One Emergent Missional Journey

350 Action or Inaction of False Dichotomy

2009-10-24T17:48:00.009-06:00

On October 24, people in 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5200 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis.

At the only 350.org event listed as being held in Colorado Springs, I was pleased to find a dozen people gathering together at Broadmoor Community Church for a 350.org Dialogue. Besides meeting some kindred souls, we had a great discussion about the division (dualism) that splits our culture and our church. We shared a hope that taking action as an individual could lead to a discourse that helps fill the gap between the two opposing sides of this issue.

One never knows how the small actions you take will affect the world. Individual actions might be just what's needed if one considers the notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory. Perhaps our small actions will make a huge difference. If concerned individuals keep praying, acting, and hoping - we just might be able to overcome the disastrous inaction caused by the moral or spiritual belief that only two possible fundamental concepts exist.

Deep inside of us I believe we all can sense the logical fallacy of false dilemma (also called false dichotomy, the either-or fallacy). Let's work together to steer clear of the negative forces that put us into a situation in which only two alternatives are considered, when in fact there are other options.

Bono's Audacity to Hope

2009-10-18T17:32:00.006-06:00

Back in 2006 as I was watching Bill Hybels interview Bono at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit and wondering what can Bono have to do with leadership, especially leadership in the evangelical church. I was surprised as Bono spoke about the churches role in eradicating extreme (stupid) poverty. As it turns out, this interview was a message that awoke the church or at least acted as a tipping point for action on this issue. It was a message of hope in the midst of a dreadful slumber. At each successive Willow Creek Leadership Summit, I have seen an increasing awareness and desire to solve extreme poverty.

As an Op-Ed Guest Columnist in this mornings New York Times, Bono published an excellent article entitled Rebranding America. I believe this article has the potential to bring hope to an America that has been focused on right thinking at the expense of right living. Bono calls us to adopt the audacity to hope - joining together with an American president whose heart seems set on bringing hope to a tired and hopeless world.

We have a long way to go, but I sense the direction is slowly changing towards freedom from the power of selfish darkness that has so strongly influenced our recent history. While there are still plenty who oppose both President Obama and Bono, I'm reminded of a quote by Albert Einstein, "Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence."

The Kingdom and The Hierarchies

2009-07-04T15:51:00.003-06:00

Both Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the Hall-Tonna Inventory of Values are derived from man studying man. When man studies man, he normally intends the study to be from a scientific perspective and to offer empirical evidence to support his findings. These studies result in models of naturalistic systems. This can be seen from Maslow’s observations of the “healthiest” individuals:

”...a naturalistic system of values, a by-product of the empirical description of the deepest tendencies of the human species and of specific individuals. The study of the human being by science or by self-search can discover where he is heading, what is his purpose in life, what is good for him and what is bad for him, what will make him feel virtuous and what will make him feel guilty, why choosing the good is often difficult for him, what the attractions of evil are.”

While I clearly see value in these models, I wonder if they actually help clarify or obscure the Kingdom of God. In reading the gospels, I’m often perplexed by the things Jesus said, many of which, through the eyes of man, seem to defy empirical evidence. John Stuart Mill in his essay “On Liberty” said, “The sayings of Christ co-exist passively in a Christian’s mind, producing hardly any effect beyond what is caused by mere listening to words so amiable and bland.” Could it be that by studying man we lose the meaning of Jesus’ words? A favorite anthropology professor may have captured what I’m trying to say when he said, “the study of man by man – leads man to move away from an understanding of God.”

Anxiety and Greed to Milk and Honey, a recent article in Sojourners Magazine by Walter Brueggemann, seems to flip our man made hierarchies on their head. I’ll summarize the main thoughts here, but the article is worth a more in-depth review.

Brueggeman shows that empirically, man is destined to follow a hierarchy that works through the stages of autonomy, anxiety, and greed:

AUTONOMY, “An ‘individualism’ that resists communitarian connectedness and imagines the individual person to be the primary unit of social reality.”

ANXIETY: “Without the restraint of God, one is also without the resource of God. The self-sufficient person knows down deep that self-securing and self-satisfaction finally are unachievable, because they represent life in a world where no gifts are given.”

GREED: “The autonomous person, beset by anxiety, can only resolve to do better, to get more, to arrive at full control of the future by full control of the present.”

Brueggeman, goes on to show how believing Jesus’ words lets us envision a new kingdom. A kingdom with a new hierarchy that works through the stages of covenantal existence, abundance of God, and generosity.

COVENANTAL EXISTENCE: “Biblical faith is an invitation away from autonomy to covenantal existence that binds the self to the holy, faithful God and to neighbors [both global and local] who are members in a common economy.”

ABUNDANCE OF GOD: “Biblical faith, having vetoed autonomy, is an invitation away from anxiety to the abundance of God. The God of the gospel is the God who keeps giving.”

