Daniel Rose: The Pastor Next Door

“Hey Dad, why do some kids at school have ashes on their foreheads?” the kids asked.

“It’s a Catholic symbol for Ash Wednesday, the day before Lent.” I responded.

“What’s Lent?”

That’s a great question. I went on to explain what Lent is and the response quite honestly shocked me.

“We need to give something up!”

Libby, our eight year old daughter gave up chocolate. Little did we know this decision was about to transform a life.

My wife, Amy, and I are not legalists or traditionalists. We buck against kind of traditionalism and legalism. If you say we “have” to do something, odds are we won’t. Up until our kids wanted to participate in a Lenten fast it never really crossed our minds to do so.

I have been so impressed at the faithfulness of my little family. Lent has been pretty well kept in our home and that’s saying something.

However, one day at a party Libby wanted chocolate. Everyone else was having chocolate, but she couldn’t have any. She couldn’t have any because of “Lent”.

The door was opened.

Amy asked her what was Lent? Libby said something about how it’s a time to give up things before Easter. Right.

“What’s Easter?” Amy asked.

“It’s when Jesus died on the Cross and was came alive from the dead.” Libby said.

“Right, and why did he do that?”

“Because we sin and he loves us so he died for us to forgive our sins.”

“Right. That’s called ‘grace’ sweetheart. We don’t deserve it. We can’t get it ourselves. It has to be given to us. Jesus got it for us when we died and rose again. Guess what?” asked Amy.

“What?”

“He even gives you grace to have chocolate today. It’s OK. Jesus died on the cross and rose again so you have freedom to eat some chocolate today.”

“Really?!!”

“Yes, really! That’s what grace is all about. Jesus loves you and wants you to live free. You can give up chocolate again tomorrow. He knows what your heart is. He loves you.”

Grace has become something that Libby understands.

This morning I said, “Libby gets grace.”

She exclaimed, “NO DADDY! I live it!!!”

The quote below intrigues me. I think that this kind of “serial disruption” is required by churches. We must keep on “re-planting” ourselves. If we don’t then we become stale and lose our saltiness. The church needs to keep looking to the future and not allowing any sacred cows to keep us from being on mission.

emergentfutures:

“The lesson here is that a company that disrupts does not necessarily survive. Long term survival depends on the ability for serial disruption. Serial disruption is an uncomfortable state for an organization to exist in. As the story above shows, disruptions are usually enabled by “desperate” necessity. Desperation is not something management is trained to aspire for.”

—

The parable of Nintendo — Horace Dediu and Dirk Schmidt via Asymco

(via paperbits)

Hi, my name is Ethan and I learned in school that Jackie Robinson lived his life by nine values and used them to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball. This is a story about a time that I used those same values to overcome a barrier in my life.

At my school football got banned because some kids weren’t playing safely. I was very mad. It seemed unjust. I went back to my house that night to talk about it with my family. My father suggested a petition. At the time, I didn’t know what a petition was. So I asked.

He explained that a petition is like a letter stating what I think should happen. It also should have signatures of the people who think the same as me.

I decided to do it, but I was anxious. I couldn’t believe what I was on the verge of doing.

When I woke up the next morning, my dad was still sleeping, so I tried to make the petition myself. It said:

Dear Ms. Lilly,

I am one of the many who would like football back. Here are some reasons why:

1. The school wants us to be active. Football is a safe-fun way to be active.
2. Without football kids get in arguments over games.
3. Exercise makes you better in school.

On the following pages you will see the signatures of the people who think the same as me.

“Yeah, I think that is good.” I said to myself.

The next day I asked my friend Jacob to help me.. Using teamwork, we got the signatures in one recess. Then we turned the petition into Ms. Lilly. I went to bed happy that night, thinking that tomorrow would be a great day. I would have a talk with Ms. Lilly and then football would be back! Well, did I get a surprise!

Days went by and no word from Ms. Lilly. I was getting pretty worried. What if she didn’t get the petition? What if she didn’t care? All of these possibilities were flowing through my head. Then, one day, during math, over the PA system I got a call from Ms. Lilly, saying that she wanted to talk to me.

Ms. Lilly said to make a committee of three third graders, three fourth graders and three fifth graders. We would meet and make the rules for football. She said, “You will contact me when it’s done.”

