Pages 100-150…

Page 107 ” No one recorded Jesus words at the time he spoke them, so we have no proof that they are indeed his words and what he did say, he said in Aramaic, which means that nothing in the Bible as translated into other language can be take literally anyway.”

If I could summarise the content of this section in one sentence it would be ‘we can’t know anything for sure’.

Much of what is here is both a critique of the institutional church described as ‘a post office in an email world’ (I like the analogy) as well as a questioning of how we arrive at our epistemology.

As Spencer notes in his comment on the previous post it is easy to pull out random quotes and make him say things that maybe he didn’t intend, or make him look even more of a heretic than he declares himself to be. Always poor form to do that to someone!

However that said, he does certainly push the boundaries in these 50 pages and I am not satisfied with his conclusions. I will try to be fair to him as I write and I’m sure he will feel free to interact if he feels misrepresented.

As well as ‘we can’t know anything for sure’, (my interpretation

see page 140) Burke also seems to be arguing that the main game is following Jesus and we don’t need to be Christians to do that. I can buy that, with no problem at all, because my overseas missionary friends will speak to me of ‘muslims’ (culturally) who follow Jesus (a C5 on the contextualisation spectrum) but I am not sure just what Spencer means by following Jesus…

This is where the dissection of language can be used both ways. If we don’t know what Jesus really meant by ‘I am the way truth and life. No one comes to the father but thru me’ then how can we know what he means by a more vague statement like ‘follow me’?

Does he mean, ‘be like me?’ Does he mean ‘do the things I do?’ Does he mean ‘admire me?’ And if we aren’t sure which parts of scripture are reliable (and scripture is our guide for following Jesus) then how do we know which bits to act on?…

I believe there is much good in the concept of ‘following Jesus’, but divorced from a commitment to the authority of scripture and the truths we have gleaned from Christian history in the form of the creeds it becomes a very nebulous statement in my opinion.

While I agree with Spencer that modernism has been overly propositional in its understanding of the gospel, a pendulum swing in the opposite direction is not what I would see as the answer. Paul seemed quite concerned to articulate his theology and if its important enough for him to do this then it would seem that at least some basic form of theologising would be important to us also.

Just for the record Spencer also says ‘he doesn’t not believe the Bible, it informs his faith in Jesus’ (p. 109) and he ‘does not believe all roads lead to God’. (p. 127)

Some other thoughts:

P.126 “When Jesus was talking about being the way, I don’t think he was talking about religion” Fully agree!

P. 131 – Spencer addresses the atonement question… and I’m not quite sure what he thinks. He states that an over-emphasis on substitution negates the other aspects of the atonement. But does he see substitution/penal atonement as acceptable? Not sure

P. 142 in relational to ‘spiritual bricolage’, i think the concept has some merit, but I am concerned that Spencer ditches the potential to be able to know and describe anything with certainty.

In this section Spencer calls us to think outside the box – to go ‘beyond Zebra’ – which is good – but, I think there is plenty within the box that is good also. I am less reticent to view the institutional church with such negativity.

To be honest, at times I do see it in a very negative light as it hinders much of what is central to the gospel, but by the same token it seems that everything has a tendency to go this way and there is also much good accomplished (think Tsunami aid) by institutions.

My concern here is less the critique of institution and more the question over the place and value of scripture which I see as integral to shaping faith and discipleship.

I had 6 books arrive last week and I want to read all of them!

Its going to be a bit of a challenge to cut thru all in the next few weeks…

I am almost finished The Suburban Christian, a useful and easy to read intro to discipleship in the burbs. I didn’t find much in it that was new and rivetting but for people exploring this topic for a first time this book is a good intro.

As well as the other ‘burbs’ books, I was sent a copy of A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity, so long as I promise to do a blog review of it.

I just read the back cover and it looks like it will be interesting reading. Here’s the blurb:

The general orthodox Christian view of who gets to heaven and who is doomed to hell is based on the notion that we humans have to choose to “opt in” to God’s plan for our salvation by baptism, repentance, prayer and a righteous life. But what if its the opposite – we are all in, from the moment we are born, no matter when or where we live, and we have to choose to “opt out” in order to be excluded from God’s universal grace.

