I received this in my Inbox from the Thomas Merton Institute today. You can read or subscribe to a weekly reflection here.
To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name.
- Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation (New York: New Dimensions Press, 1961): 60
To find love I must enter into the sanctuary where it is hidden, which is the mystery of God.
New Seeds of Contemplation: 61
Monday, December 15, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Unconventional Conventionalism?
Several people have asked me about my thoughts on the 2008 NC Baptist Campus Ministries Fall Convention that was held during the last weekend in September in Charlotte. I’ve obviously been putting this post off for quite some time. I didn’t have a lot of great things to say about the speaker, and while I drafted a very critical post, I decided to take a slightly different route on the blog by emphasizing a concern that I left the convention with rather than criticizing the speaker’s theology. This year’s theme was “the (un)convention,” and the speaker was J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Durham. I found this occasion to be ironic since Greear is so closely tied with the Southern Baptist Convention. Regarding the theme, I was pleasantly surprised that Greear did a great job in his first five minutes of explaining how Jesus was an unconventional figure who would not fit well into any of our religious or political conventions of our day. The rest of what he had to say that weekend was of very little relevance and predictably inspired by the conventions that have influenced the J.D. Greear that we have today.
One thing that sets Greear apart from your typical Southern Baptist pastor though is that neither he nor his church looks like what you would expect from a SBC pastor or congregation. As it is becoming more popular to have new larger churches meet in buildings that don’t resemble a traditional church, you will not find rows of pews, organs and choirs only worshiping to hymns, or a pastor wearing a suit and sporting a slick side-parted haircut anymore. Instead, you will find people who come to church dressed in jeans rather than “Sunday best.” You will find bands playing modern worship with the enhancement of modern technology. You will find small groups that want to discuss theology at the bar and people who are somewhat enthusiastic about evangelism and missions. The church may not meet at 11:00 on Sunday morning, but rather at a more convenient time later in the evening, or with several options of which service you would rather attend. In addition, they have beautifully designed websites that are full of information that makes it seem like they've got their philosophy on the life of the church together. So what’s my problem? Well, nothing in those regards. I think all of that is great if it gets people to come to church, and especially if it can reconcile someone’s problems or issues with the traditional church. While I think it’s great that a pastor would stray from tradition and embrace culture’s trends and needs in order to attract people, the thing that bothers me is that so many people, especially young people, are going to popular non-traditional churches and thinking that their church is on the cutting-edge of religious innovation, while the pulse of the church is a traditional, often conservative and Southern Baptist-like theology.
Greear is an evangelist at heart. He made statements at the Fall Convention to the effect that “the Gospel” only refers to Christ’s work of salvation. A glance at his blog will show you that his theology is very attuned to sin, and his view on the authority of Scripture is very high and its truths are “clear,” as it is with most any other Southern Baptist. I will resist my urge to criticize his leanings, but I want to offer a few words to anybody who has gotten this far in the post.
Examine your pastor! Just because your pastor wears jeans and a button up and gels his hair doesn’t make him a radical, and just because your church doesn’t look like the church down the street, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t getting the exact same traditional and conservative theology disguised behind the comfort and relevance of culture. Whether your church worships with liturgy or laser beams, if it cooperates with the SBC and confesses the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, your church leans to the right. If your neo/mega-church is associated with Acts 29, C3, or any non-denominational network, you owe it to yourself to find out what is going on behind the scenes unless you prefer to be an average sheep that is content to let your pastor do all necessary theology for you. I know that the average layperson doesn’t have the time or interest to study theology at great depth, but I want to encourage people to at least examine how much freedom their pastor gives them to interpret Scripture as opposed to how much doctrine is being fed to them as absolute by their pastor with a degree from a Southern Baptist seminary or support from various evangelical networks and conventions.
One thing that sets Greear apart from your typical Southern Baptist pastor though is that neither he nor his church looks like what you would expect from a SBC pastor or congregation. As it is becoming more popular to have new larger churches meet in buildings that don’t resemble a traditional church, you will not find rows of pews, organs and choirs only worshiping to hymns, or a pastor wearing a suit and sporting a slick side-parted haircut anymore. Instead, you will find people who come to church dressed in jeans rather than “Sunday best.” You will find bands playing modern worship with the enhancement of modern technology. You will find small groups that want to discuss theology at the bar and people who are somewhat enthusiastic about evangelism and missions. The church may not meet at 11:00 on Sunday morning, but rather at a more convenient time later in the evening, or with several options of which service you would rather attend. In addition, they have beautifully designed websites that are full of information that makes it seem like they've got their philosophy on the life of the church together. So what’s my problem? Well, nothing in those regards. I think all of that is great if it gets people to come to church, and especially if it can reconcile someone’s problems or issues with the traditional church. While I think it’s great that a pastor would stray from tradition and embrace culture’s trends and needs in order to attract people, the thing that bothers me is that so many people, especially young people, are going to popular non-traditional churches and thinking that their church is on the cutting-edge of religious innovation, while the pulse of the church is a traditional, often conservative and Southern Baptist-like theology.
Greear is an evangelist at heart. He made statements at the Fall Convention to the effect that “the Gospel” only refers to Christ’s work of salvation. A glance at his blog will show you that his theology is very attuned to sin, and his view on the authority of Scripture is very high and its truths are “clear,” as it is with most any other Southern Baptist. I will resist my urge to criticize his leanings, but I want to offer a few words to anybody who has gotten this far in the post.
Examine your pastor! Just because your pastor wears jeans and a button up and gels his hair doesn’t make him a radical, and just because your church doesn’t look like the church down the street, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t getting the exact same traditional and conservative theology disguised behind the comfort and relevance of culture. Whether your church worships with liturgy or laser beams, if it cooperates with the SBC and confesses the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, your church leans to the right. If your neo/mega-church is associated with Acts 29, C3, or any non-denominational network, you owe it to yourself to find out what is going on behind the scenes unless you prefer to be an average sheep that is content to let your pastor do all necessary theology for you. I know that the average layperson doesn’t have the time or interest to study theology at great depth, but I want to encourage people to at least examine how much freedom their pastor gives them to interpret Scripture as opposed to how much doctrine is being fed to them as absolute by their pastor with a degree from a Southern Baptist seminary or support from various evangelical networks and conventions.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Oh Amazon
I apologize for temporarily abandoning the blog. I grew frustrated with politics in the weeks leading up to and following the election, and I have had a lot of things that I wanted to write about, but not enough time with school-work and other commitments. Now that I am done with class for a while, I plan to blog regularly again.
I have become quite fond of Amazon.com this past year. What's not to love? The prices are usually a little less than what you pay in the store, and you get free shipping on orders over $25. And who doesn't love to receive a package in the mail? It's like opening a Christmas present from yourself any time of the year!
I decided this year that there was nothing I wanted or needed to get for someone else that was worth risking my life or losing sleep over on Black Friday in order to save a few bucks, so I took a look at Amazon's Black Friday deals. One of the things about Amazon that I have to be careful about is that each item you look at comes with recommendations, so each page is full of links to other similar items and suggestions of interest. Well, somehow I stumbled upon what I will dub the most ridiculous holiday gift this season: USB Heated Gloves. This item may be practical for some...but come on, really? I know that there are a lot of other ridiculous USB-powered goods on the market, but this is a little silly.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Martha Ann Motel
Today is a day that I have been looking forward to for a long time. I have been working with some of my best friends on a music project since around January, and we are finally able to display some of the fruits of our work online. Head on over to www.myspace.com/marthaannmotel.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
