In my continued graduate work, my current course instructor posed the question, “Would it be theologically accurate to say that a church that is not on mission is not really a church but something else? Perhaps, a social club? What are the implications of an ecclesiology like this?
Some empty rituals are empty. Others are not.
When we think of rituals we typically think of religious-type rituals. I would suggest that there is no ritual that is not religious. We go about our lives and much like rituals performed at “religious services,” our practices are meaningless. Have you ever really stopped to consider, “Why do we do this?” Is it just a ritual of our culture? Something we’ve been taught?
“This is just how things are.”
“It’s just a part of our system.”
We go about our lives because we adapt to the ways things have always been done. Empty religious rituals.
Some empty rituals are not empty. But these are the rituals that I think we do not practice because we’re busy practicing empty rituals. What rituals do we need to practice that allow us to empty our lives in order that we might make space to be filled by the love of God? A love that will inform our ability to practice rituals that are life giving – to ourselves and to others.
While sharing a meal with some friends in the Dining Commons of MVNU, the conversation centered around the type and quality of food that we put in our bodies. Someone was eating hummus, which led us to begin trying to list the Top 10 Most Trendy Foods. With the help of Nate Okuley, John Ballenger, Scott Lomasney, Ryan Schmitz, and Lyndsey Oldham, I landed with a list as follows:
1. Sushi. Suddenly, everyone likes raw fish wrapped in seaweed. For those that don’t really like sushi but still want to be trendy there is the standby California Roll.
2. Dunkin Donuts. This one is for the trendy people that don’t want to be trendy because Starbucks Coffee is too trendy for their need to be different and edgy. Starbucks is better. So is Cup O’ Joe. So is Nevin Street.
3. Guacamole. It’s very green and very tasty. I have yet to have this avacado concoction quite like that in Juarez, Mexico, handmade by Hermana Elodia, la pastora de La Iglesia Del Nazareno Juarez.
4. Yogurt. There used to be TCBY. Now there’s Yagööt.
5. Fish Tacos. Apparently it’s an acquired taste and/or is popular with the folks in the southern California area. I’ll take my taco with no fish unless I’m really trying to be trendy. I’ll eat my salmon grilled on a cedar plank with Ben Winkler.
6. Hummus. The word is transliterated (like the word “baptize” from the Greek “baptizo”) from Arabic. It’s really not fancy. Just smashed chickpeas with some pepper, oil, garlic, and/or salt.
7. Burritos. Even though Chipotle is starting to become or already is mainstream it still counts as trendy along with Noodles and Co.
8. Sweet Potatoes. Often found in a fry version complete with fresh-ground sea salt, this orange delicacy is prepared in many forms and has found itself overshadowing the Idaho original.
9. Hibiscus. Green tea and pomegranate tea (or pomegranate anything) have been around long enough. It’s time for them to move over for hibiscus.
10. Local, organic vegetables. Let’s be honest, anything organic could have made the list, right? Organic is taking over.
The local, organic, and fair trade consumption trends are proving that “trendy” is not always bad (take note Dunkin’ Donut coffee lovers). But when does “trendy” turn bad? Are there trends in Christianity that are counterproductive to the Kingdom of God? Could one unhealthy trend possibility be the “megachurch movement,” where congregants desire to attend the sexiest, stylish production that is primarily a place for personal consumption and conscience appeasement? What about the “house church” model? Is it just a trendy phenomena for those who despise the megachurch model and want their own homogenous self-owned gathering or is there worth and substance behind it? At what point are our practices of Christianity just cultural adaptations and pleas for some type of desired relevance? Do we do the trendy Christianity thing because its trendy or because it really represents the Kingdom of God?
What is it with a piece of fruit that we shouldn’t eat?
The Twittersphere has been buzzing for the last 24 hours about the release of the new Apple iPhone 4. Everyone wants to have it. It’s the latest, greatest, fastest, sleekest, most beautiful handheld device pumped with technological steroids that humans have every seen, held, and smelled. Admit it. If you got a new one, you smelled it, too.
The iPod was pretty rockin’ sweet yet was outdone by the iPod Touch. In the midst of many other computer and mobile device “upgrades,” the iPod Touch grew up and became the iPad. And now here we are. The iPhone 4. Because the iPhone 3 just wasn’t enough. Phone. E-mail. Navigation. Music. There’s an “app” for all o’ that.
From aluminum casing paired with a black keyboard to tiny white, recognizable earbuds, Apple has artistically designed their products to be sexy and sleek – visually appealing on a number of levels. Apple products are so appealing that large numbers of people stood in line for hours to get their hands on their very own little new release. It seems as though the newest Apple product is irresistible. Somewhat similar to the story recorded in the Bible of the first man, Adam, who was unable to stay away from the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden.
Apparently, whether we’re talking about a communication device or a piece of fruit from a tree, that is one seriously sexy Apple. And we can’t resist it.
What do we do with our temptation?
Continually seek to fulfill our self-focused pleasures?
Justify our addictions to technology and/or having the newest, trendiest product?
Aren’t we in somewhat of a predicament (as I type on my MacBook Pro)?
What do we do with our temptation and addiction?
“Anybody doing anything tonight?”
It’s a phrase we frequently use when we’re bored. Or maybe we’re just looking for something to do. Something to entertain us. Or we need some people to hang out with.
Why?
Why do we always have to be with someone? Why do we always have to be doing something? Well… I suppose by the nature of being human we are always doing something – eating, sleeping, sitting, playing. But we fail to recognize that “doing nothing” is actually doing something – for good or bad.
