Integrating Missionally

The danger of commodifying worship

David Phillips — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:19:46 +0000

Worship Music

Worship is continuously in danger. It is in danger of commodification, being debased into a commodity for consumers who are shipping for the best buy in God or the latest in spiritual fashions. But the moment that God or the things of God are packaged and then advertised as programs or principles or satisfaction, we are depersonalized, diminishing our capacity to love. There is not much chance of growing to the measure of the stature of Christ in a place of worship that markets goods and services stamped with a God logo. This very place and time given us to cultivate conditions congenial for acquiring an understanding of and companionship in the practice of love is no lover available.

The extensive commodificaiton of worship in America has marginalized far too many churches as orienting centers for how to live a more effective life for God. What the secular culture has done to love by romanticising it into fornication and the pracice of adultery, the ecclesial culture has done by promoting ways of worship calculated to appeal to consumer tasttes in which love is redefined as “Oh, I like that,” or “I have to have that,” or negatively as “I don’t get anything out of that.”

From Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ

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The Ontological Church

David Phillips — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:30:12 +0000

Be-ing or Do-ing

Americans talk and write endlessly about what the church needs to becoming, what the church must do ot be effective. The perceived failures of the church are analyzed and reforming strategies prescribed. The church is understood almost exclusively in terms of function – what we can see. If we can’t see it, it doesn’t exist. Everything is viewed through the lens of pragmatism. Church is an instrument that we have been given to bring about whatever Christ commanded us to do. Church is a staging ground for getting people motivated to continue Christ’s work.

This way of thinking – church as a human activity to be measured by human expectations – is pursued unthinkingly. The huge reality of God already at work in all the operations of the Trinity is benched on the sideline while we call timeout, huddle together with our heads bowed, and figure out a strategy by which we can compensate for God’s regrettable retreat into invisibility. This dead wrong., and it is responsible for no end of shallowness and experimentation in trying to achieve success and relevance and effectiveness that people can see. Statistics provide the basic vocabulary for keeping score. Programs provide the game plan. This way of going about things has done and continues to do immeasurable damage to the American Church.

This way of understanding church is very, very American and very, very wrong. We can no more understand church functionally than we can understand Jesus functionally. We have to submit ourselves to the revelation and receive church as the gift of Christ as he embodies himself in this world. Paul tells us that Christ is the head of a body, and the body is church. Head and body are one thing.

“Ontology” is a word that can get us past this clutter of functionalism. Ontology has to do with being. An ontological understanding of church has to do with what it is, not what it does. And what it is is far wider, deeper, higher than anything it does, or anything we can take charge of or manipulate. The Singapore theologian Simon Chan puts his finger on our persistent misunderstanding of the church as instrumental, as pragmatic, when he writes, “When it comes to understanding the church, sociology takes over.” The being-ness of church is what we are dealing with. Church is not something that we cobble together to do something for God. It is the “fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:23) working comprehensively with and for us.

Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ

Sunday Psalm: Ps 32

David Phillips — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:24:44 +0000

Psalm 32

A David Psalm

1 Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be— you get a fresh start,
your slate’s wiped clean.

2 Count yourself lucky—
God holds nothing against you
and you’re holding nothing back from him.

3 When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.

4 The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.

5 Then I let it all out;
I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.”
Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared.

6 These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray;
when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts
we’ll be on high ground, untouched.

7 God’s my island hideaway,
keeps danger far from the shore,
throws garlands of hosannas around my neck.

8 Let me give you some good advice;
I’m looking you in the eye
and giving it to you straight:

9 “Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule
that needs bit and bridle
to stay on track.”

10 God-defiers are always in trouble;
God-affirmers find themselves loved
every time they turn around.

11 Celebrate God.
Sing together—everyone!
All you honest hearts, raise the roof!

The Message (MSG)

Sunday Psalm: Ps. 63:1-8

David Phillips — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:06:42 +0000

A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.

