After a recent conversation with my mentor, Leonard Sweet, I began to meditate on the idea of pears in a bottle. Many of you may have seen these videos or photos around the internet but, in case you haven’t, here is one for reference.
So, if you’ve watched the above video, I’d like you to read this verse of Scripture from the Gospel of John:
John 15, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
What we see happening in this video is both very beautiful and very artificial. Living pears are being pruned away so that the “king pear” might be placed into a bottle in which it will grow but can never naturally escape.
After they’ve been pruned away, the ones we see with the most potential get placed inside the bottle and are made to grow inside it. The pear, in essence, has become trapped and no longer has the freedom to grow into the shape which would have occurred organically.
Now, to be honest, this pear does a very good job of growing into what is shaped to be. It makes for some very good brandy but, because it is trapped inside a bottle, can be used for little else. This pruned and prepared plant is then set aside for those who have the money to buy a nice bottle of brandy. The pear is no longer free for anyone to eat who might walk by the orchard hungering and thirsting but, instead, it is only able to be consumed by those who are able to afford it. Even those with just a little bit of money are unable to purchase this particular pear because it has been “set aside” for a particular purpose.
What thoughts does this bring to mind? Well, as someone who has been trying to understand what it means to “abide in Christ” for the last twenty years, I found this video to be very powerful. Christ is the true vine in whom I desire to abide which is illustrated by the orchard in this video. Christ also prunes away the dead branches around us so that we might grow more clearly in Him. However, in this video, it is not dead branches which are being cut away but nice, living pears are destroyed to make way for the “king pear.”
Does this not illustrate what we do within the institutional church? Do we not destroy all the “little pears” so we might produce one large pear to set aside for one or two particular purposes? Is the institutional or denominational structure destroying many other potentially great pears all for the sake of producing one great big pear we can show off? After all, this video shows it’s not an exact science. They may think they have a “king pear” but 25% of the time it doesn’t work. While this is a great percentage in the market place, is this an acceptable percentage in the church? Aren’t we called to support and strengthen the weaker fruit so they too might grow strong and vibrant? Isn’t it okay if some of the life of the vine (Jesus) flows more into one of the weaker ones? No, we want the biggest pear to come to life so we can show it off and brag about how good a job we are doing.
I’m afraid that too often the institutional church is pruning away those who are not seen as the “best and brightest” and then raises up “king pears” to do so-called mighty works but, in the end, even the king pears are trapped inside the bottle of the institution and end up serving only one or two purposes.
Now, you may ask me what the answer is but I cannot fully give you an answer. This is a struggle in my own life. The institutional church has been both a blessing and a curse to me personally. It provides a living and stability for my family and me and has helped me make great connections. However, the biggest place of spiritual growth and ministerial direction hasn’t been found within the larger institution but with a local body of believers as well as those who are just walking by the orchard and want to “take a bite” to see if Jesus is as truly sweet and refreshing as I present Him to be.
If you’d like to share your comments and experiences both on the denominational level as well as the local community of faith, please feel free to post them in the comments section.
To be honest, this post isn’t really 40 days of Twitter. However, it is the top tweets I’ve retweeted over the last 40 days. I thought it would be interesting, while battling this horrible sinus and ear infection, to do something inane like look over my twitter posts and see if they’re actually speaking to anyone. So, I looked over them and thought “Hmm, maybe I should share this with you guys just in case you don’t use Twitter. Here they are and I’d love to read your comments about them below.
I’m posting the tweets from oldest to newest along with a screen shot. The screen shot, in some cases, can’t show you how many retweets and, because of the nature of Twitter, some retweets don’t show up as such if someone slightly edits the tweet. These things may show up in my feed if I’ve been given credit for the quote or showing where it’s found but that doesn’t always occur.
This tweet came after a conversation with an agnostic friend who didn’t realize a “liberal Christian” such as myself actually believes in the literal resurrection of Jesus.
Faith & Science working together
This tweet came from my trip to ComicCon to attend seminars on iconic characters in popular culture. Kenny Klein was speaking at this one. I’ve met Mr. Klein at GenCon but I’m sure he doesn’t remember me.
ComicCon Seminar on Grimm Fairy Tales
I tweeted this while sitting in the Hobbit with my wife on our 19th wedding anniversary. It was such a good line and I was afraid I’d forget so I decided to send it out into the world.
