work-it's dignity

What does this mean? What is work? What's its value? Why do we spend the majority of our waking ours engaged in this practice?

I'm "working" (no pun intended) on a sermon series on work. I give much credit to this effort to a fellow colleague in pastoral ministry, Ryan Bell, who has prepared an insightful series of sermons on work that have "scratched part of an itch" in my thinking about life in our world and how spirituality integrates with it.

This week the focus is going to be on Genesis 1 and 2 and the respective 2 Creation stories and what they teach us about work.

Story #1. God creates humanity in His image as His crowning work and blesses us with the responsibility to be co-rulers with Him in the care of God's good creation.

Story #2 God partially creates the world, but then pauses to create humanity because He "needs" (or wants) help to continue His good work.

In the one story humanity is portrayed as an image of God called to do God's work of ruling.
In the other story humanity is portrayed as a product (by God's power) of the same stuff as the rest of creation-dirt. Then we are called to till (or serve) our fellow creation by which we are surrounded. We are called to be co-creators.

Now, what is an important part of "creation" in our world today?
Social systems.
Agricultural production and care
Material production.
Service industries.
Family care.
Procreation.
Environmental care.
Spiritual guidance.
Politics
Art
Music
Anything that creates and highlights beauty
ETC!
I'm simply grasping to think about all the aspects of our world that "make the world go round" in a positive way.

The ultimate point I'm trying to get to is that much of human work is really a dignified Godly calling because it's participating in what He's created us to do. It's what He does.

This isn't to brush aside the fact that much human work is extremely undignified. But it's highlighting the idea that following God's call and blessing can be an integral part of what takes up the lion's share of our lives.
What if we truly viewed work this way?
How might this cause us to live our ordinary lives?

building on yesteryear's stories

A few months ago I had the privilege of attending a conference in Ohio called Innovation. At least half of the speakers really "spoke"to me. One, however, rose above the others. He was a young Adventist history professor from Loma Linda University (I believe).

His talk, Adventism 3.0, was built on the idea that like progressive, ever developing computer software, Adventism has been ever progressive and developing (versions 1.0, 2.0, and now 3.0). And by Adventism he's referring to Adventist theology. The concept of "present truth" has driven the search for how to truly follow God now, not just ancient tradition. He believes that Adventism has had to "adjust" it's theology in response to current experience that no longer works for it. Does that make the historical story of Adventist theology wrong or indicate that God must not have been guiding in the begginning. Absolutely not! God gently guides us in spite of our viewing Him and life through a "glass darkly", and I think may even allow us to percieve truth in a certain way to get us through a certain point in our experience.

What I find so refreshing about Julius is that it appears that he has a deep love for God's work through and in Adventism. Rather than throw it out because he believes differently than some of the more fundamental sides, he believes the historical story and beliefs of Adventism are great platforms for advancing fresh practical ministry to our sin wracked world.

For example.

2nd Coming Doctrine.
Rather than allowing our sense of urgency for Christ's 2nd coming to get us paranoid about every natural disaster and trying to make as many as possible believe doctrinal points exactly like us, we set about to work towards what it means to BE the presence and Body of Christ in our local communities-because the world urgently needs Christ's presence NOW.

Sabbath Doctrine.
Rather than focusing heavily on the "right dayness" of which day to go to church, use the principles embedded within the Sabbath to propel us to work for rest, equality, justice, and environmental responsibility-all ideals which are part of Godly ordained "rest".

And the Sanctuary Doctrine.
Here's one that I often wonder what practical application this has for today. I know as Adventists we have beliefs that tie this to what God is doing now in Heaven. But it often feels so "out there" to me. Julius has an interesting idea for how this historical belief can have "a" practical, current, earthly focus. I'll reffer you to his blog post for you to check this out.

HELP!

A word for desperate times.

Dallas Willard's thick masterpiece pictured here is one that I've been enjoying for "years" (ah, 3 or so). For some reason I haven't sat down and read it cover to cover. I'm only a little over halfway as a result of taking bits and bites from time to time.

Today I reflected on a couple more pages where he's expounding his ideas on the Lord's Prayer. The lines "have mercy on us" and "lead us not into temptation" were the phases to be unpacked.

In our modern society (or postmodern depending on what lingo you prefer to use) having mercy on someone simply means to give them a break. But apparently mercy meant something deeper in yesteryear. Mercy was more like pity. Most of us do not like to be pitied. It's embarrassing and humbling. It reveals our inadequacy. To ask God for pity is to swallow our pride and recognize our need of His mercy.

In keeping with the spirit of that line, the next follows suit. I've often wondered what the purpose of asking God not to lead us to temptation was. Why would God lead a person close to sin? Dallas says that temptation, while certainly including temptation to sin, is a broader term. It refers to tests and trials in general. Peter was very confident about being able to withstand the temptation that Jesus said he was going to fail in. Yet, he did indeed fail.

