(Ir)religiosity

Two things up front: 1.) I believe quality health care is a fundamental right that should be afforded to all persons regardless of _________, 2.) I believe governments have a moral responsibility to ensure that said care is provided to its citizens.  For me, these are non-negotiable.  Period.

Our country is the closest it has ever been to ensuring the most of its citizens have access to quality health care.  I will be outraged, not to mention deeply disappointed, if we fail to push it through.  At this point we’re our own worst enemy.  As Jon Stewart pointed out in a recent episode of The Daily Show, it wouldn’t be all the surprising if President Obama’s approval rating of the American people has plummeted over the last month or so.  The lack of civility and reasonableness in our public discourse on this issue would be disappointing if it weren’t so pathetic.

I’m continually perplexed at the various ways in which people either hear or see what they want to or intentionally caricature what is said by resorting to scare tactics (I’m looking at you Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck).  Most people simply aren’t working with the facts and if they are the choose to sideline them in favor of something that sounds controversial and may gain some shock value or media attention.¹

Health care is too important of an issue for us to play games.  I’m afraid if we keep screwing around we’re going to miss our chance.  Then we will be responsible for the lack of care and ensuring that the uninsured remain uninsured.  There won’t be any passing the buck.  The blame will rest squarely on our shoulders.

Yesterday President Obama published an op-ed in the New York Times that clearly and carefully articulates his position yet again.  You should stop right now and read the whole thing.  Here’s what I think is the nucleus.

This is what reform is about. If you don’t have health insurance, you will finally have quality, affordable options once we pass reform. If you have health insurance, we will make sure that no insurance company or government bureaucrat gets between you and the care you need. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. You will not be waiting in any lines. This is not about putting the government in charge of your health insurance. I don’t believe anyone should be in charge of your health care decisions but you and your doctor — not government bureaucrats, not insurance companies.

But let’s make sure that we talk with one another, and not over one another. We are bound to disagree, but let’s disagree over issues that are real, and not wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that anyone has actually proposed. This is a complicated and critical issue, and it deserves a serious debate.

I read that and I simply don’t understand what the great end-of-the-world, apocalypse inaugurating problem is that I keep hearing about.  What is so wrong with providing a public option for those who can’t afford it?  Please tell me.  Or better yet, let’s tell those who currently can’t afford care why it is that they were just dealt the wrong hand and don’t have the right to the same quality care that the rest of us enjoy.

It is deeply disturbing, I think, when this idea is met with such anger and hate by people (mostly white people who can afford health care, by the way) at town hall meetings and not accepted with a sense of great urgency.  Perhaps the health care debate is what racism and classism looks like in the 21st century.  It looks more and more like Gordon Marino was right when he wrote that “the fact that a significant number of Americans do not feel any urgency to revamp a system that leaves millions of our sick without care is symptomatic of the fact that we must be suffering from a hardening of more than our arteries.”  Indeed, our irrational and childish behavior is demonstrative not only our compassion deficiency but our collective moral bankruptcy.

Perhaps the recent recession extends to more than our economy.

1. One of the best places to keep up with what is fact and what is fiction is http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/ [↩]

I posted this on my site at Missional Tribe last night.  Given its importance I thought I’ve throw it up here too.

In light of the new Tribe that is forming over at MissionalTribe.org, I’ve decided to revisit some previous posts.  Last April I participated in a missional sychroblog hosted by Jonathan Brink over at Missio Dei.  It was a very rewarding experience and allowed me to work through some of my thoughts and feelings about why I call myself a missional Christian and why I am drawn to the larger emergent conversation.  So, what follows is a reworking of two different posts (here and here ).  My thought has really changed much — though I feel like I could probably flesh this out in a small book — so I’ve only reworked the material so it will fit together cohesively.

What is Missional Living?

For me, missional living is participating in God’s work in the world, accepting the invitation of grace and responding to it and being part of God’s story, being part of God’s life. When I see people intentionally and earnestly seeking to discover what God is already doing in the world and when I see people partnering with God as co-creators, participating in divine, redemptive action in the narrative of history, that’s where I see missional living taking place.

