The Spirit of Criticism and Imploding Churches

I have written in the past about the danger of “critique for the sake of critique” that can circulate in Emerging (as well as other) church circles. Here I am not referring to constructive criticism- which, of course, is a good thing. I am speaking rather of what comes very close to resembling a spirit of condemnation.

Through friends, I have been made aware of Emerging church-plant communities that were almost dead before they began- because this critiquing spirit was so widespread. In such situations everyone has their own idea of how the church should develop- and around what central values, forms, etc...

How does such implosion take place, you ask?

Well, for many of us, our post-Evangelical years involve a stepping away from organized community. During this time, we often work through our thoughts and feelings about previous church experiences (which often involve pain and sorrow) by blogging, talking with like-minded friends, etc… This in itself is a helpful, constructive process.

However, like any recovery process, there comes a time when healing should set in and we move on. For some though, this season of venting becomes a tasty treat all its own. And if we’re not careful, this meal can become part of our regular diet.

However, a community made up of such people, especially a fledgling one, cannot possibly survive- let alone grow. Community can certainly help people work through difficult church experiences, but it cannot be built on such a foundation alone.

When we exist in our comfortable blogoshperic cubicles we become accustomed to responding to our own thoughts and feeling alone. Sure, we may come across a post in a friend or colleague’s blog that is thought-provoking, encouraging, etc…But we should not fool ourselves into thinking this is equivalent to being in true community with others.

In reality, true community is much messier, much more uncomfortable, much more difficult to deal with than shared existence in the blogoshpere. Community, like politics I suppose, is about compromise. It’s about dying to self for the sake of the community, and for the sake of what God is doing in that community.

In the blogosphere, while we may be very familiar with the concept of dying to self, the reality is another thing entirely. As we spend our time hoping and dreaming about the ideal community we need to remember that when its time to join with others, ours will merely serve as one of several, if not many, sometimes complementary, sometimes competing, visions.

Prayer and humility are essential when joining with a fledging community. Its then that we can trust that serving the good of the community by “going with the flow”-if you will, is a self-sacrifice that is not only good for others, but also good for us as well. Surrendering our need to be “right” is an essential step in growing in the process of spiritual formation. It’s also essential for the survival and vitality of existing and future communities of faith.





Thomas Merton on Christianity and Zen

Recently I’ve been perusing one of the few Thomas Merton works I have yet to read. Zen and the Birds of Appetite is Merton’s work comparing Zen and Christianity. While many western Evangelicals may feel stretched to understand any possible connection between these two- there is more common ground than one might first imagine.

Of course, what often gets in the way of such a comparison- is language. When different terms are used to describe a spiritual experience, people often assume they are polar opposites. But of course, this is certainly not necessarily the case. Merton does an excellent job of dancing in and around these topics in such a way as to both maintain the inherent mystery- while still offering insight which appeals to a “westernized” mind.

I, for one, found Merton’s description of Zen Buddhism helpful because, beforehand, I’d always assumed it tended towards nihilism, loss of personhood, assimilation, etc. But such an understanding is misleading. Merton writes:

“It is usually thought in the West that a Buddhist simply turns away from the world and other people as “unreal” and cultivates meditation in order to enter a trance and eventually a complete negative state of Nirvana. But Buddhist mindfulness, far from being contemptuous of life, is extremely solicitous for all life. It has two aspects: one, the penetration of the meaning and reality of suffering by meditation, and two, the protection of all beings against suffering by nonviolence and compassion.”

Many wonder both about Merton’s curious journey as priest and Trappist monk, student of complex Asian concepts, and best-selling western author. There are some very different understandings of the meaning of Merton’s death. In Bangkok, in 1968, at the height of his influence, Merton died instantly when electrocuted while attending an international monastic conference. Fundamentalist Christians, who were always wary of Merton’s “meanderings”, chalked the death up to divine intervention. Many more saw it as an unfortunate end to a man who had done, as was still doing, so much to turn western, and specifically, American, minds- towards ancient, mystical and monastic expressions of Christianity.

In the 1960’s, at the height of the atomic era, it seems that a man such as Merton was a welcome alternative on the international stage. I don’t think that’s any less true today. Somehow his message has a timelessness to it. Personally, Merton is one of the people I most look forward to dialoging with in the resurrection life.





Reflections on the Culture(s) of Church Planting

I recently had the opportunity to dialog with a church planter who has started a new community here in Oregon over the last year. The conversation was an interesting one. Afterwards I couldn’t help but reflect on how much my perspective on church planting/community building has changed.

A few minutes into the conversation it became clear to me that this pastor was trying to recruit me to help with the church planting process. What struck me about his approach was how non-organic it sounded. Now I know that the “o” word is a term bandied about in Emerging Church circles like sand on the beach. However, at its root, this somewhat plastic word has real meaning.

This church planter expressed his frustration that this area is so “independantly-minded”. He suggested that if he were planting a church in southern California he could merely put an ad in the paper and expect 200 people to show up for the next Sunday service. I don’t know about you, but this would not be the way I would go about planting a church.

Planting a church (in my mind) begins with planting spiritual DNA. The culture is forged first- and from there you build a larger community around those shared values. Now of course, you need some people to join in early on to forge this sense of community. But you definitely want it to be done with people who have a shared view of what it is they/you are attempting under the inspiration of God.

If, on the other hand, you begin a new community by putting an ad in the paper and seeing who shows up, you end up with very little ability to actually form that community. When the number of bodies passes a certain point, you lose control of the DNA formation- if it’s not already well established. In my opinion, when you’re trying to create a potent, enduring sense of shared identity, growing slowly, methodically, prayerfully, reflectively is always best.