I left her office feeling very worried. I didn’t know any fifth graders, let alone three of them! But I had to do this. I had to do this for my school and for my friends. I was determined.

Finding kids from each grade to join the committee took a lot of persistence, but with teamwork, we got it done. Now all that needed to happen was the meeting. I couldn’t wait.

At the meeting the next day, we started thinking of rules, voted on them, and then wrote them down. Soon we had a page full of rules. When we presented them to Ms. Lilly, she said, “Great job,” and told me to speak on the announcements the next day. 
The next day, on the morning announcements, I explained that anyone who wanted to play football would need to sign a contract to follow the rules that the committee had written. Twenty-five players attended the meeting and signed their names. And that’s how I got football back for my school!

***

To get football back, I had to use Jackie Robinson’s values. I was very committed to overcoming this barrier. Using a petition was an example of good citizenship. It took courage to talk to Ms. Lilly. It took determination to find fifth graders for the committee when I didn’t know any. I had to be persistent. My friend Jacob and I used teamwork to get the signatures. My school is very diverse, and football is a sport that we all play together. Getting football back for all of them felt good. Well, I got the job done, didn’t I? That shows excellence.

One day in the spring of 2002 I returned home from a long day on campus. I was in the midst of my first year as campus director at Illinois State University with CRU.

I was tired.

In my mailbox was a little package and inside was a book entitled, Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller. I hadn’t ordered this book, it just arrived.

The next day I sat outside a coffee shop and read.

I kept reading.

I kept reading.

I finished the book in one sitting.

I read it again.

What I discovered afresh in Blue Like Jazz was clear call to gospel living. I realized that I had become more about convincing people of a worldview and winning an argument than I was about introducing them to Jesus.

This book re-introduced me to radical grace.

God used it to change my life.

The gospel stopped being “Jesus and…” and became a clear call to Jesus himself. Legalism quickly became a thing of the past and in the pages of the Bible I finally saw freedom to live life joyfully.

God used Blue Like Jazz to awaken my soul to the joy of grace, freedom, and life with Jesus. On April 13 a movie adaptation of the book hits screens. I hope that God will use it to begin conversations about these very things.

I can’t wait.

simplyorthodox:

A servant of the Lord is he who in body stands before men, but in mind knocks at Heaven with prayer.

-St. John of the Ladder

Two questions are left with me from this weekend. First, do I have room in my life for a baby in a cave or a rambunctious three year old? Second, will I Christmas all year or will I forget until next year?

[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rga4rp4j5TY?wmode=transparent])

via youtube.com

Fairy Tales which are glimpses into our cultural psyche. They paint pictures of deeper bits of reality. ABC’s Once Upon a Time paints an interesting picture:

The town of Storybrooke is under a curse. The people there do not know who they really are because of the curse. There is one woman and a little boy who know the truth. The woman, the Evil Queen is doing everything in her power to conceal the truth. The little boy, proclaims the truth about the curse and the people’s real identities. The town thinks him crazy.

My 10 year old son said, “Dad, this is just like the gospel.”

Indeed it is son, indeed it is.

At the end of every year people write their evaluation blog posts. Kevin DeYoung has produced his where he critiques the Young, Resltess, and Reformed (YRR) “movement”. I want to take a moment and give my own critique. I would encourage you to read his post to get a bit of background and also take note of his helpful suggestions.

I think Kevin is correct in his critiques. I would however add one and that is of dogmatic clarity. I think Kevin might argue that he holds to a similar critique when he argues for folks to go deeper into their ecclesiastical traditions. I am arguing here for something a bit deeper and more specific.

Whenever conversations about YRR come up there are three terms that are used almost interchangably: Evangelical, Calvinist, and Reformed. It’s as if to be truly Evangelical one must be a Calvinist and to be a Calvinist means that you are Reformed. These words actually h

old specific meanings and while they are connected, they are by no means to be equated.

To be an Evangelical means, in its most simplest terms, that one believes in the Trinity, that the Bible is the authentic and authoritative word of God, and that to be reconciled with God one must trust in the atoning work of Jesus. To be a Calvinist, in its simplest terms, means that one holds to the soteriological position outlined in TULIP (total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints). To be Reformed means that one holds to covenantal theology as outlined in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

What are the hallmarks of the Reformed faith beyond a Calvinist understanding of soteriology?

