Saint Columba Day 2016

Today is the traditional celebration day for Saint Columba, an Irish missionary who did the work of God in Scotland. The following quotes are attributed to this man of God.

Alone with none but Thee, my God, I journey on my way; what need I fear when Thou art near, Oh King of night and day? More safe am I within Thy hand than if a host did round me stand.

O Lord, grant us that love which can never die, which will enkindle our lamps but not extinguish them, so that they may shine in us and bring light to others. Most dear Savior, enkindle our lamps that they may shine forever in your temple. May we receive unquenchable light from you so that our darkness will be illuminated and the darkness of the world will be made less. Amen.

Columba is one who modelled the ability to rest in the hand of God and shine the light of God into the darkness of the world. May we follow his example.

Change

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. John F. Kennedy

Kennedy, or JFK, said these words in the middle of the 20^th century when significant change was in the air. The rate at which things change in our current time would be mind-boggling to this former president. We must learn to deal with change and perhaps an ever accelerating pace of change at least for the near future as we stand nearly 16 and a half years into the 21^st century.

Change can of course be good or bad, thrilling or challenging, life enhancing or so difficult we might wonder if we will survive the change. In a culture of change it is only the organizations and companies that are agile and themselves able to change quickly that will survive and thrive. To see the truth of such a statement one has only to look to energy companies in Calgary as they have reacted to a change in world oil prices.

What does this mean when we think of churches? We live in a world where we are all electronically connected and relationally disconnected; a world where people can travel across the city or across the world with ever greater ease; a world where leaders rise and fall on the whim of a local, national, or international following; and a world in which technology and media drive our monetary choices. The implications of these changes are vast, and yet most of our churches continue to function much as they did when JFK uttered his words regarding change. Churches do not tend to change rapidly. They are founded on ancient words that hold principles for all time. There is a tendency toward nostalgia and history. Few other disciplines (perhaps philosophy is another) hold such high regard for old words as opposed to new words on a subject. Certainly the Bible must be used as the founding document and the bedrock for the function of churches today; yet, why should the words of Augustine (354-430 CE) hold more sway than the words of Dallas Willard (1935-2013 CE)?

Are churches in North America (my only frame of reference) ready to embrace change for the sake of the ancient message? Can methodologies and practices change while the ancient work goes on? What new courses need to be charted? What experiments are necessary? What kinds of intentional community need to be fashioned so that the mission of the church survives in a world of change?

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” 
― Barack Obama

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.” 
― Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Screenplay

What is Church? Chapter 2

In a blog on January 6th, I suggested that one purpose for gathering as followers of Christ is to search for God and allow others to do the same. Today I want to address another reason why we gather as the Body of Christ: mission.

As most of us will know, Missional Church is very much in vogue these days. We read about it in the primary journals and publications of the church and most of our churches claim to be on a missional path. Many times when hearing someone speak of the “missional” church, I find myself wanting to quote Inigo Montoya from Princess Bride, “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.” Perhaps none of us has a clear definition of the word “missional.”

However, today, I do want to make some bold statements about mission. One of the reasons God has called us to be the church is that he is continually calling us to mission. The word mission comes from a Latin word, mitterre, which means “to send.” The etymology of the word is also rooted in the Greek word “apostolos, from apostellein to send away, from apo- + stellein to send.”[1] So, a missionary or an apostle is “one who is sent;” in this context, it is one who is sent by God.

Jesus is our perfect example of one who was sent. The Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 20 and 21 make this clear, ^“As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.’”[2]

From these words we understand that Jesus was sent into human time and culture by God the Father; and, as his mission was nearing completion, he sent his followers into human time and culture to continue his work. John 20: 20, a verse that I like to call the “20:20 vision verse,” also informs his followers that the task of being sent is not easy and may result in rejection, suffering, and even martyrdom.

Now, as we are sent into this world, what do we understand to be our task? Our task is that of Jesus Christ, the Son. Jesus came to do many things and, as some of the manuscripts of the Gospel of John also say, “If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25) It is clear that Jesus came to forgive sin (John 20:23), bring Good News to the poor . . . . to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18, 19) All of these tasks are also the work of the ones whom Jesus sends into this present time.

