Amicus Dei

I ran across three seemingly unrelated items this week:

1. The Christian church in Ethiopia split from the western church over monophysitism.
2. John Piper says that a good dose of Reformed theology will assuage guilt over sexual misconduct like masturbation, pornography, and fornication.
3. The North Carolina Baptist Convention uninvited Doug Pagitt after they learned some things about his theology. 

So, let’s take these in order:

The Ethiopian Church.  The Ethiopian Church is full of monophysitists apparently.  Before you call the exterminator or take an antibiotic, monophysitists believe that Christ has one nature and it’s divine.  They believe he came out of two natures — divine and human — but now (or then) the two merged into one divine nature.  The Council of Chalcedon disagreed, declared monophysitism heresy, and the Ethiopian church was left to its own devices. 

John Piper and Reformed theology as salve for a guilty conscience.  Out of Ur posted Missions and Masturbation on their site today.  Obviously this is sweeps week, because they were going for what I call the sleaze effect.  So, I clicked on the post (sleaze works) and read that John Piper is concerned we are losing a lot of kids to the ministry because of their previous sexual misdeeds, among which are masturbation, pornography, and fornication.  Sounds like kids to me, but Piper, according to OOU, said that a good healthy dose of theology, specifically substitutionary atonement, would bring them around.

Doug Pagitt uninvited by the North Carolina Baptist Convention.  The good folks at the BSCNC uninvited Doug Pagitt to speak at one of their emerging-wanna be conferences after Mark Driscoll gave Pagitt a theological blackball.  NC Baptists said they learned some things about Pagitt’s theology they didn’t know, and so uninvited him to speak.

Theological Theater of the Absurd

If all of this doesn’t sound like theater of the absurd, I don’t know what does.  Here’s my take on all of the above:

1. Monophysitism.  Who knows?  Who cares?  Why does it matter?  Doesn’t change Jesus one bit whether you think he had one nature or two, or if they merged or didn’t.  So over this bit of theological silliness, the entire ancient Ethiopian and Armenian churches were lost from the world communion. 
2. Theology as guilt-cure.  I am sorry, but try trotting out substitutionary atonement in the midst of a counseling session and watch the counselee’s eyes glaze over.  People of all ages need forgiveness and that comes from a person, not a doctrine.
3. Theology as excluder.  Mostly theology has served the function of excluding folks from each other, as in the case of NC Baptists and Doug Pagitt.  I’m sure Doug has a lot of other places to speak, but it still seems like my Baptists brethren to the south are abusing the purpose of theology.

By definition, theology is the knowledge of God.  Why does that divide people?  Shouldn’t the more we know about God unite us?  Shouldn’t the more we know about God assure us of God’s love for us, regardless of our sin?  Shouldn’t the more we know about God remind us of how little our own make-believe ideas matter?  When theology unites, heals, and includes that is the real knowledge of God in my estimation.  – Amicus Dei

Today Amicus Dei joined the ranks of CCblogs — The Christian Century magazine’s blog network.  If you thought The Christian Century was just for old, liberal mainliners, think again.  Here I am, a Baptist, rubbing cyber-shoulders with a bunch of really thoughtful people.  If you’re a CC reader, welcome.  Join the conversation, leave a comment or two, and most of all, make yourself at home. — Amicus Dei

If churchthink is more of the same in different threads, then thinking differently about church means starting in a different place from where we usually start.

Here’s an example:  A church wants to revamp its worship, so it replaces the organ and piano with guitar and drums; the choir with a praise trio; and hymnals with video screens.   But the reality is they still have performers and spectators, people in pews (or theater seats), and the same stuff all dressed up like something new.  This is not new thinking, it’s just changing the props. 

I am convinced we have to get out of our closed circles, and start listening to other voices, translating what we hear into something new in churchlife. 

Here are some examples of places we need to look for new thinking about everything:

Science fiction.  Kevin Kelly has a great post about the influence of science fiction on real science.  Specifically the story of how H. G. Wells wrote about the atomic bomb in 1914, predicting it would become a reality by the 1950s.  Wells only missed it by a few years.  The really scary part is, Wells thought the atomic bomb would be a handheld device used by terrorists.  Sounds like deja vu all over again, doesn’t it? 

