May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
A great book I've started to read: 'Love is an orientation' by Andrew Marin. I said a few weeks ago that 'Post Mixed Economy' church will need to express values in the context of relationship and conversation. This book seeks to elevate the conversation with special regard to the gay community. In fact I think for some Christians it will challenge them to stop judging and repent of prejudice and actually see that the demands of divine love is that we seek to have more open-ended conversations that focus on understanding one another’s stories and drawing one another closer to God.In Hounslow we do have requests from church groups to come and use the space in front of the church building to share the Good News. Sadly it usually means they shout at people their version of the Good News and sing worship songs badly. It becomes something more akin to 'boundary marker religion' as J. G. Dunn put it and can be a a bit of max 'cringe' factor. As Andrew Marin said to a conference of church leaders recently: 'Friends, I plead with you today that you stop being a gatekeeper and start acting like Jesus.'I know some Christians find the judgements made in our courts and the arrest of a street preacher this past week are a sign of the demise of the UK as a Christian nation. We need to discover how we can continue to make a difference in the context of being with people where they are. Easy to say I know but something about 'becoming a human being and moved into the neighbourhood' comes to mind.
Really enjoyed Andrew's book... would love to hear how he was received at Spring Harvest. I think we are a long long way from these sorts of open-ended conversations generally, or maybe I'm a bit cynical? It's very difficult when prejudices seems to be supported by Scripture.
ReplyDeleteAnd the challenge also for me is to be secure in God, in relationship with Jesus, so that I don't fear engaging others who disagree with me. That calls for a real living relationship with Him. If others threaten me too much then I need to question my security in Him. That's where it's got to start I think.
AS usual MIke - you hit nail on head. So pleased to fidn someone who has read the book - I think it also has something significant to say about how we do mission generally in this generation. As you say it is about our own sense of rootedness which gives us the love and desire to engage in his way and also to listen and even change our opinions.
ReplyDeleteDo you know this website? I've just found it... really fun and challenging :)
ReplyDeletehttp://thegodjourney.com/2010/05/07/connecting-to-people-around-us/
Do you know the origin of the Franciscan prayer you've quoted? I have been trying to locate the source, but can't find it anywhere!
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