God Isn't There Anymore

   "A godly man suggested we stop going to church," she told me, "He said God isn't there anymore."  This young wife and mother of two young daughters must have seen the surprise on my face and took it as encouragement to tell me the rest of the story.  It was an interesting story.
  Their local church had recently split down the middle, but Rona Lessfoot and her husband, Nate (not their real names) were determined to take the high road and not take sides, even though they had dear friends on both sides of the controversy.  They continued attending with their friends who were still at the church, but they also were meeting every week in a home group with friends from the other side.  Though there was a measure of awkwardness to this, everyone seemed okay with the arrangement for several weeks, until this couple had an arbitrary encounter with a man they hardly knew but who seemed to have an unusual spirit of discernment and wisdom.  Perhaps because he was from the outside, they felt they could share their recent experience with the demise of their home church and the estrangement among some of their friends.
  After listening intently to their story and asking a few questions, this would-be prophet seemed to have a word from the Lord for them.  "I think you should stop attending that church for awhile; God is not there anymore."  He suggested they withdraw for one month and then see how they felt about it.
  Though they were surprised by the idea, after discussing and praying about it, this young couple decided to try it; they quit attending for a month but continued with the small group in their home.
  That was more than two years ago, and they haven't been back to their old church since. Today, the Lessfoots and their daughters are meeting in the home of some friends who also have kids, and there are two other couples who attend-- and that is an interesting sidebar in itself.
  It seems that their friends with kids have recently experienced a similar situation about one year ago, having been expelled from a new church plant that went sour after a three-man pastoral team broke up when one of the men became overbearing and abusive in a grab for power.
  Not only that, but the two other couples in the group consist of a former church elder and leader, and a former pastor who was ousted by his denomination for obeying clear direction from God that ran contrary to directives from district leadership.  Go figure.
  It seems there is no shortage of church refugees in this neighborhood, but they maintain that their relationships with God and fellowman have never been better.  There seems to be a depth to their discussions and Bible studies that was seldom achieved when they were in the institutional church, and having been through similar tribulations, there is a deep bond that glues them together.  It's really more like family than ever before.
  Nate and Rona and their family are part of a growing movement in the western church world, a widening exodus that is moving from organized church to organic church.  And they say it's a good thing.  In fact, none of the good folks in this house church ever mention anything that they miss about their former life in the institutional church.
  How about that?
  Do you know anyone else who left the church because they felt God told them to?
  

Ben, Mister No Guilt

   "Guilt should not be a part of a believer's experience," asserted Ben with a firmness that made his normally placid dark brown eyes intensify.  He seemed more like a seasoned old sage than the mid-twenties Mosaic* that he was.  His journey out of organized church had not been unusual at all;  he was one of the 90 percent of church youths in America who quit going as soon as they graduate from high school.
   Ben had been raised in a faithful evangelical family, the eldest of three sons of the church worship leaders; his mom and dad had beautiful singing voices and never failed to raise the inspiration level of the congregation every Sunday morning.  Though it was located in a farm community in rural Michigan, the church was unusual in that it was blessed with talent, and not just musically, but in just about every way.  The youth pastor was a teen magnet because of his friendly, goofy antics, and his down-to-earth spirituality, and there was an adventure sports director who organized trips from backpacking to spelunking to paintball and everything in between.  There were even cross-cultural missions to Mexico and beyond.  Being a teenager in this church was a lot of fun.
   After a year of classes at a community college, he became restless, tired of his home in this sleepy place and took off to see the world.  He landed in New York City and rented an apartment with several other guys and found a job at a high-end restaurant where he waited tables and was a valet, parking Porsches and Mercedes every day.
   But the big city environment can swallow people whole, and Ben started to be concerned that he could lose his life or his soul here as the other guys were into things he felt could be harmful for him and he felt himself being drawn in.  At the end of a year he returned home-- and arrived just in time to experience the violent split of his home church.
   Ben's old friend, that popular youth pastor, had been serving as interim after the lead pastor moved away, and even though he had the support of 80 percent of the members, a small faction of his detractors had somehow blocked his hiring as head pastor, and now two-thirds of the constituents were leaving; they had seen him as the champion of an organic movement that now seemed impossible to realize in this newly restrictive setting.
   Ben asked for a Bible study in the home of an older couple whom he respected, because he wanted to ask questions and he knew they were independent thinkers and would not brush him off or just deliver the usual pat answers that young questioners often get.
   "What if there are no rules?" this older couple asked him, and Ben had been at once startled and intrigued by the question.  It seemed that in the church the rules were already established and nobody could question them.  These guys questioned the very existence of the rules!  Incredible.   Ben asked his first question, starting at square one:  "Is there a God?"
   They spent several weeks openly talking about every religious and spiritual thing, and Ben's friends started to come.  Pretty soon there were a dozen and then twenty in this think tank of sorts, and they were taking the lids off the old religious structures with the help of Frank Viola, Donald Miller, Shane Claiborne, and others, and lining it all up with scripture.  Lights came on in Ben's mind and a whole new world of spiritual depth and freedom developed for him.
   After a year of this he decided to venture to a more radical experience and signed up for a year with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) and was soon stationed in a muslim country in Asia, teaching English to university students.  Wow, what a trip, and what a long way from his quiet little Michigan home!  That's a pretty remarkable journey, and all of this before the age of 25.
   At this writing, Ben has not been back to church in a long time.  Instead, on a Sunday afternoon in St. Augustine, Florida, where he now lives, you might find him downtown with his guitar, hanging out with the homeless on the street or in the park, or he might be chilling with some of his new friends and living the life of Christ in the most natural ways that he can think of.  He's taking classes at the community college and making plans to pursue a musical quest for a few years, forming a traveling band with some old friends and letting the creative juices flow and seeing where it takes them.
  Next time you are in St. Augustine, if you have the time, stop in at the Rhett's Restaurant, a jazz piano bar where he works, see how he's doing-- and leave a big tip or some other kind of encouragement.
   Oh, and about the "No Guilt" thing--  Ben would suggest to all followers of Jesus that you really plug in to Romans 8:1, for there is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, so if your local church is continually heaping judgement on you, maybe you should get out of there for a while for your own spiritual well-being.
  One more post script: Last year Ben wrote and recorded a song that speaks to his original question of whether there's a God.  It's called, "Sometimes", and some of the lyrics are, "I know that you're here, right with me, I know that you love me, I know that you care, I know that you're there, by my side, by my side...."
   So there's a true story of a modern day post-modern.  Do you know anybody like Ben?
   