I like to describe it in another way; being sent by Jesus means that we are to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus. We are to continue his work of releasing people from the chains of oppression (both earthly and spiritual). We are to proclaim the truth of the Gospel and bring this good news to the spiritually poor and the earthly poor. By prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to bring sight to the spiritually blind and the earthly blind. We are to bring hope and peace that the time of God’s favour upon humans is at hand. Jesus continues to say, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

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[1] See the Merriam-Webster online dictionary at http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apostle

[2] I am quoting from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.

Leadership Prayer Breakfast

Today, Calgary Mayor, Naheed Nenshi, spoke briefly at the 45th Annual Calgary Leadership Prayer Breakfast. This breakfast started as an opportunity for Christian leaders to come together to pray for the city and our country. Since those early years, Calgary's cultural and religious diversity has increased. Today there were references to Christians, Muslims, and Jews working together for the good of the city in flood rescue and reparations.

Mayor Nenshi said that there are "more things that unite than divide us." He spoke of our common "responsibility to serve others" and our sense that we are "in this together." He inspired the crowd by drawing from his heart and from the words of others. He said that "together we are stronger" and that we are "greatest together." He concluded with a reference to a message written on a sheet of plywood in a flooded community in Calgary. The simple message on the makeshift sign read, "We lost a lot of stuff; we gained a community."

Belonging Before We Believe

Recently, a friend of mine asked my opinion on how we live out community in the church and church organizations such as camps. He had been challenged by someone who suggested that it was inappropriate to have non-Christians at church run events such as camps and other gatherings. He wondered what I thought about the concept of encouraging people to become part of the community before they actually become followers of Jesus. He asked me where proponents of this approach would find precedence in the Bible. I grabbed a few of my books and looked through The Shaping of Things to Come, Exiles, The Forgotten Ways, and The Great Giveaway. My general sense is that all of these authors would say that the principle comes from looking at how Jesus invited people into the Kingdom. In other words, we won't find a passage that says, "Thou shalt have non-Christians among you at your camps and helping out in your churches." But we do find that Jesus had around him a mixture of followers/true disciples and those who turn aside when His teaching gets tougher.

John 6:60 says, "On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”" John 6:66 says, "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." The language does not suggest that these "disciples" were guests among the followers of Jesus. There is no distinction amongst those who are there in the crowd with Jesus. The only thing that ultimately distinguishes people within the crowd is their response to the teaching of Jesus. The crowd who was allowed to follow, enjoy the benefits of miraculous meals, and see the miraculous signs of Jesus was a mixture of those who believed that He was God in the flesh and those who hung out for the rewards of being with Jesus but would not commit to His hard teachings. Even Judas was allowed to serve alongside the other disciples despite the fact that Jesus knew the evil that lurked in his heart and the fact that Judas would ultimately hand Jesus over to be crucified.

Michael Frost puts it this way in Exiles.

"In John 6, after Jesus had miraculously fed the five thousand and then walked on water, he believes that it's time to deliver some of his most uncompromising teaching to his followers. Since they had experienced such amazing displays of his power, it seems reasonable to expect that they would be very receptive to his message, but instead John tells us that "many of his disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?'" (John 6:60), and "from this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him" (John 6:66). Jesus' "hard teaching" has the effect of separating out true disciples from those who were interested in the miracles but not ready to cross onto the threshold of liminality." (Exiles, page 113)

In Matthew 19, we see Jesus' encounter with the rich young man. Here again the "hard teaching" causes someone to decide not to follow Jesus. Both of these passages assume that the people whom Jesus has invited to journey with Him, and spend time in community with Him, are a mix of true disciples and not-yet disciples.

In The Forgotten Ways, Hirsch speaks of a contemporary example in which a cooperative works together on a mural on a large wall that the city has given them to paint. The initiative comes from a group of believers but the cooperative is mostly made up of non-believers. "The project could take three months to complete, but by the end of it, they have delved deeply into each other's lives, explored many themes that relate to life, God, and spirituality, and have become friends." (p. 226, 227.) Later in the chapter, Hirsch says,

"We find all of these elements in the way Jesus formed his disciples as together they embarked on a journey that took them away from their homes, family, and securities (be they social or religious) and set out on an adventure that involved liminality, risk, action-reflection learning, communitas, and spiritual discovery. On the way their fears of inadequacy and lack of provision faded, only to be replaced by a courageous faith that went on to change the world forever." (p. 241)

I also think we see the principle in the early church, the books of Acts, Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, and Philemon have references to households of faith and churches that met in homes. It appears that the early church was a mix of believers and non-believers. Slaves would be present serving food and caring for children. Some of these slaves were later welcomed into the household of faith as full brothers and sisters. (See Philemon for one example but there are more.) Robert Banks has a great little book that shows (from careful biblical and archaeological study) what it might have been like to attend the church that met in the home of Priscilla and Aquila (Going To Church in the First Century). It shows the interaction of slaves and free people, believers and not-yet followers of Jesus in the church context. It shows how there may have been slaves, nannies, indentured servants, and others present who were given full access to the gospel as they served in the home. Based on all of this biblical precedent, it would appear that the usual route into the Kingdom of God, and to the Church which is known as the Body of Christ, would be a gradual move from being part of the community of believers to being a part of the "courageous faith that went on to change the world forever."

