Archives For Community

Life is Good.

Chris —  October 3, 2011

Life is Good.

It’s true that life is tough. And when you realize that it’s tough, it gets a little better. It’s hard not to get lost in the darkness. Suffering is immediate rich and important in a way that our small daily joys pale against.

Which is why it is essential to remember that life is good.

As I was leaving the Emmanuel Orphanage in Delhi, Lakshmi, a six year old girl with piercing blue eyes clung to me and cried “Uncle, Uncle!” She, and all those around hre had been abandoned and persecuted their entire young lives, but they still knew how to love deeply, in a way I struggle to remember. Life is good.

I know a guy who begrudgingly gave the keys of his car to a single mom he barely knew for two weeks. They are good friends now.  Life is good.

A friend of mine has often thought that he could ever get a “good girl.” He felt like the only ones interested had different values and would treat him poorly. Then he met a girl, and has been attached to her at the hip ever since. Seeing them together is life seeing something that was always meant to be. Life is good.

Another friend of mine went to a foreign country to work with an NGO. His work was interupted when his teammates were captured, and he had to spend to next few months there negotiating their release.  As heartwrenching as that was, he also sees it as the most important thing he has ever done. He took a furlough to recover, and is returning calmer, closer to God, and more excited about discipleship than ever. Life is good.

I get depressed sometimes. This summer was one of those. In the midst of that, I got a small, unexpected gift that helped shake me out of my myopic viewpoint. Life is good.

The scriptures teach when God created the world he called it good. When he created man, he called man really good. Then, sin wrecked all of that. Twisted and misshapen, like a fun house or a computer photobooth. But when we look behind the brokenness, we get to see that there is a heart wrenching beauty to it all.

The scriptures teach that this is not the way it was meant to be. Life is meant to be good. God has restored, is restoring and eventually will restore in full.

In time, the heartwrench will be over, and all we will see is that Life is Good.

In Growth, Life , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Three Things Twenty-Somethings Need From Church

Chris —  July 5, 2011

I was recently taking part in a discussion at David Fitch’s blog, and was posed the following question: Why is that twenty-something seminary types (such as myself) have trouble stomaching being on staff at a traditional church? Here’s my brief answer that I may expand on later:

Are you familiar with the concept of “brain drain?” It’s when a small town’s best and brightest go off to college, never to return. They are overqualified for their small town’s job market, and accustomed to a broader world. In a very real way, they “can’t go home again.”

That’s my experience with church. Growing up I was taught a very specific set of legalistic doctrines. Now, I have a few college degrees, a taste for beer, an understanding of evolution and more than few homosexual friends. My generation needs a church that wrestles with my reality.

Briefly here’s 3 things I need from a church:

1. Why not How. Donald Miller once said something along the lines of “we were asking questions like ‘why am I here?’ and getting answers like ‘here’s how to have a great marriage.’”

2. Action Oriented. Most of my generation would agree with Gandhi’s infamous statement “I like your Jesus, not your Christians.” I would like to be a part of community that is more concerned with doing what Jesus said than some of the unsavory things the church has been known for lately.

3. Deep Community. Keller said something along the lines of “chastity is impossible outside of community.” There is no reason nor foundation to live like Christ if you do life alone. Cool music and a good small group isn’t enough. We need sacrificial, intensely interconnected relationships.

Do you agree?  What would you add to the list?

In Church , , , , ,
permalink

MAGL Review

Chris —  May 18, 2011

My last two weeks were spent in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the campus of Fuller Colorado, an extension of Fuller Theological Seminary.  The time was spent participating in two courses as a part of my Master’s of Arts in Global Leadership.  The MAGL gathers students from Churches and Mission Agencies across denominations and around the world.  The degree plan focuses on leadership, adult education and organizational dynamics.  Because the degree is aimed at practitioners in the field it is made up of a unique combination of online classes and week long intensives.

Our first week was a class called “Character, Community and Leadership.”  The majority of the time was spent hearing the stories of our fellow cohort members.  Stories about growing up in Liberia, or Korea or France.  Stories about faithful parents that raised kids to be missionaries.  Stories about drug dealers that met Jesus.  Stories about moving across the world because of a sense of calling.  In light of our own journeys we discussed what makes or breaks a leader, and how to help people grow to look more like Jesus.

The second week was spent relearning how to read the Bible in a class titled “Biblical Foundations of Mission.”  We looked at the over arching story of how God interact with his creation.  We saw that he loves the nations of the world and the world itself.  We followed how Abraham and his children displayed God’s kingdom to their neighbors.  We studied Jesus fulfilled the role of Abraham’s children to be a blessing to all nations.  We delved into Paul’s message of how all people are reconciled to each other through Jesus.  We glimpsed God’s grand plan to renew all things in a fresh, grand garden.

