Read Part 2 :: What is emergent? Centered set

While there seem to be countless folks in the Church who are more than happy to avoid being labeled emergent, the exact opposite seems to be true for the term missional. More and more folks are rushing to use the term to define their ministries. Some have even suggested it may soon take the place of evangelical in the near future.

And while emergents can be included in the ranks of those using the term it shouldn’t be assumed that those claiming to be missional should also be labeled as emergent. But from my experience it tends to be a strong piece within emerging Christianity — and something I’m working to understand and practice more fully in my daily life.

Like I originally noted about sharing my thoughts on emerging, this is not in the least an exhaustive explanation of the term missional. There are far better places to find that information than here. My hope is that this will serve as a basic primer and how it relates to the emerging conversation.

The term missional springs from Missio Dei, or the Mission of God. While historically many have seen only certain “called” members as those active in the Mission of God (either on the foreign mission field or as full time pastors and ministers to their locale), emerging Christianity sees the role of all Christians to be about the Missio Dei each and every day — regardless of their occupation or locale.

Alan Hirsch writes:

First, let me say what missional does not mean. Missional is not synonymous with emerging. The emerging church is primarily a renewal movement attempting to contextualize Christianity for a postmodern generation. Missional is also not the same as evangelistic or seeker-sensitive. These terms generally apply to the attractional model of church that has dominated our understanding for many years. Missional is not a new way to talk about church growth. Although God clearly desires the church to grow numerically, it is only one part of the larger missional agenda. Finally, missional is more than social justice. Engaging the poor and correcting inequalities is part of being God’s agent in the world, but we should not confuse this with the whole.

And while others have said that “many emerging churches reflect wonderfully what it means to be a missional church, while other emerging churches like many traditional or more program churches have very little in common with what we are referring to as missional,” I like Andrew Jones’ assumption that both emerging and missional should remain tied together.

The term, “emerging-missional church”, favored by Aussies and Kiwis, seems to tie together the two strands of missio dei and missio ecclesiae in one phrase. Without the missional, emergent is just style. Without the emergent, missional pours the new wine backwards into old containers, and often without regard to context.

Missional living is seen as a shift of thinking in how we relate to both God and His creation.

• From programs to processes
• From demographics to discernment
• From models to missions
• From attractional to incarnational
• From uniformity to diversity
• From professional to passionate
• From seating to sending
• From decisions to disciples
• From additional to exponential
• From monuments to movements
• From services to service
• From ordained to the ordinary
• From organizations to organisms

Again Alan Hirsch:

By his very nature God is a “sent one” who takes the initiative to redeem his creation. This doctrine, known as missio Dei—the sending of God—is causing many to redefine their understanding of the church. Because we are the “sent” people of God, the church is the instrument of God’s mission in the world. As things stand, many people see it the other way around. They believe mission is an instrument of the church; a means by which the church is grown. Although we frequently say “the church has a mission,” according to missional theology a more correct statement would be “the mission has a church.” … A missional community sees the mission as both its originating impulse and its organizing principle. A missional community is patterned after what God has done in Jesus Christ. In the incarnation God sent his Son. Similarly, to be missional means to be sent into the world; we do not expect people to come to us. This posture differentiates a missional church from an attractional church.

Emergents also tend to put a greater emphasis on reconciling the entire world back to God (as in Gen 1-2), rather than the traditional evangelical focus on the individual’s personal salvation. Emergents see the Missio Dei as more than just helping people escape this world of evil so they can live in heaven one day, its more about reconciling all of creation back to God.

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. – John 1:14

This missional posture and lifestyle helps form the importance of loving relationships in the emerging conversation (hence the generous orthodoxy and centered set). A missional posture/lifestyle isn’t content with the mission simply being a church-based work. It must be the mission of every follower of The Way to carry the mission of God into their own sphere of influence.

Rob Bell writes in “Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith” that the Gospel of Jesus Christ should be good news to everyone — not just the Christians. The Gospel of Jesus Christ should be good news to the Atheist across the street, the Muslim at work and the Agnostic I pass on the highway.

Brian McLaren makes the point in “A Generous Orthodoxy” that the church’s mission is “to be and make disciples of Jesus Christ in authentic community for the good of the world… Christians are not the end users of the gospel.”

McLaren argues that for many Christians, the largest concern continues to be about ME. It’s about my soul, my personal destiny in heaven, my maturity and my rewards.

Is it any surprise that with this understanding of salvation, churches tend to become gatherings of self-interested people who gather for mutual self-interest — constantly treating the church as a purveyor of religious goods and services, constantly shopping and ‘trading up’ for churches that can ‘meet my needs’ better?

This me-first mindset is in stark contrast with a missional mindset where Jesus comes with saving love for the world, invites the church to join him in his mission of saving the world and invites each of us to experience his saving love and participate in it. The missional mindset is one that denies oneself in favor of serving the world around you.