First, it is covenantal. There are only two covenants, that of works and that of grace. The covenant of grace is revealed organically through history. This means that the Scriptures are a unified whole without discontinuity.

Second, this leads to two distinctions practically. The first is a federal form of government, often times called “presbyterian” because it is built through a connectional system of representative elders. It also holds to paedobaptism because children are clearly included in the covenant community in Genesis and are never stated to be excluded.

This means that to be Reformed is very different from being a Calvinist. Calvinism is a part of being Reformed but it does not equate. The same can be said of evangelicalism. A Reformed believer, necessarily is evangelical, but it does not go both ways.

I think that we need to begin to more clear about who we are talking about as “Reformed.” Many Calvinist Baptists are equated with being “Reformed”. This makes the dogmatic waters muddy. Michael Horton and John Piper hold to very different positions on key issues. Why? Because Horton is Reformed and Piper is not, he is decidedly Baptist. Their differneces are good and healthy because they hold to different perspectives on the Scriptures. While they are in the same camp, these brothers do not share a tent.

Where do we go from here? I think that we need to let the YRR label go. It is not properly descriptive. It’s time to clarify the positions that are being held to because they matter. These variety of positions will further the conversations that need to happen. If we can understand that there are real differences between Baptists and Presbyterians and Non-Denominationals and whoever else we will be able to have real conversations about real issues.

I am thankful for Calvinist brothers and sisters of other traditions. But we have very real differences and those differences provide fertile ground for learning, growth, and development. In the name of unity we must not set aside our real distinctions but we must embrace them and allow the distinctions to draw us closer. When this happens, it will be evidence of maturity within the movement.

Unity in diversity ought to be the hallmark of the New Calvinist (the appropriate label for the shift)movement. Not a muddy murky sudo ecumenicalism that does not take one another seriously.

There aren’t many Christmas movies as good as Elf. It’s hilarious and it is also poignant. Like most other Christmas movies related to Santa Claus the issue at the center is belief, or the lack thereof. One of the best moments is when Buddy finds ou that Santa is coming to the Mall…

[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jyCfRHumHU?wmode=transparent])

This scene has been in my mind for a few days now. I keep thinking about it’s illustrative purposes for me as a follower of Jesus. Buddy’s excitement is overwhelming and full of passion. It is clear that he loves Santa and that he desperately wants others to know him too. Look what happens when he finds out that the real Santa isn’t at the mall…

[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY4bUP48RE8?wmode=transparent])

These two clips paint a picture that ought to challenge us as Jesus followers. We do not know an omniscient, legalistic, elf. We know the God of the universe. We know the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Isaiah 9:6 describes Jesus this way,

For to us a child is born,
 to us a son is given;
 and the government shall be upont his shoulder,
 and his name shall be calledt
 Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
 Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Buddy the Elf loves Santa for who he is, he defends his honor, and desires for people to know the real Santa. When we think about Jesus too often we are afraid what people will think of us. Often times we shy away from challenging wrong understanding of who he is at the risk of offending others.

I want to love Jesus the way that Buddy loves Santa.

Grace111218reduced.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Here’s a link to the text: http://bible.us/Rev8.6.ESV

Here’s a nifty way to understand the letter of Revelation in a big picture:

Revelation on Prezi

See the full gallery on Posterous

Christmas is about telling stories and sharing traditions. I love hearing the Bride share stories with the Princess as she passes on the traditional sugar cookie baking. It is absolutely beautiful!

The picture is from the front page of the Detroit News website. Two shootings, one day, two different parts of the country.

The question that I see in my Twitter feed is simple: What’s wrong with the world?

The answer to that question is simple too: We live in a sin soaked world that is broken.

Does that answer sound trite? It’s not. You see living in a sin soaked world means that we should be surprised when good things and not the bad. We typically think of sin as a simple moral act of doing wrong.

Sin goes much deeper though.

It corrupts everything it touches. It makes all things broken.

Do you notice that we are appalled?

Think about it, we live in a world where we are surrounded by brokenness the way a fish lives in water, and yet we are shocked by these kinds of things. I think that’s because we experience the common grace of God on a moment by moment basis. This means that we experience the fact that God is with holding most of the evil in the world.

Occasionally evil is allowed to occur.

