The Emerging Identity Part 2

  This is a follow-up to the previous post, so the reader may want to review that one (below) before reading this one.
  Actually, Part 2 was pretty much written for me as a brief comment on Part 1 by my cousin who loaned me Stuart Murray's book, The Naked Anabaptist.  Dave Hollenbeck, says, "I believe our common identity is simple child like faith and love for God... it is so dangerous to try and form a common group of God lovers; we just are not similar enough to fit under one roof."
  His comment summarizes two halves of a broader belief that I've arrived at when I've been pondering the phenomenon of denominationalism and how it affects the identity of the Body of Christ:  The first half is that generally, Christ-followers are to be known for their love for God and for each other; this is the flag that should fly over all of us.  The second is that because of our differences, we will never be able to agree on many of the secondary aspects of our identity - our doctrines, our dogmas, our various convictions and opinions; so there will always be a thousand denominations - or un-denominations, if you will - groups of believers with no organizational trademark.
  Which means that neo-Anabaptism, or any other denomination-like identity, will represent some of us, and maybe a lot of us, but not all of us.  And because of this truth, I believe it might be better for us to attempt to avoid making concrete generalizations about what our common identity will be, outside of our common love for each other and for the Lord.  Or maybe we can make those generalizations, but avoid a label or title or name for our group.  And especially I would like to avoid the committee meetings that are endemic to denominational structures!  (Bake sales are okay, because one comes away with a good taste in his mouth!)
  I am actually relieved at this.  As I observe the grass-roots movement that is emerging in the Christian world today, I do not see a hierarchy or an organization rising to the top to take control or a champion ascending to become its leader.*  Other than a smattering of unassuming spokesmen or authors, there is no organizer emerging, other than the Holy Spirit of Christ.  Thank God!  I am really happy about this and hope it stays this way.
  But I'm also still happy about the general direction that the new Emergents are moving:  away from legalism, toward freedom and mutual respect;  away from militarism, toward non-violence;  away from nationalism, toward a new allegiance to a greater Kingdom;  away from lording-it-over-chain-of-command-style hierarchies, toward humble servanthood regardless of gender and economic status.
  So I'll probably keep making generalizations as I describe this movement, but I'll resist any and every attempt to organize it, institutionalize it or otherwise damn it.
  *What rises to the top in the pond next to my house is scum!  (Oh, relax, it's just a bit of sarcasm.)

The Emerging Identity Part 1

  Who are the emergent Christians?  Is there a common flag that can fly over all of us or most of us?  I've been wondering this for some time.  Having read most of the popular books from most of the leading authors - informal spokesmen for the emerging church, if it were possible - I've seen many labels used to describe this growing group of ragtag radical followers of Christ, from "Post-evangelicals" to "new reformers" to "barbarians" to - from the other side, "liberals" or even "heretics". (Surprise me, why don't you?)
  But what I have been watching for is a common orthodoxy or doctrinal identity.  Like a denominational platform.  Not that I want one.  The whole idea of signing on to a new doctrinal creed is repulsive to me... I mean, I just recently got rid of the old one!  And the new believers are understandably all over the map on their positions, because the new Way is in the process of developing and solidifying as we speak.
  Anyway, I think I may have found it - or it found me, or my cousin's husband found it for me.  Dave gave me a book titled, The Naked Anabaptist, by Stuart Murray, thinking that he saw me in there, I think: the Neo-Anabaptist.
  This just may be the common orthodoxical homeland for many of us, simply because there are so many similarities between the direction of the new reformers and this little-known 500-year-old tradition.  If you are one of the "new" Jesus-followers, you just might see yourself in these core convictions held by most contemporary Anabaptists:
  1. Emphasis on emulating/imitating Christ as a lifestyle, as well as worshipping him.
  2. Jesus-centered doctrine.  Emphasis on the gospels - the life and teachings of Christ - as a filter for interpreting all of the Bible.
  3. Commitment to learning from the experience of movements that have rejected standard assumptions of Christendom and pursued alternative ways of thinking and behaving.
  4. Commitment to exploring ways of being good news to the poor, powerless, and persecuted.
  5. Strong sense of community.  Churches will be places of discipleship and mission, friendship (not just fellowship), mutual accountability, multivoiced worship.  Young and old are valued, leadership is consultative (the group makes decisions together), roles are related to gifts rather than gender, baptism is for believers.
  6. Spirituality and economics are interconnected. Simple living, generous sharing, caring for creation, and working for justice.
  7. Nonviolence. Commitment to finding ways to make peace between individuals, within and among churches, in society, and between nations.
  You probably noticed right away that, as Murray puts it, "these statements say nothing at all about foundational theological subjects... Nor do they pretend to cover every aspect of the subjects they do address, such as Scripture, the church, and mission.  These core convictions are not intended to be comprehensive, to substitute for creeds or statements of faith....  They introduce a way of being followers of Jesus that is unusually holistic."
  So, you saw Shane Claiborne (The Irresistible Revolution) in there, right?  And how about Brian McLaren (A Generous Orthodoxy)?  And I also see my young counterparts, Sam, Ben, Jordon and Ricky in there, along with tens of thousands of new radicals who are leaving the traditional institutions on pilgrimage to something more authentically Christ-ian.
  I think Stuart Murray speaks for many Post-evangelicals when he points out the similarities between certain Anabaptist convictions and the common direction of many radical, authentic Christ-followers of today.