But just as important, when I see people living missionally, it is always local, always within a particular context. Missional Christians go to great lengths to understand the context around them and how they might own that context while faithfully and creatively living the gospel message, the good news of redemption and subsequent restoration. In fact, when you think about it, that is the essence of the incarnation. God becoming human, putting skin and bones on, God getting local, pitching a tent among us, and showing us in our context how to live in God’s story and how to participate in the synergetic process of creativity, nurturing an alternative reality of reconciliation, i.e. the divine commonwealth. And it doesn’t get much better than that.

Why Am I Missional?

I am missional because I not only believe it is the best and most faithful response to God’s grace in authentic contextual community as incarnational, synergetic participants in the process of creativity, but because I believe it is the best, most compelling and liberating remedy to the “worldly” (and I use the word with a bit of hesitation) systems of domination and coercive power in which we all live and participate.

And that gives me some serious hope.

We live in a, postmodern and postcolonial world and because of that context we’re beginning to realize our past mistakes in proclaiming the good news and as a result we’re reinventing what it means to live and proclaim (and proclaiming by living) the counter-cultural good news of Jesus of Nazareth.

And really, when you get down to it, it’s not that complicated. It’s just hard to actually do. Mainly because it involves a completely different way of “being” and living. One that denies self and lives for and in service to the entire world; one that takes Jesus at his word.

So, when missional persons read things like: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” “Love your enemies” and “Forgive those who persecute you” they try their best to not reduce them to cute one-line catch phrases but actually put them into action by exemplifying what Paul Tillich calls an “ultimate concern for ‘the other.’”

And that’s why I am missional.

Because it involves living out the good news not just talking about. It involves an ethic that is not divorced from but it vital to the ongoing, interactive narrative of salvation. Rather than humor oneself solely with sophisticated theological or philosophical reflection, a missional follower of the Way participates in theological praxis alongside theological reflection. Furthermore, a missional agent, a missional insurgent, sees any theological reflection that is not preceded, accompanied, and followed by praxis as inherently counter-productive to and Jesus message and God’s dream for the world.

I will never forget the tragedy that happened a few years ago at the Amish school in Pennsylvania. And even more compelling the response of the Amish community to the tragedy will be forever ingrained in my memory. Rather than acting in anger and revenge, the community destroyed the school where the shooting took place and moved on by responding with an overwhelming outpouring of forgiveness and reconciliation. They reached out with compassion, mercy, and grace, grieved along with the family of the perpetrator and set up a charity fund in that family’s name. They attended the funeral of the perpetrator and responded with further acts of forgiveness and love. They became Jesus.

And that is why I am missional.

Because, to me, being missional is the best possible way to live the good news of the Jesus movement and participate in God’s alternative reality (God’s kingdom) in the world today. It is the best possible way to be Jesus in the here and now and to convey the message of restoration and re-creation. It is the best possible way to seek justice, resist evil and do good.

Simply put, it is the best possible way to live.

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I’ve been meaning to get this up for a few days, but some stuff happened. Like my blog crashing my losing all my customizations; hence the new design.

Anywho, earlier this week Josh posted a final update on the Indian Taxi Fund, which, as I mentioned a while back, could, and now has, become the Indian Grocery Store Fund.

The cluster ending up raising less than our goal of $7500. But we did raise $3000 in about a month’s time. I think that’s pretty awesome. Actually I think that’s really awesome. It exceeded my expectations and just goes to prove what the power of scale-free networks and decentralized communities can do and what they can accomplish.

So, we will be lending the $3000 to Amit so he can get to work with the store front. The funds will help him pay for the rent, buy supplies, and stock the store. Not to mention providing for his pregnant wife. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the scoop.

Josh posted an update and a final call a few days ago. Over the course of month we’ve raised around $3000 which is amazing. Great job.

Because of the time sensitive nature of this project (the fact the Amit needs these funds yesterday) we as a cluster have decided to continue for another 2 weeks and raise as much as we can–getting as close a possible to our $7500 goal–at which point we will stop raising money and loan Amit however much we have.