The lessons of history.  The NY Times ran an op-ed piece today comparing the Bush administration’s war-on-terror to the fallout from the French Revolution.   The excesses in France in defense of liberty are being echoed in the current War-On-Terror.  The scary part here — the term "terrorist" actually is derived from those who professed to defend liberty during the reign of the Jacobin’s in what was called la Terreur — The Terror.

Environmental clues.  Last week I read three accounts of water shortages.  Many are predicting the availability of clean water is the next environmental crisis.  We will not have time to catch our breath over global warming before we are confronted with another crisis. 

Festivals.  Burning Man is the ritual for non-religious types.  Other street festivals offer more than just corndogs, as the Power Cart proves.  The Power Cart is an art project for a Brooklyn street festival showing the concept of a street vendor selling power — cell phone, pda, and laptop charges for all those electronic devices.  Festivals are often the portent of things to come.  Artists and the advant-garde community think about things from perspectives that others overlook.

Futurists.  Who says that we can only turn to the ancient ways to figure out what church should look like now or tomorrow?   Maybe instead of looking to the past we need to project ourselves into the future.  To answer the question What will the future office look like?  Stephen Spielberg called in writers, artists, and futurists to design the office of the future for his movie, "Minority Report."   Result:  Kevin Kelly’s idea of a giant wrap-around screen activated by the motion of a person standing — and this was long before the Wii was invented. 

Other traditions.  Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Living Buddha, Living Christ is the best book on living a life in the way of Jesus, that I have read in years.  Maybe ever.  And Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk.  Thomas Merton recognized the value of other traditions in the last years of his life.  How can other traditions help us reimagine life in Christ? 

Other Christian traditions.  We hear a lot about the Celtic church, which I love, but what about the Ethiopian church?  Talk about ancient, the Ethiopians are still meeting in churches hewn out of rock, and using really ancient text, vestments, architecture, and theology.  What can we learn from them?  Or the Egyptian Coptics?  Or liberation base communities?  Or Russian Orthodox?   My guess is that Celtic Christianity is popular because it’s like us — Anglo-Saxon, white, appealing, and familiar. 

What if we quit talking to ourselves and start listening to the world in which God has placed us — all of it — in all its diverse  and troubled splendor?  We might find out we don’t need another praise band, after all.  — Amicus Dei

The BBC carried email messages from several people still inside Burma.  Here is one –

"We are genuinely disgusted with the government. They beat the monks so the people have lost their voice once again.

They are waiting for someone brave enough to lead them, but until that happens, their voice is silenced."

I wonder if nations which are predominantly Christian consider the church to be the voice of the people?  Or are we just the voice of the church?  – Amicus Dei

If the term "practical mysticism" sounds like an oxymoron to you, then you’re not alone.  For centuries, Christian mystics have been thought of as the lunatic fringe of the Church.  Usually imagined as wild-eyed John-the-Baptist types, Christian mystics have been relegated to the "interesting, but impractical" category in church history. 

But with a new wind of the Spirit blowing across the Church today, mysticism is finding a new and practical place in the life of the Christian communion.  Some examples include –

• The ancient-future connection that the late Robert Webber called to the attention of evangelicals. 
• Neo-monastic communities have revived the practice of a common life together in devotion and service.
• The daily office — Phyllis Tickle calls it The Divine Hours — is now observed by growing numbers of evangelicals, not to mention Catholics and Orthodox adherents. 
• The restoration of ritual to evangelical life through adaptation of ancient liturgies such as The Great Thanksgiving, and other ancient readings and worship work.
• Spiritual formation, rather than just education, is finding new proponents in evangelical life.
• Charismatic gifts — such as tongues, private prayer language, prophecy, discernment, et al — are finding greater acceptance among previously "cessationist" denominations.
• Prayer practices such as meditatio and centering prayer have seen a resurgence in the last 30-years.
• Deeper Life conferences, in the Keswick tradition, owe much to the early mystics and their yieldedness to God.
• Revivalism – most notably in the first and second great awakenings, but recently in the Toronto blessing and the Brownsville revival — has a definite mystical flavor with those under the Spirit’s influence repenting, confessing, crying, falling down, barking like dogs (Great Awakenings), and mostly having their lives transformed.