GENEROSITY: “Biblical faith is an invitation away from greed to the neighborly practice of generosity.”

This new hierarchy demonstrates one that is not always apparent to man. It reflects the Kingdom of God on earth. It is one where we build a relationship with our community (our nieghbors) through our connectedness with the God of the Kingdom.

National Cohousing Conference

2009-06-30T14:05:00.006-06:00

This past weekend I attended an outstanding conference, one at which over 350 intelligent optimists gathered to advance a movement that is at the forefront of transforming our world. The 2009 National Cohousing Conference is the national conference for those who already live in cohousing, who are currently seeking a community, and professionals serving cohousing communities to learn new ways to "grow community." I attended as a neophyte, a newcomer with a desire to learn about cohousing – exploring the idea of living in community.

Cohousing is a type of collaborative housing in which residents actively participate in the design and operation of their own neighborhoods. More importantly, active participation requires that people work together and working together is a key ingredient to ‘community glue’, an ingredient that binds individuals together and enables them to achieve a higher purpose. In many ways, the product of community glue is social capital. ‘Social capital’ makes communities better places to live. It is mutually respectful relationships, connectedness and trustworthiness among people. It’s also networks and involvement. The term social capital was coined by social scientist James Coleman to describe community ties, and Robert Putnam furthered popularized this research in his book, Bowling Alone.

My primary interest in cohousing can be summed up in two words; missional sustainability. I’m increasingly convinced that climate change is a health issue affecting billions of people, not just an environmental issue about polar bears and deforestation. The impacts will largely be on the poor and not in the distant future. We will experience the affects within my lifetime and extreme affects in the lifetimes of our children. Climate change will have its greatest effect on those who have the least access to the world’s resources and who have contributed least to its cause. Without mitigation and adaptation, it will increase health inequity especially through negative effects on the social determinants of health in the poorest communities. Couple climate change with ‘peak oil’ and I clearly see the need to get serious and ‘work’ to transform the consumption based and individualistic culture I have so easily become a part of. Since it is clear that I contribute to the cause and that I have the ability to take personal action, doing nothing creates a high degree of cognitive dissonance in my missionally shaped mind.

Besides, even if all this stuff isn't happening, we can make better choices anyway and live a different story, the story of the kingdom of God on earth. On with the journey...

The Kingdom of God on This Earth

2009-06-19T09:51:00.003-06:00

I few years ago, I read This Beautiful Mess and it stoked an already smoldering fire to re-examine my understanding of the kingdom of God. In this book, Rick McKinley defines the kingdom of God as the “living, breathing presence and purpose and reign of God on our planet." His writings also make it clear that the "kingdom is already beautifully present in our flawed world and…Jesus invites us as His flawed people to respond.” For many years, I had thought that I was at least partly responsible to bring the kingdom of God to earth. Seeing the kingdom as already here was not something that I grasped. In fact, there seemed to be abundant evidence to the contrary. Since then, I've grown to believe that the way to make our world a better place is to believe in and be active participants in a different story, the story of the kingdom of God on earth. The difference may not be readily apparent, but this shift has profoundly altered my life.

McKinley writes about “two gospels” - the gospel of Jesus and the gospel about Jesus: "The gospel of Jesus is usually taken to mean His announcement of the kingdom and the life He embodied in His loving actions toward the world. The gospel about Jesus refers to His atoning work on the cross and His resurrection, through which we can receive the forgiveness of sin through our faith and repentance.”

As I reflect on my past, I would say that I had based much of my world view on the gospel about Jesus. I knew who Jesus was, I knew what Jesus did, I knew that because of Jesus - God loved me unconditionally, and I accepted Jesus into my heart. All of this, I still know and hold very dear. In no way would it be correct to say that I have left the gospel about Jesus behind.

Instead, I have come to more fully embrace the gospel of Jesus in combination with the gospel about Jesus. The simplest way that I can say this is that I understand Jesus to be the king of His kingdom and I worship Jesus as my king as I choose to live in His kingdom, the kingdom of God on this earth. Living in His kingdom, under His rule, has opened my eyes to the holistic nature of the place that I live. Things that I once saw as mundane, just resources, or just messes - I now see as beautiful aspects of God's kingdom to be valued, cherished, explored, and to be entered into.

I'm thankful for my Malaysia experiences and the experiences traveling with Compassion. These experiences helped me see the gospel about Jesus as the "gospel for the offended against" and the gospel of Jesus as the “gospel for the offender.” I realized that I had been focused largely on what I needed - the “gospel for the offender” (the forgiveness of sins). This is because I had little experience with being offended against. As I came to be with and know more people who were offended against, my heart was opened to Jesus' loving actions for the larger world, the world of the we - not just the me.

