not sure where i'm going here
I have spent a lot of time in blogdom this week reading different attacks, critiques, concerns, and rumors about "emergent", "the emerging church", "emergence", and "the emergenizer bunny" (all of which are different things by the way). While I find myself way out on the fringes of the conversation, I still identify with this conversation and count many of the people being attacked among my friends. There is this part of me that wants to rant and rail against those who are on the offensive. To point out flaws in their logic and arguments and the gaps in their understanding of what they are attacking. To demonstrate to them how they are guilty of the very things they claim make us a "dangerous offense to the gospel". O the great lines I have thought up! I feel like I should get in the mud and roll around awhile.
But here's the thing - I don't really want to.
I want to continue to dialog with my friends about what God and faith and life and church and the Kingdom look like in this new world we live in.
I want to explore creativity and beauty and possibility in gathering to worship our creative, beautiful, infinite God.
I want to chase after Jesus with a group of friends who are running with me.
I want to wrestle with parts of the Bible that I don't get and come out on the other side realizing that I still don't get it, but I'm better for the wrestling.
I want to be OK with mystery.
I want to make friends with people who haven't experienced Jesus yet and help them on their journey.
I want to write and think and create and sing and dream and talk about God and life in ways that come from my heart and my story, not the edited for big church "official version".
I want to live God-life. The version that Jesus said He came to bring. And if I'm going to do that, I guess I don't have time to play slap-fight or "my theologian can beat up your theologian" with people who will never agree with who I am or what I am saying. I'm sure I'll still get fired up when I hear the latest, but life is too short and too good to spend the time on that.
Grace and peace from this heretical cult-leading threatening offense to the gospel.
j
But here's the thing - I don't really want to.
I want to continue to dialog with my friends about what God and faith and life and church and the Kingdom look like in this new world we live in.
I want to explore creativity and beauty and possibility in gathering to worship our creative, beautiful, infinite God.
I want to chase after Jesus with a group of friends who are running with me.
I want to wrestle with parts of the Bible that I don't get and come out on the other side realizing that I still don't get it, but I'm better for the wrestling.
I want to be OK with mystery.
I want to make friends with people who haven't experienced Jesus yet and help them on their journey.
I want to write and think and create and sing and dream and talk about God and life in ways that come from my heart and my story, not the edited for big church "official version".
I want to live God-life. The version that Jesus said He came to bring. And if I'm going to do that, I guess I don't have time to play slap-fight or "my theologian can beat up your theologian" with people who will never agree with who I am or what I am saying. I'm sure I'll still get fired up when I hear the latest, but life is too short and too good to spend the time on that.
Grace and peace from this heretical cult-leading threatening offense to the gospel.
j
posted by J at 10:41 PM
2 Comments:
j -
hey bro, john o'keefe from ginkworld here :) i know the feelings, and i have been in the center of this for a while - what i have come to is the radical mind set that we are who we are; hard-wired by God to be His people. keep running (with buds), keep diving in to scripture (and getting mad at it), keep seeking the God-life we both know is cool - and best of all, know that many of us are in the conversation together.
amen!
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