“Those who want to become Christians we welcome,” McLaren writes. “Those who don’t, we love and serve, joining God in seeking their good, their blessing, their shalom.”

And just like a generous orthodoxy and centered set mindset helps break down the “We’re in and you’re out. Good news for us, bad news for you,” mindsets, missional living opens up a third way, beyond exclusiveness and universalist religion. Missional living helps bring about blessings to all — those who believe and those who don’t.

“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” - Gen 22:17-18

Like Bell, McLaren also suggests the Gospel should be good news to all. “If Jesus sends people into the world to love and serve their neighbors, their neighbors benefit, and so do the people sent by Jesus. Since it is even better to give than to receive.”

And I think that’s a good summation of what I see much of the emerging conversation about. It’s dying to self. Giving up my rights, my strong-holds on belief and taking the time to listen to and love on others. It’s far less about my rational, my logic and my certainty about theological ideas and much more about being incarnational and relational to my sphere of influence.

Finally, Andrew Jones writes…

Our ministry of reconciliation is focused on WHATEVER needs reconciling. Jesus came to seek and to save WHATEVER was lost – its more than just humans that need reconciling. WHATEVER was alienated, WHATEVER was broken must be reconciled. God’s character demands it. He is holy, wholly, complete. He brings his creation back under his care. Missions is no longer a program of the church. It flows from the missional heart of God. God’s mission is all encompassing. It impacts every area of life – economic, political, environmental, social. The mission of God flows from his attributes, as the Truine God. And a trinitarian missiology is at the heart of the emerging-missional church. It opens up missiology to all branches of the family of God. All streams have something to contribute. The charasmatic/pentecostal stream adds to the missio dei through a missional pneumatology. The Reformed bring the sovereignty of God. Evangelicals bring a strong Christology and soteriology to the table. Piece by piece, as we listen to each other, the fullness of God’s mission is being revealed to us and no particular stream of the Christian family seems to have a monopology.

Because it is God’s mission and not ours, and because we are just participating with God in what He is doing, our load is light and bearable. That’s good news.

(Illustration from The Blind Beggar)

related posts ::

• What is emergent? A generous orthodoxy
• Missional living
• What is emergent? Centered set
• What is emergent?
• God’s heart for the poor
• Hitler does emergent
• Brian McLaren speaks at Mars Hill
• Top emergent books
• Finding where God is at
• Andrew Jones chats with Brian McLaren

Read Part 1: What is emergent? Generous Orthodoxy

I remember somewhere along the way in school, we studied bounded sets and centered sets. I couldn’t tell you how all the formulas worked, but I remember it was a nice change from the other algebra and/or geometry we were doing at that time.

I had all but forgotten about these two terms until I recently became aware of them as part of the emerging conversation (and more specifically in reading “Not the Religious Type: Confessions of a Turncoat Atheist” by Dave Schmelzer.

So often we do out best to figure out who’s in and who’s out of our club. Who can we trust? Who’s our friend? Who’s really on our side? Are they really a Republican or just a Republican in Name Only? Are they really a liberal or are they just hoping to win friends?

And not surprisingly, I think we tend to do this even more so in our communities of faith. The Church itself has largely been built around bounded sets, with clear definitions of membership requirements. If you meet the requirements, you’re in the set (or club).

In our leader’s guide for our community groups Brian points out that in the past, people came to know Jesus and His body through four basic steps, attend, respond, agree and then you can be a part of the body.

attend
in recent generations the church building was seen as the shining city on a hill. with its white steeple it was the noted place of hope, direction, community, and activity. it was the beacon for morality’s influence in civic affairs. to discover a relationship with God began at the church building. the work of church members was to get others to “come to church”. thus began door-to-door visitation, the church marquee, and church architecture that set the building apart from all others. believing began with attending.

respond
once attending the “outsider” was now prayed for, preached to, and taught. the goal was change. the expectation was that they would respond and change their heart and lifestyle to become a part of the community of faith.

agree
after responding, the new convert/member was expected to agree with the doctrine and practices of the church. “members” signed a covenant that not only gave them rights and privileges in church business matters, but it committed them to a lifestyle of faith that was consistent with the church’s established rules.

relationship
after these steps the “member” was accorded with full membership privileges. they were now “in” and could have and enjoy fellowship in the new family.

However as Brian writes…

“We live in a foreign land compared to a generation ago. The landscape has changed. Thinking has changed. People have changed. What has not changed in many places is the church. While holding on to theological truths as it rightly should, it has also held on to methods and attitudes that are no longer effective in the new culture of America. When challenged with a new environment, many resist and then develop attitudes that are damaging to the cause of the kingdom of Christ.”

We’re always trying to size people up. Celebrities, co-workers, neighbors, family members.

We start asking, are they Christian? Are they Protestant or Catholic? Are they Baptist or Methodist? Are they Southern Baptist or Northern? Are they Southern Baptist General Convention of Texas or Southern Baptists of Texas? Do they preach from the King James Version only, or are they a liberal church that uses the New International Version?