When it does we are shocked.

When it does we ask questions and we doubt.

We pray.

We think.

C.S. Lewis wrote in The Problem of Pain, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Pain is the result of evil.

Evil is the reult of sin.

What do we do with sin?

Nothing.

It’s been dealt with for us. Jesus, lived, died, and resurrected to deal with sin, the results of failing to live in covnenantal relationship with God. He is the culmination of the story of God’s people where we find redemptive grace and reconciliation.

Today’s shootings are a reminder that we live in a broken and sin soaked world. They are a reminder that we need to deal with this sin. They are a reminder that we need to be in relationship with grace soaked redemptive God who is speaking through pain.

I am a Daddy of a Princess. She is the apple of my eye. I love her desperately and want more than anything to protect her and keep her from crying. When I look around the world and see the standard of beauty that she is expected to live up to it makes me sick. Below is a great video that gives significant wisdom and insight.

If you know a female of the species, you should watch it.

[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTlmho_RovY])

In our community at Grace Chapel we are currently studying through the Revelation of John. It’s a fascinating letter that challenges believers to remain faithful and true to the gospel until Jesus returns. A significant piece of the message is that the follower of Jesus will experience suffering. Life will not be all roses and puppies.

I have experienced suffering only as a child. My parents divorced when I was nine and that was painful. My grandmother, Mimi, died suddenly in a car accident the summer after my freshman year in college.

Those things were hard.

Now as an adult, who is a parent, and a pastor, I am learning that the admonitions about suffering in the Scriptures are real. This week God has seen fit to enroll Amy and I into Suffering 099.

It’s a remedial course. No credit given.

The frustration that comes from the deep seated selfishness that is present within me is ugly. Thankfully we are only dealing with pneumonia. It will pass.

Here’s to the hope of suffering well in the small so that when the big comes along we are ready to honor King Jesus in the midst of it.

There are few shows that speak to the human condition as regularly and poignantly as Fox Television’s Fringe. The most recent episode, “Wallflower” is a parable on the human need to be known.

Spoiler Alert — If you have DVR’ed the episode stop reading and come back.

The Fringe team has to investigate mounting murders around Boston. Murders that are apparently being done by an invisible man. They find that there is a man, Eugene, who has a rare genetic disorder that has made him invisible. He has figured out how to take people’s pigment from them so that he can be visible.

Eugene had gone through his entire life with nobody seeing him.

Could you imagine? Never being seen.

Alive, but not seen.

We all desire to be seen. Every kid at every sporting event, play, or performance scans the crowd looking for Mom and Dad. They want to be seen. My home reverberates with, “Daddy, watch this. Mommy, watch this.”

To be seen is hardwired into us.

Why do you think social media is so powerful? It helps us to be seen.

I love that Jesus tells us that he sees us and he notices us. He promises that God cares. We are not invisible and never will be. Because the one we can’t see, sees us.

http://www.fox.com/fringe/full-episodes/3256702/

This is a recent sermon I gave on Revelation 6.

Grace_111120_reduced.mp3 Listen on Posterous

It’s crazy when you begin to self reflect. I don’t recommend it. It’s not very much fun. You begin to grab hold of some things that you take for granted or take lightly and find that you need to change.

I love change.

I love changing other things.

I hate changing me.

Do you want to hear a confession? I truly enjoy social media. One night I was a Tigers playoff game and bantering back and forth with a number of friends on Twitter. It added to my enjoyment of the game.

It was all out “there”.

Last night a few of us started talking about Twitter. A comment was made that has stuck like a “splinter in the brain” and brought some of my self reflection full circle.

He said, “You guys put so much stuff out there it’s really hard to find what’s valuable.”

As a pastor, there is one thing I know, words matter. I desperately want my words to count and to have meaning. I want them to have purpose. Everything I do is all about words. When I started to write a blog I thought about why I blogged.

I have never thought about why I social media’ed.

So, here’s the deal, the way I use social media needs to change. That witty banter on Twitter? It’s going to disappear from the public forum. It will find its way into Direct Messages. Twitter is all about interaction. So there will still be some @-tweeting but only when it counts, when there is something to be gained by doing it. The posts will be fewer because what I put out there needs to have meaning. Typically, they will be connected to larger posts at Tumblr/Posterous.

