Some 25 years ago (!) I studied Mathematical Statistics and Operational Research at uni. (just wanted to mention that to show my credentials to blog on the Kingdom of Jesus!). One professor was able to shrink a whole blackboard (yes, it was that long ago!) full of complicated formulae into a three letter formula- which was fine until you realised you still had to remember the board full of letters and numbers anyway! I hated the course, but love algebraic formulae to this day!
Recently I have been trying a bit of formula writing as shorthand for the place of ritual in following Jesus. The two formulae below are my attempt to summarise where I have got to. Please note these are not simultaneous equations- do not try to find the solution! However, I would like to set them as an exercise for you to complete (please turn in your replies for grading by next w/e!)
Kingdom Algebra 101:
1) Ritual - Reality = Relic
2) Ritual + Reality = Release
Discuss the 2 equations above, providing examples where appropriate, and explain the implications of the equations on church life.
Sunday, 5 April 2009
Monday, 9 March 2009
The Prenuptial Christian
Following on from my last blog, the time has come to explain myself!
Recently, I have been pondering the plethora of labels used to describe our particular spiritual walk. In the last twenty years we have had post-evangelicals, post-moderns, post-charismatics and others. We have had missional church and red-letter Christians. While labels are useful as shorthand, to help us to understand a bit of where we are coming from, all labels have inherent problems, some of which I list below:
1) Anything using the prefix "post-" has already labelled itself as a reaction to what has gone before. It is therefore backward looking, at least in its description, if not in its practice. This is similar to Protestantism, as described by Brian McLaren in a Generous Orthodoxy, which started as a protest against many problems in the Roman Catholic Church. McLaren says that once the protestant church tired of protesting against Catholicism, it turned to protesting against itself! If we are not careful, we end up defining ourselves by what we are not, or by what we are in reaction to.
2) I prefer "missional church" and "Red Letter Christians" as definitions of who we are. Both these labels are trying to define what we do; that we are here to live out the words of Jesus on this earth, and that our purpose is outward-looking, to a fallen, broken world. however, I can't help but ask the question "Why?"- Why is our focus outward looking? And why are we trying to live out the words of Jesus? My feeling is that these labels do not answer that question, and therefore trhese labels are lacking something- the reason for doing what we do.
3) Labels can easily become strait-jackets that restrain us, rather than allowing us to journey together into God's future. They become the walls behind which we shelter, the stuff of exclusion instead of inclusion, the chasms that separate us from those who see things differently.
4) Labels can also be misunderstood, because they are shorthand. I am reminded of a university professor of mine, who would simplify equations until they were only 3 letters long. The problem being, if you didn't know what the letters really stood for, the three letters were useless. There needed to be a precision in your understanding to use the shorthand! This is bad enough, but when we use shorthand for a spiritual journey, it is even more open to misinterpretation. If I say I am a charismatic, for example, there could be many different interpretations.
5) Labels can also be misused to denigrate people- for example, how many times have you heard the label "liberal" used to dismiss a person or group as not worthy of entering into dialogue with, except maybe to put them right? This shorthand use enables us to treat people with less than the dignity they deserve as people created in God's image.
So why am I giving myself a new label- a Prenuptial Christian? Well...
"Prenuptial" means "before marriage". I am a follower of Jesus who is eagerly waiting for marriage. Don't get me wrong, I am happily married with two lovely kids, but I am longing for the marriage between Jesus and His bride, the church. My focus is not a reaction to the past, nor a definition of what I am doing now, but is toward That Day. For me, this focus gives direction and momentum to all that I am doing now, whilst also taking me out of the center and putting Jesus right there. In light of this label, I am also able to respect others who are journeying toward the same goal while taking different routes to get there! Furthermore, because the marriage supper is not yet, being a prenuptial Christian keeps me journeying toward that day in a similar hope and excitement to the time before my wedding day to my lovely wife. Knowing that living out the words of Jesus and being missional in the world are things that will speed the day of the bridegroom's return , it provides impetus and context for what I do today.
One last thing- "Prenuptial" may sound a bit like a legal term, but in fact it is the language of love! The context of all we are and do is the love of the Father, shown in Jesus, and consummated at His return. You cannot read the Bible and not see the abundance of marriage analogies referring to God's relationship with His people. From the marriage covenant format of the ten comandments, to the prophecies of Hosea, to the wedding parables of the Kingdom told by Jesus, to the parallelism between marriage and Jesus and the church in Ephesians, to the bride/groom analogy in Revelation 21, it is impossible to avoid the gentle wooing of God towards mankind.