Pacifism, Pure & Simple

  Last night we hosted a peace rally that we named "Jesus, Bombs, and Hot Dogs", and friends came from several towns nearby-- all over the map, you might say-- to take part in the discussion.  The views expressed were "all over the map" as well, which added a delightful element of diversity to the conversation.  I love diversity, and I had a very enjoyable time last night.  One of our primary objectives was the creation of a venue where it would be safe to talk about Christian pacifism-- and even to identify oneself as a pacifist-- without the usual judgement and criticism that is so pervasive in the normal evangelical environment.  We were successful in that, probably for the most part because we had participants who were so magnanimous and respectful toward each other.

  As the host, I was privileged to direct the discussion a bit, though after getting things going, it really didn't need much direction, and many of the essential aspects of Christian pacifism were covered after my brief introduction sharing a bit of the history of pacifism and even my own personal history of being a pacifist since I was a teenager during the Vietnam era.

  Some of the discussion last night left me thinking that sometimes we think too hard about various philosophies, when a really simple view seems much more obvious.  I'm talking about the convoluted logic of complicated theologies of God's love versus God's justice and similar ideas that are used to explain the need for war or a global police force and so on.  

  Now usually I think that simple-minded people, in large numbers, are dangerous because they can be persuaded to sign on to almost any sort of bandwagon or group think, and can become a voting block or a mob that takes things in the wrong direction.  But in the case of Christian pacifism, I think that a very simple view is the most logical, and this is it: Jesus said, "Love your enemies."  Now there are many ways that we, as his followers, may express love for our enemies, but bombing them is not one of those ways.  It's hard for me to imagine that killing our enemies can ever be described as an expression of Christ's love, and Christ's love is what we are supposed to be all about.  Period.  That is really simple.

  So pardon me for being simple-minded at this point, but when the truth is so obvious, it doesn't take a whole lot of explanation.  In fact, it's the circumventing of the obvious truth that takes a boat-load of convoluted haranguing to explain.  Unfortunately, there will always be a Titanic-load of folks who are willing to do that haranguing, because violence and retribution are such strong elements of human nature, and we want to feel that we are justified in blowing up fellow human beings who happen to have the misfortune of being born in foreign lands and being indoctrinated to serve opposing ideologies.

  I feel it myself.  Though the life-long pacifist, I sometimes want to get even with my nemeses.  I take pleasure in standing up to bullies-- more often religious bullies of late-- and being the savior who liberates the oppressed. 

  So there is a great need for tolerance on this, and I've spent most of my life tolerating the overriding militarism of the American evangelical culture, and will certainly have to continue doing so, as Christian pacifism will continue to be a minority view.  It was nice to be in the company of some fellow dissidents last night.

  May God continue to bless not just America, but all nations and all earthly citizens, whether civilian or military, and may God help us, his followers, to get it right-- to increasingly understand and express the essence of Christ and His love to our neighbors-- and our enemies, here and around the world.