The list goes on, but all of these experiences and expressions have their roots in the ancient mysticism of the early Church.  It is only in the past 200 or so years as the Enlightenment took center stage, that the phenomena of the mystical experience came into serious question.  Even the radical reformers, of which my Baptist denomination is an descendant, expressed themselves in highly mystical doctrines of "new light" and "soul competency." 

Today’s mystics may not wear flowing robes and live in the desert, but theydo have a renewed longing to know God personally and powerfully.  Expressions of devotion may change, but the object of that devotion does not.  Mystics say with the Greeks of John’s Gospel, "Sir, we would see Jesus." – Amicus Dei 

Tonight Debbie and I created a prayer altar in our den.  I’ve been thinking about this for some time, but never seemed to be quite ready to actually create an altar.  Plus the stereo fit perfectly on the top of this built-in cabinet with bookshelves above.  Tonight I decided I had to do this.  Amazingly, Debbie said she had been thinking of a place where we could focus our thankfulness. 

On the altar, we put a lot of stuff that we pray for and are thankful for.  From left to right, here’s the list:

• Celtic Daily Prayer book.   We use this and its companion in our morning prayer office.
• Photo of Debbie’s mother, Clara, holding Debbie’s niece, Emma.
• Photo of our daughter, Laurie, and son-in-law, Steve.
• In front of Laurie and Steve, our three grandchildren — Wesley, Maggie and Vivian.
• The dark object in front of the grandkids is an old Indian grinding stone we found in the Pecos River near Santa Fe about 20-years ago.  We touch the earth and ancient traditions when we touch this stone.
• An arrangement of zinnias from Debbie’s garden.
• In front of the flowers is a handpainted verse, a gift from Mary Kay, a friend in Nashville.  "May God’s love and the Holy Spirit’s friendship be yours."
• The basket in the middle was made by a German Baptist basketmaker, Mrs. Bower, and given to us by her son, Donnie.  We put our written prayer thanks and concerns in this basket.
• The tiny oval frame to the right of the basket is Salman’s Head of Christ, which Debbie found among things her great aunt Lora left her.  Aunt Lora died last year at the age of 97. 
• The object hanging from the brass hook is a Celtic cross made of pressed glass that Debbie surprised me with in September.  We feel a kinship to the Celtic tradition.
• The stack of Bibles belonged to members of our family:  the top Bible was presented to my father in 1928, when he was 8-years-old; the next belonged to my mother’s mother, Lovie Kirkland; the third was presented to me when I was 10-years-old; and the Bible on the bottom of the stack is one I gave to Debbie when we were dating.  These remind us of the faith that has dwelled in our family over the generations.
• A tiny bluebird from Debbie’s other great aunt Ruby, sits atop the Bibles.
• The photo next to the Bibles is our daughter Amy and her son, Wesley.
• The one next to it is my father Charles, and stepmother, Lola.
• The small frame contains a photo of Main Street in our town.  Our church is seeking to transform our town through a number of missional projects.   
• On the wall on the left is a plaque that hung in our kitchen when our girls were small.  It begins, "God Made Us A Family."  It’s grease-stained and faded, but Debbie and I cherish the memories of family dinners as Laurie and Amy grew up.
• The painting in the middle is "A Gift Of Love."  Debbie painted this to celebrate the gifts that God gives to us each day.  You’ll have to read her blog, Goodthoughts, to find out why there’s a giant bluebird in the painting.
• The photo hanging on the right is our church, Chatham Baptist in Chatham, Virginia.  This is the seldom-seen view of the church from the side lawn.  Looks like an old English chapel from this angle.

