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Rufus_Xavier_Sarsaparilla
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Name: Jeremy
Gender: Male
Interests: Whatever interesting...movies, technology, cars, games...but always interested in my loving wife, my beautiful daughter, and my awesome Jesus.
Expertise: Jack of all trades...master of none
Occupation: Administrative
Industry: Government
Message: message me
Member Since:
3/22/2006
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| Moving We are finally moving!!! Yahooooo!!!
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| The CurtainO.K. I am not ignoring the responses to the last blog posting. Quite the opposite. It is taking much time to consider. Suffice it to say that for now I see it not as an "either or" or a "neither nor" decision. But equally important issues where one may have gotten a little more attention than the other.
On to the new question...
In the Old Testament a veil or curtain was put in place in the tabernacle and temple separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where the presence of God was. In the New Testament that veil was torn in two from top to bottom when Christ yielded up his spirit.
I came across some interesting thoughts in my reading a couple of months ago that I have been ruminating on, and I am trying to come to terms with it. Long, long ago in a galaxy far far away...the modern era was birthed. During that period of time the emergence of the secular took shape. As science progressed chasing away the shadows of superstition, people turned to reason and scientific theory to explain the world and the things contained with in it. Unable to respond, it appears, the church allowed the delegation of such subjects over to the secular and maintained it's authority over anything "spiritual". Hence today we have the division of secular and church. However, prior to the modern era this division was non-existent or at least not as prevalent. God, the church, spiritualism, all flowed through every facet of life and were interconnected with all else, conceivably. It is asserted that part of the postmodern search for spirituality is the return of that more holistic view of life, and that most people are seeking other religions to experience that because Christianity in the church defines that as "worldly".
Question:
Have we re-hung the veil in the Most Holy Place with the defining of parts of our surroundings and lives as being labeled as secular or church?
Again please note I am not assuming that "worldliness" is the same as "secular".
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|  Well here it is. For those of you who thought
different. I am only SLIGHTLY nerdy. Evidently I am
a nerd wannabe. Who knew. | | |
| Thank you Ruach76 for your comment.
I do agree that both points must be held in tandem. This is certainly not a this or that choice, but a this and that acceptance.
However, I bring up this point that may get to some of the reason this discussion is occurring in Christian communities, and this point may reveal some of my leanings as well.
As I was thinking again about where the emphasis is placed in the proclamation of the gospel, the arrival of the kingdom or the work of the cross, I began to evaluate the assertions in relation to their perspectives, modern or post-modern. Part of my understanding of these two "eras?" is that the modern is a more linear, logical, and systematic perspective that effectively boils things down to an end product or result. The process is important only that it produces an expected result, scientific theory. For Christianity that result is redemption through the atoning work of Christ upon the Cross. Therefore the emphasis. A more tangible and measurable portion of the gospel message. Also a more important result to the individual.
For the perspective that leans more toward the ideals of post-modernism, it is interested more in the journey or the story. The kingdom. a much less tangible and measurable thing, which may not be measurable at all but an abstract concept not fully comprehensible by the human mind, fits this perspective much more and provides room for questions, mystery, and experiential interaction. This perspective seems to bring about a stronger concentration upon the community and not the individual. Another aspect of post-modernism. This may explain the stronger focus upon the kingdom.
From where I am sitting the Cross is so important, for it is the means by which I can enter into communion with God and I celebrate it, but it is the means. It is the end product that redeemed my soul. However, I believe the central message of Christ and the Bible is the Kingdom of God. As the new culture releases its reliance upon systematized beliefs and clearly definable theologies, perhaps the kingdom will again take a more prominent role.
Neither is wrong for both are truth, but the question is which will have a greater impact upon the culture in which you live?
I hope I am not becoming a heretic!
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| Maybe I haven't read enough things in my life to have encountered this feeling before in a book. I have read writings that made me angry. I have read things that have made me concerned. I have read books that challenge me in my thoughts and perceptions. But never have I read anything that scared me. I am not referring to the kind of scared that one experiences when you're watching a movie and the monster jumps out from hiding and makes you wet your pants or worse. I am referring to the deep down fear of the possibility revolutionary change and the effects that it could have on all activity after meeting it. I am literally frightened, and it is not necessarily a bad thing. However, I don't know how to process it. (By now I you are reading this and saying out loud to the computer, "Get on with it and make your point! What is it?)
I am reading the aforementioned book in the last blog entry, and I came across a statement in a paragraph that I have skirted around for over two years and mentioned similar ideas to only a handful of people out of fear due to the nature of the statement and the people I associate with.
***Disclaimer - This may not affect you in the same manner. In the event that it does not, please go on about life and understand that I am quite likely off my nut***
"Rooted in the work of N.T. Wright, emerging churches embrace the gospel of the kingdom as revealed in Mark 1:15-16. At the outset of the Gospel narrative, the good news was not that Jesus was to die on the cross to forgive sins but that God had returned and all were invited to participate with him in this new way of life, in this redemption of the world. It is this gospel that the emerging church seeks to recover. As one leader confided privately, "We have totally reprogrammed ourselves to recognize the good news as a means to an end-that the kingdom of God is here. We try to live into that reality and hope. We don't dismiss the cross; it is still a central part. But the good news is not that he died but the kingdom has come."
Some of the leading discussion up to this statement was about the idea of being not just postmodern, but post-evangelical. How often do we tell people that the good news is that Jesus died for theirs sins and that they can now go to heaven because of it. And how often do they look at like we're disturbed. Dallas Willard is quoted later in the chapter regarding this kind of scenario. "In this scenario, the gospel is informing how we die. Instead, the gospel ought to be about how we live!"
Now obviously there is a lot more that goes along with this discussion and I can not reprint this chapter, but the main thing here is the idea of being post-evangelical and the possibility of having the gospel message slightly off.
I am scared of the implications of this view. I have heard the Catholics criticized for their crucifix and keeping Jesus on the cross, but have we done the same with the gospel we spread. It is not that it isn't true, but is it the main point of the gospel message. I know also they cannot be separated, but what do we emphasize more.
These thoughts have been creeping into my spirit for several years now. I hope it is the Holy Spirit at work in me and not the influence of the writings that I have read. However, today I am confronted by something that I cannot brush aside. This will change how ministry flows through me the rest of my life.
What if this is wrong and I am wrong?
This change scares me.
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