If I were asked to review a book based on that paragraph alone I would probably say the title is a fair one… I am not a universalist and the blurb seems to suggest universalistic theology, or maybe he’s just being provocative… I’ll be interested to follow the argument and see what Spencer Burke has come up with to substantiate his ideas. More about that later.

While in Melbourne Daz gave me a copy of Breaking the Missional Code, which looks like good value and then Steve Smith sent me a copy of True Patriot, a biography of Bonhoeffer, as he said the last few chapters have some valuable insights for the ’emerging church’.

I am a big Bonhoeffer fan, but this book is 300 pages long and written in that ‘mini’-font that is hard to read and harder on the eye!

I’ll write my thoughts as they develop…

(By the way if you are looking to find the cheapest books online then be sure to use fetchbook)

I have just started reading Albert Hsu’s book The Suburban Christian and he asks the question ‘do we need to live in the kinds of houses we do or is it just western indiviudalism driving us?’

Its a fair question and I have been reflecting on the answer.

We live in a 4 bed 2 bath home with a study and 3 distinct ‘living areas’ as well as an alfresco area. Currently I am in the study tapping away here while Danelle is watching the Sunday movie in the ‘family room’. (And ironing… couldn’t forget to mention that 🙂 )

It seems like we currently use every space in our home and to some degree I feel like we need them.

Some thoughts…

* Our kids could share a bedroom. At a young age that wouldn’t be a problem, however it might not be so practical for teenagers.

* Our spare bedroom is a guest room and we probably have people staying for 4 or 5 months of the year at the moment, so its kinda important to us.

* Of the 3 living areas one is the common family area – TV, hanging out etc. There is a room dedicated to kid’s play area and Danelle’s computer and then the other area which was originally included as a ‘meeting room’ for church activities has somehow been claimed by Danelle as a ‘scrapbooking room’. (Suddenly I am perplexed as to why I am currently sitting in the smallest room in the house except for the toilet and my wife has two rooms for her activities and associated junk… hmmm…)

* No doubt we could get away with two living areas.

* As a lap top user I don’t really need a study as such, but working for home it does help to have a dedicated (and tidy) space to inhabit.

As I write I remember that one of the primary concerns in designing a house was not simply affordability and functionality, but a large factor is that of resaleability. A 3 bed 1 bath house does not appreciate as much nor sell as easily as a 4 by 2 with all the desired rooms. So some of our choice to live as we do is an issue of financial stewardship. This is a better use of our funds.

We also entertain a heap so having a spacious home makes that much more doable.

So perhaps the questions are:

* what kind of house do we really need to live in?

* what kind of house complements the life we find ourselves called to live? (regular house guests, frequent entertaining and work from home, 2 small kids)

* what kind of house ought we buy (if we can afford it) to use our money wisely?

* how do we walk the line here without simply chasing bigger and better?

I honestly don’t know if we need to live as we do. My take on it is so coloured by my present experience that I find it hard to imagine doing differently. Could we share our home with another family, or even family members? Its hard to imagine a permanent arrangement (we have had Danelle’s folks here for 6 months last year) but again maybe that’s because it is no longer a western concept.

If we didn’t have kids I wonder if we would live in a smaller home? Maybe… or maybe we would build this size house again for financial reasons and have boarders stay. (We have had overseas students live with us at times in our married life.) I would find it hard to justify a big house for two people for ever.

Anyway, just needed to stop and think out loud. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make much sense I just wanted to give some time to reflecting on what I was reading rather than buzzing thru it like I normally do!

Over the next couple of weeks I will be facilitating an .acom class on Culture & Mission, one of my favourite topics.

The text for the class is Church Without Walls, a 1992 publication by an American who served as a missionary in Brazil.

Its one of the simplest books I have read on why missiology should shape ecclesiology and the silly situations we get ourselves into when we ‘lead with church’. I don’t have time to review it here, but I would highly recommend it to anyone serious about engaging with the world and establishing indigneous churches.