So for me;

- the gospel about Jesus is the key that opens the door to the kingdom of God on earth. His atoning work on the cross and His resurrection, through which we can receive the forgiveness of sin through our faith and repentance, enables me to see that Jesus is lord. Wholehearted acceptance of the gospel about Jesus lifts my oppression and allows me to enter in.

- the gospel of Jesus is the key to seeing and participating in the kingdom of God on earth. The life He embodied in His loving actions toward the world are the same loving actions I can take. But, His kingdom can be seen and I can participate only when I place Jesus on the throne of my life and follow Him as King of the kingdom He brought to earth, as well as, the King of my life.

We become active and accountable citizens in His kingdom. We see His kingdom, we joyously bow down to Him as King of this kingdom. We become full participates and work as servants of the King to maintain and restore His Kingdom on earth. We see how precious His kingdom is, how connected we are to it, and we align our lives to His kingdom. At first, this seems altruistic - maybe even against our own interests, then we realize that we are one with His kingdom and His kingship is good news for all.

Cause and Effect

2009-05-20T15:43:00.005-06:00

This graphic was published in the May 16 edition of The Lancet: Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change. One can clearly see who causes climate related health problems and who pays the price.

As someone with a missional worldview, it is hard to look at this chart without getting upset with myself and my community. How can I/we continue to say we care, if we don't take action.

Doubt & Faith (Fox or Hedgehog)

2009-04-11T15:27:00.015-06:00

My friend and I recently had an interesting conversion about doubt and faith. We've come to the conclusion that without doubt, our faith can tend towards a know-it-all form of arrogance and without faith, we cannot truly participate in the story of the kingdom of God on earth.

Doubt stokes our internal wonderment, a desire for learning and growth - leading to change and development. The absent of doubt, leads to a feeling of superiority - a form of unteachable pride. Jesus teaches us to guard against this, we are to be humble and I think our humbleness helps to ensure we remain teachable. This humbleness enables us to be free to question our assumptions and is an antidote for our prejudices and predispositions.

Elton Trueblood said, "Faith is not belief without proof, but trust with reservations." I have faith because I see the proof of God's love towards his creation all around us, as Saint Paul states in Romans 1:20; "for since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made."

Faith coupled with doubt enables us to explore all of God's created world and continually realign ourselves with the story of the kingdom of God on earth. We can refuse to settle into the pattern of a hedgehog thinker as explained in Philip Tetlock's, Expert Political Judgment:

Hedgehog thinkers are thinkers who "know one big thing," aggressively extend the explanatory reach of that one big thing into new domains, display bristly impatience with those who "do not get it," and express considerable confidence that they are already pretty proficient forecasters, at least in the long term.

Enabled by faith, our freedom to doubt lets us take advantage of what Tetlock calls fox like thinking;

Being thinkers who know many small things (tricks of their trade), are skeptical of grand schemes, see explanation and prediction not as deductive exercises but rather as exercises in flexible "ad hocery" that require stitching together diverse sources of information, and are rather diffident about their own forecasting prowess.

Hospitality for Children in a Homeless Situation

2009-04-02T07:26:00.006-06:00

Another great opportunity to show compassion to children is coming up soon. This will be the second time that our church community has had the privilege to volunteer with Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN). It’s a great opportunity to live missionally and serve children who are in a homeless situation.

IHN provides homeless families with children a safe, homelike shelter where that family can stay together and share meals, as parents work with a case manager to acquire employment and affordable housing, regain independence and self-sufficiency.

There are five basic components to an IHN program:

Hosts – Families are hosted by local congregations, who provide lodging, meals, and welcoming care.
Day Center – During the day, guests use the day center – where a specially trained employee provides case management services. All the day center guests are encouraged to pursue employment and affordable housing, tend to preschool children, shower, and do laundry. The day center provides guests with a mailing address and a base for housing and employment searches. Some guests are employed during the day, while older children attend school.
Volunteers – This is where we play a vital role:
o Cooking and serving meals
o Playing with children or helping them with homework
o Interacting with guests, with respect and compassion
Social Service Agencies – Local social service agencies refer families to IHN and also nay help guests find housing, jobs, and benefits.
Transportation – The IHN van is available to transport guests to and from the day center.

The benefits to volunteers, congregations, and the community are numerous. As I see it, the benefits can all be summed up by one word compassion; "to bear with" or "to suffer with” - actively. Watch this short video and I think you’ll get an idea why I think IHN is a good opportunity to Live Missionally.

Trading Down is Trading Up

2008-12-27T20:38:00.002-07:00

During the last two weeks, I've listened to two distinctly different articles on NPR. One that I believe reflects the behaviors of the past and one that gives me the audacity to hope for a better future.