Getting back to the approach endorsed by this new pastor, my sense was that his goal was simply to put more Christian bodies in seats so that the church could grow, so that new staff could be hired, etc. But my thought is (and was), to what end?

Is that all he wants? Existing Christians merely shifting congregational allegiance so that he can expand his church budget? Again, this guy was my age. And yet postmodern perspectives on community formation seemed to be completely absent. A brief survey of his office reading material further established this fact. Which just goes to show that growing up in a postmodern era means nothing when you are solely immersed in a church sub-culture still responding to a 1950’s reality.

And there lies much of the problem with the North American church and its relevance to contemporary western society.





Adventures in the Great White North

For those of you who are regulars to Precipice, you might be wondering where the updates have been over the last several weeks. Well, simply put, I’ve been indisposed (read: away from my computer).

My family and I recently headed north of the border into my (second) native land of Canada- for a vacation. A great time was had by all. We spent time in Vancouver and the spectacular Okanagan region. For those who have yet to experience the area- I highly recommend it.

Anyway, now that we’re safely reinstalled in our present residence of Central Oregon I shall be updating Precipice with current postings and several new articles. I hope in the meantime that you’ve had a chance to read up on some of the articles and features listed in our ever-growing archives section. It seems like just yesterday that we re-launched Precipice. In reality, that was nearly two years ago now- as our well loaded archives section now attests to.







The Future of "Christian Filmmaking"

A conference for Evangelical Christians within the film industry recently convened in Los Angeles to discuss the future of the lucrative niche market for “Christian films”. Some suggested that, as with Christian music, an industry should be developed where Christians produce films solely for other Christians. There was even talk of a new movie theater chain that would play nothing but these “Christian movies”- for purely Christian audiences.

Oh boy. Here we go again- trading in the Kingdom of God for a national marketer's dream.

I don’t know about you, but I am frequently (almost always actually) shocked by the low quality of movies dubbed "Christian films". I'm not speaking of technical quality (though that sometimes lacks as well) as much as I am referring to a lack of strong story-telling paired with compelling characterization.

Put simply, I find that these "Christian films" very often paint a picture of reality - and of people - that is simply not realistic, if it is even plausible.

The most glaring error of all involves the distinct absence of mystery (what I like to call the grey area of life) in these films. Everything is cut and dried; with no baggage hanging outside our pretty little Evangelical suitcases. But this only begs the question: who exactly are we fooling when we paint a picture of the world that has so little in common with the one we actually live in? At best, this is wishful thinking. At worst, it is mind-numbing indoctrination.

Lastly, let me say that I think the idea of having a "Christian only" theatre chain is a horrible idea- for several reasons:

1.) It will only increase the tendency to vanquish mystery, paradox, and apparently unresolved pain in depicting the real world.

2.) It creates an "us versus them" mentality that is not helpful, nor true to the mission given to us by Jesus.

3.) It will tend to homogenize the types of scripts that are considered “Christian "; much like how Christian radio has reduced the gospel message of the Kingdom of God to a personal, private, dualistic, “forever-insurance” program; lacking all reference to social justice, individual and corporate accountability, cosmic harmony, etc…

For further thoughts on this issue, check out an article from a while back, titled, Reflecting the Real World in Film: Lessons from Syriana.





The Fall: A Cosmic Event- Or Not?

Did you hear about the discovery of a planet well outside our solar system that may just contain the right environment to host life? The planet, as of now rather clinically and boringly referred to as Gliese 581c, is supposedly more than 1.5 times the diameter of Earth and five times as heavy. Much like Earth, this planet, located in the constellation Libra, is thought to offer temperatures that range somewhere between 32 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit. These conditions, as well as others related to the planet’s distance to its rather weak, red dwarf sun, suggest that oceans may very well exist on the planet’s surface. If so, scientists believe the possibility for life is “very promising”.

I don’t know about you but I find this a very exciting development.

I have often found many Christians’ attitudes towards the possibility of life on other planets rather strange and perplexing. Many look to the Bible and conclude that we Earthlings seem to be “all there is” in the Universe. It doesn’t take a biblical scholar to realize this is a gross misappropriation of scripture. Following the basic rule that biblical texts should be interpreted primarily as writings to a certain culture at a certain time, it would be both anachronistic and modernistic to assume that the Bible would address the issue of life on other plants. The Bible was written for Earthlings; specifically, Earthlings from certain regions of the planet- originally the Ancient Near East.

From my point of view, what we can gather from the thrust of scripture (provided we don't treat it like our 10th grade science textbook or an old-school farmers' almanac) is that our God is very pro-creative. And one quick look outside your window tells you that God relishes in bestowing astounding beauty upon his creation. So often the colors, textures, scents, etc., are truly breathtaking. That being the case, I have no problem whatsoever believing that God’s creative flare would extend well beyond the atmosphere of our one small, yet dazzling planet. And I’m not just talking about inanimate beauty. I’m talking about the creative flare for strange, bewildering, amazing creatures that include giraffes, lions, homo-sapiens, eagles, geckoes, octopi, etc…

Of course, then comes the issue of the Fall. What exactly was it and does it include extra-terrestrial echoes? C.S. Lewis offered some interesting possibilities regarding the issue in both his Narnia and Space Trilogy series. But I’ll leave that debate for another day.

But regarding the issue of life on other planets, intelligent and otherwise, I don’t know about you, but I would actually be surprised to find in the resurrection life that we are the only ones created for and invited to the cosmic party.



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