Jesus came to raise the dead. He did not come to teach the teachable; He did not come to improve the improvable; He did not come to reform the reformable. None of those things works. –Robert Farrar Capon
I have had the incredible privilege to walk along side so many amazing people and see many aspects of the Kingdom – it is an ongoing task to separate my home culture from the Gospel of Jesus. Coming back to America and the faith expression I grew up in has too often felt like putting a shoe that a size too small, I can get my foot in but there not enough room. I am deconstructing a lot of assumptions I grew up with and trying move beyond “Americanized evangelicalism”. I am desperately following after Jesus in an attempt to discover what it means to be vitally connected to Jesus. There is a spirituality that we [I] have missed along the way, a spirituality that has Jesus expressing himself through us in an authentic love centered form. To me that is the practical expression of Galatians 2:20.
Love Wins!
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I started deconstructing back right after college...i use to be a liberal and then I was a conservative...and then i realized my allegiance isn't to the U.S. first (nor it's Americanize Christianity) but to a radical God that showed up in history and the lives of people all over time. I no longer feel confortable being safe. I want to be an instrument for his purpose. To be a catalyst for the original intent of Christ's love. It's a tough road to head down. It requires thick skin. Thin pride. A ton of vulnerability.
ReplyDeleteThis is John:
ReplyDeleteChris well said. Jesus’ call was to live radically, not safely. He is my security, not my source for creating secure circumstances. Jesus bids all of us who follow him to come and die. For in dying, we find life; in surrender, we find freedom.
Church-wise we are orienting [def. find your position; reflexive verb to find out where you are and in which direction you need to travel]; we are in a waiting and holding pattern, seeking new direction and vision for our family in the body.
My friends who seem content with the status quo of organized religion today believe I have left the church. They are a little put-off with my current decision not to participate in a traditional congregation. I would never claim they are wrong and I am right. I know there are many of my brother and sisters who are growing in Christ and living out an authentic expression of following Jesus in that setting. However, I also know there are many groups of Christians who expend a lot emotional energy and fiscal resources on their own institutions, and maintaining the status quo of their institutional group. I know what it means culturally to “go to church”, but it is based on a bogus assertion that church is a location or event. I think Jesus’ image of the church is quite different. It is a way of living in relationship to Him and to other followers. To that end, I have not “left” the church. How could I leave the church? It is who I am not a place I go.