The first piece was authored by the Cato Institute, and was heard on Marketplace Morning Report. In Don't Be Frugal To Follow Recession Chic; Commentator Will Wilkinson says that if you can, you should keep spending. Essentially, the folks at the Cato Institute want us to believe that by not consuming all we can, we are actually hurting others. So the best thing to do is live it up to help get the economy going. Help your neighbor by purchasing all the stuff you can afford — just like you've were doing before the economic crisis. No need to worry, just take care of your wants and the free market will take care of the rest.

The second piece aired on the Christmas Morning Edition Show. For Junky Car Club, Charity Begins In The Garage; Mike Foster — a former sports car owner who now sponsors four children through Compassion International, speaks about car owners who have traded down from pricey cars to junkers and use the extra cash for charity. Mike didn't suggest that we give up driving, he simply strives to live a life based more on the common good and less on conspicuous consumption.

Clearly we need more of the type of actions modeled by Mr. Foster and less of the ideas espoused by the Cato Institute. On Christmas, it was good to hear a hoped filled example of how making little changes to our lifestyle can help bring grace and justice to our hurting world.

A Prayer for a New President and a New America

2008-12-17T20:09:00.004-07:00

I just finished reading one of the best magazines that Sojourners has ever published. If you don't currently read Sojourners, you're really missing out on magazine that is a great guide for those who seek to discover the intersection of faith, politics, and culture.

The Cover Story for the January 2009 issue, is entitled Dear President Obama; Memos to the new president from political, cultural, and religious leaders. All of these memos are sincere and thought provoking. Of all the memos I read, Shane Claiborne's prayer entry was the most thought provoking. While I would have preferred to have Jesus for President, Barrack Obama was my second choice, so I'll commit to pray for our New President and use this prayer as a guide.

A Prayer for a New President and a New America

God of love, grace, and hope, thank you for creating a perfect world. Forgive us for the mess we have made of it. Forgive us for the groaning of creation, for the millions who die of hunger and curable diseases, for warehousing people in prisons and using them for labor, for the scandal of billions wasted in war, for an economy that mirrors the seven deadly sins, for the violence and greed in our own hearts. Save us from ourselves.

Give us the courage to bless the poor in a world that blesses the middle class, to bless the meek in a world that admires aggression, to bless the hungry in a world that feeds the already fed, to bless the merciful in a world that shows no mercy on evildoers, to bless the pure in heart in a world of clutter and noise, to bless the peacemakers in a world that baptizes bombs.

Give us imagination that we might not conform to the patterns of this world, that we might shatter indifference and interrupt injustice with grace, that we might choose the cross over the sword, that we might be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves, that we might consider the lilies and sparrows as they shame Wall Street's splendor, that we might choose the dream of God over the dreams of nations, that we might cling to the God who so loved the world, not just America, that we might allow our Jesus to change America rather than America to change our Jesus.

Shane Claiborne is a founding partner of The Simple Way, a radical faith community in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. He is the co-author, with Chris Haw, of Jesus for President.

Becoming Better Consumers?

2008-12-06T09:07:00.002-07:00

With much of my attention focused on the economic issues of our day and as I begin to shop for Christmas presents, this short video really made me think.

The Daily Office

2008-10-09T12:10:00.001-06:00

In a March blog entry, I wrote about my participation in a Power of Full Engagement Course. One of the main benefits of this training is that it requires you write a new story; a story that describes who you must become to achieve mission success in your life. I wrote my new story and went to work on establishing a few new rituals that would help bring alignment between my new story and my day-to-day living out of this story. One area of my new story - being a man of prayer - had been particularly hard to achieve until I discovered the daily office.

My first discovery of the daily office was while reading Brian McLarens recent book; Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices. Finding our Way Again is the first in a series of eight books that will be called The Ancient Practices Series. The books will be written by eight different authors, reflecting on the practice and application of spiritual disciplines. The next book in the series; In Constant Prayer, by Robert Benson. As Robert Benson says, “At some point, high-minded discussion about our life of prayer has to work its way into the dailyness of our lives. At some point, we have to move from talking about prayer so that the marvelous that is possible has a chance to appear.”

This being the 30th day of my practice, I now feel that the ancient practice of the daily office, is a wonderful ritual for help bring alignment with my new story. If your interested, more information can be found in the The Devine Hours section of explorefaith.org.

A Redemptive Financial Crisis?

2008-10-07T13:51:00.003-06:00

Our church community just finished a sermon series on the topic of stewardship. As is our new practice, we completed this series with an interactive question and answer session. I particularly appreciate this practice as it satisfies my, some would say postmodern, desire for interaction. I am increasingly no longer content to silently ponder and respond to the ideas of the speaker, but desire real interaction so that the words have a better chance to take root in my life.