The Hobbit Tweet
This was probably the most popular tweet I’ve ever posted. I could be wrong about that so I’m not going to be definitive. When I look at the original tweet, I believe it says it was retweeted 13 or 14 times but there were days later when I’d get “pinged” that it was going around once more. I didn’t think it would resonate with so many people and I’m glad it was able to. I posted this due to some reading I’d been doing on pastor burnout and creativity in ministry. It’s related to some articles I’d been reading about Google & Apple.
Free market creativty is for the church as well.
Again, this is another post that occurred after a conversation with an agnostic friend as well as reading The Authenticity of Faith which I mentioned in my last blog.
I’m still not sure what prompted these thoughts but since I’ve found sacrificial living to be an essential part of the faith journey this could be why this came up.
This last post is the one that spurred me into doing this as I was awake all night fighting this blasted sinus and ear infection. I couldn’t sleep so I started following Twitter feeds and Leonard Sweet came across my feed with a riff on Jeff Foxworthy ala Methodist Style. So, I decided to play along and was amazed by the response.
You know you're a Methodist when...
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little thought experiment. It’s a product of my sleep deprived mind and I hope you find it fun. Most of all, I’d really like to get your thoughts on this and various other topics that come to mind.
“When world-views collide, as they do in pluralistic societies, our hero systems are relativized and called into question. This undermines the existential armor we need to achieve a workaday equanimity in the face of death. And when facing this prospect, it is much easier to cope with this existential anxiety by defending the worldview against ideological Others.”
I have been wanting to read this book for some time and recent tragic events around the country (and world) hit me hard enough that I finally downloaded it and began to read.
As a geek who has seen many a flame war spread like wildfire across the Internet as well as heated conversations at conventions that have almost turned into blows, nerd rage is a very real phenomena. Its intensity borders on religious fervor and I’m starting to understand why.
Before I go any further, it’s important to be up front and admit that I’ve been both victim and perpetrator of nerd rage. Just like many of you, I’ve argued about Star Trek, Spiderman, Batman, various editions of Dungeons & Dragons, as well as quite a few other things. I’ve been furious when people have talked badly about my favorite Spiderman story and flabbergasted when others tell me, in no uncertain terms, they don’t like Dr. Who. Heck, there have been times when I’ve trolled many a message board waiting to see someone talk bad about my favorite version of D&D and been the first one to pounce on their ignorance.
So, yes, by the grace of God, I’m a recovering nerd rager and I think I’m starting to understand it a bit better. The things we like as geeks and nerds are our “hero system” and when someone calls them into question many of us view it as if the very nature of our being is challenged. These heroes we like (whether it be one of literature or our favorite operating system) all come with a story that we’ve invested with meaning. These meanings come to define us and that’s not a bad thing.
For example, as some of you may know Spiderman is one of my favorite heroes. The idea of a geek who gains power and does his best to use it responsibility even when others still dislike him is something wonderful. It teaches me great lessons and puts me on my guard in my own life, as a pastor, to make sure I don’t use the power God has placed in my hands irresponsibly. When thinking about how Spidey is mistreated, I find it amazing he still goes on doing good. This type of characterization in the story points to a virtue like humility and makes me want to emulate it in my own life. So, when someone attacks the Spidey story or tries to change it as they did in that gawd awful movie that came out this year, it can make me feel as if they’re saying my own story is meaningless.
That, my friends, is the essence of nerd rage. When someone takes your hero and, in your eyes, devalues them you get defensive at your best and angry at your worst. So, how do we make our way through this dilemma? Is there an answer? Well, to be honest, I think that virtue of humility is what should guide us. When someone critiques my favorite stories or the version of D&D I like the best, I should take it with a grain of salt. We should examine their critique and see if there is any validity in it and, if so, accept it for what it is.
This is the nature of truth. A true story is one that moves our hearts and minds into a wonderful, positive place. One that changes our lives and transforms us into better human beings. If a part of that story deserves critique, that’s quite alright because it doesn’t mean the story has to be done away with but it just needs to be reevaluated.
I put the Church in the same category. It has a story that needs to be examined openly and honestly. When someone critiques it, I can get defensive and angry or I can take it with a grain of salt and reexamine the life of the Church. In doing so, I’m being fair to my predecessors and if I see the critiques are correct then maybe it’s time to inject better truth into the Story. It doesn’t mean I throw the Story out. Tossing the baby out with the bath water is a very bad thing but that doesn’t mean I should keep the bath water! With that in mind, maybe it’s time to calm our nerd rage down both inside and outside of the Church and take an honest look at any critiques leveled our way.
The Church needs new bath water and the babe in the manger is the One who is still able to change it.
