Unity in Diversity

I can’t get the video to embed, but here’s a link - http://www.current.tv/watch/69559992

This is a very interesting video about Crossroads, our local mega-church.

There’s a ton that you could exegete from this video…. lots of unpacking.  Like the couple (?) interviewed evaluating the veracity and legitimacy of Crossroads by “attendance”.  Is there a self-understanding of this congregation as a/the People of God?  What is success for this church - as defined by the leaders AND as defined by their “owners” (that’s, as I understand it, insider Crossroadian language for “members”)… AND defined by average-joe-attender?

I’m curious as to why Brian speaks of consolidation of small churches into one (or fewer?) as a good thing?  Is it really true that the diversity of churches inhibits Kingdom activity?  Is it true that a consolidation of ministries under one umbrella organization is more effective at extending Kingdom ministry?  If so then whose umbrella?  Do the Catholics get to play?   These are things I’m wondering….

Feet-sitters (or What is a Disciple?)

So, I had lunch today with the venerable Rob Lewin.  We pondered and discussed a good many things, not least of which was “discipleship”.  If planting a church is for the purpose of making more/better disciples then what in the world does it mean to be a disciple and how on earth will we as a nascent church accomplish such a lofty task.  This is, of course, exacerbated by the conviction that the church - as a whole - is not doing a very good job of it.

Well, I reckon I need to back into this question:

1) Is the point of church more/better disciples?

My first blush answer is - “YES”!  Though I need to back up from that a bit more and ponder it.  Certainly Jesus called disciples and he called his disciples/apostles to “go and make disciples”.  So that seems pretty basic, but I want to be careful to not assume too much.  But for the sake of this post I’ll let my assumption stand - Disciple-making/being is good and it is what God is calling us (as a church) to do.  I am pretty sure though that Jesus didn’t mean go and make autonomous, disconnected individuals who have realized their true enlightenment in Christ and become fully human all on their own.  I think that when Jesus spoke of discipleship it was in the context of a lived community who had a driving mission informing it.  So is it possible for me to be a disciple all on my own?  I doubt it.

2) What does it mean to be a disciple?  Or what is a disciple?

My understanding is that in Jesus’ context a disciple was something like an apprentice who (literally) sat at the feet of the teacher.  It was more than just a deposit of information from expert to novice.  It was more a kin to co-opt learning or learning by doing - with a Master Teacher.  This is something I want to explore more - what did Jesus (and the Gospel writers and Paul, etc…) mean by “disciple”?

3) How are disciples made? (specifically in our locale)

If discipleship is akin to apprenticeship or co-opt learning then I suspect the process may look similar.  We learn by doing.  We engage in the activities to which we understand ourselves to be called.  Those activities are not, of course, earning our salvation or approval by God - rather they are in deep response to a deep love and forgiveness which we have experienced in communion.  So what activities?  I’m not sure, but I know they must be specific and they must be communal (they may be individually practiced by a group).  I think they should be arrived upon through prayer and discernment as a body and they certainly morph over time.  I’m convinced that prayer is valid missional activity.

4)  How aren’t disciples made?

In other words, what do we need to make sure we’re steering clear of?  I think we often undermine our own intended outcomes (result “X”) by engaging in practices and though-patterns that run counter to the thing (”X”) for which we are trying to accomplish.  Sometimes these practices and thought-patterns are things done with the intention of producing result “X”, but really produce result “Y”.   To that end, I’m pretty sure disciples are not made via consumption.  Whatever discipleship is, I don’t think it is about having ever increasing amounts of stuff - be that material items, ideas, experiences, or sacraments.  I’m pretty sure disciples aren’t made casually.  There must be some intention involved in the endeavor.

Well, enough for the moment.  Cloey is asleep and I need to attend to my installation of Office 2007, which I’m pretty excited about trying out (please don’t crash my computer!).

Pondiferous

So, I’m pondering.