One of the more interesting questions asked, concerned the current financial crisis and the possibility that God is using the crisis as a punishment for our failure to defend the rights of the unborn. While I don’t believe there is much biblical support for this conclusion, I was challenged to consider the possibility of the financial crisis being linked to our failure to obey other biblical admonitions.

As I go about my daily work, I often pass by a prominently displayed adaptation of Proverbs 31:8-9

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

As the interactive session continued, I could vividly picture this passage in my minds eye and I have been pondering it ever since. What strikes me is this passage seems diametrically opposed to the libertarian ideals of our “ownership society”. These ideals have both pervasively and perversely been the dominate world-view of our society for at least the last few decades. Up until the current crisis, the prevailing thought was – and for some still is - that we need to drop all control of “the market”. At best we have been silent; we have stood by while the rights of the poor and needy are trampled by increasingly freer-markets. At worse, we have strongly supported the principalities that endeavor to support this system, mostly because we’ve learned to personally benefit from our knowledge of its inner workings.

Perhaps there is a redemptive nature to the current financial crisis. This crisis is affecting me and I no longer feel that I have any particular knowledge of how to benefit from the current system. Maybe now, I’ll actually “speak up” and as a result defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Faith in Markets Restored or Why High Energy Prices Just Might be Good

2008-08-03T18:30:00.006-06:00

Growing older and hopefully wiser, I've gradually shifted from a free market economic philosophy to a decidedly Keynesian world view – with anti-corporate tendencies. Perhaps this is just a consequence of aging, however, I feel it has more to do with seeing the results of unfettered free market economics and my emergent missional journey with Jesus.

In Blessed Unrest, Paul Hawken does a marvelous job of summing up the problems with unfettered free market economics as he explores the reason that many NGOs work so hard. He writes that, “tens of thousands of NGOs work toward amending the market policies of globalization because markets are not designed to be surrogates for ethics, values, and justice. So great a number have been founded because their function is the opposite of uniform trade rules: they try to deliver specific solutions tailored to the individuals and places they address. Several NGOs filed a lawsuit that brought tens of millions of dollars in back wages and repatriation costs to thousands of indentured workers in Saipan [a strong act against injustice that I believe Gary Haugen might support]. These organizations were dismissed by free market gurus as a “radical ... fringe phenomenon,” and in one respect they are correct: the organizations that argue, demonstrate, and litigate for human rights are on the fringe. Why must such groups operate on the margins of society simply if they believe that social justice and human rights should not be sacrificed when corporations shift their manufacturing to the lowest-wage countries? History may wonder why so few cared so little about so many for so long [imphasis mine]. Critics of NGOs sincerely believe that the brutality, slavery, and colonial exploitation of the previous five centuries have effectively been vanquished, and the modern corporate march to global markets represents a new page in economic history. In fact, that expansion is fundamentally a predictable stage in the march of market economics; what is new is the global coordination of resistance to it.”

So why is my faith in free markets being restored? Because of today's New York Times article: Shipping Costs Start to Crimp Globalization. Finally the price of energy may actually bring some sanity to the excesses of globilization and even reverse some of the damages. I'm certainly concerned that the upheaval will largely be on the backs of the underprivileged. It would be far better if – acting like God's children – we could avoided our mistakes and devise a more disruptive plan.

Oops – I better stop here, maybe I'll lose my faith in the free market once again.

Accomplice to Injustice?

2008-07-31T12:26:00.003-06:00

For the last several years, I have had the privilege of attending the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. This event is always full of outstanding speakers; however, one concept can blend with another and I can find it hard to incorporate them into my journey. This year, I have selected one of the speakers ahead of time, purchased their book, and have studied it in anticipation of trying to build on their ideas throughout the coming year. Based on some previous exposure with International Justice Mission and a good review in Sojourners Magazine, I decided to read Just Courage: God’s Great Expedition for the Restless Christian, by Gary Haugen.

Gary’s clear challenge is to make a choice to be brave or safe. “Here is one choice that our Father wants us to understand as Christians – and I believe it is the choice of our age. Do we want to be brave or safe? Gently, lovingly – our heavenly Father wants us to know that we simply can’t be both.”

Gary has clearly joined the fight for justice, on behalf of the poor, in an extraordinary way. He explores how we can and should live an extraordinary life by following Jesus and doing the same. While I don’t want to detract from the books main message, I was struck by an underlying message – injustice and our complicity in it. Gary states that, “The sin of injustice is defined in the Bible as the abuse of power – abusing power by taking from others the good things that God intended for them, namely, their life liberty, dignity, or the fruits of their love or their labor.”

I have come to see the world as having a high degree of connectedness. On my journey, I continue to grow a wider understanding of these connections. While I'm a bit dense, our connectedness is is hardly a new revelation as Emerson’s writing supported the connectedness of the natural world and Thoreau’s writings supported the connectedness of the human world.