Facebook? I will probably continue to use it the way I have been. Which is post things about my family, links, and various ministry related things.

What about Goole Plus? That’s been a different beast all along. I am not sure yet.

Foursquare? Is there value in people knowing when I check in? Nope. I will moving to Forecast and use it when I want it to be publicly known where I am going to be and for a purpose.

My hope is that when someone looks at my feed on Twitter, my timeline on Facebook, or my series of posts that they will quickly and easily find something of value and meaning.

As one of my favorite blog’s title reads, “Less Clutter, Less Noise”.

This is an image from an article that just hit my news stream and I am sure that it will begin to pop up in more and more places.

It’s one of those that picks up steam. It’s embarrasing and frustrating.

It begs a bigger a question…

What is the gospel?

Scot McKnight has done a great job exploding the Gospel myth that he refers to as “The Plan of Salvation”. The myth is that the Romans Road or the Four Laws are the “Gospel”.

News flash: They aren’t.

The Gospel is big and broad. It is the all encompassing story that makes sense of all other stories. Pay attention this Advent season. You may just hear the Gospel.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Part of the traditional hanging of the ornaments in our home includes Amy telling the story of each ornament.

The first ornament hung is always the same.

It’s hung in honor of my Mimi. Her legacy will always live because her story will always be told.

Over the course of the next four weeks we will be telling the story of another. He is the one who would come and culminate all the stories of all the world. His is the greatest story.

Do you know it?

content

Leadership As Influence

By Charles Lee

Leadership is often defined as influence.

In my opinion, everyone possesses the ability to “influence” or lead others in the general sense of the word, but not everyone is a leader (i.e., someone who functions in a publicly recognized role of guiding and/or influencing others). There are numerous individuals who influence the lives of many and yet don’t function well once given a key role of leadership in an organization and/or company.

The reality is that leadership in a formal sense requires a certain set of perspectives, values, and praxis that very few are able to carry out well. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some phenomenal leaders that are literally changing the landscape of our world. Here are a few insights I’ve picked up about what it takes to become a great leader:

• Pain Frames Purpose — Great leaders do not run away from pain, but rather, recognize that pain is what truly forms and informs their life purposes. It is not to say that they are sadistically looking for pain. Rather, their passions are often rooted in part by their experience of pain and suffering. Passion by definition is not only a reference to fervor, but also the willingness to move forward in the midst of pain.
• Collaboration is Necessary for Creative Innovation — Leaders recognize that they cannot and will not do it alone. Every great endeavor needs a team or community to help it flourish. Great leaders move from simply wanting collaboration to sensing a deep need for it. In other words, collaboration is not a nice add-on, but rather, a necessary foundation for moving ideas and people forward. In addition, innovative leaders welcome voices from unrelated fields to spark creativity and refinement of purpose.
• Courage Guides Decisions — Great leaders are marked by their courage in decision-making. They rarely lean towards the popular vote. Courage inherently implies that there exists a presence of fear and disheartening obstacles. Courage is the ability to move forward despite the presence of fear.
• Compassionate Justice Provides Perspective — No matter how tough a great leader may appear, deep inside they all care about the people they lead. Compassionate justice is a reference to a work that seeks to make things right with a posture of real care. It’s not simply about accomplishing the “task”, but more importantly, achieving something together without dehumanizing those participating. People ultimately “follow” a leader because they sense that they have their best interest in mind, even if it means that they go against the grain.
• Focus of Implementation — Great leaders don’t just talk, they do. They realize the hard work is in the implementation of their vision and courage. They don’t make excuses nor choose to sit on their ideas. They choose to move forward and figure things out along the way. Great leaders are focused on implementing better. There’s not satisfied with a 30,000 feet view. They also want to see what’s right in front of them. The focus is not just greater vision, but greater action. Great inspiration without great perspiration is nothing more than wishful thinking.

Living life as a leader is a noble pursuit. It takes a special person to move beyond the romanticized version of influence.

Are you a leader? If so, our world needs you at your best!

Charles is the CEO of Ideation, a creative agency that specializes in helping organizations and businesses take ideas to implementation via innovative strategy, branding, design, marketing, web, social media, and innovative events.

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This is a very, very good article on Leadership.