We can so narrowly define our groups that it literally chokes the good news out of them. And before long, rather than reaching out to people, we’re focusing on who’s living up to the standards we’ve set. And of course, the only set anyone should be a part of is your bounded set. After all, if the other sets were true Christianity — you’d be a part of them instead.

Emo Phillips tells a great joke (named the number one religion joke ever) that perfectly illustrates the idea of a bounded set religion.

On the other hand, I’ve come to see the emergent conversations built around centered sets instead. Instead of a strict set of membership requirements, centered sets pick a defined center point. Individuals who are moving towards that point are considered part of the set and those who aren’t moving toward the center aren’t.

With Christ as the center of the centered set, emergents are always looking to move closer to Jesus and encouraging others to come along side them. Some may be moving at lightning speed, some may be moving at a snail’s pace, but as long as your moving towards the center, you’re welcomed to join the set.

Of course a natural weakness to this view is that an individual’s view of Jesus can become skewed, but that’s why emergents believe community and ecclessia are so vital to the conversation. (And it is a conversation and dialogue, not one man’s opinion preached to the masses.)

“You can’t make it on your own.”

It’s also true that some people may not realize they’re moving towards Jesus. But emergents welcome them with open arms, whether they realize it or not.

A friend shared a story about a church in LA. (I want to say it was Erwin McManus’ Mosaic but I’m not certain – hope I’m not butchering the story.) The church was starting to grow and needed a nursery worker. They hired a woman who was an athiest. She had experience working with kids and was able to work when they needed her to. At some point she excepted another job and resigned from the nursery job. But she told the pastor, “I don’t know what it is about this place but I feel loved here. There’s something here that I can’t explain and I just want to be a part of it.”

The church welcomed her with open arms and assured her she was loved and accepted no matter what she believed about God.

Sure enough, their love and God’s love won out. She later became a follower of Jesus.

It reminds me as well of Adam Clayton in U2. He’s said on many occasions in the past that he doesn’t know what it is about U2’s concerts, but he knows something is going on. And even The Edge has said that while the band was struggling with whether they could be Christians and be in a rock band, Adam was being the most Christian of them all by showing love and accepting the other three members of the band even when he disagreed with them.

And finally I think back to one of my favorite stories in Scripture.

After Jesus was resurrected from the tomb he appeared to all but one of his disciples, Thomas.

We don’t know where Thomas was or what he was doing, John just tells us he wasn’t around when Jesus showed up. So naturally he had some doubts when the disciples claimed to have seen Jesus.

But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.”
But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.”
Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”
Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.”
Thomas said, “My Master! My God!”
Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”

I love this story because Thomas is honest. He’s real with his issues. He says, “I’ve got to see Jesus for myself or else I won’t believe. I’m not putting something this important in the hands of someone else — I have to experience it myself.”

And I think in a traditional bounded set, the disciples would have said, “Well, sorry about that. We’re gonna have to ask you to move on.” But they didn’t.

John tells us that it was a full week that they stayed together before Jesus showed up again. And of course Thomas was there this time. He didn’t want to leave his friends. He didn’t want to leave a group that he had come to love. And I imagine their response assured him that they loved him as well.

Of course Thomas does meet Jesus. Face to face. He experiences Jesus in the flesh and believes.

That’s what I see as a beautiful part of this emerging conversation. It’s people who are willing to say, “You don’t have to believe just like us. You don’t have to live up to our standards. You don’t have to act just like us. You don’t have to accept our titles or labels. We just want you to join us on the journey towards the cross. And take your time. Jesus will show up and reveal himself to you, just like he did for me.”

And if we can move from those bounded sets to centered sets in our own lives and in our communities of faith, perhaps we can regroup and see a new way of bringing others into a relationship with Christ.

relationship
this is the starting point for effective group development and ministry for this generation. the believe-ability of people today begins after trust, acceptance, and love have been experienced. when this occurs, ministry can advance to the next level.

relevance
after trust, the next step is to introduce relevant spiritual help. it is at this level that Christ is introduced into the area of greatest need with a method and communication style that the hearer can understand. An irrelevant message in an irrelevant method is like speaking a foreign language to an unlearned hearer.

revealing
the third level of regrouping for this generation is to be revealing. at this level the Christ-follower reveals genuine aspects of their faith in authenticity and vulnerability. in part the receiver will begin to reveal their hearts, their questions, their struggle. This level can be emotional, vulnerable, and painful. It leads though to the level of greatest impact and change –the level of response.

response
this is the level of change. at this level the person or group has grown from trust, to hope, to vulnerability, and now to the point of response to the truth that they have heard. they are challenged to repent, change, and make new commitments to Christ in the very real areas of life.

Part 2 :: What is emergent? Missional

–
I put together a PowerPoint a few months back to explain this concept to my community group :: you can view it here.