Community and Care

It is important to tell good news stories of people finding care and community in the church. The following story is an example of how this can and has happened in the life of one church. The names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

The Siparia family had been part of a house church gathering for nearly two years and in that time they had seen a number of challenges. They had been loved and supported through the death of the grandfather of the family and then they struggled with poor health of their grandma. Connections Christian Church in Calgary became a surrogate family for these immigrants from Trinidad.

Grandma Renata developed a serious infection in her foot that reduced circulation and threatened her life. The doctors suggested that the foot would need to be amputated. The church community began to pray that God might save the foot, and for a while it looked like God had answered that prayer. The doctors felt that with a little more antibiotic treatment and hydrotherapy they could prevent an amputation. The church rejoiced. However, a few days later the doctors determined that the therapy was not making enough of a difference and that the amputation would need to be performed to save Renata’s life.

This challenged the faith of all in the group, but our daughter, a 15-year-old at the time, expressed it best when she said, "It feels like God is teasing us!" "It looked like God was going to answer our prayer for healing and then He didn't." Renata, a woman of great faith, taught my daughter, me, and indeed our entire community a great deal when she said, "If we look at the Bible we see that many people had trials and tribulations. Why would we not expect the same? I have already said good-bye to this foot. I will have a new one in heaven."

The Sunday evening after Renata returned home from the hospital her family still wanted us to have church in their home. Her bed was in one corner of the living room to allow her to function on the main level of the house. As she sat up and told us her story of faith and what God had been teaching her through these experiences, she was surrounded by 30 attentive people who wanted to hear a message from God. Children, teens, young adults, and middle-aged adults listened intently. The Holy Spirit spoke through the Bible and through the life of this committed believer that evening. She gave us hope for a good future in the midst of the temporary struggles of this life.

Because Renata was in the process of immigrating to Canada, she did not yet have medical coverage for the hospital bills which added up to more than $40,000. Renata’s house church family (and some from the broader house church network) gave more than $13,000 to a trust fund to help with these medical expenses. After the initial payments were made the group continued to walk with the family as they worked through the immigration process and made payments on the remaining bills.

Why do I say that it is important to tell stories like this? I meet many people who tell me that they are Christians and follow Jesus but they have quit attending any form of church. They think that they can be Christians on their own. But stories like this show the importance of being together in community. It is possible that God might have met the needs of this family if they did not attend a church; but, because they were a part of a Christian community many people were able to think through significant issues and learn how to follow God in good times and in bad. God worked through this committed group of believers and showed the power of love and community.

Alone

Two articles published online last week stood in stark contrast to each other. The press release from the Mercer survey reported that Vancouver, British Columbia is once again in the top five most liveable cities in the world.1 Vancouver has ranked as high as number one in previous surveys and is always in the top ten cities of the world. The other article was published in the Globe and Mail and reported the findings of a "Table Discussion" carried out by the Vancouver Foundation.2 They set out to determine the key issues for members of the Vancouver community. One would predict that such concerns as homelessness and affordable housing would be on the list; and indeed they were. But what is surprising is that the survey showed that "the top issue on the minds of the majority of those being interviewed was not one that had been in the headlines: the growing sense of isolation in Metro Vancouver."3


While living in a great city with a large number of people with whom to interact, many people still feel isolated and alone. This is a sad commentary on my city and it is also part of a growing problem in many other cities in Canada and the US. The American author, Robert D. Putnam, in his book, Bowling Alone, suggests that since 1950 there has been a continual decline in the number of in-person social contacts between people in the United States. Furthermore, "Matthew Brashears, a Cornell University sociologist who surveyed more than 2,000 adults from a national database found that from 1985 to 2010, the number of truly close friends people cited has dropped -- even though we're socializing as much as ever."4 The conclusions made by these various authors suggest that we are living in a culture in which people are withdrawing into more technological forms of contact and are investing less in in-person forms of social interaction. The result is a sense of isolation and loneliness.