What Gary reinforced, is why these connections matter from a missional world view. Simply stated, a missional person becomes increasing mindful of how their actions affect others. One’s actions (i.e., investments, purchases, tax payments, consumption) have connected consequences that do not simply disappear into some anonymous corporation or government. Taking an action or simply participating in "the system”, may fund acts that are unjust (sinful) and as the funder I must therefore acknowledge my role as an accomplice. To be missional, I must continually work to be more aware and then take actions (both the bold and the seemingly mundane) that keep me from becoming an accomplice to injustice, while also taking actions to fight for justice.

I can't wait to hear Gary Haugen speak at the summit.

Fitting the Pieces Together

2008-03-24T21:57:00.005-06:00

While preparing for a meeting with my Compass Group (my church communities name for what are often called “cell groups”or “home groups”) I got stuck on the beginning verses of our assigned Bible passage in 1st Peter 1:1-9.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

It's the “strangers in the world” phrase that caused me to wonder. Am I really a stranger to this world or am I living in the promised land, where I sense little tension between my faith and the values of the dominant culture? Have I somehow confused the language of the Kingdom with the language of consumerism, become accustomed to the gods of the land – accommodated the spirit of the times?

Sure, my friends pat me on the back for working at a faith-based organization. Many say it must be wonderful to be doing something that so profoundly changes the world. Without question, I work for a marvelous organization, one that is really helping bring the Kingdom to earth. However; even in this great environment, I can easily revert to the thought patterns of corporate culture. I can begin to assess things through a cost-effective model that often loses sight of Kingdom virtues and be lead astray. Just because I'm in this environment, doesn't mean I can't easily lose my way and begin to focus on my individual well-being and happiness – losing sight of community and the Kingdom vision of finding self-worth in service on behalf of others. When this happens, the pieces don't fit together.

To truly live as a convert, an alien or a stranger, I believe I must face the challenge of how to live in the world while living a Kingdom life. Living in a way that exposes, challenges, and yet may sometimes embrace and reaffirm the way of the dominate culture. The life I hope to lead doesn't withdrawal from the dominant culture or seek to change it through zealot action – advocating its violent overthrow. Instead, this life demonstrates extraordinary love, living out an alternative life that serves others while giving the world the means to see itself truthfully. When I live as an alien, I live in obedience to Jesus Christ and all the pieces begin to fit together.

A Storied Future

2008-03-16T16:04:00.008-06:00

Over the last year, my journey has been influenced by a number of texts that I now realize all have a storied future theme. This post demonstrates - maybe annoyingly so - that my reading has been saturated by a series of books that, some would say, are a radical interpretation of Jesus' life, the story of the Kingdom of God on earth, and how our lives should become a part of this continuing story. In my mind, all this study has culminated in and prepared me for a Power of Full Engagement Course that I participated in this week.

What are these texts and what do they have to say about stories?

In Appreciative Living; The Principles of Appreciative Inquiry in Personal Life, Jacquelin Bascobert Kelm taught me a bit about the Anticipatory Principle. This principle suggest that the images we create in our minds about the future guide our present action and create that very future. As further explained by Copperridder and Whitney:

One of the basic theorems of the anticipatory view of organizational life is that it is the image of the future, which in fact guides what might be called the current behavior of any organism or organization. Much like a movie projector on a screen, human systems are forever projecting ahead of themselves a horizon of expectation (in their talk in hallways, in the metaphors and language they use) that brings the future powerfully into the present as a mobilizing agent.

In Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope, Brian McLaren spoke about our framing stories. By this he means the stories that give people direction, values, and inspiration by providing a framework for their lives. It tells them who they are, where they come from, where they are, what's going on, where things are going, and what they should do.

The Power of Full Engagement course introduced me to The Power of Story: Rewrite Your Destiny in Business and in Life, by "story," Jim Loehr means those tales we create and tell ourselves and others, and which form the only reality we will ever know in this life. Our stories may or may not conform to the real world. They may or may not inspire us to take hope-filled action to better our lives.

So, this weekend my homework was to write My New Story. According to the course material my new story is to describe who I must become to achieve mission success in my life. It should communicate where I need to go in life to complete my ultimate mission. I took this assignment seriously and crafted a story that I believe will inspire me to take hope-filled action. If there was a grade, then some points would be deducted because my story is less about my ultimate mission and more about the kingdom of God on earth.

My new story is founded on the belief that the way to make our world a better place is to believe in and be active participants in a different story, the story of the kingdom of God on earth. This story incorporates many of the lessons learned while reading Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals. In it Shane Claiborne speaks about the need for a new language. As the apostle James writes, the way we speak controls our lives. In the same way that you are what you eat, it's true that you are what you say. Our language changes the way we view the world. In my life, I hope to change the language of conversion. Conversion should reflect the best sense of the word - a people who are marked by the renewing of their minds and imaginations, who no longer conform to the pattern that is destroying the world. Otherwise I would only be a believer, not a covert. And believers are a dime a dozen nowadays. What the world needs is people who believe so much in another world that they cannot help but to enact it. My plan is to be a convert.