(photo by vincos)

related posts ::

• What is emergent? Missional
• What is emergent?
• The Great Disappointment
• What is emergent? A generous orthodoxy
• Rethinking church
• Hitler does emergent
• Hope for a Tree Cut Down :: Given
• emerging worship
• Top emergent books
• Finding where God is at

Click here to view the embedded video.

From MTV:

The Killers have joined forces with MTV to stamp out human trafficking.
Produced in partnership with UNICEF, USAID and MTV Exit – MTV’s campaign to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking and exploitation – the band have made a powerful video for their track Goodnight, Travel Well, highlighting the dangers of trafficking and the sexual exploitation of young women.

“We are deeply shocked and appalled that women and children are forced into such exploitative situations,” said The Killers, announcing the collaboration. “We hope that through MTV’s efforts and this powerful video that millions of people across the world learn about this tragic form of modern-day slavery”.

I applaud The Killers and MTV for putting together this video to raise awareness.

Now if only they’d stop airing and promoting a lifestyle that at the same time promotes this treatment of women as well.

What do you think?

related posts ::

• iPhones and dirty Coltan #justicefriday
• Obama administration looks at human trafficking
• Twitter will kill you
• Purchase calling cards for victims of slavery
• A kick in the balls
• Love the sinner…
• There’s a war going on for your mind
• Jelly Telly is online
• Scrap Iron Memorial Video
• Incredible stop motion video

Click here to view the embedded video.

related posts ::

• The Killers and MTV unite against Human Trafficking
• justice friday
• A Christian Ethic of Blogging
• Love the sinner…
• Tuesday Briefs
• Kingdom (social) media done well
• There’s a war going on for your mind
• Jelly Telly is online
• Scrap Iron Memorial Video
• numerous birthday wishes

“I offer this book with the heartiest sentiments to all the jolly people who hate what I write, and regard it (very justly, for all I know), as a piece of poor clowning or a single tiresome joke.” – G.K. Chesterson (Orthodoxy (Moody Classics))

I came into the emergent conversation probably a little bit later in the game than many. I didn’t even start hearing the name emergent until after college (circa 2003-2004).

As I started tracking blogs and other online conversations I began seeing the term more and more. And once I launched my own blog in 2005 and began making connections with folks in the UK, I started hearing from people who were actually taking part in the conversation.

In March of 2006 Thomas introduced me to the blogs of Johnny Baker and Andrew Jones, referring to them as the “grandfather’s of the emerging church” (and even then I didn’t get their names right).

But as I delved into this conversation more and more it was interesting to see some of the lines being drawn in the sand. There were those who were flat out against anything emerging. Those who were against emergent but not emerging and those who were against Emergent but not emergent.

And then there were those, like me, who couldn’t understand why someone would be so upset about candles, prayer stations and techno loops in church.

So I continued observing from afar and the more blogs I read, the more I began to understand the difference between Emergent and emerging (Emergent – capital E is used to refer to Emergent Village, a group organized to serve as a “node in the web” of the overall emerging conversation — otherwise its still all as clear as mud ), and started to see that emerging was far more than just a new worship style, targeted towards my generation.

I also started to notice that the critics were highly critical of the conversation and seemed to constantly throw flaming darts towards anyone taking part in the conversation. Just my awareness and mentioning of the topic brought about some heated email exchanges with friends.

Yet through it all, I didn’t notice much/if any ill-will coming from those on the “inside” of the conversation. Especially from Johnny and Andrew — my primary connection points to the emerging conversation at the time.

Sure there may have been the occassional blog posts critiquing the church as a whole, but I can’t recall reading any attacks aimed towards their critics or other Christian traditions.

Even in Andrew’s visit to Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle, which could have easily become a targeted attack towards an “old antiquated way of doing church” (my words), I was impressed with Andrew’s generous comments and humor.

So fast forward a bit to 2008 and I started to see myself getting caught up more and more in the emerging conversation. I started the year out reading Brian McLaren’s “Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope” and was convinced that yes – EVERYTHING must change.

After reading that book, I was hooked.

Next came Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw’s “Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals” and then Rodney Clapp’s “A Peculiar People: The Church As Culture in a Post-Christian Society.”

Clapp would probably not be considered emergent (in fact the book was originally a part of an extra-credit book club at my Baptist alma mater), but his ideas seemed to ring true with what McLaren, Claiborne and others were saying.

Before long, I picked up a copy of one of McLaren’s older books, “A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, anabaptist/anglican, methodist, catholic, green, incarnational, deppressed-yet-hopeful, emergent, unfinished Christian”.

It had one of the longest sub-titles in the history of mankind, but it was also one of the most inclusive tellings of Christianity I had encountered — I loved it! As I read it, I was right their alongside McLaren, cheering him along all the way.

Yet the things McLaren had written weren’t entirely new either. It seemed to echo beliefs I had felt on my own for a long time. As others have said, many emergent authors simply put words to things we’ve already felt in our hearts and not yet found the words for.

