so it's been a while hey? with regards to the post below ... well the essays got handed in (it's amazing how much a fixed deadline concentrates the mind!) however I didn't make it to Scotland or to the baptism of friend's child because of them. Which I was pretty gutted about... and it also meant that I started this Michealmas term exhausted! Since then I've turned down a job offer from a parish in Sheffield, and am in limbo-land where doubts assail me as I wait to hear what they might offer me next...
Meanwhile, those thoughts of a theology student - the first with more of an emphasis on the theology, the second with more of an emphasis on the student... who more than once happened to find herself staring out at the tourists who circle the Radliffe Camera (part of the Bodleian Library) over the past few months.
So, firstly I think I'm having a reaction against all this 'trendy' new theology and appreciating much more the traditional emphases of evangelical theology (for those not of a Christian persuasion you might want to skip this tedious shop-talk and go to the next paragraph... or, you might not, I don't know!). I think I'm getting fed up with 'trendiness' in general and perhaps showing my great age. Anyhow there's lots of rethinking going on in emerging church circles some of which I find really helpful fresh perspectives on what have become stale cliches, which have become a bit incomprehensible in a postmodern world (mission for instance). But in some cases it feels to me more like looking for new ways of doing things for the sake of it, a loss of confidence in the gospel (so other religions are seen as a source of inspiration, not a form of deception) and the power of the Spirit, an obsession with style over content to please ourselves and the intellectual in-crowd that we respect, with no real reference as to whether this glorifies ourselves or God more ... and an attitude that actually seems to communicate very little grace for those who don't 'get' it - including the very people who the gospel is supposed to be for - the outcasts, the uncool, the disabled, the poor (which every time God catches my attention I am reminded that I am part of... my spiritual poverty is embarrasing). We will 'do' things for 'them' that don't cost us too much (I'm especially talking about myself here) i.e. give money, write letters, but I don't see space for those we perceive to be these things to go and ask them to become friends with us, to be part of our communities, for the Spirit to give us the grace to be changed and challenged by their presence in our midst day to day...
As to the thoughts formed while staring out the windows of the Rad Cam... I've been wondering ... why do we go on holiday? is it to take photos? to take it home with us? do we have any idea of how to just enjoy and drink in the moment for its own sake? (I'm not sure I do) what are we looking for when we visit historical cities like Oxford? a connection with the past? an escape from our own lives? why is this a holiday? what is a holiday? is it a rest (my primary thought), or a trophy, or an opportunity to change? or something else?
7 comments:
Naomi, I find your thoughts on theology very interesting, and I think we'd have a good chat about it. I've been reflecting a lot on my own theology recently.
I don't think there is a disillusionment with the gospel present in emergent church thought (The Story We Find Ourselves In, for example, is certainly very far from that perspective, I'd say). It's hard to engage with some of your other points, because I don't know specifics, but I can understand your discretion.
But about 'style over content'? I think that's a universal problem, actually. I've seen it a lot in the evangelical charismatic wing of the church, and it often goes hand in hand with a performance-orientation or neurosis, and I've seen it in more high church Anglican settings too. I think it's a constant enemy. I would say that the emergent church is tackling issues and reaching different theological conclusions than other wings of the evangelical church, and I think one has to see beyond the style (mix, band or organ etc.) and recognise that each pattern represents a distinct theological understanding. What do you think?
I have definately experienced times when I think the gospel is being compromised for the sake of not offending people. I have seen times when the Son gives way to a god (not even the Father) and the Holy Spirit isn't even given a look in. Thankfully, in my experience this has never been directly from Church leaders but there does seem to be a culture of not wanting to offend or address the issues of salvation without appearing to be arrogant or fundamental.
Naomi, all i can say is: ouch!
well, i certaintly got some reaction eh? well i should of course say what it was specifically in reaction to! (btw Suzie re: style over content completely see your point about it being a universal problem... but by God's grace i've seen communities where he is allowed to nudge them back in the right direction)
firstly i'd just read a blog of another em-church person who seemed (from my skimming of her writing it has to be confessed) to be focusing solely on Islam being a source of groovy inspiration as it were and not critiquing it any way... probably in reaction to the general global 'atmosphere' around Islam... don't really know what I think about that
secondly, and this is much more important, i was really inspired by a talk by Joni Eareckson Tada on the call of the church not to avoid the ministry of sharing in Christ's sufferings but to embrace the hard things in life and see what God is doing there... that's a very poor summary of what she said.
but basically it spoke to me in a way very little else has done in a long time - and what speaks to me is always the call to go against the grain, to be willing to take the long road, to be countercultural... it seems much more like the gospel which i got excited about in the first place...
I'll blog properly about this later! thoughts still very much in flux...
Hi Naomi, I want to respond but I lack the coherence needed right now... I particularly resonated with "an attitude that actually seems to communicate very little grace for those who don't 'get' it - including the very people who the gospel is supposed to be for - the outcasts, the uncool, the disabled, the poor" - a regular challenge to me in the hospital where I meet all sorts of people I wouldnt normally come across.
It reminds me of some lines from Desiderata
"and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story..."
Keep Writing! Em
Hello
I get where you are coming from. If my time with you in St Stephens Sheffield taught me anything (which it did...) it was that substance trumps style anytime. I joined what was happening at that church because I sensed the Spirit at work - not because it was a trendy church, in a nice place, with sorted people, near to coffee shops, or had nice lighting and sound (cos it didn't). But it did have the Spirit moving and that is what draws a crowd.
I used to be big into 'em church' and being relevant etc to society. Now I understand that the most relevant thing a church can be is full of the Spirit, and all the rest of it becomes far less significant. No-one cares if you are trendy if people get healed, delivered and sorted out in your 'church'.
My second reflection is that the early disciples in Acts were really not very culturally sensitive and soft-sell. They stood up in the synagogues and preached the gospel!!
Nice to read your thoughts, keep em coming. Nick
you should read alain de botton's art of travel to answer some of your holiday questions.
on your thoughts about theology - style is part of the content not seperate from it some say the medium is the message
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