I’m looking forward to the conversation it will stir over the next few weeks in class!

Here’s a piece of the review of the Amazon site:

In Church Without Walls, Jim Petersen offers an exciting definition of the church that pushes beyond the too-small boundaries we’ve inherited from the past. The first-century Christians had to sort out Jesus from Judaism in order to become a people for all nations. Today, we have to sort out Jesus from our religious traditions in order to make Him available to our nation. That’s the challenge we face: Will we be the church without walls, communicating a gospel free of traditional and cultural trappings? Or will we continue to reproduce our forms and structures, hiding the essence of the gospel within?

Baby I salivate when I read this stuff!

I’ve read a couple of books lately that are worth a mention.

Call to Commitment by Elisabeth O’Connor was written in 1963 and documents the story of Church of the Saviour in Washington DC. These were a mob of people who were well ahead of their time when it came to dreaming about how the church could be a tight knit group of disciples as well as an open and inclusive community.

The book tells the story of how they emerged, developed and have continued changing. Well worth a read for missionary thinkers!

I have also just finished Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger, a book that didn’t quite meet up to my expectations. I read the first chapter online and sensed that these guys were saying some good stuff… and they are… its just that it hits on what feels like quite a mechanical approach to church.

Church still seems to become something of a factory line where if you get the mechanisms right then everything turns out great. Of course life is much more messy than this!

They write of 4 primary factors in a simple church – clarity, movement, alignment and focus and suggest that if you can get these 4 elements in place then it will happen. There is much good in what they say – much practical common sense wisdom for tired run down pastors spinning many plates and about to crash and burn. Their research shows that churches with the simplest processes and minimalist approach to programming actually do a much better job of disciple making than churches with all the bells and whistles.

If you are a pastor of an established church then you ought to read this book and pay attention. Where I feel it is weak is that by default it simply rolls back to that old mentality of discipleship occuring as people:

a) come to church (worship)

b) are then moved into a small group (community)

c) and then ultimately find a ministry (service)

Truth is people may become disciples along that path, but plenty can also travel the path and not encounter Jesus at all.

Read it with your eyes open and brain in gear and it’ll offer some great insights. Read it as ‘the answer’ and you’re dead in the water already.

I have also ordered 3 ‘suburbia’ books and am looking forward to getting stuck into them. They are:

Death by Suburb, subtitled how to keep the suburbs from killing your soul. I’ve have read snippets online and am interested to read the whole thing.

Then there is The Suburban Christian by Albert Hsu. I don’t know much of this book, but came across it via Simon Holt’s blog, where Hsu made a comment. Hsu’s blog is here.

And finally I have also ordered The Good Life by David Matzco McCarthy. I picked it up thru Simon Holt again and you can read his thoughts on it here.

I just noticed that Simon has also recommended this book – Australian Heartlands – so it could be next on my shopping list.

I am intrigued by what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus in the suburbs – what it means to ‘swim upstream’ when the current pulls so strongly in the opposite direction – when self fulfillment is the ultimate goal.

At the death by suburb blog there has been some discussion about whether we ought to just admit that suburbs are cancerous to any kind of spirituality and evacuate. Or… ought we stay and try to influence these places?

I know when I first saw the suburb we now live in I was drawn to it because it felt so barren and so soul-less. I was attracted to the idea of how the gospel could infect and transform a community with hope and beauty and a whole different imagination of how life could be.

Truth is its bloody hard work to do that.

Its hard to avoid the trappings of the consumerist life yourself, but to try and offer an alternative reality is equally difficult. Jesus call to ‘deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow’ doesn’t resonate really well with the person who has subscribed to the gospel of ‘just a litle bit more and I will be happy’. It sounds like absolute nonsense, and yet I believe the gospel for so many here in the burbs is that ‘you can get off the merry go round! You can stop climbing the ladder and you can be content with life as it is’.

What makes it harder to convey a message like this is that in our own lives we are reasonably affluent (or ‘effluent’ as Kath and Kim would say!) and we don’t need to grind as hard just to get by. I can work 4 days a week and we can live on that, but I appreciate (some) others need to work two jobs just to get by.