I don't know if the term "Prenuptial Christian" will catch on, and I don't mind if it doesn't! However, I trust that the spirit behind the label will continue to capture our hearts and minds as we look forward to That Day!
"The Spirit and the Bride say "Come!""(Rev 22)
Recently, I have been pondering the plethora of labels used to describe our particular spiritual walk. In the last twenty years we have had post-evangelicals, post-moderns, post-charismatics and others. We have had missional church and red-letter Christians. While labels are useful as shorthand, to help us to understand a bit of where we are coming from, all labels have inherent problems, some of which I list below:
1) Anything using the prefix "post-" has already labelled itself as a reaction to what has gone before. It is therefore backward looking, at least in its description, if not in its practice. This is similar to Protestantism, as described by Brian McLaren in a Generous Orthodoxy, which started as a protest against many problems in the Roman Catholic Church. McLaren says that once the protestant church tired of protesting against Catholicism, it turned to protesting against itself! If we are not careful, we end up defining ourselves by what we are not, or by what we are in reaction to.
2) I prefer "missional church" and "Red Letter Christians" as definitions of who we are. Both these labels are trying to define what we do; that we are here to live out the words of Jesus on this earth, and that our purpose is outward-looking, to a fallen, broken world. however, I can't help but ask the question "Why?"- Why is our focus outward looking? And why are we trying to live out the words of Jesus? My feeling is that these labels do not answer that question, and therefore trhese labels are lacking something- the reason for doing what we do.
3) Labels can easily become strait-jackets that restrain us, rather than allowing us to journey together into God's future. They become the walls behind which we shelter, the stuff of exclusion instead of inclusion, the chasms that separate us from those who see things differently.
4) Labels can also be misunderstood, because they are shorthand. I am reminded of a university professor of mine, who would simplify equations until they were only 3 letters long. The problem being, if you didn't know what the letters really stood for, the three letters were useless. There needed to be a precision in your understanding to use the shorthand! This is bad enough, but when we use shorthand for a spiritual journey, it is even more open to misinterpretation. If I say I am a charismatic, for example, there could be many different interpretations.
5) Labels can also be misused to denigrate people- for example, how many times have you heard the label "liberal" used to dismiss a person or group as not worthy of entering into dialogue with, except maybe to put them right? This shorthand use enables us to treat people with less than the dignity they deserve as people created in God's image.
So why am I giving myself a new label- a Prenuptial Christian? Well...
"Prenuptial" means "before marriage". I am a follower of Jesus who is eagerly waiting for marriage. Don't get me wrong, I am happily married with two lovely kids, but I am longing for the marriage between Jesus and His bride, the church. My focus is not a reaction to the past, nor a definition of what I am doing now, but is toward That Day. For me, this focus gives direction and momentum to all that I am doing now, whilst also taking me out of the center and putting Jesus right there. In light of this label, I am also able to respect others who are journeying toward the same goal while taking different routes to get there! Furthermore, because the marriage supper is not yet, being a prenuptial Christian keeps me journeying toward that day in a similar hope and excitement to the time before my wedding day to my lovely wife. Knowing that living out the words of Jesus and being missional in the world are things that will speed the day of the bridegroom's return , it provides impetus and context for what I do today.
One last thing- "Prenuptial" may sound a bit like a legal term, but in fact it is the language of love! The context of all we are and do is the love of the Father, shown in Jesus, and consummated at His return. You cannot read the Bible and not see the abundance of marriage analogies referring to God's relationship with His people. From the marriage covenant format of the ten comandments, to the prophecies of Hosea, to the wedding parables of the Kingdom told by Jesus, to the parallelism between marriage and Jesus and the church in Ephesians, to the bride/groom analogy in Revelation 21, it is impossible to avoid the gentle wooing of God towards mankind.
I don't know if the term "Prenuptial Christian" will catch on, and I don't mind if it doesn't! However, I trust that the spirit behind the label will continue to capture our hearts and minds as we look forward to That Day!
"The Spirit and the Bride say "Come!""(Rev 22)
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Seven I am's
Following on from 5 things I am not, here are seven things I am.