Much more could be said of this and we could point to other trends in our culture such as how the entertainment we consume is becoming more and more individual (listening to music through our ear-buds; watching movies on our tablets or phones). In future postings we will explore this subject more deeply. For now I leave us all with one suggestion and even a challenge. Take the first step! We know that people around us are lonely and isolated and perhaps we feel a measure of this ourselves. What might happen if we invited that neighbour over for dinner? What if we truly got to know the person living beside us? It might be a risk worth taking.




1 (Mercer: Mags Andersen 2011)
2 The Globe and Mail article suggests that this was a survey but the report itself available at http://www.vancouverfoundationvitalsigns.ca/wp-content/uploads/community-conversations/Vancouver_CC_FINAL.pdf refers to this process as a "Table Discussion."
3 (Mason 2011)
4 (Potter 2011)


Mason, Gary. "Alone, so alone, in Vancouver." The Globe and Mail. November 24, 2011. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/alone-so-alone-in-vancouver/article2246891/ (accessed November 26, 2011).


Mercer: Mags Andersen. "2011 Quality of Living worldwide city rankings – Mercer survey." Mercer. November 29, 2011. http://www.mercer.com/qualityoflivingpr (accessed December 02, 2011).


Potter, Ned. ""More Facebook Friends, Fewer Real Ones, Says Cornell Study"." ABC News. November 8, 2011. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/facebook-friends-fewer-close-friends-cornell-sociologist/story?id=14896994 (accessed December 2, 2011).


The Vancouver Foundation. "Community Conversations." Vancouver Foundation. 2011. http://www.vancouverfoundationvitalsigns.ca/community-conversations/ (accessed December 3, 2011).

Individualism

Western culture in general has a high degree of emphasis on the individual. Individual rights and values are often allowed to trump societal benefits and norms.* Some would say that this is a direct result of western Christianity and the changing relationship between Church and State.#

Faith, in particular, has become much more about me and my relationship with God and less about community and serving my neighbour. I am not sure which came first, the cultural tendency toward individualism, or an individualism of faith that influenced an entire culture, but it is an anomaly. In the latter part of the 19th century George MacDonald had this to say about our faith:

Till we begin to learn that the only way to serve God in any real sense of the word is to serve our neighbor, we may have knocked at the wicket-gate, but I doubt if we have got one foot across the thresh-hold of the Kingdom.^

How might we turn the tide of individualism which is sweeping both church and culture? Could we start with these words of Jesus?

“You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Matthew 20:25-28 (New Living Translation)

*I believe such statements to be somewhat self-evident but if the reader wishes to investigate this further they may look to Wikipedia.
#For example see this abstract.
^George MacDonald in Beautiful Thoughts, First published in 1895.

Communitas

I recently came upon this blog post at "The Forgotten Ways Blog." You can read the whole post here: http://www.theforgottenways.org/blog/2008/12/07/the-bible-and-communitas/

The part that caught my attention was his further explanation of communitas and liminality, concepts he develops in the book The Forgotten Ways and also addresses in his blog. A short definition of communitas is "the belonging which develops while being on a difficult mission with a community of friends." A short definition of liminality is "working from the margins as opposed to working from within the power structures."

This claim that communitas and liminality are normative for God’s people recently stirred up a bit of a storm in a recent speaking tour. Some people in the audience responded with real vehemence when Michael Frost and I proposed this way of understanding of Christian community. This negative response forced a deep reflection on the validity of these ideas but after much searching I have to say that I have not fundamentally changed my mind. On the contrary, this clash in conceptions in relation to the purpose of the church has forced me to conclude that for many of our critics, Christian community has become little more than a quiet and reflective soul-space (as in Alt Worship circles) or a spiritual buzz (as in Charismatic circles) for people trying to recuperate from an overly busy, consumerist, lifestyle. But is this really what the church is meant to be on about? Is this our grand purpose, to be a sort of refuge for recovering work addicts and experience junkies? A sort of spiritual hospital? I believe that the reason for the strong response in our critics is that they actually did ‘get the message’ about missional church but didn’t like it because, in this case, it called them out of a religion of quiet moments in quiet places and into liminality and engagement.

Lord, help us to take on the difficult missions into which You call us knowing that You are our strength and salvation.