Many times we have considered selling up, giving it all away and going to live among the poor, but the weird reality is that we actually feel deeply called to live here and figure out what discipleship looks like here in the burbs.

So hopefully those books will help!

For lovers of NT Wright, Justin is starting a reading group.

See below for details and contact Justin if you want to get in on it.

If you would like to participate, please order the book (you can get it

here) and email justin dot baeder at gmail dot com to indicate your participation. We will be blogging and so forth at Urban Monastery.

I will post a reading schedule, and we can figure out ways to share the reading together via blogs, Skype, and face-to-face gatherings.

If you would like to participate but can’t afford the book (US$23 on Amazon), let me know. I can buy two people copies if they have the need and agree to participate fully.

If you’d like to learn more about N.T. Wright, you can read many of his articles and hear some sermons at the fansite (yes, a theologian with a

fansite) ntwrightpage.com.

Via Radical Congruency.

A short while ago I bought Mike Yaconelli’s “Messy Spirituality” and then I lent it to someone.

I have tried all the usual suspects, but so far no book…

Hmmm… bugger…

I am preaching this weekend at Warwick Church of Christ on that kind of theme so if you were the person I lent it to… could I have it back!?

• download saw dvd

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There are a few books that really turn a crank in you as you read them they .

For me this is one of them.

Its not rocket science. Its not a weighty theological text or a list of how tos. Its actually a very simple explanation of what church is and why we must keep it simple and do it amongst people rather than separate from them. Its not ‘lightweight’, but it is straightforward.

I love Neil’s focus on getting the church back into the world rather than hiding away in seclusion keeping ourselves safe from the nasties out there.

I get the impression Neil is a classic evangelist. We had dinner with Neil a couple of times while we in Melbourne last month and heard him speak once. He really does care for people who don’t know Jesus – and on that point I think we have some resonance.

The book has been a real encouragement just at this point in my own journey.

As always the challenge to hear what God is saying to US and not just run off with ‘Coleisms’ that actually don’t belong in the northern suburbs of West Oz.

At every turn there are decisions to be made that will either enhance complexity and limit reproducibility or that will retain simplicity and facilitate groups that can multiply. I am not programmed to think simply!

Ok. Here are a couple of decent recommendations!

Jesus in Beijing is a very interesting account of the development of the church in China, with a focus on the persecuted believers and the underground church. I like that it focuses on the theological challenges and leadership struggles that have dogged the Chinese church rather than simply its phenomenal growth. It is quite a real (if at times drab) portrayal of events, and for those who worry that house churches will wander into heresy, you only have to read the statement of faith in the appendix to see how effectively the self correcting mechanisms of the church work.

I picked it up a couple of days ago at the local Clarkson library and am enjoying it.

Also from the local library was The Journey, by Alistair McGrath. McGrath is best known for his theological works but this book begins by stating that we need to be careful to balance the cognitive and affective approaches to the Bible, so that we do’t simply ‘think’ about God, but that we encounter him.

It is a book about spiritual formation and ‘the journey’ we take in that direction. He uses the exodus as a central motif, an interesting idea, but I’m not sure it really works, because to do this it involves captivity to freedom, but with 40 years of wandering in the desert in between! I don’t think anyone wants to see their journey as 40 years of shuffling around in circles… Still it was an interesting read – again from the Clarkson Library!

And this time not from the Clarkson Library, but from the publishing arm of SU, a fantastic book for the spiritually curious is Unseen Footprints by Sheridan Voysey.

This is an easy read, but also a very subversive book!

It describes the Christian story in one of the most engaging ways I have seen in a long time. I would recommend it anyone exploring questions of faith and wanting a book that is more than simply apologetic or factual in nature. Sheridan makes a great case for the authenticity of Christian faith, but he seems to do it almost without you noticing.

I am impressed and have already been recommending this one far and wide. I had a coffee with Sheridan in October last year just before the book-launch, but sadly its taken me this long to finish reading it. It will connect particularly well with the Gen X cynical types and those who enjoy story more than raw fact.

So there you have it – 3 books all worth a look!