“While some people idealize the ancient past, others authenticate their present beliefs by vilifying their immediate predecessors. This occurs, I think, because many people need to define themselves in contradistinction to the culture that molded their own sensibilities.“
I went through this very thing having grown up in a nominally religious home. For a long time, I felt I had to define my values in contrast to those my family held as I traveled on my faith journey. Now, I’ve come to realize that what I believe and act upon is based upon a rich tapestry of reason, sacred writings, traditions, and personal experience that any comparisons to the world in which I “cut my teeth” would be found wanting as that has only been a portion of my life and education. I’ve been trying to grow beyond this into what I hope to be a brighter and more pleasant world.
The Enlightenment was partially correct when it tried to teach that educated reason was the source of truth but when it went so far as to state that reason was the only source of truth it took a step too far. In denying other forms of obtaining truth, it went out of its way to deny all religious experience as a source of knowledge and learning and, in doing this, it showed its own limitations by leaving out an important part of the human condition. Religious faith and practice has long been a part of the communal human experience but, sadly, what has been experienced in much of Western religion in the last 100+ years has focused more on individual belief rather than the corporate compassion of this important social group. When one realizes this, one is “enlightened” to the very real truth that the rugged individualism of the Enlightenment has been integrated into much of modern religious faith and practice.
For religious faith to move forward effectively, it must recover its communal roots that understands relationship with God must directly affect relationship with our fellow human beings. If this does not happen, religious faith in general (and Christian faith in particular) will remain a self-serving enterprise which has no real affect upon the world around us and its inhabitants. As a Christian, I rejoice in our move away from bigotry and racism and still wonder why it took us so long. Often I think tribalism is a much more powerful evolutionary and religious tool than we imagine. The life of Jesus and the letters of Paul often find it hard to fight against this spirit of the age. May we hopefully move forward and learn to live into the world of faith which calls us into a life of community and equality.
I wanted to share with you a communion invitation from our Christmas Eve service. It’s modified from the Wisdom of Solomon and was very meaningful to me.
Receive the food of angels, which comes to you without toil,
this is supplied to you from heaven and is bread ready to eat,
and the fruit of the vine ready to drink.
May this provide every true pleasure and be suited to every taste.
This sustenance manifests God’s sweetness toward you,
His children through Christ our Lord,
and the bread and wine ministers to the desires of those who take it.
Let us pray. Surely, dear Lord, you are food and drink to your people.
We acknowledge your full humanity and divinity as we look toward your Advent. Bless those here assembled as they eat and drink of this holy meal.
Happy New Year! This may seem a little presumptuous of me but let’s just say I’m being optimistic.
It seems we have made it through another Christmas Day as well as another apocalyptic prediction that the world was going to end. As someone who remembers the furor surrounding Y2K, this end of the year, end of the world thinking is nothing new to me. Of course, if you followed the Mayan Apocalypse predictions, you would have found that the interpretations varied almost as much as our own interpretations of the Book of Revelation. Simply put, they were all over the place.
These thoughts are going through my mind as we hurtle toward the New Year because there were quite a few people who were saying the Mayans weren’t predicting the end of the world but, rather, a new beginning for all of humanity. Personally, I don’t know exactly what the Mayans may have predicted (if anything at all) but the idea of new beginnings is still a very important one.
Far too many Christians have found this faith we share to be one of apocalyptic proportions. They’re constantly thinking about how the world will end and the “signs of the times” which will point to its inevitable destruction. From what I have read and studied of Scripture, it seems to me they’ve missed the greatest sign of all: a child born in a manger. I’ve found Christianity to be a faith about birth. In John’s Gospel, many of us are familiar with the phrase “You must be born again” and most of us, by now, have heard the birth story of Jesus many times during this holiday season. How can this be a faith about endings and destruction? I don’t see it. In fact, I often see this faith growing and birthing new life in what appears to be the darkest times of death and despair. This is because Christianity is a faith of new beginnings occurring each and every day.
When we read the Book of Revelation, we find the true meaning of the word apocalypse is “unveiling” and God talks about re-creation within its pages. Re-creation is not about endings, but, rather, I’ve found it to be one filled with re-beginnings: the re-beginning of the church, the re-beginning of worship, and the re-beginning of creation. The reason I like the phrase re-beginning is because it is infused with a hope and purpose that God got everything right the first time…it just needs a bit of re-newal. My hope for you is that throughout the New Year you will wake up each morning with the excitement of these re-beginnings in your hearts. May you find joy surrounding you and may Christ Jesus be unveiled in your hearts each and every moment as He re-begins His work in your lives.
I thought I’d post my thoughts from our recent church newsletter for those of you who might not receive it in the mail.
