"The Radical Fringe" of Christianity

Image by C. Wess Daniels via Flickr

Ron Cole, who writes "The Weary Pilgrim" describes the work of Jarrod McKenna as the "Australian version of Shane Claiborne."  "The Weary Pilgrim" highlights a podcast of Jarrod's.

What I wanted to quote, however, is how he describes Jarrod and this "radical fringe" of Christianity.

He is part of a radical element on the the fringe of the church that sees faith and works, the practice and action of faith as being critical. The teachings of Jesus put into practice must be lived out, as radically today... to dilute them, co-modify and embed them in western church culture is not the redemptive vision and imagination of Jesus. This radical fringe believes Christianity is in trouble because it has become to passive and culturally accommodating. They are stirring the luke-warm pot of status quo Christianity.

That's some powerful language there. 

And I am left with the struggle of determining how I should live this out when I have bills to pay, kids to pick up, a church to fund, construction workers to check in on, and a stewardship campaign to close out.

Sometimes I seem and feel so far from this "radical fringe."  I feel so...established...so diluted...so co-modified...so embedded.

Alas.

"The Trouble With Born-Again Christians..."

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The trouble with born-again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around. -- Herb Cain

This is a post over at Ragamuffin Soul, a blog by Carlos Whittaker that inspires and challenges me.

And, this quote..., well, it inspires and challenges me.

First off, it's entirely out of context.  I have to admit this. As I read this I have no idea what it is that brought Mr. Cain to this conclusion.  Could he have been made to feel "unchristian" because he brought up questions of faith or because he expressed doubts?  Maybe he had just come back from a retreat with some "SuperChristians" and others doubted his own way of expressing his faith?  Perhaps he just got off the plane after sitting next to someone who spent the entire flight trying to convert him?  Or, quite possibly, this was spoken or written after years of trying to find a church that would welcome him because he's divorced?  Or or a minority?  Or Goth?  Or....

Secondly, even though I am a born-again Christian and have been rescued from my sin by the grace of Christ (Thank God!), I have had my struggles with some of my "born again" brothers and sisters in Christ.  I have felt excluded.  I have had my faith questioned.  I have had my interpretation of Scripture belittled.  I have even had the way I pray -- which can be quite colloquial -- criticized.  Some of my issues have been semantics...just the language we're all comfortable or uncomfortable with.

Third, there are a whole lot of really awesome "born again Christians" out there.  I'm friends with a lot of them (which sounds pretty meaningless as I write this).  I find many of them to be challenging and accepting, loving and respectful, and really not pains at all.  The notion that they are all "pains" is a cultural generalization that is merely a stereotype.  This is not to say that there aren't "pains" among them.  It just means that the generalization is a generalization.  This is a cultural stereotype that, even though it is not entirely true, has some basis in truth based on the experiences of many.

Fourth, and last, Mr. Cain could very well have said this about me at times.  I sometimes wear my Christianity like a badge...giving me the authority of the "faith police" in my environment.  I have bouts of self-righteousness and I can, I know, sometimes struggle with the fact that other Christians aren't more like me and my own understanding of the faith.  I recognize that as sin.  I recognize it as pride. I recognize that as Pharisaic. And I see that sin in myself.  At times, I'm part of the problem.  I merely hope and pray that my actions, my words, my expression of Christ in this world won't lead to all Christians being defined by the same broad stroke Herb Cain uses here.

So, is it OK to Ask Questions About Faith in Your Church?

It is in ours.

 Thanks to ABSOJESUS for another fitting cartoon.

Looking for Authentic Enthusiasm

Image by Exothermic via Flickr

I'm in Nashville, staying at the rather nice Renaissance Hotel next to the Convention Center for the School of Congregational Development for the United Methodist Church.  There's about 500 or so attendees, from what I've been told.  My guess is that there's more than that if worship last evening was any indication.  Lots of talks.  Lots of education.  Lots of worship.  And it's fun having a layperson from our congregation along as well.

My guess is that a lot of my blog posts from the next several days are going to include information that I've been given while here.   This is one of them.

One of the speakers (actually someone giving an introduction tonight) said the following:

AUTHENTIC ENTHUSIASM BRINGS FORTH HOSPITALITY AND EVANGELISM.

I'll say it one more time:

AUTHENTIC ENTHUSIASM BRINGS FORTH HOSPITALITY AND EVANGELISM.

When I look at the churches I've served, and when I look at MYSELF, I struggle to find AUTHENTIC ENTHUSIASM.  I'm not saying that it doesn't exist EVER.  But I am saying that I sometimes question how passionate persons are about their faith, about their Savior, about worship and church and service and all of that stuff I have in my head and understand to be "church."  It's a lack of enthusiasm for both Jesus AND Church, for the Spirit of the religion AND the form of the religion. 

And if we don't have people fired up about who Christ is and what Christ is doing, how can we ever expect to be truly hospitable?  How can we be evangelical?  How can we have a church that persons want to visit and a faith that they would care to profess?

I am a pretty good cheerleader as a pastor.  I don't have the pompoms, but I can get persons to get behind me for one cause at a time.  More than that and I seem to get distracted.  But that's not the same as building up an enthusiasm for the work of God in the world among the members and friends of the congregations I've served. 

I want to see passion.

I want to see enthusiasm.

I want to see some of that Pentecostal Fire in our congregation.





I want to see it in me.


I want others to see it in me, too.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
 

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.  When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.  Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?  Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?  Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"  Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

Faith and Doubt

Tim Keller offered this observation in his introduction to “The Reason for God”.

A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.

Found over at Think Christian.


I have various doubts.  But I will not share them here.  It's not the place.   Not here.  Not yet.