With this new story written, the path is clearer, but each step on the journey lies ahead and each step must be guided.

Proverbs 16:9

In his heart a man plans his course,

but the Lord determines his steps.

Security Through Loving our Nieghbors

2008-03-06T20:12:00.005-07:00

I just finished reading a section in Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw's recent book, Jesus for President : Politics for Ordinary Radicals, called "The Amish for Homeland Security." This section talks about how the Amish responded to the act of terror in their school, when a gunman killed five Amish children in 2006. It then asks the question, what would the world look like if we reacted to violence in that way?

On January 15th, the UCCS Center for Homeland Security, sponsored Greg Mortenson to speak at Colorado College. Greg is the author of Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time. His message was simple, it was as message about how to change the world by loving the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan by providing them an education. Greg's presentation also left me asking, what would the world look like if we sought security by loving others.

God seems to be speaking load and clear to me. The system changes and justice increases every time I react to violence with love or just love my neighbor.
Now the question is: Do I really believe this and do I have the courage to act like the Amish?

Lenten Journey with the Poor – Part Two

2008-03-04T18:02:00.003-07:00

Charity = Social Service
Charity provides direct services like food, clothing, shelter.

Justice = Social Change
Justice promotes social change in institutions or political structures.

Reflecting on last Saturday’s journey, as we walked along - many of our discussions centered on the need to distinguish between justice and charity. Personally, I am more comfortable with charity because charitable actions are more immediate and somewhat measurable. Many of us were able to give examples of our charitable actions; however, we could recall far fewer demonstrated justice actions.

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:17

Our visit with Bev Agnew, Co- Executive Director of Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN), provided a poignant reminder that just one incident can place many of our neighbors in a homeless situation. When this happens, Bev and her team stand ready to intervene and IHN clearly provides direct services. In fact, partnering with IHN is a great way for a church community to help their immediate neighbors and I plan to encourage my church community to see what we can do to get involved.

But as we left IHN, I was faced with some questions;

What am I doing to change the system?
I’ve learned to do good, but do I seek justice?

Brian McLaren writes in Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope, that “Jesus’ good news says we are neighbors in one global community, related to each other as fellow citizens in God’s kingdom. He calls us to seek justice for all so that God’s compassionate will is done on earth as in heaven”.

Saturday’s journey was very encouraging, because I believe the Church is reawakening to its proper role in – seeking justice – acting to change unjust systems and beginning to seek ways to bring God’s kingdom to earth.

The journey continues...

Lenten Journey with the Poor - Part One

2008-03-01T21:46:00.002-07:00

Today, I joined a group of twenty people on a Lenten Journey with the Poor – a full-day walking tour with the poor to better understand the issues of homelessness, poverty, abuse and mental illness in Colorado Springs. This journey was hosted by Steve Saint in conjunction with the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission.

In his latest book, The Great Awakening, Jim Wallis speaks of three major obstacles when it comes to doing something about poverty. The first obstacle is the low priority of poverty on our national and international political agendas. The second obstacle is the debate over strategy that we quickly get into – about the causes and solutions of poverty. The third obstacle is perhaps the foundation of the first two. It is the lack of relationship with the poor. The vast majority of people in the richest half of the world’s population or in the top two-thirds of U.S. society have almost no relationship to the people on the bottom. Lack of relationship leads to lack of understanding, empathy, and urgency and creates stereotypes, myths, excuses, and passivity. It is the third obstacle that today’s journey was intended to overcome.

Our journey began by reflecting on two passages from the Fourth Sunday in Lent Lectionary, 1 Samuel 16 and John 9. In my notebook, I wrote that appearances are not always where it’s at and now that I claim to see, my guilt remains. These were the thoughts that set the context for the rest of the day.

In the coming days, I plan to reflect on this journey and then further elaborate on what I learned along the way and at each of our destinations. For now, I’ll just list the destinations and some brief notes on the mission of each.

Interfaith Hospitality Network
The mission of the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) is to give hope to homeless families with children. IHN realizes its mission by providing transitional shelter and supportive services to homeless families and those at immediate risk to experience homelessness. IHN's primary goal is to assist families with children to permanently transition into independent affordable housing; secondary goals include meeting community transitional housing needs in the most cost-effective manner possible and providing church congregations with an opportunity to put their faith into action.

Marian House Soup Kitchen
Since 1985, the Marian House Soup Kitchen has been serving people who are hungry in downtown Colorado Springs. Hot, nutritious meals are provided for an average of 400 - 450 every day.

