pat loughery

Todd Hiestand has a great challenge for us:

I read recently in Relevant Magazine’s article on 7 Big Questions. In this article they asked 7 questions of Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell, Erwin McManus, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Lauren Winner, Efrem Smith, Rick Warren. These are some big names in the evangelical world and its no surprise that everyone wants to know what they have to say.

But, being a small church pastor myself, I am always interested in what the “no-namers” have to say.[…]

Here are the questions:

* What trends in church and worship styles do you see? Are they positive or negative?

* What is a negative tendency of this generation as it relates to the faith?

* What positive tendency do you see in this generation?

* What do you see as the greatest challenge for young Christians in the next 10 years?

* How should Christians be involved in the political system?

* How can a Christian fulfill a passion for social justice as a middle-class American?

* Where and how do you feel Christians can have the most impact on culture?

I like this question. I get tired of reading what those who lead churches of thousands think the rest of us ought to be doing – there’s this strongly stated philosophy in Christianity that you only should be heard if you a) have written bestselling books or b) pastor a church of thousands which gets a lot of press, or best c) all the above. It’s celebrity worship to me, and I think it skews us to think of this as success (and only this). Bless those great leaders for being faithful to their calling, but bless those anonymous stewards as well.

Anyway, that doesn’t mean that I have a voice worth listening to, but nobody’s stopping me from answering the questions anyway 🙂

So, anyway, here are some thoughts to stew over for a while.

I see a tremendous hunger to practice a spirituality that’s not based on entertainment or hype or self-promotion. I think the days of the attractional, seeker-driven churches are transitioning. I think the danger in this transition is that many, many Christians have simply disengaged from community and fellowship and are following an individualistic path – and I believe that theology is best done in community; orthodoxy and orthopraxy are both relational systems. I want to see those who have a desire to worship simply, organically and truthfully be gathered around realistic community for the purpose of mission and justice.

I think the days of valuing Christian leaders by their media influence are going to continue, and that’s too bad. It’s risky and can be deceptive, but our surrounding culture influences the Christian culture far more than the other way around, and until I see an end to people placing ads in Christian magazines touting their ministries and labeling themselves as “Apostolic Prophetic Evangelists”, complete with phone numbers for you to contact them for a speaking engagement, I think these days will continue to thrive.

I think we’re stuck in a mode wherein shock value is used as a way to legitimize “true” faith – both by those I agree with and those I don’t. Because our culture is presumed to be Christian, oftentimes we see a need to either be fully relevant to the culture by being shockingly compliant to it (the core value of “excellence” in many attractional churches does this; video podcasts about masturbation as a spiritual discipline are another example).
There’s a way to use shock value to wake people out of the Matrix that enslaves them (and this is a good thing), and there’s a way to use shock value to appear hip and cool to the culture (and this, I’m convinced, is not).

I see a deep hunger for meaningful relationships, and this is a huge need in a culture without deep family ties and transitory friendships. I see an openness and a willingness to hear what others believe, even if the end result of that for many is a ‘whatever works for you is find for you’ end game. I see a recognition that we are globally connected and globally responsible.

They – we – will have to find ways to express a holistic faith that looks much less structured than their parents’ forms. This is always the case, we are at a time between the times with regards to social and church culture shift, and it’s so true now that I pray for God’s counseling spirit to be plenty available during this transition.

Intentionally, and humbly. Christians can and should express their faith in public sectors. However, as the current Bush administration has taught us, Christianity based on certainty in a particular flavor without an understanding of humility, justice and responsibility to the last and lost and least is simply power mongering.

Humbly listen to voices different than yours. Hear from the other gender, different races, hear the poor. Seek first God’s Kingdom and right relationships. Listen to others far and well before speaking and deciding. Realize you don’t know it all, and that your personal story isn’t the only one out there, or the normative one.

By listening quietly to God, attentively and expectantly. By listening quietly to the other, attentively and expectantly. By recognizing the great power you have, a treasure embodied in fragile flesh, called to re-present the Trinity to the world. By seeking to serve, far more than to be served. By seeking the best for the other, far more than for my own best.

How about you? What do you say?