I walked into my home yesterday evening after a day of working with MVNU students doing some home repair work for a family in our community. There were well over 30 different people in and out of the home where we were working. Hammers were banging. Circular saws were screaming. Drills were… drilling. Though it was quite fulfilling to be actively engaged in serving a family who needed a little help, the silence I encountered upon arriving home was beautiful. I needed to sit and think. I needed to decompress. I needed to do nothing.
As I was installing some electrical wiring with a friend earlier that day we were talking about the home makeover project and the students who initiated it. In the midst of our discussion my friend stated, “It just makes sense. This is what the church should be doing.” Simultaneously we looked at each other and said, “All the time.” I realized once I got home that the statement was a bit hyperbolic. I needed the silence. I needed solitude for meditation and prayer. I needed to rest in the presence of God – Alone. Quiet. Listening. Thinking.
We can default to either extreme – doing something all the time or doing nothing. Do you find yourself doing nothing? It could be that in the moments of doing nothing you really are doing nothing – nothing but sitting around hoping to be entertained or complaining about the church doing nothing. Or you could really be doing nothing as a healthy form of Sabbath and rest.
How do we go about doing something while still doing nothing? How do we avoid doing nothing in order to actually do something?
For a number of years many people have liked Rob Bell because he is different. He is passionate, engaging, energetic, insightful, and creative with refreshing language and perspective.
For a number of years many people have not liked Rob Bell because he is too different. He has been accused of embracing humanism and pluralism and paganism and many other -isms.
Just when people have (for better or worse) been getting used to Bell , his speaking tours, podcasts, NOOMA videos, and books named with stars, sex, and velvet, he produces something else that is, well… different. If you haven’t watched the Resurrection video you can view it below.
You may be distracted by the visual elements included in the production. However, that which the effects represent is something that we too often don’t even see. As products of modernism, we insist on a logical reasoning and scientific proofing while we close our eyes to the supernatural things all around us. We insist that the only things that are real are the things that our sensory perceptive capacity enables us to see or taste or touch or smell or hear. Like the biblical character Thomas who had to see the holes that wounded Jesus on the cross, we ignore the possibility that things are happening all around us that exceed our quite limited human comprehension. Hence, resurrection:
Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore
Be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified
Follow Christ to the holy mountain
Sinner sorry and wrecked by the fall
Cleanse your heart and your soul
In the fountain that flowed
For you and for me and for all
At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night
On the hillside, you will be delivered
At the foot of the cross justified
And your spirit restored
By the river that poured
From our blessed Savior’s side
Ash Wednesday. It marks the first day of the lenten season as a means to help the post-modern, post-enlightenment, post-colonial human engage the mourning, suffering, celebration, and hope embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.
“What are you taking on this lenten season?” – a question I began to ask after reading a Twitter post by my friend Matt Frye. He posted, “What 40 day change are you making in your life for this lent season? I’m taking on 40 days of journaling. Something that I need desperately.”
What are you taking on?
Lent has historically and culturally been defined by a person electing to sacrifice or give up some item or substance or external material or non-material product or influence. I value that aspect of Lent but understand it’s limitedness. The act of giving up something may be considered disciplined and necessary to produce a sense of shared suffering and solidarity; however, the completeness of sacrifice is understanding that which fills the places that are empty due to sacrifice.
Matt stated that he is taking on the act of journaling for 40 days. For some, the time spent writing and reflecting could be something that fills a perceived void created by giving up television watching or a Facebook addiction. I have been considering giving up the consumption of meat for the next 40 days. By default, my body would need to be filled by nutritious foods high in protein such as lentils. Rather than sacrificing the consumption of meat I may need to consider taking on a vegetarian diet and committing to growing life giving plants – as an act of discipline and as an act of worship – taking care of this body as a unique approach to environmental sustainability.
What are you taking on? Share your ideas in the comment section below.
Peace be with you.
It is humorous and interesting how a blog post on Pat Robertson’s response to the earthquake in Haiti spikes my blog traffic. What is the cause? Is it that people agree or disagree with Pat Robertson? What has this man done to generate the type of attention that he has? Does anyone actually care about Robertson? Do you actually care more about the people in the country of Haiti? And if you do, what are you doing about it?
A comment on my previous post addressing Robertson’s hateful comments asked, “Can God forgive us for sitting on our a**es passing judgement on people who are actually doing something besides sitting around talking about it.”
Currently, I am, indeed, sitting. I usually do sit when I type. As I’ve been typing, I have been clicking on a button that says “send.” The button processes a message that I am sending to various orphanages and organizations in Haiti in hopes to adopt a child or even two from Haiti who have possibly been orphaned as a result of the earthquake. An update on our ADOPTION page will be posted later today. If you would like to donate to our adoption fund, please click the button in the far left column.
Another “send” button upon which I clicked processed a donation to UNICEF (who is currently providing aid in Haiti) and earned me frequent flyer points in order that I may fly to Haiti to assist with rebuilding efforts. Organizations with whom I have communicated (some through my employer/university/MVNU) are suggesting that additional people are not currently needed. So I don’t think I need forgiveness for sitting on my backside and “doing nothing.” Must I justify my giving and my doing? In the midst of what I hope to be loving acts, I am not stating ridiculous and asinine judgments on people based on their geographic location and a natural disaster. Bad things happen. Evil is present. It is our human dilemma.
What else can we do about the dilemma?
Thank you for your comments.