1) I am a believer in the centrality of Jesus in understanding all Scripture, both the New and Old Testament. Jesus is the lens through which we interpret all the history, the laws, the prophetic writings, the wisdom literature, the apocalyptic literature and the letters that make up the Bible. He is also the fulfillment of Scripture, and history centers on Him, not on me or on particular nations or kingdoms.
2) I am more interested in the kingdom of God than in heaven and hell and who goes where. Seems to me that Jesus emphasised the kingdom much more than heaven and hell, and as his ambassadors we should keep the same focus in our theology, teaching, preaching, sharing Jesus, training, discipleship, and daily walk.
3) I love church and am commited to it insofar as it is an appropriate wineskin for the pouring in and out of the kingdom of Jesus. When the wineskin becomes more of a focus than the wine, I begin to get impatient with it. Church traditions, structure and politics are far less important to me than the invitation to enter the kingdom of heaven that is "at hand" in the person and presence of Jesus.
4) I am a questioner. I am never happy until I know the answer to the question "Why?" I have been labelled "the devil's advocate" in team building exercises- the person who has to question everything. To me, unthinking Christianity is unthinkable!
5) I am an avid reader, but tend to be a "dipper" unless something really grips me, in which case I stick with it. Sticky books for me recently have included "Jesus for President" (Shane Claiborne), "Jesus wants to Save Christians" (Rob Bell), "The Shack" (William P. Young), "Surprised By Hope" (Tom Wright), "Christianity Rediscovered" (Vincent J.Donovan), "The Divine Conspiracy" (Dallas Willard), and others. The book (other than the Bible) I blame most for the shape of my life is "The Mustard Seed Conspiracy" by Tom Sine. Much of my thinking is shaped by my reading.
6) I know that I do not know much about anything. What I do know is distorted by my cultural assumptions and perspectives. As Paul said, I only see through a glass darkly- but there will be a day when I see face to face! Therefore I am trying to be humble about my understanding of the ways of God, while passionately believing them until a more compelling alternative appears! In other words, my theology is on a journey, and I hope it never stops being so, as on that day I will be dead! I am committed to exposing my own cultural blindspots wherever possible, while also wishing to see culturally accessible expressions of God's love and His kingdom sprouting up all over the place.
7) I am a prenuptial Christian... Sorry, the next blog will explain!
1) I am a believer in the centrality of Jesus in understanding all Scripture, both the New and Old Testament. Jesus is the lens through which we interpret all the history, the laws, the prophetic writings, the wisdom literature, the apocalyptic literature and the letters that make up the Bible. He is also the fulfillment of Scripture, and history centers on Him, not on me or on particular nations or kingdoms.
2) I am more interested in the kingdom of God than in heaven and hell and who goes where. Seems to me that Jesus emphasised the kingdom much more than heaven and hell, and as his ambassadors we should keep the same focus in our theology, teaching, preaching, sharing Jesus, training, discipleship, and daily walk.
3) I love church and am commited to it insofar as it is an appropriate wineskin for the pouring in and out of the kingdom of Jesus. When the wineskin becomes more of a focus than the wine, I begin to get impatient with it. Church traditions, structure and politics are far less important to me than the invitation to enter the kingdom of heaven that is "at hand" in the person and presence of Jesus.
4) I am a questioner. I am never happy until I know the answer to the question "Why?" I have been labelled "the devil's advocate" in team building exercises- the person who has to question everything. To me, unthinking Christianity is unthinkable!
5) I am an avid reader, but tend to be a "dipper" unless something really grips me, in which case I stick with it. Sticky books for me recently have included "Jesus for President" (Shane Claiborne), "Jesus wants to Save Christians" (Rob Bell), "The Shack" (William P. Young), "Surprised By Hope" (Tom Wright), "Christianity Rediscovered" (Vincent J.Donovan), "The Divine Conspiracy" (Dallas Willard), and others. The book (other than the Bible) I blame most for the shape of my life is "The Mustard Seed Conspiracy" by Tom Sine. Much of my thinking is shaped by my reading.
6) I know that I do not know much about anything. What I do know is distorted by my cultural assumptions and perspectives. As Paul said, I only see through a glass darkly- but there will be a day when I see face to face! Therefore I am trying to be humble about my understanding of the ways of God, while passionately believing them until a more compelling alternative appears! In other words, my theology is on a journey, and I hope it never stops being so, as on that day I will be dead! I am committed to exposing my own cultural blindspots wherever possible, while also wishing to see culturally accessible expressions of God's love and His kingdom sprouting up all over the place.