In fact, McLaren’s writing reminded me in many ways of the writing of Brennan Manning and the music of Rich Mullins. People I learned a lot from, long before I knew a thing about the emerging conversation. Both seemed to preach a generous orthodoxy that began with a generous and loving God.

Manning later wrote (in “The Furious Longing of God“) that this love of God for man is, “A union that not only transcends every political, social, cultural and religious consideration and not only infuses them with ultimate meaning, but defines the very purpose of life itself.”

So perhaps as followers of God, if we really realized just how much God loves us, we could learn to love others with that same generous, giving, wreckless fury – regardless of their orthodoxy – or orthopraxy.

Personally, I had come to a point where I was glad to use Scripture as a two-edged sword — especially against other Christians. I was glad to point out where you were wrong and I was right. Unlike Johnny and Andrew, I was quick to slam “the old ways” of doing things on my blog, my weekly newspaper column or in a sharply pointed email.

However, McLaren wrote in the introduction to his book that “the last thing we need is a new group of proud, super protestant, hyper puritan, ultra restorationist reformers who say, ‘Only we’ve got it right!’ and therby damn everybody else to the bin of five minutes ago and the bucket of below-average mediocrity.”

Realizing my own weakness and rush towards judgment, it was and is that spirit of generosity that continues to attract me (and others) to the emerging conversation. I quickly saw a group of people (as a whole) who aren’t claiming to have all the answers. They’re not claiming to know all there is to know about God. They’re sharing their stories. They’re sharing what God has shown them and then they’re listening to the rich traditions of others as well.

Suddenly Baptists are seeing the Eucharist in a new light because of their relationships and conversations with Episcopalians and Catholics — and vice versa. Methodists are seeing evangelism in a new light because of their relationships and conversations with Baptists — and vice versa. Conservatives and liberals are getting to know their Christian brothers and finding it easier to forgive and love each other after years of animosity.

And with this same generous orthodoxy, I’m starting to see that while there are many radical and diverse perspectives within Christianity, greater damage is done to the cause of Christ when we refuse to listen to one another and puff up ourselves, than there would be if we actually accepted those differing viewpoints.

It’s no wonder that Christ’s last commandment to his disciples was to “love one another as I have loved you.” Not simply as you would have them do unto you, but as Jesus Christ loved us and gave himself for us. (John 13:34-35)

After all, these traditions can be highly valuable for my own journey and relationship relationship with God. And a generous orthodoxy teaches me and that these different perspectives deserve Christian charity rather than condemnation.

I’ve been on the other side of the fence (a closed, restricted orthodoxy) for far too long and even though I know the dangers associated with a restricted orthodoxy, I continue to climb back over that fence — especially when it suits my own benefits.

My natural tendency is to self-(over)-inflate myself with my “vast knowledge” and build myself up rather than build Christ up.

Perhaps that’s why I continue to be a fan of this generous orthodoxy — because it seems to be such a worthy goal to obtain to. It speaks to the core of who I am as a follower of Christ and so against the core of who I am as a man. It’s far less about me and much more about Him. It’s far more about me denying myself and accepting what others have to offer.

So I’m trying to get over my certainty and find what’s beautiful in the opinions and beliefs of others. I’m trying to listen to the stories of others. I want to know what makes them who they are. What traditions, beliefs and encounters with God have shaped them.

As Greg Garrett shared recently, “We’d forgive everything if we knew the whole story.”

In the eyes of God, we all come to him on equal footing. We all come broken and in need of reconciliation. Perhaps if I really believed that, I’d be a lot less certain of my understanding of the God who’s name is, “I Am.”

And I know some are going to suggest this is merely universalism, relativism and I’ll lose all absolutes. I can understand that argument. But its not about that for me. I still absolutely believe in absolutes — but this generous orthodoxy reminds me that some of my absolutes can change with time (how’s that for a contrary statement). And I want my orthodoxy to be generous enough that I can listen to others, and learn from others as well.

“This generous orthodoxy does not mean a simple merging, mixing, conflating, or reconciling of the two schools of thought, though. Rather it disagrees with both regarding the ‘view of certainty and knowledge which liberals and evangelicals hold in common,’ a view (Dr. Stanly) Grenz describes as ‘produced… by modernist assumptions’”… ‘the way forward for evangelicals to take the lead in renewing a theological center that can meet the challenges of the postmodern… situation in which the church now finds itself.’” – McLaren

A generous orthodoxy doesn’t mean I lose all sense of certainty or become a dark deep theological black hole that takes in everything and everything, accepting it all as truth.

No, I believe a generous orthodoxy gives me the ability to retain my own unique identity and beliefs in the larger community of faith and it allows you to retain your own unique identity and beliefs in the larger community of faith and together it creates something far greater than we ever could have had alone.