Over the last few days I have been interacting with folks about a great many things. Something that has struck me is the cavalier attitude toward doctrine. Many of us no longer seem to think that doctrine matters. We say things like, “I am not a theologian, but…”

Here’s the reality: doctrine does matter.

What we believe matters.

It matters big time.

When hardship and conflict come it is what we believe that will determine how we respond. Because, what we believe matters.

I have been heart-sick over the way those who hold a similar theological position as I have responded to a book that came out recently. They responded with polemics and rhetoric (some even before they had read the book!). Most have not responded with discernment or charity but have looked for a way to hang a “heretic”.

I have also been thoroughly disappointed in the way that those from other theological positions have either blindly defended or tried to move themselves away from a position which is the logical outcome of their own.

I am more convinced than ever that what we believe matters.

Then I read David Fitch’s recent post over at Reclaiming the Mission and I understood again why what we believe matters.

David coherently points out the distinctions between a “coalition” and an “expedition”. As I read this post I kept thinking back to a friend’s description of Jonathan Edwards as an “experiential Calvinist” and another concept that has been rattling around my head, the “experimental Church”.

It is sad to me that those who hold to the Reformed view of theology (not Calvinist Baptists like Piper, Driscoll, etc…they are not Reformed and as a result they are not in view here) have struggled to follow Edwards. It makes me wonder if we don’t really believe what we say we believe.

It seems to me that if Reformed theology is true then it demands from us an expedition into the experiential and experimental Church.

Why?

Because if Reformed theology is true then it is unflinchingly pointing us toward Jesus and his Kingdom. This requires us to follow Edwards to the frontier. It requires us to step out and actually act on our beliefs in the sovereign God, the in-breaking Kingdom, and the imputation and incarnation of Jesus.

It is my opinion, that Reformed theology (not Calvinist Baptist theology) is best suited for a post-Christian world, because it necessarily drives us toward the lost, culture, transformation, community, and authenticity.

But, only if we believe it.

But, we will only believe it if it matters.

It matters.

Over the upcoming weeks we will look at how our beliefs drive the mission and as a result help us to understand why doctrine matters.

In our previous post we saw how Jesus engaged the world. He entered in and sought to transform the culture within which he lived. He did so with passion, without regret, and in perfect holiness. He did so to the point that he was called a “drunkard” and a “glutton”. This is our model.

How do we apply it?

The first question that I hear murmuring is, “He was God. It’s different isn’t it?”

No. It’s not different. That kind of reasoning has no place here in the quest for the engagement of culture. It can’t. If it did then we ought to say, “He was God, therefore we shouldn’t disciple, because it’s different.” We could allow this line of thinking to go in any number of directions. 

No, it’s better to say that Jesus did it, therefore, we must try.

The next thing I hear murmuring through your mind is, “Not everyone is called to this. What about the weaker brother in Romans?” 

I hear your concern. I think in some sense it’s an appropriate one. I don’t think it should rule the day. The thinking becomes similar as the previous statement. The “stronger” brother has a responsibility to help the weaker grow. He should not flaunt his freedom (which is Paul’s concern) but should help his brother grow and become strong. To remain stagnant is not what Paul is arguing for. 

How do we engage with a broken culture and transform it while maintaining our holiness? 

That’s the question. 

I think we first need to realize that we need to start at the place of discernment. We each have different capacities and different amounts of freedom. Some of us will be able to engage in different cultural activities and others will look elsewhere. These differences are what make us the body. Discernment requires us to pray, to study, and listen. 

We must not allow discernment to be a vague form of legalism though.

To avoid this we must believe the best in those around us. 

This caveat must not be a license to sin. The thing about sin is that you typically know it when you see it.

Along with discernment there must also be engagement. The engage means that we are moving out critically. We are not simply taking in but we are evaluating, critiquing, and seeking understanding. This also requires us to have a “telos” or goal of transformation.

If we are simply seeking to be entertained then we are not following Jesus’ example.

If we withdraw from the world then we are not following Jesus’ example.

If we engage, transform, and then begin to create culture, we are following Jesus’ example.

There is so much we complain about and worry about. What would happen if believers created culture on the basis of the Christian worldview? What about education? Politics? Art? 

We would find films rated R, G, PG, PG-13 because life, reality, is represented by all of them. We would find horror films, we would find romance, comedy, action, violence, sex, redemption. We would find these because they are part of the Scriptures and reflect reality. 