All of this rests on a handwoven silk rug given to me in 1998, by an enthusiastic Chinese rug merchant from Kunming, China, named Tom.  Tom’s business card read, "The Greatest Saleman."  I liked Tom and I loved his rugs.  The knotting is equisite and the rug is a beautiful reminder of friends we met in China over the years.

We’ll add more stuff, maybe rearrange everything later, but for now we have an altar.  The stereo is in the dining room, waiting for a new shelf to call home.  I couldn’t help thinking that we replaced a modern distraction with an ancient devotion.  I don’t know why we didn’t do this sooner. 

We lit two small votive candles to bring the light of God into this small space.  As we placed the first of many notes of thanks in the basket, we read together, "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, his love endures forever."    Amen.  – Amicus Dei

I just discovered reallivepreacher.com and Covenant Baptist Church.  Which is a lot like Columbus saying, "I just discovered America" while about a zillion native Americans look on.  So, to answer the questions on your lips — "I do not know where I’ve been" and "Yes, I’m sure everyone else in the universe knows about rlp except me." 

Having said that, I really like this guy.  Thanks to Paul Soupiset for sharing Gordon’s writing on his blog.  And I like this church, of which Gordon is the pastor.  Here’s the practical side of me — I like their website/blog because it gives you a real, unapologetic sense of who they are.  Like looking in a window, or over their shoulders while they go about doing church. 

I love their space and their "this-is-what-we-do" approach.  So for all of you who already know these folks and reallivepreacher.com, I’m joining your ranks.  And, I’m changing my philosophy of what our website should be — more like a journal than an brochure.  A window into our communal life.  Stay tuned. – Amicus Dei

Our church observes the Christian Year which has its roots in the ancient church.  The Christian Year is the life of Christ with attendant readings for both meditation and worship.  University Hill church in Canada produces its own version of the Christian Year calendar, which is a good project for any church to do in order to heighten awareness of the cycle of Christian celebration.

While you’re on the University Hill site, notice their worship arrangement — very open and moveable.  Plus, they don’t own a building.  Interesting congregation modeling some very missional practices.  — Amicus Dei

Columbus Day was last Monday, October 8.  A national holiday for federal workers, postal employees, banks, and lots of school kids, Columbus Day honors the courage of Christopher Columbus, who in 1492 "sailed the ocean blue" and, in the process, discovered America.  That’s the story.

Unless, of course, you’re a native American like Indian activist Russell Means.  Means, and about 75 protestors, stopped the Denver Columbus Day Parade because Columbus was  the "first trans-Atlantic slave trader," according to Means. 

Two Different Framing Stories

And there you have the perfect example of  "framing stories" that Brian McLaren talks about in his new book, Everything Must Change.  Two points-of-view about an historic event.  Neither side denies that Columbus sailed into the New World.  Neither side cares if it was an accident that Columbus discovered America.  Both sides pretty much agree on the historical event.  But, each side sees the story differently.

For the Italian Americans who put on the Denver parade, Columbus is an Italian hero, the first of a long line of Italian immigrants who find new life in the new world. 

For native Americans, Columbus was the vanguard of the colonial era, embodying domination of one people (Europeans) over another (indigenous tribes).

The Results of A Dominant Framing Story

All of that explains why early missionaries to native peoples separated the Indian children from their tribal life, made them speak only English, and forced them to wear European-style clothing.  The missionaries were convinced that their framing story was the best one.  The right one.  The one that everyone should embrace, even if they had to be forced. 

The European "Columbus Story" led to the defeat of native Americans, the seizure of their lands, their restriction to "reservations," and their continued "management" by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.  "Our story must be best," we descendants of Europeans believe, "because our story prevailed."  Might makes right. 

Unless, of course, you’re a native American.  Your story is real.  You value your story.  Columbus is not your hero.  Yours is a different story.

Two stories, one holiday.  What can the missional community learn?  Which story are we living in?  Which story are we "incarnating?" — Amicus Dei

You gotta see this video from Paul Soupiset.