Building a life... some questions

"If you live in My teachings, then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the binds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."

But what if the rain, floods, and winds of life aren't emotional and physical stresses, tragedies, and hardships, but rather aggressive and subversive competing philosophies, ethics, and theologies?

Did Jesus mean for His "if you just obey me you'll know truth; you'll get it; you'll prevail" statements to apply to intellectual challenges to the 'house' of life that must be built on something?

If this is Jesus' answer to intellectual objections, then He's not playing by the rules. He's refusing to argue and convince - the only option He gives us is to take Him at His word or not. It's "Do what I say and you'll see," not "Here's my superiorly coherent G.U.T. that will force those of you who hold 'intellectual honesty' as your highest value to conclude that I am in fact God." Either His words here aren't meant to apply to intellectual challenges, or He's refusing to respect our rules for the intellectual arena.

Are there assumptions here underlying His prescription for discovering truth and a solid life foundation?

Is there really a difference between intellectual challenges and personal challenges?

If our intellectual challenges came under Jesus' piercing gaze, would they - in each individual instance of each individual person - be reduced from respectable-sounding objecting philosophies and theologies to mere veneers of pride, rebellion, and enslavement to prideful, sinful, selfish desires?

Is it possible to have an intellectual problem that is not ultimately - if we could boil it down and see it for what it truly is - a 'heart' problem?

I don't know. Just thoughts from my reading this morning.

Underneath the Cosmetics - McLaren article

Full article here: Underneath the Cosmetics - by Brian McLaren

excerpt below

[...]

I'm often asked by pastors, as I was recently, "Should our church adopt a more emergent approach?" Often the assumption is that adding certain forms (candles, incense, a particular style of music) will make a church "emergent." But I want to reply: "What would it profit to gain the cosmetics of an emerging church and lose the deeper opportunity?"

As churches seek reinvigoration, many are finding inspiration from emerging/missional approaches (the plural is important). But many focus on the forms and miss the foundational issues. The deeper opportunity is more than rethinking how church should "look" or be "done." It's the chance to ask what the church is for.

[...]

Thanks to Steve at HarvestBoston.net for digging this up.

Fuller Lecture on Emerging Church - mp3 link

Lecture mp3 here and here - (20mb)

Emerging Church Discussion Draws Large Crowd
An audience of 150 filled Payton 101 for a presentation Thursday evening, March 2, by professors Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger on the topic of their new book Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures. [...]

A new type of church, popularly called the “emerging church,” is increasingly taking root across the U.S. and U.K., Gibbs and Bolger explained. “It’s a small movement, but it’s growing,” said Bolger. “We’re seeing its influence spread across the spectrum.”

“There’s a widespread conversation among church leaders who recognize that existing structures are not working well for all people,” said Gibbs. Traditional churches are experiencing challenges and declining numbers, he said, and the emerging church movement is a response to this across denominations and theological traditions.

Gibbs and Bolger described their field research that went into the writing of the book, which included years of visits and conversations with a variety of emerging churches. They discussed specific ways these churches are working to be relevant to contemporary cultures—through decentralized leadership, an emphasis on relationships over structure, and strong community service, for example.

“These are communities that are very organic, very simple—looking to follow Jesus’ way in this culture now,” said Bolger. And although the churches are seen predominantly among the under-35s, it is not solely a youth movement, Gibbs emphasized. The churches they have seen operate as extended families, with a strong desire for mentoring by older generations as well.

“The emerging church is a church that’s turning itself inside out,” Gibbs said, “to bring those outside in.”

Eddie Gibbs is Fuller’s Donald A. McGavran Professor of Church Growth and the author of several other books as well, including the critically acclaimed ChurchNext, winner of a Christianity Today book award. Ryan K. Bolger is assistant professor of Church in Contemporary Culture.

Profaning the holy... in a good way

I remember being uncomfortable, at first, of mixing the holy with the everyday – of doing things like moving the communion ceremony to the middle of a real, full, sit-down dinner where we talk and act like we’re having a regular family meal. It was an interesting and rewarding struggle to try and bring the holy into the everyday world without completely displacing the things of everyday life, and without treating the holy like some casual thing of little consequence.

I learned that treating things of great importance with little importance (merely going casual in worship style) is one thing. Displacing the things of everyday life as if every moment all week should be lived seriously and contemplatively (trying to act all week as if one is 'in church' at every moment) is another. But bringing together everyday life with explicit acknowledgement of God and our identities in Him is still another, and more challenging. Letting God sit at the dinner table with us, or on the couch during the NHL playoffs, or at the hockey rink, feels strange: we start feeling uncomfortable, like God caught has us without our "church act" on. It was liberating to ditch the "church act" but still face the challenge of God’s explicitly acknowledged presence in the regular rhythms of everyday life. We could be real with ourselves and each other and God, but at the same time invite God to transform us, our relationships, and our lives. That's a far cry from wearing our Sunday Best all week!