7 Stages of the Journey

  Well, it happened again, I saw myself in someone else's research.  Actually, I saw everybody in this work; it's a chart that was adapted from The Critical Journey by Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich.  This chart displays seven stages of faith and the characteristics of each stage and how we move from each level to the next. 
  Stage One, of course, is Recognition of God- "we believe".
  Stage Two is Discipleship, in which we are learning about God.
  Stage Three is the Productive life, or doing things FOR God.  This is where I invested most of my adult life in service to the Lord, while functioning within the church environment.
  Before the next stage comes the Wall, a phenomenon that I hadn't realized existed until I experienced it.  I had often heard of "the Dark Night of the Soul" and "the Desert Experience" as encounters that believers routinely have, but I had not realized that the Wall is a common reality.  This is the stage where "things just aren't working anymore".  Getting through the Wall often involves discomfort, surrender, healing, awareness, forgiveness, risk, acceptance, love, closeness to God, discernment, melting, molding, solitude & reflection (Whew!)  I've been through much of that in the last two years and have moved on to the later stages:
  Stage Four is the Journey Inward, which is characterized by loss of certainty, life or faith crisis, a search for new direction.  "We need to figure out a new way to do this relationship with God & others."  I'm there now.
  Stage Five is the Journey Outward, learning to live out of a totally different place.  I'm there now too.
  The Final Stage is the Life of Love, "it's all about God"-- characterized by "living in obedience to God, wisdom gained from life's struggles, compassionate living for others, detachment from things and stress, life abandoned."  I am partially here as well.


  This work helped me to gain added perspective on some of the stuff (stages) I've been through, and especially the idea that the Wall is not unique to my experience but is a widespread occurrence-- and getting through it is normal as well.
  I have actually found new peace and enjoyment in some aspects of various levels, namely the moving from "doing to being" and "God being released from the box" of stage four, and the "new sense of God's acceptance" of stage five, and the "detachment from things and stress" of stage six.
  As a footnote, let me at least acknowledge that there are negative aspects of most of these stages, including the misunderstanding of those around us.  For example, stage four can look to outsiders like we are losing our faith, since there may be a loss of certainties at that point.  And stage five can look like you are out of touch with practical concerns, careless about "important" things, and not diligent in certain areas, since our lives are now abandoned to the Lord.
  This was a timely and significant read for me; thanks to these thinkers, Hagberg and Guelich for so aptly speaking for me.  The book, the Critical Journey, is available on Amazon.com or from the author's website: http://www.janethagberg.com/books.htm


Note: The writers number six stages of the journey, but they actually describe seven stages when including the Wall as a stage.  In my experience the Wall was significant enough to be considered a stage of its own.
  

Getting Perspective from Donald Miller

  I just finished reading a book that has renewed my objectivity about life and faith; the title is, Searching For God Knows What, and it was written by Donald Miller (2004).  This book has brought much of my experience into new perspective, and the amazing thing is that the author did this through anecdotes of aliens, junior high, the lifeboat story and a whole lot more. 
  In fact, as I read any book, I jot notes in the front or rear flyleaf so I can find outstanding passages later that I want to remember or reference in some way, and in the table of contents for Chapter 7 of this book, I scribbled, "the realities of life and the universe clearly defined in anecdotes."  I feel like I understand the way things are in the world a lot better now, as Miller sees humanity through the eyes of a visiting alien who, after observing us for a while concludes, "The thing that defines human personalities is that they are constantly comparing themselves to one another."
  Chapter 8, Lifeboat Theory- How to Kill Your Neighbor, revisits the old Values Clarification puzzle of deciding who to throw out of a floundering lifeboat to save the others.  This chapter challenges the assumption that some people have more value than others.
  And so it goes from there, a very insightful read, folks, and delightful at that.  I recommend it highly for anyone who feels they need a new look at the big picture-- what life is all about, in an easy-to-read package.  This one's going on my favorites list for sure!