2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.

3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
how I praise you!

4 I will praise you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.

5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.

6 I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.

7 Because you are my helper,
I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.

8 I cling to you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.

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Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

Is climate change causing all this snow?

David Phillips — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:22:26 +0000

I live in the Mid-Atlantic. Since December 19, 2009, we have received almost 6 feet of snow. We set records for snowfall this year. I am asking God to move me back South as a result.

I admit that I’m not a climatologist. But I am a scientist. I read scientific literature. My doctoral dissertation integrated emerging brain research and theology. I have a computer science degree and spent 6 years in the IT industry. All this intrigues me.

Climate change is a difficult subject, and a contentious one. It’s a charged debate with people on the left and right politically and socially at each other’s throat. With the winter storms that have roared through this year, and with the Cap and Trade bill before Congress and being pushed through by the White House, the debate has only grown louder and more angry, if that is possible.

This week, both sides of the debate politically have gone after each other in the media. Those on the right are considering putting out an amber alert for Al Gore because he has been silent with all this snow and with ClimateGate. They have made fun of the former Vice President and those on the Left because global warming couldn’t be happening with all this snow. The Left has now fired back saying that all this snow is actually evidence of global warming. Just this week, MSNBC anchors and Fox News anchors have lobbed shots at each other over this.

Here is a sampling of video clips of this week’s action. First, Rachael Maddow interviews the lovable Bill Nye, the Science Guy. Nye appeared on MSNBC’s Feb. 10 “Rachel Maddow Show” and aired his disapproval of manmade climate change skeptics and labeled them “unpatriotic.”

MSNBC Anchor Dylan Ratigan got into the act, stating: ‘Snowpocalypses’ that have been going through D.C. and other weather events are precisely what climate scientists have been predicting, fearing, and anticipating because of global warming … In fact you could argue these storms are not evidence of a lack of global warming, but evidence of global warming.” That clip is here.

Glenn Beck responds to this clip on the radio and on his Fox News program. The transcript of what he said on the radio program can be found here.

Not to be out done, Ratigan responds to Beck with what appears to be scientific evidence. Note that clip here:

The IPCC report that Bill Nye notes received a Nobel Prize for their work has been exposed by ClimateGate. The IPCC has had to announce this week that errors were made. Britian has called for an inquiry. India has pulled out because of the manipulation of the data. And despite some claiming the science is settled, it certainly doesn’t appear to be.

I know two things. First, in 2002, I participated in a doctoral class where one of my colleague worked for an environmental group. She was, herself, an environmentalist. During part of her research, however, she came to the conclusion that the environmental movement had little to do with the environment and more to do with the money. In fact, it was primarily a money movement.

Second, the science that Ratigan & Nye use to validate their claim that global warming is the cause of the record snow falls, has recently been proven incorrect. A recent study by Susan Solomon,Karen Rosenlof,Robert Portmann,John Daniel,Sean Davis, Todd Sanford, and Gian-Kasper Plattner, published in the journal Science, states:

Stratospheric water vapor concentrations decreased by about 10% after the year 2000. Here, we show that this acted to slow the rate of increase in global surface temperature over 2000 to 2009 by about 25% compared to that which would have occurred due only to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. More limited data suggest that stratospheric water vapor probably increased between 1980 and 2000, which would have enhanced the decadal rate of surface warming during the 1990s by about 30% compared to estimates neglecting this change.

This article was generated by scientists with the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences in Colorado and the Physics Institute in Bern, Switzerland. These are hardly groups associated with any high level of climate change skepticism.

If the water vapor concentrations were increasing, with more water in the atmosphere there could be more rain and snow, depending on the temperature. However, water is decreasing; therefore there should be reduced rain and reduced snow falls. That is just not happening.

