On Faith and Church

One-Sentence Guideline for Christians

Bruce — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:18:10 +0000

From Connie Schultz, panelist on last night's Bill Maher show:

I was raised by a born-again Christian who taught us that being a good Christian meant fixing yourself and helping others, not the other way around.

Okay, folks, there's your sermon for today; no need to attend tomorrow.

Seriously -- spend ten minutes, or ten hours, thinking about this sentence and its implications for your own life, and for the life of your faith community. What percent of that life is spent in this sentence, and what percent is spent in its inverse?

Many non-Christians see today's Christian community as promoting two things: "God wants us to get ours" and "God hates everyone not like us, so let's join him in that." Unfortunately, we haven't always done a good job of reversing that perception. We need to do a better job of that -- and of calling out the getters and the haters.

More on Connie Schultz at Wikipedia. Here's hoping I can be half that pungent in MY writing.

Irony Is Lost on Some People

Bruce — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:22:46 +0000

I wrote a big, long introduction to this, trying to find some way to explain it -- but I just can't explain it. Perhaps their good intentions can be their excuse.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/30/145245/63/817/647006

The Incarnation -- A Fake-Out?

Bruce — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:18:38 +0000

We're working through Brian McClaren's book Everything Must Change at church on Sunday nights, and it's been a good study of a challenging book. (There are still some weeks to go -- come join us.) Today's section contained a point that really helped crystalize a thought for me, and challenged me as well. Here's the gist of it.

Faith Versus Belief

Bruce — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:33:56 +0000

I've started re-reading the book Stages of Faith (Amazon link) by Fowler. It's an important book, and I'm sure I'll post some more on it as I work my way through it. For tonight, though, I want to touch on an opening idea: the difference between faith and belief.

The Question of Utility

Bruce — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 01:02:44 +0000

I've been reading an interesting book (if you're a policy wonk like me) called The Utility of Force. It's by a British general and military historian who explores the changing ability of military force to be useful politically, or as the author puts it, to "have utility."

It got me thinking about the word "utility" and its application to other things. Instead of saying "Is this useful?" you ask "Does this object have utility?" To me the first question is more about the object's usefulness to you, while the second is more about the object's usefulness to anyone. There is also the question of exactly what the utility is -- a hammer has a somewhat limited utility, while a computer has an almost infinite utility, depending on the software available for it.

So, here's the question of this posting: Does a church have utility? And if so, to whom and for what?

I'm Getting Tired of ... Religion

Bruce — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:25:05 +0000

You know, I'm really getting tired of religion. I don't mean spirituality, necessarily, and I certainly don't mean the practice of Christlikeness. But I surely do mean the earthly-focused, useless, institutional, powerless, unexamined fabric of delusions and rituals that pass for Christianity in many churches and places.

I'm Getting Tired of ... Religion

Bruce — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:20:57 +0000

You know, I'm really getting tired of religion.

I don't mean spirituality, necessarily, and I certainly don't mean the practice of Christlikeness. But I surely do mean the earthly-focused, useless, institutional, powerless, unexamined fabric of delusions and rituals that pass for Christianity in many churches and places.

If we go to church most Sundays, we feel like we're on the right path. If we go to Sunday School too, or serve on a committee, or sing in the choir, then we are even more certain that our Christianity has a solid footing. And if we actually practice tithing, or go to prayer meeting, then we are looked up to as a "mature" or "serious" Christian.

While each of these actvities may -- I say "may" -- indicate a growing follower of Christ, if you tell me that such things necessarily indicate someone who is moving far down the path of Christ-following, my first reaction is Bullshit.

We need to read the Gospels again. We need to again see the people who followed Jesus -- the losers, the immoral, the broken, the seekers -- and the people who attacked Jesus -- the religious, the successful, the powerful, the winners. We have created churches, and denominations, and a religion for the winners, and we have taken out any intimation that being a Christian may take you from winning to losing.

Think I'm exaggerating? Take a look around. What type of students are often guest speakers in our churches? Star athletes. What churches get all the attention? The ones that are growing the most numerically. What pastors get the important speaking invitations, the chance to lead workshops? The pastors of those growing churches.

Just once I'd like to see Brother Jones of First Sap Hollow Baptist asked to deliver the convention sermon, simply because he is a man of God who has served where God put him and done it with both faithfulness and Christlikeness. Just once I'd like to see a church featured in a Christian publication not because it is growing in numbers, but because it is growing in service or Christlikeness.

Instead, we focus on who is barking loudest about the latest leading sin, or who is denouncing whom in which pulpit.

Many years ago, an author wrote a popular book called "How to Be a Christian Without Being Religious." We need a follow-up book on being religious without being Christian.