To ask God to spare us from temptation is to recognize that there are dangeraous trials in this life that, without God's intervention, CAN do me in. To believe that God will spare me does not mean He won't allow them to come my way. But it does mean I can trust Him to pull me through them and to spare me from the "lion's share". To forge ahead like Peter with a false sense of security is most assuradley a recipe for disaster.

So, I guess the 4 letter word in the post title above is pretty important for keeping my relationship with God in proper perspective.

no time like the present

For months I've been aware of a nagging sense that I need (uh, want to) get back to this blogging thing. I could go on and on about all the change and stresses this year largely due to a major transition in my life moving from one pastoral district to another, but the bottom line is that I've been living with good intentions about blogging yet not "striking any keys". So I realize I need to prime the pump and start something now.

I've recently read Organic Church-Growing Faith Where Life Happens by Neil Cole.
What did I take away from this?

God's kingdom grows in ways that more closely resemble nature's growth principles than the business world's.

Spiritual community's basic unit is 2 or 3.

Church grows naturally where lives are being transformed by God's power in the midst of REAL life.

Something about the message of the book stirs something in me. I'm not sure if it's just a desire or a conviction.

I guess time will tell!

finished

I just finished reading Church Re-imagined! I have to write for a moment just to simply say every time I nibble away at this book I become inspired about what being a part of the family of God can be like.

I'm not sure if I really should set out to try to create such a spiritual community, or if I just need to watch for how/where God is creating community around me and join in on it.

Whatever the case, I long for it!

Get the book!

P.S. Maybe the above picture resembles human attempts to create community?

more ramblings from reading church reimagined

How is one to define success when seeking to grow a local church gathering?

Doug Pagitt notes how many groups point to things like size, market share, political influence, healthy budgets, and "successful" looking people that seem to be living the American Dream. But what if being a successful community of faith is less about the above mentioned things and more about a community of people who, in seeking to follow the way of Jesus, eat together, live together, share possessions, and generally share real life?

What if being a church family is not about "targeting" certain people in the community?
What if it's not just about being a provider of religious goods and services?
What if we dropped the marketing and hunting metaphors?

What if it's about:

• Growing real relationships-both in and out of the spiritual community
  
• Growing in character
• Growing in fruits of the Spirit
• Growing in appreciation for God and others
• In short-growing in maturity as a follower of Jesus.
  

dreaming of a church

Reading has been slow lately largely due to a lot of different issues on my mind as of late. When reading consumption slows so does writing output. However, I have been picking my way through Church Re-Imagined by Doug Pagitt. He's the pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis and the author of Preaching Re-Imagined of which I blogged about earlier.

I'm drawn to this book not only because the last one was good, but because I resonate so much with the title. The last several years have been a time of chasing mental dreams about what spiritual community is either supposed to be like or, better yet, can be.

The purpose of the book seems to be to let others experience in a small way a week in the life of the Solomon's Porch community. To facilitate the experience, there are half a dozen or so different members who add they're raw journal entries sprinkled throughout the book.

The following is a list of the dreams that are identified early in the book. I have emboldened the ones that really speak to me and added comments in parenthesis.

WE DREAM OF A CHURCH WHERE...
1. We listen to and are obedient to God. (through the Holy Spirit's speaking to our hearts)
2. People who are not Christians become followers of God in the way of Jesus.
3 Those who are not involved in church would become an active part of it.
4. People are deeply connected to God in all of life: body, mind, soul, and spirit.
5. Beauty, art, and creativity are valued, used, and understood as coming from the Creator.
6. Culture is met, embraced, and transformed.
7. Joy, fun, and excitement are part of our lives.
8. The Kingdom of God is increased in real ways in the world. (note-the Kingdom of God-not just our religious institutions)
9. The biblical story of God is told and contributed to.
10. Biblical justice, mercy, grace, love, and righteousness lead the way.
11. Truth, honesty, and health are a way of life.
12. We value innovation and are willing to take risks in order to bring glory to God.
13. Worship of God is full, vibrant, real, and pleasing to God.
14. Faith, hope, and love are the context for all.
15. The next generation of leadership is built up, and leaders are servants.
16. Everyone is equipped to do ministry.
17. God's Spirit takes precedence over all structures and systems.
18. Christian Community is the attraction to outsiders and the answer to questions of faith. (I would clarify for myself by saying "an" attraction as opposed to "the" attraction)
19. People participate in the Kingdom of God in accordance with their abilities and gifts.
20. We are connected to , dependent on, and serve the global Church.
21. People learn the ways of God and are encouraged to make them central to their lives.
22. Other churches are valued and supported.
23. People's visions and ideas of ministry come to life.