*Mosaic is the label given to the generation of current 16 to 27-year-olds.  See how they feel about Christianity in the book, unChristian, What a New Generation thinks about Christianity, and What to do About it, by David Kinnaman, director of The Barna Group.
Also from Kinnaman, 6 Reasons Young Christians Leave the Church: http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church
Also see: Frank Viola, Pagan Christianity; Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz; Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution.a

The Uncrowded Wilderness

   The wilderness, by its very nature, is not a crowded place.  By definition, it's an "uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable region".

  Subsequent to my exile from organized religion, I have been questioned by curious friends and family members about where I am now.  My short answer, "In the wilderness", was adopted from the late Michael Spencer, AKA: the iMonk, who had been an inadvertent spokesman for the emerging movement.  He often expounded on the "post-evangelical wilderness" where church refugees find themselves upon exodus from the institution.  At first this troubled me when I thought about the children of Israel wandering around in the desert for 40 years; I didn't think I had that much time or energy left to invest in a grueling trek through a virtual wasteland searching for an elusive promised land.

  But what I've discovered is that the wilderness is a very uncrowded place of open spaces and unlimited freedom, and I like that a lot. It's like "home on the range" or something (I call myself a "free range believer").  I recall visions of the open highway across the western United States where I toured with my family years ago on summer sightseeing trips.  My favorite thing about the open range is that it has no fences, so unencumbered by doctrinal and denominational limitations, I could drive - or hike or gallop - in any direction without restrictions.  It's exhilarating!

  But now I'm beginning to notice an increasing number of new travelers on this open road.  In the last few weeks I've heard of perhaps four more families or couples in my neighborhood who have experienced church blow-ups and are suddenly and unexpectedly out in the wilderness.  That's four separate church disasters in the last few weeks.

  I've read many books from various obververs who have claimed that the decline of western evangelicalism is speeding up.*  Now I'm seeing it myself.  Not long ago there seemed to be very few fellow travelers sharing my open road, but now the numbers are increasing, seemingly by the week.  I'm beginning to think this wilderness may become crowded before long.

  And all along through the stages of my exodus I have wondered where I would end up.  If not in another local congregation, then where?  While journeying through phases of anger, grief, disillusionment, detoxing and deconstruction of old paradigms, I've had this underlying curiosity about what would take the place of the old empire.  But I've quit worrying about it.

  Right now I'm enjoying the open road and have decided to embrace it, enjoy it, live life to the full in the middle of it, with the top down, the wind blowing through my hair (yeah!), and my senses keenly taking in the fresh and beautiful scenes that roll by, mile after mile.  I'm not in a rush to get to the promised land, wherever that may be; this wilderness is a welcome change, and it's not an especially "inhospitable region" after all, so I'm not in a hurry to get through it. Stuart Murray calls this exile "transformative, liberating, and envisioning".**  Cool!

  So my blog is changing to better express this journey, starting with the name-change and description you see at the top now; watch for some more modifications coming soon.

  Tally-ho, and away we go, following that Spirit of adventure! (See my earlier blog, "The Holy Spirit of Adventure".)

        See: Michael Spencer at: 

          www.internetmonk.com

* For more about the growing exodus from organized church:       

       -David Kinnaman, Director of The Barna Group, UnChristian- What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity, and What to Do About It.

       -Scot McKnight' blog at: www.patheos.com/community/jesuscreed       

       -Gene Edwards, Beyond Radical

       -Reggie McNeal, The Present Future

 **Stuart Murray, The Naked Anabaptist, pp. 80-81. Herald Press, 2010.

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.