Amicus Dei

The first disciples were to invited by Jesus to "come and follow me."  And so, Peter, James, John, and the rest literally followed Jesus down the dusty roads of Galilee and Judea.  But, they also followed Jesus by watching and learning from Jesus.  Luke 10 records the opportunity Jesus gave his followers to practice what they had learned and observed from following Jesus. 

Following is more than believing

Following Jesus, then, is not just believing in Jesus.  Jurgen Moltmann, in The Way of Jesus Christ, says:

"…faith in Christ can no longer be separated from ethics.  The recognition that Christ alone is the Redeemer and Lord cannot be restricted to faith.  It must take in the whole of life."  — pg 118

Moltmann continues by quoting Hans Denk, from the Anabaptist tradition, who says:

"No one is able verily to know Christ except he follow Him in life." – pg 119

Following is an act of repentance

The act of following Jesus is in itself an act of repentance — a turning to a new way of life, a new way of seeing everything.  Our doctrine can go wrong, our theology can be inadequate, but our behavior is either the behavior of Jesus or it is not.  That is what "following" is — "acting in the manner of one who has gone before." 

I just finished reading an old volume by Thomas Merton, Life and Holiness.  Merton says the same thing about the importance of "following Christ" in taking action to solve human problems:

"Therefore it can never be sufficient for him [a Christian] to lead a "Christian life" that is confined, in practice, to the pews of the parish Church and to a few prayers in the home, without regard for those acute problems which affect millions of human beings and which call into question not only the future of man’s civilization but even perhaps the very survival of the human race itself." – pg 122

Believing is not enough, we must follow

I recently listened again to an audio recording of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who was nominated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Thay, as he is called by his students, was talking about the need to smile and enjoy simple things like the blue sky and the eyes of a baby.  Thay said that life is about suffering, but that "to suffer is not enough."  We must also smile, enjoy each moment and be peace to the world.

Evangelicals might paraphrase Hanh by saying "to believe is not enough."  We must also be Christ to the world.  We learn how to be Christ to the world by following Christ in the world.  – Amicus Dei

I like Steve Collins and have mentioned him here before.  I just discovered another site by Steve, who is also an interior designer, graphic designer, emerging church guy, author, photographer, etc, etc — a real 21st century renaissance guy. 

So, here’s the site — small ritual.  I’m starting you on the interior design piece, but you must look at the entire site, then visit his blog, then go to small fire because…

1. This is really cool.
2. There is good stuff to start you thinking about church differently.
3. It’s different than anything I’ve seen out there — very visual, not just texty. 

I’m going to plow thru this and let you know what I do with it.  What do you think? – Amicus Dei

ReligionNewsblog reports that 1 in 20 families in the UK reject a religious funeral in favor of a "celebration of life" for their deceased loved one.  Last year 30,000 non-faith funerals took place in the UK, and the trend is on the rise. 

Post-Christendom culture was recognized in Britain ove r 30-years ago when Leslie Newbiggin returned from India and posed the question, "Can Europe be saved?"  Christians in the US were slower to awaken to the news that Christianity was no longer the dominant story in the US.  People in the US no longer attended church just because it was the "thing to do."

I have often been told by a grieving church member, "I don’t know what I would do without my faith."  Apparently there are increasing numbers who do not share that viewpoint.  If the UK is the bellwether for institutional religious trends, expect more non-religious funerals in the US in the future.  Religion News says that 10-years ago, non-religious funerals were unheard of, but now are on the rise.

Unfortunately, the church’s response in the UK has been to "lighten up funerals" by singing songs other than hymns in an attempt to attract people back to church funerals.  One company, Motorcycle Funerals, offers transport in a sidecar rather than the traditional hearse. 