Pikes Peak Public Library District – Penrose Branch
You’ll have to tune in later to find out why we stopped here.

The Salvation Army New Hope Center
The Salvation Army New Hope Center is Colorado Springs only 24/7 emergency shelter and can accommodate up to 210 people. Residents receive a warm place to sleep, meals and access to shower and laundry facilities where all necessary provisions are supplied.

Springs Rescue Mission
"To transform broken lives with the good news of Jesus Christ, serving the poor, homeless and addicted by ministering to the whole person. We purpose to change the quality of our community, one person at a time."

I’m indebted to Steve Saint for hosting this journey and to my good friend Ken for telling me about it. Please stay tuned...

The Story of Stuff

2008-02-21T20:30:00.008-07:00

This 20 minute video really made me think. If you haven't seen it yet, it does an excellent job of exploring how our consumption affects us and others. It also does a good job of suggesting ways we can all make a difference.

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Personalizing the Poor

2008-02-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, on the drive to my office at Compassion International, I was listening to Shane Claiborne's audible book , The Irresistible Revolution: living as an ordinary radical. Pulling into the parking lot, Shane read these words; “Faith-based nonprofits can too easily be the mirror image of secular organizations, maintaining the same hierarchies of power and separation between rich and poor. They can too easily merely facilitate the exchange of goods and services, putting plenty of professionals in the middle to guarantee that the rich do not have to face the poor and that power does not shift.”

Shane's words disturbed me and caused me to question; am I a professional in the middle? Does my work, at the office I'm about to enter, facilitate the separation between rich and poor? Or is what we are doing actually building a bridge between the rich and the poor?

To answers these questions seriously, I had to take a good look at what we are doing and what our actions produce. I've concluded that we are in fact building bridges. These bridges help “the rich” (people like me) discover the political, economic, and spiritual realities of children who live in extreme poverty. Our first step may be small and if we stop there, then Shane's words ring true. But through letter writing and other prodding, God continues to touch our hearts and we take another step. If we continue to walk this path, before we know it, we will be visiting a child face to face – a delighted face in an otherwise dreadful place. In this way we are sending ourselves into the world to join with others to experience the Kingdom of God in a personal way.

All these may be small steps, but I must commit to continue walking. As Shane says, my destination should lead to “spreading the Kingdom like a disease – through touch, through breath, through life. Spreading it through people infected by love.”

There is Nothing New Under the Sun

2008-02-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

"What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done there is nothing new under the sun" (ECC 1:9 RSV).

While I’ve read this Bible verse several times, I am often struck by how many times I rediscover its truth. This morning I was part of a group of people who are earnestly trying to respond to a call from one of our senior executive leaders “to do what we can” to be good stewards of God’s creation. This is refreshing, as living in Colorado Springs has put me in relationship with many well meaning people who believe that global warming is some sort of hoax – designed to take energy away from what really matters. The idea of “creation care” is often quickly dismissed in favor of arguing about whether global warming is real. This argument just leads to inaction.

I was sitting in the meeting feeling that a new day is dawning and as a group of Christians we are really going to take the lead and do what we can. We are committing ourselves to make a difference because of the impact we have on others, whether or not global warming is caused by man. Our actions are truly a major shift from the position that “we” were taking just a few short months ago. It was inspired by a passage taken from Visions of a World Hungry by Thomas G. Pettepiece, Published 1979. Once again, I was delightfully reminded that we are just being awoken again to live missional lives.

The passage follows and I think I’ll make this part of my daily reading.

Recognizing that the earth and the fullness thereof is a gift from our gracious God, and that we are called to cherish, nurture, and provide loving stewardship for the earth’s resources.
And recognizing that life itself is a gift, and a call to responsibility, joy, and celebration, I make the following declarations:

I declare myself to be a world citizen..
I commit myself to lead an ecologically sound life.
I commit myself to lead a life of creative simplicity and to share my personal wealth with the world’s poor.
I commit myself to join with others in reshaping institutions in order to bring about a more just global society in which each person has full access to the needed resources for their physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth.
I commit myself to occupational accountability, and in so doing I will seek o avoid the creation of products which cause harm to others.
I affirm the gift of my body, and commit myself to its proper nourishment and physical well-being.
I commit myself to examine continually my relations with others, and to attempt to relate honestly, morally, and lovingly to those around me.
I commit myself to personal renewal through prayer, meditation and study.
I commit myself to responsible participation in a community of faith.

- From Visions of a World Hungry by Thomas G. Pettepiece, Published 1979

Finally Getting Started

2008-01-31T21:05:00.000-07:00

Just what the world needs is a another blog. Maybe not, but this should be a fun way to document a continuing journey. A journey where I hope to be able to stop along “the way” and blog about what it's like becoming a person who's more Christlike - a person who's more a part of God's mission.