Two Sunday Morning Blessings

Bruce — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 13:47:00 +0000

Some of my friends and readers know that one of my lives is that of a musician. It's interesting how compartmentalized our lives are; many of my co-workers have no idea of this part of me, or of my long history in making and directing music. (And of course, I don't very much about many of them, either -- one difference between an acquaintance and a friend.)

Anyway -- I was driving in to Panera Bread this morning, before going on to church, and I was listening to our local classical music station, WFPL. Two blessings immediately came to mind: the blessing of having a local radio station devoted completely to classical music, and the blessing of the show that was on as I drove in, "Pipe Dreams."

What an amazing instrument, the pipe organ! Capable of being so very big, and so very small, lyric or technical, angry or beautiful. The program ended with a four-hand organ piece, a fantasy based on Sine Nomine (one of my favorite hymn tunes). It was a fine piece, played by a husband-and-wife duo as part of a dedicatory concert of a new pipe organ. What a great way to start the day!

Here's the web site: Pipe Dreams site. And here's a link to the program I was listening to: Concert Capers. Enjoy!

Labels: Music

Have a Very Merry, Horribly Conflicted Christmas

Bruce — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 13:52:00 +0000

(Cross-posted at DailyKos and at Street Prophets)

I have always loved Christmas: the decorations, the special services at church, the parties, the time off. When I was young, the gifts were part of the attraction, but over time getting gifts has become much less important than receiving them.

One of the main things I've loved about Christmas through the years is the event it celebrates. For a long time the wonder of it was both the foundation under everything else and a patina of joy on everything else.

The last few years, though, have shaken my attraction to Christmas and clouded the joy of the season. The self-congratulatory certainty of the religious right, combined with their politics of hate and their one-inch-deep theology, have almost driven me to despair. The current grace-less-ness of many Christians, who take offense at "happy holidays" but are more than willing to offend others, just makes me wonder why we persist in majoring on the minors. And if I see another Santa as part of a nativity scene, I think I'll scream.

In the midst of my ennui, there are two things that draw me back, that begin to restore the joy of the season: the church I attend, and music.

The church is an amazing place: a mixture of challenge and acceptance, of God-talk and people-care, of moving worship and fun times, of a gentle but persistent focus on God in Christ AND what does that mean for each of us. It is the most emotionally healthy church I've ever been a part of, and also the most spiritually challenging.

And then there is the music. Somehow music gets past the oxidation of daily life, and begins to restore the patina of joy. It can be sacred -- almost any of Rutter's music, an anthem at church, even the Messiah -- or not-so-sacred, such as the December album of George Winston or the Mannheim Steamroller pieces. I listen to the Mannheim "Silent Night" and the cool wind of a Bethlehem hillside brushes my face, and I imagine myself standing at a slight distance, looking down on a just-born baby and pondering the meaning of all I have seen and heard. And Christmas comes again.

When I was a child Christmas was both innocent and magical. Now that I am older it has lost its innocence. My wish for all this year, and every year, is not to regain the innocence of our childhood Christmases; it is instead that in the midst of our all-too-familiar weariness with both the world and with religion, we can somehow rediscover the magic, the wonder, the possibilities of that night. To paraphrase our pastor's standard benediction -- Now we leave this form of Christmas, to resume the Christmas that is our very lives. Go in peace and be Christmas for each other and for all you meet.

Labels: Christianity, Christmas, Music

Pastor Speaks Out on Walmart

Bruce — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 05:24:00 +0000

(cross-posted at Daily Kos)

Our church, and our pastor, are serious about two things: inviting people into the love and acceptance of God, and confronting injustice as the opportunity presents itself.

So when Dr. Joseph Phelps of Highland Baptist in Louisville was contacted by the WakeUpWalmart folks and asked to do a short commercial, he stepped out of his comfort zone and stepped up to the plate.

Our church has a long history of caring for the less fortunate as part of our mission. Recently the work of social justice has begun to become a part of that mission: part of the ministry is caring for the individual, and part is trying to change the systems that help create the problems.

Still, anyone familiar with the church would realize that doing an ad for WakeUpWalmart was outside what we had been doing. Not that it is completely out of character -- far from it -- it's just a little more "out there" than our normal modus operandi.

Joe Phelps has a pastor's heart, a tremendous one. Occasionally, he also puts on the prophet's mantle. He's not egotistical about it, like some; neither is he aggressive about it, like others. But when he feels called to speak out, he does so. And in 30 seconds, he cuts to the heart of the issue for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

Here's the money quote:

As we celebrate Christmas, search your heart -- If these are Walmart's values, would Jesus shop at Walmart? Should you?

You can view the video here: Video at WUWM.

Here's the church website: Highland Baptist.

Update: Pastor Shares Statement on Why
I just discovered that Joe also put a statment up on the church web site, explaining why he decided to accept the invitation to do the ad. You can read it here.

Labels: Activism, Christianity, Walmart