As Thomas has suggested, it’s like a salad. And Christianity demands unity — not uniformity. A lettuce doesn’t lose it’s flavor in a salad, nor does the tomato, or walnuts or blue cheese crumbles. They all have a specific role in the body of the salad and create a wonderful flavor that never could have existed apart from one another.

And I liken it to a new family. When Laurie married me, while we have now become “one flesh” and one new family, she didn’t lose her identity because she suddenly became a Blundell. I didn’t lose my identity because I’m now joined with her. Instead we’ve become a new union. A picture of togetherness. She brings traditions, ideas and strengths to the table that I had never even considered. And I hope I do the same for her. And like a church centered around a generous orthodoxy, we can do far more together than we could have apart.

Perhaps I can be wrong about my own assumptions and ideals about God as well. I don’t doubt my beliefs, but I also realize that I may very well be wrong — and we can discuss how I’m wrong and you’re right in a generous, civil manner.

And perhaps rather than trying to push our argument and views down each other’s throats (which never gets any where) we can both agree to a generous orthodoxy and celebrate the greatness of each viewpoint.

And in the midst of it all — LOVE one another as HE has loved YOU. It’s what makes Christianity great!

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled. – 1 Cor 13:1-10

Read Part 2 :: What is emergent? Centered set

related posts ::

• What is emergent? Missional
• Hitler does emergent
• Top emergent books
• The Great Disappointment
• The youth of a nation
• Crazy times
• How would Jesus vote?
• Christianity on Al Jazeera
• Jesus for President
• Andrew Jones chats with Brian McLaren

We originally understood that the doctors said they would need to do the procedure right away to drain the fluid off of Ava’s chest and away from her heart. They pushed that back till this morning, and yet as of this morning have decided to hold off a bit longer.

The downside – as of this morning, they’re planning to keep Amanda at the hospital as long as they can to be sure Ava is monitored closely (aka – Amanda will be there until Ava makes her grand appearance – currently Amanda’s at 28 weeks).

So please be sure and keep Amanda, Ava and Bryan in your prayers. I’ll keep everyone posted here and/or on Twitter as more information is available.

related posts ::

• Update on my cousin’s baby
• Pray for Ava

Hey! I am being admitted into baylor hospital. Their more fluid in
chest which is making the heart work too hard and we have to get it
out before its still birth. Sorry we r now telling u this we just out
and heading to check in room. Please pray!

related posts ::

• Update on my cousin’s baby
• Update on Ava
• Life’s roller coasters
• The latest on Elliot
• Elliot comes into the world screaming and crying…

There continues to be a great discussion across the Interwebs as folks try to nail-down exactly what it means to be “emergent.”

Folks are coming into the conversation from all different places in their lives, as well as at different points in the emerging conversation.

Some people have been discussing emerging Christianity since the 1960’s (or before); some have been in the the discussion for 15 to 20+ years; some picked up the discussion circa 1997 when the initial discussions were taking place that ultimately led to the formation of Emergent Village; others listened in at various points along the way and started to align themselves with the emergent conversation in more recent years (myself included); and still others are on the “outside” hearing criticism from various folks and groups and wondering what its all about.

Regardless of where you are in the journey and conversation, welcome!

While defining the emerging church movement is probably similar to trying to nail jello to the wall, I thought I’d take a stab it this week by sharing what I’ve come to understand it as over the last few years.

In no means will this week’s posts bring about a conclusive definition, but perhaps it will help define what I have currently come to accept and understand.

This week’s conversation started over on Facebook with a couple of comments related to the book, “Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be.” (Andrew Jones has a great review of the book on his site.)

I haven’t read the book personally, but it is on my list of books to read (even though its near the bottom right now ).

As an aside, there’s an interesting video from the 2009 Christian Book Expo (which was held earlier this year in Dallas) in which a guest panel who try to define/nail down what emergent means (the panel includes one of the “Why We’re Not Emergent” authors). It ends up being a lot less generous and friendly than I would have hoped to have seen. And ultimately they don’t get very far in the conversation.

On Facebook, I offered a very basic 30,000 (if not 50,000) foot view of what I’ve come to understand emergent as and I’ll try and narrow some of it down in several other blog posts later this week.

With emergent Christianity, there is a concerted effort towards dialogue and wrestling with our faith in community/ecclesisa rather than simply accepting what theologians of yesterday have told us. There’s a much greater emphasis on “generous orthodoxy” and learning about God through community and each other than the typical top-down approach of a seminary trained pastor speaking for God.

“There is an over reaching envelope of friendship and reconciliation that must surround all debates about doctrine and dogma.” T Jones

So there’s the opening statement. I hope to drill down into several ideas including Generous Orthodoxy, Centered Sets, Missional and Trinitarian Based Values.

It’ll be interesting to see where we go from here. Hopefully it will be a learning experience for all of us (myself included). I hope you’ll jump in and weigh in throughout the week (and beyond).

