So let me put the post “Should I go back?” into the positive. I empathize with people who have left. In my opinion most if not all have good reason. At least the ones I’ve conversed with. So, with that in mind, I suggest that communities:
- speak a common language that reflects a common lifestyle that the culture won’t find strange. (The Greek of the New Testament is “Koine”, which means “common”).
- not impose expectations on people.
- embrace everyone regardless of their struggles.
- not let money be a factor in how people are accepted, respected or treated.
- create an environment where people are free to explore truth in their own way.
- be open-minded, generous and inclusive towards all faiths and non-faiths.
- not brand people according to their orientations, choices or situations (gay, straight, single-mom, living together, divorced, etc.).
- love and care for others.
- encourage openness, honesty and authenticity.
- love unconditionally for the long haul.
Now I must add that I have reached a tentative conclusion that I might expand upon tomorrow. I believe that it is possible to create such a community, but it is misleading to think that this will result in success in terms of numbers, money or attractiveness. Its success, if we wish to call it that, is found in something else. Stay tuned until tomorrow for what I mean.
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Reminds me of the Ten Principles of Burning Man (where I will be next week!). The Christian community could learn quite a bit from this “pagan festival.”
Radical Inclusion (NP # 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.
Gifting (NP #4)
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.
Decommodification
In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.
Participation
Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation.
The Ten Principles: http://tiny.cc/Lsw9m
Dare I say that, if created, its success would be in the fact that it would be the kind of community that embodied the principles taught by Christ (any of the prophets, really). Sure, it wouldn’t draw throngs and so wouldn’t attract money but nothing could beat it for its authenticity.
John, interesting you would bring up Burning Man, a celebration that began in the Black Rock after I moved from my hometown of Reno to Oregon. I have never been to Burning Man but have childhood friends who attend each year. Have a wonderful time on the playa and enjoy the spirit of a true community.
Hey Dave, over the summer I read the epistles in the Message …it was GREAT! I think that about 40- to 50 % of your list above would stand in contrast to the views of these NT letters. I’m going to re-read them again and give it like I”m brand new to the faith.
Let me list which ones I think would stand in contrast…..
1. Disagree
2. Disagree
3. Agree
4. Agree
5. Disagree
6. Disagree
7. Not Brand,,,I’m not sure what you mean…LIke to call someone gay, or straight, or divorced, or whatever status they are. If you say Love them – I agree – If your saying endorse with a seal of acceptance – The epistles disagree.
8. Agree
9 Agree
10. Agree.
For me to agree with all of them would mean I would have to rip out some pages to the Message and call myself something different than a follower of Jesus.
When I use the word, Contrast….I mean opposites.
Godly vs Ungodly
Right vs Wrong
Truth vs Lies
The Correct Way vs The Wrong Way.
But hey these are my views – from a professional repenter bent on being a Son!!
now that sounds as if it would be a good place to be
Burning Man sounds great but I wonder if this “community” could sustain and live by their principles week in and week out for years and not just over the course of a short-term celebration. That is the challenge of a Christian church.
i just dont think it can be done once you lease/buy a building, commit to salaries, institute programs, form a board, etc. it has to be more organic. loving and inclusive of those around you naturally – work, neighbors, school, hobbies, etc…doing it the traditional church way makes it seem nice and neat but it’s just not natural…
1.speak a common language that reflects a common lifestyle that the culture won’t find strange.
________what would that common lifestyle look like, and who decides?
________Won’t find strange! The Savior was totally strange to his antagonist and
followers.
2.not impose expectations on people.
________That is so not Biblical. And that man made idea surely does not reflect God
the Father or God the Son’s teachings.
7.not brand people according to their orientations, choices or situations (gay, straight, single-mom, living together, divorced, etc.).
________Oops, I had better cut out, from Malachi, that part about God hating divorce.
I could go on—-but really, it would be useless.
What a mess of things you make, David.
6.be open-minded, generous and inclusive towards all faiths and non-faiths.
________God is not very generous and inclusive towards non-faiths and all faiths
except the one faith———————He makes it clear–hell awaits them. But of
course if you want to cut out those parts you can make it read any way you
want.
fishon
Broken Down, it’s good that you understand “right and wrong” and “truth vs. lies.” We are all on your side here. We all see it, too. But we are learning a different Way to respond.
I think what many of us are recognizing, as a community of Jesus, is the overwhelming power of love, grace, and acceptance for the stranger. The practice of radical inclusion (versus pious condemnation, exclusion, and other forms of religious out-grouping) might be the best invitation we can offer towards the Kingdom of God. Consider this: when viewed from the pages of history, the role of religious out-grouping almost always appears somewhere on a scale between ridiculous and barbaric.