This time of the year gets so busy! Thanksgiving services, Christmas Cantata’s, Christmas Eve communion, Christmas parties, shopping, traveling, putting up and taking down decorations; if it’s not one thing it is another. We don’t seem to have time to take a breath.
And in the middle of everything we hear what has become a constant complaint: Christmas has become too commercialized! This phrase has become so common I have come to regard it as a sign the holiday season has arrived. With this thought before you, dear reader, I’d like to share a few lines from a popular holiday movie:
Political Aid:All right, you go back and tell them that the New York State Supreme Court rules there’s no Santa Claus. It’s all over the papers. The kids read it and they don’t hang up their stockings.
Now what happens to all the toys that are supposed to be in those stockings? Nobody buys them. The toy manufacturers aren’t going to like that; so they have to lay off a lot of their employees, union employees. Now you got the CIO and the AF of L against ya and they’re going to adore ya for it and they’re going to say it with votes. Oh, and the department stores are going to love ya too and the Christmas card makers and the candy companies.
Ho ho, Henry, you’re going to be an awful popular fella. And what about the Salvation Army? Why, they got a Santy Claus on every corner, and they’re taking a fortune. But you go ahead Henry, you do it your way. You go on back in there and tell them that you rule there is no Santy Claus. Go on. But if you do, remember this: you can count on getting just two votes, your own and that district attorney’s out there.
Judge Henry Harper:The District Attorney’s a Republican.
These lines are from one of my favorite Christmas movies: Miracle on 34th Street. It becomes more interesting when we realize this movie first hit the theatres in 1947. If we think about it, the commercialization of Christmas has been around for a very long time. The big push for it came in the 1930s when President Roosevelt moved the Thanksgiving holiday so there would be more shopping time before Christmas.
What does this say to us? How do we handle this commercialization that’s been around for so long? The easiest and best way is the tired, old acronym we’ve heard so many times: KISS. Keep it simple silly! Yes, if we want to avoid all the hype and money of this season let us keep it simple. If we don’t, we get silly. Take this time and sit down with your family and share stories of Christmases past and talk about those places where this Holy Time intersects with our lives. Tell friends how this faith story has transformed you and what it means to pass on this story to future generations.
So, these are some thoughts for the last newsletter of 2012. Hope you have a very Merry Christmas and may the Peace of Christ reign in all your hearts.
I’ve wanted to post a book review for some time now but I just couldn’t bring myself to do so because I’ve felt a bit overwhelmed. However, I decided to do a partial review of Jesus: A Theography because it is required reading for my Doctoral work at George Fox. For the purpose of full disclosure, I should point out that one of the authors, Leonard Sweet, is my main professor and someone I consider a friend and advisor.
Now, with that out of the way, I’d like to point out one of the most important things I’ve come to learn over the past decade. The simple truth is Christians must realize we do not (and should not) have to agree with another person on every single point of faith and doctrine. In fact, I’m finding the more I disagree with someone the more it causes me to try and find common ground. When we have some common ground, dialogue always increases. Interestingly, it has been my experience the more I agree with someone the less we tend to talk.
I mention this because I have a few theological and scholarly differences with this book. Some of the differences some would consider major and others might consider minor. This is the way of the world. For example, I don’t find Lucifer and Satan to be the same thing in the biblical text (p. 118). In fact, I don’t believe Lucifer should even be used in the Scripture as it is considered, by many, a theological imposition on the text and only found in Isaiah 14:12.
The other theological difference I have is with the use of the term Son of God in the book. I’m very much in the camp of NT Wright and others who see the term son of God, as used in the Gospels, as not being descriptive of Jesus’ divinity but, instead, describes his kingship. There are those who also see the term son of God as describing any Israelites special relationship with YHWH. With that in mind, the Gospels use of this term would mean any Israelite male would have been considered a “son of God.” So, when Jesus is using this term throughout the New Testament one shouldn’t see it as a specific claim to his divinity but, instead, should read it as his claim to being a true Israelite and true king. (Personally, I’m of the opinion the term son of Man points more to Jesus’ divinity, within the historical context of the Gospels, than does the term son of God. In essence, I’m saying we’ve gotten it backwards for way too long.) Of course, since this book is written for a more general audience I can see why this issue wasn’t addressed in the writing though, with the extensive footnotes found in the book, I do believe it should have been worth a mention.