As good as the classes were, any of us would tell you that the academics had very little to do with what they got out of our time together.  Our cohort is made up of people who believe that there is more to life than the American (or Korean, Liberian, Libyan or Canadian) dream.  It is made of people who live as aliens and strangers in this world.  We’re committed to the belief our neighbors, friends and communities would be better off if they knew about Jesus.  In many ways, it is made up of lonely people, who have followed a calling that has taken them far from home.

Perhaps the biggest take away was the sense of relief when you realize “I’m not crazy!”  There are people who are also passionately living out their faith in a way that leads them to the ends of the earth.  Now, we know who those people are, and we can pray for them by name.

 

In Church, Life , , ,
permalink

We Only Use the Word Religion When We’re Angry

Chris —  May 11, 2011

“I don’t really have time in my life for religion right now.”

The comment came when I ran into someone I knew from church at a coffee shop.  It came when I made the comment “we miss you.”  With a subtle turn of phrase, the person affectively changed the conversation from one about broken relationships to a matter of taste and time management.

We only use the word “religion” when we are angry, or sarcastic, or being derisive.  Best case scenario we use it to sound academic.

I’m not sure when the word came to take on such a negative connotation.  Perhaps it was in the 60s and 70s when the religions of the East began to get some popular traction by selling themselves as alternative “spiritualities.”  These days “religious” seems to mean “out of date” and “bigoted.”  While “spiritual” seems to mean anything from transcendental meditation to sacred dances.

If you trade out the word religious out of the conversation, does the argument hold up?  Let’s give it a try:

“I don’t really have time to be spiritual right now.”

It’s hard to imagine anyone short of a fictional Victorian scientist saying something like this.  Even busy people recognize the value of yoga or prayer or other practices that acknowledge an unseen world.  They might not do them, but they would acknowledge their need.

“I don’t really have time for friendships right now.”

Anyone who would say something like this would simultaneously have to deal with immense feelings of loneliness and despair.

The fact is, even if the person felt either of these two things, they wouldn’t say it.  Instead, they use the term religion.  It’s an easy way to avoid admitting that you have left behind a part of your life.

To be fair, I’m not a big fan of the word “religion” or being labeled “religious.” I try to alway push the conversation back to a desire to model my life after Jesus and my need to be a part of a community that does the same.  However, if you mean by “religious” that I have a set of practices, both personal and communal, that arrange my life, you’re dead on. By the same standard any professional athlete or musician, whose life is organized by their field’s required practices, rehearsal, diets and performances, should be labeled religious.

I’ll even go as far as saying that I’m a big fan of organized religion.  At least, in comparison to disorganized religion.

If you have left the church, or you’re thinking about it, don’t use semantics to justify your decision.  Instead, wrestle with the fact that you are leaving behind the practices that can order your life well, and a framework for understanding life, death, and the path in between.  You are leaving behind a community, friends and family.

It’s a lot more than “religion.”

 

In Church, Culture, God, Life , , , , ,
permalink

Why We Need St. Patrick’s Day

Chris —  March 17, 2011

Hint: It has nothing to do with snakes or wearing green or potatoes or beer.

…Well, maybe it has a little to do with beer…

In the fifth century a 16 year old British Roman named Patricius was captured and sold into slavery in Ireland.  The next six years he spent in the freezing cold among the barbaric celts.  Although he was eventually set free, Ireland never really released him.  He trained as a priest and returned in what was likely the first missionary effort since the time of Paul.

Patrick wandered a land sparsely populated by a people most well known for stripping naked, painting themselves and screaming into battle.  In that place, he built monasteries.  Simple outposts where people could come, live a life of rhythm and grace.  Crops were farmed, books were reproduced and, of course, beer was brewed.

Over time, these monasteries drew communities, which became villages, which became cities.  These people were drawn into a sense of community and an ordered life.  As they were drawn into community, they were drawn to Christ.  When the Roman Empire fell, and the formerly civilized Europe started to look a lot like barbaric Ireland, the spiritual descendants of St. Patrick spread through the now barbaric continent, building monasteries and communities as they went.

In our world Christians are known for picketing funerals and cheesy t-shirts and legislating morality. Patrick stands as a shining example of how the lovers of Jesus are to live amidst the ruins of the fallen empire of christendom.

I post this every year, but it bears repeating.  A quote from my favorite prayer, the Brestplate of St. Patrick:

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

(Much of this story was gleaned from How The Irish Saved Civilization [text or audio], which I’ve previously reviewed.)

In Church, Culture, God, Life , , , , , ,
permalink