Another article was published in Geophysical Research Letters by two scientists with the National Climatic Data Center in North Carolina and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. The article is entitled “Is the climate warming or cooling?” Easterling and Wehner basically show that with little-to-no external forcing of global climate, we will still get decades of warming and cooling. They note that no real cause is needed to produce a decade of cooling – it is all just part of the natural variability of climate.

Has there been a trend towards an increase in temperature? Since 1975, yes there has. It is, however, now trending downward.

As a Christian, I believe it is important to be good stewards of creation. I want to be off the grid (except for internet) in 10 years, using solar, wind, and geo-thermal energies and the grid as back-up power only. At the same time, I also believe in the sovereignty of God and in that I believe that God can take care of this planet without my help or my harm. So while I support environmentalism to a point, I also reject the rabid environmentalists trying to cap and tax (~~trade~~) and destroy economies and jobs.

Q4U:

1. Will extreme environmentalism hurt our economies? If so, how?
2. What are you doing to be more aware environmentally, and a better steward of the earth’s resources?

The loss of innocence

David Phillips — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:59:16 +0000

In this short video, I look at Genesis 3:1-7, the story of the temptation of Adam and Eve. In it I show how the story is a loss of innocence and is destructive of community. I also compare the temptation of the first Adam to the second Adam -- Jesus Christ.

10 minutes long…

Where you never expected to be

David Phillips — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:05:37 +0000

Dr. Thomas Long, Professor of Preaching at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, shares a message called “Where You Never Expected to Be.” He says God calls us to tasks we never imagined for ourselves and places we never expected to be. If we know how to listen, we can hear God’s call right now.

Q4U:

How have you found your calling?
What are you doing to fulfill your calling?

Has there ever been a Christian worldview?

David Phillips — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:09:58 +0000

An interesting question, don’t you think?

The definition of worldview
According to Wikipedia, a worldview “is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing natural philosophy, fundamental existential and normative postulates or themes, values, emotions, and ethics. The term is a loan translation or calque of German Weltanschauung, composed of Welt, ‘world’, and Anschauung, ‘view’ or ‘outlook’. It is a concept fundamental to German philosophy and epistemology and refers to a wide world perception. Additionally, it refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts with it.”

What is a Christian worldview?
A Christian worldview “is identified primarily as a set of doctrines or a system of beliefs” [1]

Francis Beckwith offers a definition of worldview. He says,

What we mean is that the Christian faith is a philosophical tapestry of interdependent ideas, principles, and metaphysical claims that are derived from the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures as well as the creeds, theologies, communities, ethical norms, and institutions that have flourished under the authority of these writings. These beliefs are not mere utterances of private religious devotion but are propositions whose proponents claim accurately instruct us on the nature of the universe, human persons, our relationship with God, human communities and the moral life. [2]

Christian thinker James W. Sire defines a worldview as “a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true, or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic construction of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.” He suggests that “we should all think in terms of worldviews, that is, with a consciousness not only of our own way of thought but also that of other people, so that we can first understand and then genuinely communicate with others in our pluralistic society.” [3]

The impact of a Christian worldview
This construction of a Christian worldview creates a Christian faith that is dualistic and reductionistic. It reduces the Christian faith primarily to a set of ideas, principles, claims and propositions that are known and believed. The goal of this is to create “correct” thinking. This relies on the description of Descartes: thinking things that are containers for ideas. This generates a rationalistic view of self where we are not only reduced to thinking things but are seen as things whose bodies are nonessential containers for our minds. This also creates our dualistic approach: There is a distinction between our bodies and minds and neither affects the other. [4]

Humans, however, are fundamentally desiring creatures. We are what we love, and our love is shaped, primed, and aimed by liturgical practices that take hold of our heart and aim it to certain ends. Humans are primarily lovers, not thinkers or believers.

Being a disciple of Jesus, therefore, is not primarily about getting the right ideas and doctrines and beliefs into the mind in order to develop the correct behavior. It is a matter of being the kind of person who loves rightly – who loves God and neighbor and is oriented to the world by the primacy of that love. We are made to be such people by our immersion in the material practices of Christian worship.