So, as you may have guessed, this book uses the term son of God with the more traditional and commonly accepted approach. (At least it does at this point I’m at in the book. This is, after all, a partial review.) Yet, even with my different approach to this phrasing, I am finding some big nuggets of gold in this book. For example, there is a continued emphasis of Jesus’ true humanity and the extreme importance of his kenosis (self-emptying). In many Christian circles, this is often ignored or downplayed. In fact, most of us want our God (Jesus) to have “thunder in His footsteps and lightning in His fist.” We’re looking for Superman….not Spiderman.
Instead, when we see God manifested in Jesus, we hear his thunderous voice screaming, “Eloi, Eloi, Sabacthani” because, in his humanity he understood what it means to be forsaken. At the same time, we see the divinity of Jesus on the cross as he thunders and says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Jesus understands forsakenness and forgiveness at the same time and this is the reality of the incarnation. This is True Humanity at work and this is the point of agreement I find myself grasping as I read Jesus: A Theography. In seeing Jesus in this manner, we realize that having Him live with and in us is to become more truly and thoroughly human. This means that life here and now is extremely important. We’re not just meant to be “saved people” waiting to die and “go to heaven.” In being Jesus people, we’ve become subcreators spreading Jesus’ humanity to the world through the arts, sciences, and in a life well lived. We are becoming what we were originally meant to be In The Beginning.
Let’s start off by defining Expectancy Bias: “Once we spot what we think is a trend…we involuntarily expect that trend to continue, an expectation aided and abeted by agent metaphors.” (James Geary, I Is An Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor)
The United Methodist Church, and I’d say most other denominations, are dealing with an expectancy bias and the agent metaphors* we’re hearing are similar to the ones that led investors into a panic during many a Wall Street crisis. We’re hearing these same words used throughout the church and they tell us we are “dropping, plunging, or plummeting.” (Geary, I Is An Other) The biggest phrase we hear so very often is death tsunami. It’s a term used to describe the greying membership of our churches which will, in the next 20 years, be gone. It’s believed this tsunami will destroy the United Methodist Church and many other mainline denominations.
The problem with these metaphors is these very words are what is fueling the expectancy bias. No, it’s not statistics or research but the very words we use to describe what is happening that lends itself to the problem. It is the continual use of fear that is destroying my denomination as well as many other Christian groups! We hear these words of despair and we integrate them into our perceived downward spiral. So, what’s our job as Christians in dealing with these words? What’s our jobs as preachers and prophets? Are we the ones who call for judgment and despair or are we prophets of resurrection and hope?
I think it’s time to start looking for new metaphors. Metaphors which will change my (and, hopefully, others) view of the Christian community. The metaphors I propose are ones that say, “Our faith is a rising one. We are Christians thrusting forward into the future and blasting off into the wild unknown. There is still ‘undiscovered country’ waiting for us in our neighborhoods as well as right around the corner. Colonies are being planted in alien hearts right now and the rich fertile earth is producing fruit we’ve never expected.” Let us use words of life and hope, resurrection and power, faith and assurance. In doing this, we will suddenly find any downward spiral then becomes an explosive geyser of beauty launching us into the future.
*Agent metaphors are “anything to which we attribute human feelings, motives and motivations…” (I Is An Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor by James Geary)
Since our local newspaper posted my thoughts on Halloween in Saturday’s paper, I thought I’d put it on the interwebs for those of you who don’t use those “dead tree” products or if you don’t read the local paper. (By the way, the paper did have one small mistake. I’m technically not an elder in the United Methodist Church. I’m a provisional elder. There’s a bit of difference and our process is a bit long and complicated so I won’t get into it right now.)
Hopefully this will answer your questions about Halloween. <insert spooky music>
In good Christian tradition, I will answer questions about Halloween by asking this question “Why aren’t more Christians celebrating All Hallows Eve?” Christians believe in the Lord Jesus, who overcame death and grants us eternal life, so it would be negligent not to remember Him at this time of year. When Christians see emblems of death, hell and the grave during All Hallows (Holy) Eve they are to be reminded they know the Lord who, by His death and resurrection, has crushed them all with his mighty feet.
My denomination doesn’t have an official stance on Halloween so I’m answering this as a geek and a preacher. You may find it interesting that I see Fall Festivals to be a re-imaging and de-Christianizing of this time of year! For so long, Christians have rightly been accused of co-opting ancient festivals and using them to tell the Christian story. (Just look at Christmas and Easter.) This is what has happened with All Hallows Eve. Christians took an ancient holiday about their cultures “lord of the dead” (Samhain) and re-imaged it for the glory of their faith. This is how human beings use the language of symbols and images to continually repurpose their stories to express the greater mystery of God in their lives. So, Happy Halloween!
