, on the links between this world and the next, on bold Christian living and faithful witness, and on a large-scale vision that makes the world our parish while loving the neighbor next door, raises our eyes above ourselves, and delights in the glory of God (228).

What a wonderful goal: biblical theology leading to a biblical vision of self-sacrifice that ultimately glorifies God. This is a prescription for the Christian concerned with more than himself, a Christian concerned for society—a worthy implication of Christ and his cross. 

We need prescriptions, we need to understand as accurately as possible what we ought to do when it comes to engaging with those outside the church. The Bible is clear about the ministries of evangelism and discipleship, but it is less clear about the role of the Christian or the church and society-at-large. Verses like Galatians 6:10 are profound yet few. In short, prescriptions are helpful. However we need descriptions as well.