I’m pondering this blog - am I really going to use it? Is it time to start blogging again? I have really wanted to get aaronklinefelter.com up and running with my own hosting package (through a friend) and running WordPres via that - instead of relying on the hosting foibles of someone else. Reason being is that I have 817 posts in Blogger that I have no way of accessing (publicly, atleast - I can still get them from the back-end and I have a copy saved locally). I really want to bring them over and have them and my new postings all in the same place, but I’m not quite sure how….

I’m also pondering the nature of my blog - I quit blogging for 2 reasons: 1) Blogger broke. 2) Work. How do I put this tactfully…. there was some tension around the fact that I blog… not just what I said, but the nature of blogging in general. I decided that I just didn’t want to mess with it, so I stopped. Perhaps I’m a wuss, perhaps I’m wise (good chance I’m both in fits and starts). Well, its summer now and I’ve been wanting to get back into the swing of things. But I’m full of questions…. Since I will invariably express my views theologically, socially, politically, emotionally what does that mean for those to whom I am accountable (be that for income or other)? Certainly I will endeavor to be respectful and honorable in all I do and say - but oft times it is the unintended that offends more than the overt. I’m not sure what to do with that.

There are 2 prevailing reasons why I’ve wanted to get back into the spiritual discipline of blogging. (And, yes, I really believe it is - or can be - a spiritual discipline) 1) We’re about to have a baby. Sarah is due in less than a month and our little family of 3 is about to become 4. We’re going from all pink, all the time to trucks and cars and the like. We are having a boy. Name… TBA. (And, yes, Cloey plays with trucks and cars and doesn’t only have pink… but on balance…)

2) We are in the discernment process of the possibility of planting a church. I need a space to ponder out loud about this process. What does it look like? How do we do it? Where do we start? What am I reading, thinking, praying, dreaming, hearing, seeing, regretting, fearing, hoping, expecting, believing, imagining, pondering? So many questions! It would be helpful to me if I had a space where I could process this stuff - out loud - with the option and hope of feedback. Connections and collaborations both globally and locally - with folks on the outside looking in and those who may engage with us in this planting/birthing process.

So there you have it, a post about posting, a blog about blogging.

Ashwood House Church :: Enacting the Kingdom

I love our house church. Of course, its not hard when your 3 year old gets excited each week about her friends - Liz, Maria, Brennan, and John coming over. We eat well, sing passionately, prayer earnestly, and share our lives in ever increasing ways. We have an “official” name - Ashwood House Church.

This was not simply a geographic choice. It IS a geographic name - our house, where we meet, is on Ashwood Dr. But it is not simply because of that. I’ll make an attempt at the etymology of our name:

I like the idea of a geographic name because it situates us in space and time - a rare gift in our virtual, post-enlightenment world. But I didn’t like the idea of being called Pleasant Ridge (our neighborhood) House Church, as if there is only one. Someday I’d love for there to be multiple Pleasant Ridge house churches. Several folks voiced the desire for something natural, organic and the fact that we are on Ashwood seemed relevant. Thus ensued a conversation about Ash wood, Ash tress, and Asher from the Bible. It seems that “Asher”, one of Jacob’s 12 sons, means “happy” (reference). Ash trees and wood have a rich mythological and spiritual symbolism - certainly not necessarily “Christian”, but neither were Christmas trees or Advent wreaths (reference). As a wood it is “hard, tough and very strong but elastic” (reference). All of these meanings seem to point somewhere. Several of our group are involved The Revolution - more on that another time - and tossed in the name “Talitha Koum” (reference), these are Jesus’ words to the little girl who was dead in Mark 5, “little girl, get up”. By which we hear a prophetic call to the slumbering church. Then Liz brought in the idea of “Cambium” - the growing edge and cell-dividing factory in a tree (reference). All this combines …. resonates …. synergizes to a leaning… a forward movement, a strong, but flexible growing edge, a place of good food, a table fellowship and place of hospitality. We circled back around and landed on Ashwood House Church - which for us encompasses all of that meaning and more.

This past month our house church did a group art project. We made a collage about what it means for us to “enact the Kingdom” in our world. I think you can click on the picture for a closer look. We’ve got some beautifully creative folk in our midst! I love it!