There are a lot of voices tugging on the conversation that shapes on the life of the church. Unfortunately, a lot of them are external to the day-to-day workings of a local church.
If I could wave a magic wand and get rid of voices like civic religion and click-happy media here’s what I would like to hear us talk about:
In the immortal words of Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, I’m tired of sex.
For those of us trying to live as missionaries in the post-Christendom West, it’s easy to feel like we’re constantly cleaning up other people’s messes.
All countries, in particular the U.S., have a tradition of “Civil Religion” that wants to talk about what it means to “be a good Christian.”
Politicians manipulate well-meaning religious people to talk about what they want to talk about.
The media focuses on flash points, diverting the conversation to what they want to talk about.
Publishers produce new books and micro-celebrities to take advantage of every trend that comes and goes.
The results tend to focus on topics related to violence, moral failures and often seem to lead back to sex.
At the same time, there is a growing number of people who are committed to reimagining the church for the unique time and place that is the 21st century. This group believes that the gospel has not changed, but the role of the Church must constantly shift for its particular time and place. This group is deconstructing what came before and prayerfully seeking ways to make disciples that work today. Continue Reading…
Thanks again to all those who participated in this week’s synchroblog. The entries were all thoughtful and heart felt. I hope you’ll join us next time!
Here’s a quick recap:
Recently, I became convinced we needed to expand the online conversation happening around the Church. It seemed there were (in general) three types of posts being written by bloggers. There are harsh critiques, sometimes prophetic, other times just mean. There were academic ideas that were hard to grasp. There was cheesy stuff no one wanted to read.
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with any of those. I’ve been guilty of writing all three on this blog.
What I think we need is a third type of discussion, which I’m calling “Boots on the Ground.” By that, I mean sharing real life stories and practical, actionable ideas. This probably won’t gather as much traffic, but maybe it will provide some missionaries the encouragement they need to keep going.
Last week, a Facebook group was launched to share these stories. Now, we’re prepping for our first ever synchroblog. Here’s how you can participate:
I hope you’ll join in!
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