Part 1 :: A generous orthodoxy
Part 2 :: Centered set

Part 2 :: Missional
(Photo from Headphonaught)

related posts ::

• What is emergent? Missional
• What is emergent? Centered set
• What is emergent? A generous orthodoxy
• The Great Disappointment
• Rethinking church
• Hitler does emergent
• Hope for a Tree Cut Down :: Given
• emerging worship
• Top emergent books
• Finding where God is at

As a closing section in the book, Greg shares 10 spiritual lessons we can learn from U2.

I thought I’d share an additional 10 that I’ve learned along my journey as well. So here they are, in no particular order…

1. Wake Up Dead Man

   Jesus, Jesus help me / I’m alone in this world / And a fucked-up world it is too… / Wake up, wake up dead man / Wake up, wake up dead man. / Jesus, I’m waiting here, boss / I know you’re looking out for us / But maybe your hands aren’t free.

   It’s OK to question God. It’s OK to admit you feel alone, scared and that you’re not even sure God is out there. Just look at the Psalmist and Job. Look at the first chapter of Habakkuk.

   “How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.” Habakkuk 1:2-4

   From Scripture we can see that obviously it’s OK to question God and ask “Where are you? Why are you hiding from me? What in the world are you doing (or not doing)?”

   I love the quote from Bono that Greg makes note of in the book, “You can’t be having an argument with God if you don’t believe there is one.”

   Questioning God helps us wrestle and ultimately draws us closer. So keep wrestling. Keep questioning.

2. Stand Up Comedy

   Stand up, this is comedy / The DNA lottery may have left you smart / But can you stand up to beauty, dictator of the heart / I can stand up for hope, faith, love / But while I’m getting over certainty / Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady

   As soon as you think you’ve got God figured out, get over yourself. Think you’ve got the perfect box to put God in? Get over yourself.

   “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8

3. Yahweh

   Take these hands / Teach them what to carry / Take these hands / Don’t make a fist / Take this mouth
   So quick to criticise / Take this mouth / Give it a kiss / Yahweh, Yahweh / Always pain before a child is born
   Yahewh, Yahweh / Still I’m waiting for the dawn

   God is in the business of transforming things and bringing creation back to him! And there might be some pain involved, but “Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength, move on.” (Henry Rollins)

4. Get On Your Boots

   Here’s where we gotta be / Love and community / Laughter is eternity / If joy is real

   We’re made to live in community. We’re made to love one another. We GET to carry each other!

5. Rejoice

   And what am I to do? / Just tell me what am I supposed to say? / I can’t change the world / But I can change the world in me / Rejoice. / Rejoice.

   Sometimes, to change the world, we have to change ourselves. We have recognize that we need changing before we expect everyone else to change. We must BE the change we want to see.

6. Bullet the Blue Sky

   And I can see those fighter planes / And I can see those fighter planes / Across the tin huts as children sleep / Through the alleys of a quiet city street. / Up the staircase to the first floor / We turn the key and slowly unlock the door / As a man breathes into his saxophone / And through the walls you hear the city groan. / Outside, is America / Outside, is America / America…. Howlin’ the women and children / Who run into the arms / Of America.

   So often we misplace our trust in the things of men. In leaders, in flags, in countries and democracy. Yet all of the above (even the beloved democracy) seeks to serve itself.

   Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

   Or as Derek Webb has put it, “My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man. My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood. It’s to a King & a Kingdom.”

7. Breathe

   Every day I die again, and again I’m reborn / Every day I have to find the courage / To walk out into the street / With arms out / Got a love you can’t defeat

   Evidently we must be transformed and reborn each and every day. Our salvation experience and spiritual journey isn’t a one time deal, its a daily transformation, a daily renewing (continual) of our mind.

   Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

8. Falling at Your Feet

   Every eye closed by a bruise / Every player who just can’t lose / Every pop star howling abuse / Every drunk back on the booze / All falling at your feet… Teach me to surrender / Not my will but yours

   We must learn to surrender at His feet. Luke 7:36-50

9. Walk On

   You’re packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been / A place that has to be believed to be seen / You could have flown away / A singing bird in an open cage / Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

   This song has far more than spiritual meaning to me. It was the song I was listening to the night before my sister Amy died. And it was also one of the last txt messages I sent her:

   And I know it aches / And your heart it breaks / And you can only take so much / Walk on, walk on

   At the time I sent it, none of us realized what was really going on with Amy’s heart or body. I sent it to be an encouragement as her blood pressure had been far higher than normal and causing horrible headaches. I didn’t realize the double meaning it would hold the next day after she suffered from cardiac arrest the next day.

   Since then the song has been a comfort, a place of peace, a place of reminding me that no matter how bad our hurts are — we can walk on. We know where we’re going. Home is where our heart is — its coming soon.

   Home, hard to know what it is if you’ve never had one / Home, I can’t say where it is but I know I’m going home

10. Grace

    What once was hurt / What once was friction / What left a mark / No longer stings / Because Grace makes beauty / Out of ugly things

    No list of mine could be complete without Grace. Can I just copy the whole song here?