7) I am a prenuptial Christian... Sorry, the next blog will explain!
Saturday, 21 February 2009
5 things I am not.
Sometimes, in defining who or what we are, it is useful to define who or what we are not. Currently, many Facebook users are writing 25 interesting things about themselves. Well, I only want to write 5 things, so here goes.
1) I am not a qualified bible scholar- I have no formal qualifications in theology, I have never be to Bible College, I have no credits in christology, ecclesiology, hamartiology, psychology, pneumatology, eschatology, or any other -ologies.
2) I am not always a logically consistent thinker. I often hold a view, then change or forget why I held that view in the first place. I need to keep revisiting my beliefs in order to remember what they are!
3) I am not a creative thinker. Probably all that I think has been better said by someone else, and certainly better lived!
4) I am not confident that my views are important, or even necessarily correct. Strongly opinionated people threaten me. Sitting on the fence is sometimes quite comfortable!
5) I am not deeply spiritual; my prayer life is often piecemeal; fasting is usually a chore, and not a delight; worship often leaves me wondering if the time could be better spent; much of my life is spent worrying; and I'm not too good at consistently loving people.
After reading that, I'd be surprised if anyone would like to journey with me. After all, it's the spiritual giants, the creative worshippers, the erudite theologians, the certain, confident saints, that we all love to associate with. However, if you recognise a little of yourself in the above, maybe, just maybe, you'd like to journey with an ordinary person, like spiritual hobbits on an impossible quest!
1) I am not a qualified bible scholar- I have no formal qualifications in theology, I have never be to Bible College, I have no credits in christology, ecclesiology, hamartiology, psychology, pneumatology, eschatology, or any other -ologies.
2) I am not always a logically consistent thinker. I often hold a view, then change or forget why I held that view in the first place. I need to keep revisiting my beliefs in order to remember what they are!
3) I am not a creative thinker. Probably all that I think has been better said by someone else, and certainly better lived!
4) I am not confident that my views are important, or even necessarily correct. Strongly opinionated people threaten me. Sitting on the fence is sometimes quite comfortable!
5) I am not deeply spiritual; my prayer life is often piecemeal; fasting is usually a chore, and not a delight; worship often leaves me wondering if the time could be better spent; much of my life is spent worrying; and I'm not too good at consistently loving people.
After reading that, I'd be surprised if anyone would like to journey with me. After all, it's the spiritual giants, the creative worshippers, the erudite theologians, the certain, confident saints, that we all love to associate with. However, if you recognise a little of yourself in the above, maybe, just maybe, you'd like to journey with an ordinary person, like spiritual hobbits on an impossible quest!
Monday, 16 February 2009
Why Overlap?
As in all journeys, it is good to know your companions. Please checkout my profile- I'm sure you will get to know me more as I blog further. Just one thing- although some of the discussion may seem theoretical at times, please understand that I am trying to be a practitioner, not a theoretician.
Here's looking forward to the journey!
Richard G
Hi! Thanks for checking in! As you can see, this blog is entitled "Overlap"- but why?
Well, one definition of overlap is : "to coincide in part with; have in common with". As a follower of Jesus I believe that we are living right now in one such overlap. We live between two kingdoms, two ages. In many ways these kingdoms or ages don't seem to have a lot in common- the kings are different, the ages are now and to come (but coming already!)- but there is an overlap. That overlap is us, both in community and individually. The kingdoms have us in common, and each is vying for our allegience, our attention, our devotion. Which shall we serve?
This blog is an imperfect attempt to explore how we live in the overlap of the two kingdoms. Ever since I heard about the kingdom of God, I have wanted to learn what it is to live there while living here! I have wanted to understand how I can stay in the overlap, not withdrawing into one kingdom and ignoring the other; how to bring the influence of the kingdom of God (or of Jesus, or of heaven ) into the other; and how to not be overly influenced by the other while doing so.
Along the journey of exploration, I have taken many detours, found frequent dead ends, and needed to backtrack many times. The journey has always been easier with others, hence the reason for this blog. Although I will be using this blog as an e-journal, all are invited to scribble in the margins, to jot timely reminders, and to contribute as we journey together.
As in all journeys, it is good to know your companions. Please checkout my profile- I'm sure you will get to know me more as I blog further. Just one thing- although some of the discussion may seem theoretical at times, please understand that I am trying to be a practitioner, not a theoretician.
Here's looking forward to the journey!
Richard G
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