There are two correlates to a cognitive emphasis of humanity. First, the focus on a Christian worldview as beliefs and doctrines marginalizes or ignores the centrality of distinctly Christian practices that constitute worship – arguably the single more important thing a Christian does. Second, it marginalizes the body and all that makes up the body, including imagination. The focus on the cognitive reduces the need for a community. In fact, there is no need for the body. The body focuses on practices and rituals, what Christians do. Worldview as beliefs and doctrines focus on what people believe, on an assent to ideas and thoughts, not actions.

In my next post, I will look at an alternate concept to worldview thinking.

NOTES
[1] James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Cultural Liturgies), 31.
[2] Francis Beckwith,To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview: Essays in Honor of Norman L. Geisler as quoted in James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Cultural Liturgies), 31-32.
[3] James W. Sire The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog, 5th Edition, 15-16
[4] Smith, 32.

Homo Liturgicus – Philosophical Anthropology and Education

Concentrate for better productivity (mac only)

David Phillips — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:49:31 +0000

I have ADD. I may actually have ADHD, according to my coach, who is also a Christian counselor. I can get distracted by the smallest thing. My mind can think of something and quickly I’m diverted. I have a problem with concentration and focus. I admit it. I blame the 6 years in the IT industry. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. You know, stress can cause issues with short-term memory. It also is an accelerator of ADD/ADHD, though not a cause. And during the startup days of the internet, stress was very real.

I can’t remember where I found this (like I said, memory issues), but recently I ran upon an app for the mac called Concentrate. Concentrate “helps you work and study more productively by eliminating distractions.” It is a simple application with a really nice interface. Concentrate offers a number of options to help you get down to business. With it you can

Quit applications that distract you
Run applications, and only the ones you need for your task
Open websites you need to use for work
Block websites that you know will distract you such as social media sites

In addition to helping keep you on task, Concentrate takes it also records spoken messages that help to keep you going, play sounds to let you know how long you’ve been concentrating, and alters your iChat and/or Skype status to keep people from bugging you.

Concentrate has a 60 hour free trial and is $29 to purchase.

I really love this app. I have different tasks set up and in each task certain programs are allowed to run, certain programs and automatically shut down. Some websites are allowed and some are blocked. It really helps me get things done and allows me to “concentrate”.

If you have a mac, pick up a copy. Then use it. It’s worth the $29.

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Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

Images of Truth

David Phillips — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:24:59 +0000

The following is a two part series on the images of knowing. Today I look at the images that form the idea of truth.

The message education should convey is not identified by words like “fact,” “theory,” or “objective”. Instead, the message is called “truth.” The English word for “truth” comes from a Germanic root that also gives rise to the word “troth,” as in the ancient vow “I pledge thee my troth.” With this word, one person enters a covenant with another, a pledge to engage in a mutually accountable and transforming relationship. To know something or someone in truth is to enter troth with the known. To know truth is to become betrothed, to engage the known with one’s whole self. To know in truth is to allow one’s self to be known as well, to be vulnerable to the challenges and changes any true relationship brings. To know in truth is to enter into the life of that which we know and allow it to enter into ours. Truthful knowing weds the know and the known; even in separation, the two become part of each other’s life and fate.

Therefore, truth has nothing to do with manufacturing a world, keeping it at a distance, or manipulating it to suit our needs. Truth involves entering in to a relationship with someone or something genuinely other than us, but with whom we are intimately bound. Truth contains the image we are seeking – the image of community in which we were first created, the image of relatedness between knower and known.

Educating towards truth does not mean turning away from facts and theories and objective realities. If we devote ourselves to truth, the facts will not necessarily change. What will change is our relation to the facts. Truth requires the knower to become interdependent with the known.

The following was adapted from Parker Palmer’s book To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey

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Integrating Missionally

The danger of commodifying worship

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