Sure, we know all about “those people” and their failures, how they’ve screwed up, how they sin. And how they refuse to change their ways. But we’re also learning that God can, and does, deal with all of that. We need to trust God, learn to follow the Way of grace, embrace all people as God’s creation (regardless of their failures) and of love without pre-condition. I’ve heard it called “belonging before believing” and it is really messy, but I think it is the Way.
Greggmac, you are right. Burning Man is an unsustainable model of community. Nevertheless, it is a profound example of shared possibilities – a place to learn and grow (or, for a few, a place to embrace their depravities). The same can be said of most Western religious communities – they are designed for occasionality and special needs. The real community most of us know is our family, our work, our schools, our neighbors, our recreation, our political systematics, and our friends and associates outside of religious structure.
Like Burning Man, a similar disconnect exists in Anabaptist community. Their communities can exist only because the greater (real) government is enlightened enough to facilitate it, and protect their very existence. There are over 500 federal, state, and local law enforcement officials roaming Burning Man, many undercover. Like everything, it exists at the will and pleasure of the broader state.
Well said, John.
Fishon,
You suggest one possible way to understand NP’s list, and I will grant that you could be right. But yours is not the only way either.
For instance, on his #1, you question “common lifestyle” and suggest that an arbitator is needed. I would say that by “lifestyle,” NP may mean nothing more than “common culture,” which is defined by the culture itself, commonly used language, etc., rather than by what we in the church usually mean by “lifestyle.” And if this is correct, then it simply means that we in “church” should “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’,” as Jesus commanded in Matthew 5:37. Instead, we use many words and phrases which mean something different to “us” than they do to the unchurched world, and which is therefore confusing to them. Of course, you said the, “Savior was totally strange to his antagonist and followers,” and in some ways you are right. But looking at it another way, He came as “one of us,” a common, ordinary working guy born to common, ordinary working parents, just trying to get by and make a living. You could (and still can) talk to Him without waiting weeks for an appointment and without an intermediary. In that sense, He was natural and accessable rather than strange. That is the sense I got from this point.
You also said it is not Biblical to impose expectations on people, and that the idea of not doing so, “surely does not reflect God the Father or God the Son’s teachings.” Maybe I understand what you mean–maybe. Maybe you mean that we should expect people who follow Jesus to grow in discipleship and sanctity and holiness, and I can appreciate that, even agree with it. But I think the key is “OUR expectations,” and unfortunantly, OUR expectations of Jesus’ followers are too often different from any standard the Bible sets. OUR expectations are too often that we expect other Christians to look like we look (which brings in both racial and socio-economic issues) and to act like we act (which refers to speech patterns and enforced uniformity in everything from Biblical interpretation to politics). And even if I am wrong in what I take from NP’s #2, it is still Christ who sits at the right hand of God to judge the quick and the dead, not me.
I admit I need a little more unpacking of his #6 and #7, and suspect that NP may be a bit more open-minded than am I on what constitutes “acceptable” Christian lifestyles and behavior. But then again, if my understanding of his meaning for #1 and #2 are closer to NP’s than are yours, it may be little more than an application of who gets to evaluate and how. After all, I don’t see many in the homosexual community flocking to Westboro-Baptist-type churches where they are condemned as persons and no distinction is made between desire, orientation, and behavior. And I have seen people in the church make single mothers and others whose “sin” was obvious feel uncomfortable when they have come. Surely Jesus was not in such actions!
John
I remember Larry Norman in concert at Dallas Brooks Hall many many moons ago and he did a wonderful skit about language like “being washed in the blood” and “sanctified” etc and about ppl gettin the wrong message – that was funni.
Havin low or no expectations thats harder than it seems. I find really letting go of expectations is quite difficult. Its something I still get caught on.
Being able to explore truth in our own way – one of the things I knew was never gonna happen in the churches I was involved with. This requires a really open mind and a willingness to let go completely of everything if we truly wanna learn about ourselves and humanity. If you can create that environment go for it its so desperately needed.
Gay/straight… and bisexual, transgender, transexual, intersex, bigender etc are they welcome as people or are they viewed as freaks – y’know – ‘not normal’ or ‘different’ or ‘need to be cured’ comes back to expectations doesnt it? Its hard to fight prejudices I have found they can be surprisingly latent until I’ve had to be meet them head on. Thanks for using the word orientation btw as opposed ti preference or lifestyle choice.
Go for it!