"Since I Gave Up Hope I Feel A Lot Better"

  Those are some of the lyrics from an old Steve Taylor song.  I don't remember the rest of the words, or even the theme of the song, but that one line came to mind as I thought about the fact that I had recently-- since my last blog entry-- tendered my membership withdrawal letter to the local church and denomination in which I had been embedded all my life.  It was a nine-page letter, because there were some things I felt needed to be said, so I said them.  And I felt a lot better.
  By the way, The Pew Research Center, from a survey they conducted of evangelical leaders last October at the Lausanne Conference, reports that "82% say evangelicals are losing influence in the United States today."

  The "Gave Up Hope" part of my title, at least in my mind, refers to the extended sabbatical I've been taking since my exit from the church, a break from the futile attempt to change the system from within.  I've realized that there's a lot that I can do to make the personal changes that I need to to engage my secular neighbors, but I can't make anyone else's decisions for them, so I quit trying.  I identify with Jesus when he concedes to the Pharisees that they will not change, they prefer the old wine.

  So, having given up on them, I feel a lot better.
  
  And I think that means that my blog posts will have a more positive air about them from now on.  Having put the institution in my rear view mirror, I'm now going to focus on what's ahead for myself and my fellow revolutionaries.  The Lord is always at work in the world.  God is doing a new thing!  And I'm bent on being right in the middle of it!
  Since I've found new hope, I feel a lot better!

Divergent Personality Types

  Okay, now a famous author agrees with me.  Cool!  Popular author Donald Miller* posted a blog this week exploring the possibilities of personality types driving this whole split in evangelicalism between conservatives and liberals.  I had posted a similar hypothesis on March 15th (see my earlier post "My Ancient Emergent Theory"), because I was wondering what influences determine our beliefs and where we land on the conservative/liberal continuum.

  Miller starts with the question (or is it an assertion?), "Do liberal theologians feel more at home with God?"  Following is a re-posting of some of his blog:

  "I’m in a unique position to have both theologically conservative and theologically liberal friends and I notice that some personalities lean toward conservatism and others toward liberalism. Personalities that need high levels of control tend to be conservative, and personalities seeking higher levels of understanding but less control over others tend to be liberal. Therefore, each personality is developing their theology based on the filter through which they see the world.
 "Conservatives are dutiful followers of God, while Liberals are affectionate followers of God. Conservatives tend to have a fists-up attitude toward the world, while liberals tend to have an arms out attitude toward the world. And what’s more is that liberals tend to have a more free, exploratory relationship with God and with others. One of the things that is comforting about being around a more liberal theologian is they don’t try to control you. You don’t feel shame or guilt when you talk to them.

 "Conservatives can be comforting too in the sense they have solid, black and white definitions for any number of categories about God, and for that matter, they have categories. They are also willing to take stands. People are divided up into categories, too, usually for or against any number of theological positions.

 "Honestly, I find myself drawn more to a conservative theology but a liberal personality. It’s sometimes torture for me to hang out with my conservative friends because they are often trying to figure out who is on their side in some kind of war. My liberal friends can be frustrating because they don’t feel a sense of urgency about anything save justice issues. And of course these are grand generalizations, but they’re based in what I believe to be objective observations of friends.

 "I’ve found myself wondering over the years, though, if my conservative friends and liberal friends haven’t come to their conclusions by reading the Bible, but by how they were raised and the disposition they developed towards the world... many conservative leaders...  are convinced others are out to get them so they go at the world trying to kill their enemies before their enemies kill them. They trust very few people unless those people prove they are submissive, at which time they will fight and even die for their servants. In that way, they are honorable. And yet their relationships are all conditional. They feel so intensely threatened by the world they must prove themselves tough as to intimidate people away who might attack them."
  Thank you, Donald Miller.

   Now on a related bunny trail let me just mention a similar notion that I got from reading Timothy Keller's book, The Prodigal God, (2008) and that idea is that birth order has a bearing on theological position.  The thought was that first-borns tend to be conservatives and younger siblings tend to be liberals.  Hmm.  That is interesting, and I will say that my older sister sure can be critical of me sometimes.

  Just kidding, Carol!  I love you!

I speak for Donald Miller when I say personality type can influence theological stance.

* Donald Miller's best-selling books are, Blue Like Jazz (2003), and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (2009), and Searching For God Knows What (2004), and others.