The Enlightenment separated the world into the secular and spiritual, kicking the church out of the "real" secular realm and relegating it to the spiritual.  But the church still presided over the significant moments of life — birth, marriage, and death.  We lost the first two — birth and marriage — long ago.  Now the church is increasingly seen as irrelevant in death.   Somewhere we have lost the story that Jesus is making all things new.  Until we regain that story, we will continue to be seen as unnecessary. — Amicus Dei

It’s a long story, but I spent almost 13 years out of ministry from 1990 to 2003.  For most of that time, I worked in international trade — primarily electronics, but also consumer products.  I opened an office in Shanghai, China, and traveled to Hong Kong, mainland China, and Taiwan many times.  Our company sold products made in China, and my mantra to those critical of off-shoring was, "It’s a global economy!"  I made great friends in China, and enjoyed the opportunity to travel there.  But, I am no longer a globalist, and here’s why:

1. Third world workers are exploited.  Multi-national corporations follow the cheap labor market.   Cheap labor doesn’t just mean low wages — it also means no insurance, no benefits, no job security, no safety concerns, and no humane working conditions.  I have witnessed workers putting themselves at serious risk for long-term health and safety problems by working in substandard factories. 
2. Workers are often separated from their homes and families.  In China’s Guandong province, I have seen workers’ dormitories that are filthy, overcrowded, unsafe, and depressing.  Workers are brought in from outlying villages to work for months at a time with only a few days off per year to visit the families left behind.  Living conditions are so bad that on one visit, I was informed that workers had killed the factory owner in protest over inhumane treatment.
3. Human slavery thrives in third world industry.  China, India, and other developing countries use prison labor, bond laborers, or out-right slaves to manufacture goods for the Western world.
4. Low wages are not better than subsistence living.  Subsistence living is sustainable, and the norm in the third world.  The argument that two-dollars a day is better than nothing is not always true.
5. Globalization is a contributing cause of global warming, water pollution, air pollution, toxic waste dumping, mercury poisoning, and a host of other ecological disasters.
6. Globalization is the colonialism of the 21st century.  The western world is still the economic colonizer of entire populations in the developing world.
7. Globalization endangers our food, drug, and consumer goods supplies.  The recent news that China produces adulterated products comes as no surprise to me.  I have seen "independent" product inspectors bribed by factory managers in order to obtain approval for their products.  This is common practice in China, where standards of product safety and wholesomeness do not exist. 

I am a convert to localization, rather than globalization.  The hard part is supporting a localized economy, and consuming less that is made by exploited third world workers.  I think that localization is a part of the church-as-abbey’s commitment to economic justice and vitality in its context.  I’ll let you know as I find ways to support localism on a practical level.  Anyone have any ideas?  – Amicus Dei 

First it was the Muslims, now it’s the Protestants the Vatican is demeaning.  Pope Benedict issued a 16-page document which continues an argument that Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope, began in 2000.  News reports quote the document as saying,

"Despite the fact that this teaching has created no little distress … it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of ‘Church’ could possibly be attributed to them [Protestant churches]."

But, despite this less-than-complimentary depiction, the Vatican insists that it wants to continue ecumenical dialogue with other groups, including Protestants. 

All of this raises the issue of who gets to define the "church."   Makes ecclesiology a little more important, doesn’t it? – Amicus Dei

My friend, Bob Robinson, Area Director for the Coalition for Christian Outreach, has a great example of a neo-evangelism conversation using an Appreciative Inquiry format.  This is exactly the kind of thing I have been thinking about, but Bob’s example is amazing!  Check out Bob’s blog, Vanguard Church for more really good stuff on the emerging/missional church.

Another great book that uses AI is Mark Lau Branson’s book, Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change.  Published by Alban Institute, this book is the story of Branson’s church and how they used Appreciative Inquiry conversations to recover the best of their past and build a new future.  Branson is the Homer L. Goddard Associate Professor of the Ministry of the Laity at Fuller Seminary, and the professor of record in the DMin Missional Leadership program at Fuller.  Two good resources using AI.  What’s next? — Amicus Dei