a less "safe" world but a more trustworthy God

i have a growing sense of how much this world does not yet belong to God. This has created in me an increasing distance from the “victory” expectations this side of the end. George Eldon Ladd said it well in his "the gospel of the kingdom" – the kingdom of God has mysteriously and unexpectedly invaded the kingdom of satan before the order of things were altered. So we get a present kingdom but an unaltered order – an order ordained by the enemy & by our rebellion. this makes us "guerillas," not conquering heroes. conquest is ours on "that day," as Scripture calls it, not until then. real impact but not victory. My expectations have changed. My posture has changed. Firstfruits. Down payments. Experiences. Tastes. Whispers. These are available to me. But not satisfaction.

Also, my life is focused around and shaped by..."battle." sorry about the Warfare metaphors but nothing else captures the intent of the Truth here. opposition is unavoidable for those who want to live lives of meaning and purpose. There is no "safety" to be found yet in His "sovereignty" because this world is not fully within His rule & reign. Why do you think Jesus taught us to pray "your Kingdom come, your will be done?"

So, therefore, what are my expectations? What do I wake up to everyday? Am I aware of what i am living in the middle of? Am I prepared? Trained? Equipped? That is a huge question. Often I think that even if we are aware, we are so unprepared that we resemble soldiers going to the front lines with water pistols. Resistance fighters have to know the terrain incredibly well in order to be effective in a guerilla war. it is their advantage. naive, sluggish and ill-trained guerillas are sitting ducks. i'm not saying that our pain is purely because of our lack of preparation - this world is filled with pain and the most prepared cannot escape it - but i AM saying that there are some instances when we are victimised needlessly. i do not say that flippantly. but i am more and more persuaded that it is sometimes true.

i think a lot of the discouragement and disappointment people feel with God could be addressed by this lifeview. In the television series "The West Wing" there is an episode where the President (Martin Sheen) has an argument with God in Washington D.C.'s National cathedral. He hammers God for sending a tropical storm that knocked out a navy vessel and for arranging for his friend and secretary to be killed in a traffic accident. At the end, after yelling at him in latin, he walks away with disgust at a God who would do something like that. Powerful stuff. It brings up questions we all have asked. Yet i think it flows from the wrong understanding of how God operates. Be angry. Yet be angry at the right person. God is.

And wake up.

Is the church boring?

Had a very interesting conversation last night around this topic. The basic idea was that the church has "its butt cheeks too tightly clenched." In other words, the impulse toward piety has absorbed all of our attention and made us people who take ourselves far too seriously. I read an interesting measure of this from Dave Tomlinson - he suggests that evidence of this is how Christians are unable to laugh about sex. He talks about how C.S. Lewis saw the ability to laugh about sex as a wonderful example of humanity because what is MORE human than sex and what is less like the airbrushed images we all pretend are real than sex! I think i agree. What a wonderfully human thing.

There is a lack of freedom that pervades Christians because we are still so worried that our behavior will inhibit our acceptability - so we tow the line i.e., we live under the burden of the "have to." Yet when we really take grace seriously we realize that our acceptance is radically accomplished and freedom alone remains! This will always lead to a veering into imbalance for a season but then, if dealt with maturely, ages into a wonderful attitude known as "response." With this the freedom remains but a choice is made out of a positive place rather than a defensive place. I call it the "get to." This changes everything. That defensive, worried, unsure posture with which we appraoched the world is gone and we are now known, accepted and unburdened by the stifling "have to's." This is where we alone, in the pantheon of world religion, have the ability to experience what it means to be WINSOME. What a tragedy that we give that away by being just another bunch of religious people.

Random Ruminations part one

Thought i'd start this blog with some history. St. Sims is an independent church plant affiliated with the Soul Survivor family but of a different "mold." We are primarily motivated by the desire to "do church" in a way that is impactful and credible with Post-Christian (some say Pre-Christian) people. But how? This is the journey we are on and which we hope to reflect upon in these entries.

We started meeting as a Launch team last September and now, a year later, are a smallish group of 20+. We have three small groups that meet at different times and a weekly sunday a.m. gathering for worship/teaching. fairly typical, eh?! the question is ... now where?

You see, we have not brought a "template" to this enterprise, just the willingness to stick our butts our there in the wind and eyes to see if it is effective or not. jump and learn! we have learned a lot. here are a few lessons:

1.) Christians are creatures of habit. So much of what comprises a Christian's life is stuff that has been there for a long time and which gives security as well as some kind of meansurement as to whether they are "doing good" at this Christian thing. Go to church on sundays. Be in a small group. Do quiet times. etc...
2.) Many of those habits are completely ineffective in shaping followers of Jesus anymore and need to be shaken up to allow for fresh wine and a new perspective.
3.) Many of those habits are completely inaccessible for people outside the church. Almost odd.
4.) Spiritual conversations are really very easy to engage if you will approach it to listen more than talk. People are hungry to discuss these issues and are just looking for someone safe enough. By "safe" it usually means someone who won't take their honesty and use it as a platform for winning an argument nor someone who will try to tell them how those thoughts and feelings are incorrect. We all really only learn as we discover, not when we are told. That is all they want. The freedom and respect and trust to be allowed to discover.
5.) People love to talk about God over a game of poker or a cigar.
6.) Never trust decisions that come from a spiritual conversation that happens when they are drunk but pay attentiuon to the hungers and hurt that comes out. It may be the most honest moments of their lives. (not a suggestion to implement alcohol in missional strategy!)
7.) Film is the language of this generation. Learn it and you will see conversations about life, fear, hope etc... that you never knew were going on.
8.) Christians need to relax and explore what grace means to spiritual journeys. Religion has oozed into our M.O.'s and we need to root it out. Example: i hope this little community is full of people living lives that, well, that are full of all that stuff the church pretends none of them do! why? because if i wasn't following Jesus and experiencing His hope i'd be doing it too! if they can feel comfortable amongst us then real humans will be able to do genuine spiritual searching rather than the "hoop jumping" that is normally required as the price of admission to most churches.

I have been reading the Gospel of Matthew some and noticed anew what Jesus' reputation was - a party animal! They called him a "glutton" because he was present at so many parties with people partying their asses off. so much so that it defined him to those on the outside. that is the kind of church that understands grace and that is positioned for credibility and impact. i want that kind of church. a church that is IN THE WORLD. we often spend all our time focusing on the second part of that verse don't we? it seems that the really good stuff of God only happens when you are out there - that is when you see The Spirit doing His thing in people's live and when this gig gets exciting.