And Another Thing... the BOOK.

Some of you may remember a blog called "And Another Thing..."

It was a bunch of my thoughts over 2005/2006. In an effort to try out an online publisher for a book I am trying to finish, I have published my posts in a book form.

Of course, it costs money, but of you want one, here's the link:
http://www.lulu.com/content/1064486

Community over Self

There is no such thing as private Christianity. Following Jesus cannot be done on your own. As Paul says in Romans 12, “so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”. In a society that values privacy and self-sufficiency over all else, that statement is about as upside-down as it gets.

Belonging means more than just feeling included, or “being a part of something”. That is only the beginning. Real community is discovered when all the members belong to each other. There is a sense of ownership, or at very least some authority and accountability alluded to here. And that goes against the grain of modern society, doesn’t it? We don’t want to be owned by anyone. We don’t like accountability - yet we want to belong. We don’t like loneliness, yet we want to be left alone. Again, self-sufficiency is king – and the irony of its’ effects are evident in our troubled existence.

Valuing the community over self is a prerequisite to experiencing what community is all about. If the reason for “belonging” is to get what you need instead of give what is needed, nobody goes away benefiting from the experience. On the contrary, if everyone approaches the group in order to give and meet needs, the whole community is strengthened. But it means more than just giving to others, or giving of our talents and gifts to the whole, and staying at a distance. It means the giving up of our very selves. It’s one thing to help others by using our gifts for the benefit of the whole, but to expose our real self and our needs seems counter-productive to the average person. Popular wisdom would say that we must only give our strengths to the group in order to make it strong, but this is another time when we must think “upside-down-ly”. The giving up of ourselves is the act of selflessness that will make the community truly strong and vibrant. It is in our weakness that we discover the strength in community. Our collective weakness makes fertile ground for the Spirit to move and people to discover a depth of connection not found elsewhere.

Here in the west, we have bought into the lie that those who have really “made it” never need to ask for help. Self-sufficiency has become the unofficial pinnacle of success. We have an ethos that encourages us to horde wealth and resources all our lives in order to avoid asking for help. "Every man for himself"– that’s what we used to call it on the playground. Who knew it would become the mantra to live by…

And most of the time we feel good about it. We feel we are doing the world a favour by taking care of our own problems. We pride ourselves in not “burdening” anyone. If we can go through life without putting anyone out, we figure we’ve done a great deed. But what if that’s all wrong? What if the whole idea and purpose of life together on this planet is to care for one another instead of desperately working towards the absence of reciprocity? What if we were meant to depend on each other? What if we were made to need each other? What if avoiding the need for help robs others of their true purpose for being alive? It might explain the alleged increase in middle/ upper-class depression over the last century. Maybe the more individualistic we become, the more we lose the deep meaning of both giving and receiving. We have preached relentlessly about serving others, but seldom talk about being vulnerable enough to accept a helping hand. Do the math – it doesn’t work. Those who finally get to the place where they need no help realize they are desperate for someone to care enough to see their need.

Think about it - the very way we live in the West is testimony to how we feel about individualism. We whole-heartedly embrace it. We have gated communities, fenced yards and rules for conversation and eye-contact on sidewalks and elevators. We actually have to entice people with faster commutes to get them to ride with someone else on the freeway. And heaven forbid you strike up a conversation on the commuter train. Advertising companies love us for it. They know we would rather stare blankly at an ad for Vagisil than talk to someone right next to us. Yet within this drive towards self-sufficiency, we sit in our individualism with a profound sense of feeling alone. We hole up, watching movies like The Lord of the Rings, longing for the kind of companionship we see on the screen. The irony of our existence is evident; “leave me alone, I’m lonely”…

Now

My generation is more interested in the idea of a fallen creation that is being renewed by the presence of Jesus than it is about heaven and hell. It makes some people really ticked off because we don't talk enough about eternal judgement and being right or wrong, and about getting people "saved".

It's not that I don't think hell exists in some form. And it's not that I don't think heaven is coming. It's just that I choose to concentrate on the fact that the Spirit is here - the kingdom is invading this cursed earth. And the gospel is defined by His renewing presence. I am not saved , I am being saved. I am not a Christian - I am becoming Christ-like.

Only looking to eternity has done the Kingdom no favours.

Kingdom Purpose...

The profound evangelical pendulum-swing away from the so-called "social gospel" movement of the 60's has resulted in a somewhat emaciated, neutered church that has arguably all but neglected its' central purpose. As N.T.Wright summarizes,

"According to the early Christians, the church doesn't exist in order to provide a place where people can pursue their private spiritual agendas and develop their own spiritual potential. Nor does it exist in order to provide a safe haven in which people can hide from the wicked world and ensure that they themselves arrive safely at an otherworldly destination. Private spiritual growth and ultimate salvation come rather as the byproducts of the main, central, overarching purpose for which God has called and is calling us. The purpose is clearly stated in various places in the New Testament: that through the church God will announce to the wider world that he is indeed its wise, loving, and just creator: that through Jesus he has defeated the powers that corrupt and enslave it; and that by his Spirit he is at work to heal and renew it."

The tension and messiness of an incarnational kingdom that introduces salvation to all creation has been replaced in many evangelical circles by an easier theology - one that escapes our role in God's ultimate purpose, and makes everything "personal" and "future" - but reducing salvation to “going to heaven” and “having a personal relationship with Jesus” (a 20th century phrase), distorts truth. It lets the “true for you, not for me” cynics and skeptics interpret truth as “something that happens inside you” instead of “God’s powerful, loving revelation of the way things actually are in the world", and how He is going to redeem it.

How much do I want a week of conversations with Tom Wright? Even more than I want a 1963 VW ragtop.

Real Peace

Peace is a difficult thing. It's kind of like humility. Evasive. Once you think you have it, you don't. It's hard not to think of peace selfishly. We trust ourselves to be abe to discern between what is true peace and what just feels "right" to us because everything's going our way...

On the world stage, peace is even more evasive. Oh, we can have a semblance of peace as long as we are fine with people being oppressed. It seems that the worlds' kind of peace comes at the expense of justice. As long as the oppressed don't revolt, peace can be "experienced".
But if justice is being done on the planet, it is not a peaceful place.

Yet Jesus left us with real peace. The Spirit IS peace. John writes Jesus words:

I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn't like the peace that this world can give. So don't be worried or afraid.

The ultimate "peace, out".

Poor is the new Rich,
Love is the new Hate,
Broke is the new Whole,
Loss is the new Gain,
Weak is the new Strong,
Least is the new Most,
Suffering is the new Success,
Last is the new First,
Service is the new Rule,
Death is new Life.