    Grace is amazing. It covers the stain. It takes away the guilt, the hurt, the ugliness of each of us and turns it into something beautiful. If only we could learn to understand it better and in turn, offer that same grace to everyone around us. It’s truly a thought that changed the world.

So there you have it, my 10 additional spiritual lessons from U2. What did I miss? What did I leave out?
Are there other musicians and bands that offer similar spiritual lessons for you?

And be sure and listen to Greg’s interview on the podcast and share your thoughts about that as well.

related posts ::

• We get to carry each other
• U2 on Letterman
• U2 – Stand Up Comedy
• Get on Your Boots
• Falling at Your Feet
• Saints among the lepers
• Monday Briefs
• We interrupt this broadcast…
• how to: subscribe to my podcast
• Monday Briefs

The message read, “standby for a knock at your door.”

where I first met Laurie

She didn’t get the message till 4 or 5 hours later and yet she hasn’t stopped getting my txt messages since.

Yup. 3 years ago today I met my wife for the very first time… (in person that is.)

Before our first face-to-face meeting, I had actually given up on Laurie. We met online (yes maybe a shocker for some) and had corresponded via the website and email for a couple months before suddenly she “disappeared.”

During our original correspondence we discovered that our parents were both active in the same church and I had even stepped up and asked my parents what they knew about this “Laurie Turner” that I was getting to know.

Yet, after only a couple months, the correspondence stopped. I wasn’t sure if it was something I said, did or if she was simply busy with life, school and work. After several weeks of no communication, with no explanation, I assumed she had moved on and figured I should do the same.

But then as the month of July rolled around a familiar name popped up in my inbox. Laurie was back — and this time she was ready to meet. She asked me out (another shocker! ) and we planned our first date for July 8, 2006.

My plans for the evening were simple. Dinner at Blue Mesa and a trolley ride around Uptown. I thought the two events would give us a great relaxed way to get to know each other better — only I assumed those two alone would take up more of the evening than they did.

As the trolley ride came to an end, at 8:30 p.m., and we headed back to my truck, I was certain the evening was a failure.

I felt like I talked far too much and after my original ideas only lasted until 8:30 that evening, I was certain she’d think I had come unprepared.

I’ll always remember Cafe Brazil as my saving grace that night. With nothing else planned, we ended up going there for coffee and deserts to finish the evening. (I’m certain it was either Cafe Brazil or my fine rendition of Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” that saved the evening.)

Honestly, I don’t even remember what we talked about that night, but I remember feeling like Laurie started to let her guard down and really started opening up to me (like she had in her emails) over desert.

Of course that wasn’t the end of my worries. I also had that first date stress over hugging or kissing her good night, which was multiplied since at Cafe Brazil I realized I was getting quite a high fever and thought I might be coming down with a serious bug of some sort.

I like to say she gave me fever and in fact, had the song stuck in my head on my drive all the way back to Waxahachie.

And come to find out later –- she wasn’t a big fan of Blue Mesa and she had a strict one-date rule. If she wasn’t impressed on the first date –- you’re done –- you’re through -– no more attention from her.

So it must have been Cafe Brazil or Aladdin that saved it for me, because we had our second date just a few days later and have never looked back.

Now after knowing her for three years its amazing to think about all the changes that have happened in our lives – and all for the better.

When I think of all the crazy things that she’s changed and done differently over the last 3 years and I still can’t believe it.

our first photo together - July 2006

our most recent picture together at the botanical gardens

She started txt messaging (actually went from a 200 txt message plan, to a 1000 plan, to unlimited), moved to Waxahachie, then Red Oak (moving 30-45 miles from her family and friends), had a smelly guy move in with her (who wants to spend time with her and cuddle and kiss all the time — something she’s not always a huge fan of ), she changed churches, she started blogging, started a new hobby with photography (and knows far more than I ever will), she’s on Twitter! (woot!), she finished her bachelor’s degree, changed her plans to become a PA (I think), lost a lot of sleep (due to my snoring) and she did most of that, if not all of that for or because of ME.

I’m not trying to brag that “well I told her to do this or that.”

Folks who know her, know that Laurie doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do.

I’m just telling you this because its only a fraction of the many things shes done or sacrificed for ME. And right now I can’t think of one thing I’ve given up or sacrificed for her.

I want that to be different. I want her to know that nothing will come between us and that nothing is more important than her.

I love you dearly Laurie. Thanks for everything you’ve done and given me over the last three years. Every day I wake up knowing how lucky I am. I hope you know how I feel and how important you are to me and how much I love you.

You still give me fever…

related posts ::

• Meeting the girl of my dreams
• you first
• weekend wrap up in four words
• Paying for other’s needs
• Out of my League
• We get to carry each other
• Laundry Love Project :: additional notes
• Fill in the blank
• God’s heart for the poor
• you matter!