We engage culture because we are human. We seek to transform it because we image bearers.

Last night I realized why it is going to be very difficult for the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. Jimmy Howard is a very good goalie. However, when going against an elite goaltender there will be a significant difference in the way the game is.called. The whistles for Luongo were quicker and that made all the difference.

The Wings lost last night and it was because the whistles were just a little to slow on one end and a little to fast on the other. That was the function of one goalie being a hall of famer and another being a young player still earning his stripes.

As we near the end of this discussion on engaging culture a few concluding points need to be made. Primarily we need to discuss which is worse, sinful thematic elements, or subtle deconstructions of worldview. This is something that we struggle to figure out on a principled level in every aspect of our lives as Christians. 

For us to get our minds around this reality we must first look at the life of Jesus to give us a glimpse of how we ought to live. To do that I think it will be helpful to take a look at Luke 7.

This section of Luke’s narrative begins with the story of the Roman Centurion. The Jewish context of this time was varied and it is hard to necessarily pigeon hole the average Jew into a group. However, there is one thing that we can be relatively certain of, and that is the basic distrust and dislike of the Roman occupation. This was understood to be an extension of exile. The average Jew would not have associated with Centurions. The leaders of Capernaum apparently did because this particular Centurion built the local Synagogue. 

This story is remarkable because of Jesus’ statement, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 

That is an abrasive statement, at best. That would be like a U of M football coach saying that OSU is the greatest football team ever, at a pep rally on campus at U of M. This simply does not happen. 

But it did.

From here Jesus raises a widows son from the dead. He displays the justice and compassion of God.

Then we encounter a remarkable interaction between Jesus and John’s disciples. We couldn’t possibly enter into a full exposition of this passage, however, I want to point out verse 34. Jesus says, “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”

Consider what Jesus is saying here. He self-identified with the immoral and broken of his culture. He did this to the point that the religious people called him a glutton and a drunk. Jesus stepped into the sinful world and engaged it so fully that he was challenged as to his own morality.

This section closes with a sinful woman, a city prostitute, forgiven. Jesus allowed her to touch him and caress his feet with her hair. She made him ritually unclean. Jesus didn’t care. He forgave her and sent her away in peace. 

Jesus engaged the lost world and transformed it.

This is our model. 

How do we apply this? That’s the next post!

There have been a few (and by a few, I mean more than you can shake a stick at) posts by people responding to a book by a Christian famous pastor and author. It’s reaching epidemic proportions. Almost to the point of being annoying.

I am not going to write about the pastor or the book (I haven’t read it, actually it was sold out at my local bookstore, so I couldn’t buy it).

What I do want to write about is the nature and tone of the conversation.

I am appalled.

I am appalled by the tweets, facebook posts, and one liners.

Social media is short form and is not the proper place for the kind of interaction that topics like this need. There are some topics that require more than 140 characters. Issues of Heaven and Hell certainly fall into that category.

This hit home for me last night after a weekly conversation called, Coffee/Doubt. We spent an hour dealing with this topic and barely scratched the surface. The questions were real and powerful. There was discomfort and passion. The conversation could have gone on for many more hours.

As we dive into the depths of what it means to be human and what it means to interact with the divine we must realize that the conversation will necessarily be long form.

I appreciate the long form critiques that are taking place on a few blogs. Sadly, blogs are typically group-think factories (this one is no different and yes I get the irony). You don’t necessarily interact with the blogs of those you disagree with. The comments of a dissenter are typically annihilated with polemic, by the readers, not usually the author.

This is the kind of conversation that needs to take place around the table where representative people can really talk through it.

This has always been the chasm. Scholarly papers used shoot past each other without either being read or digested. Books would be published and not really interact with one another. Magazines would publish response pieces that were inflammatory so that the magazine would sell. The bloggers preach to the choir. The tweeters condense it all into 140 characters.

My only solution is for the Church to engage in real dialogue. Face to face. Person to Person. That was the beauty of the ancient councils. The Church leadership would gather, dispute, worship, pray, teach and decide.

I like social media. I like blogging. I think they both have a place. But, I think they fall short as mediums for theological dispute (although I think blogging done right could be fantastic, a synchroblog on this issue could be worthwhile and helpful).