This is the contingency plan: in the event that we don’t reach our initial goal we will loan whatever we have raised and Amit. He’s wife is in desperate need of medical treatment for her pregnancy so instead of investing in the taxi business as originally planned, Amit will use the funds we have raised and run and operate a store front. He will continue to run it through his wife’s pregnancy and continue to pastor and plant churches following it.

So here’s the deal–we need a surge of the next few weeks. If you have been thinking of getting in involved in the cluster but haven’t yet there couldn’t be a better time than now. If you are involved in the cluster and have been thinking of contributing more, now is the time to do so.

For more information email me or click here.

DONATE VIA PAYPAL.

DONATE VIA REVOLUTION MONEY EXCHANGE.

Thanks so much for all the help.

[Over the next few months, as part of a Missional Synchroblog collaboration at Missio Dei, I will be sharing and reflecting on being “missional.” This is second post of the series. See the bottom of the post for a participant link list. They are all excellent bloggers and I would strongly recommend subscribing to each of their feeds if you haven’t already. They put out some good stuff.

Part I: What Does Missional Living Look Like?

“Mission is, quite simply, the participation of Christians in the liberating mission of Jesus, wagering on a future that verifiable experience seems to belie. It is good news of God’s love, incarnated in the witness of a community, for the sake of the world.” –David Bosch

In my last post I tried as best I could to briefly describe what I believe it means to be missional that being the new evangelical and the new evangelism that reclaims the orginal veracity of the Jesus message within specific communities, contexts and locales.

Now I’m going to try to and describe something much more difficult: why am I missional?

At first thought, it seems that this shouldn’t be a hard undertaking, but as I was reflecting on this over the weekend, it became apparent to me that it is much easier to describe a movement or a belief and much more difficult to actually, personally, and frankly discuss why I believe it other than to use the typical response a parent might when convincing a child: “just because.”

So bear with me.

Simply put (and to slighty paraphrase Walter Wink) I am missional because I not only believe it is the best and most faithful response to God’s grace in authentic contextual community as incarnational, synergetic participants in the process of creativity, but because I believe it is the best, most compelling and liberating remedy to the “worldly” (and I use the word with a bit of hesitation) systems of domination and coercive power in which we all live and participate.

And that gives me some serious hope.

We live in an emerging, postmodern and postcolonial world and because of that context we’re beginning to realize our past mistakes in proclaiming the good news and as a result we’re reinventing what it means to live and proclaim (and proclaiming by living) the counter-cultural good news of Jesus of Nazareth.

And really, when you get down to it, it’s not that complicated. It’s just hard to actually do. Mainly because it involves a completely different way of “being” and living. One that denies self and lives for and in service to the entire world; one that takes Jesus at his word.

So, when missional persons read things like: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” “Love your enemies” and “Forgive those who persecute you” they try their best to not reduce them to cute one-line catch phrases but actually put them into action by exemplifying what Paul Tillich calls an “ultimate concern for ‘the other.’”

And that’s why I am missional.

Because it involves living out the good news not just talking about. It involves an ethic that is not divorced from but it vital to the ongoing, interactive narrative of salvation. Rather than humor oneself solely with sophisticated theological or philosophical reflection, a missional follower of the Way participates in theological praxis alongside theological reflection. Furthermore, a missional agent, a missional insurgent, sees any theological reflection that is not preceded, accompanied, and followed by praxis as inherently counter-productive to and Jesus message and God’s dream for the world.

I will never forget the tragedy that happened a few years ago at the Amish school in Pennsylvania. And even more compelling the response of the Amish community to the tragedy will be forever ingrained in my memory. Rather than acting in anger and revenge, the community destroyed the school where the shooting took place and moved on by responding with an overwhelming outpouring of forgiveness and reconciliation. They reached out with compassion, mercy, and grace, grieved along with the family of the perpetrator and set up a charity fund in that family’s name. They attended the funeral of the perpetrator and responded with further acts of forgiveness and love. They became Jesus.

And that is why I am missional.

Because, to me, being missional is the best possible way to live the good news of the Jesus movement and participate in God’s alternative reality (God’s kingdom) in the world today. It is the best possible way to be Jesus in the here and now and to convey the message of restoration and re-creation. It is the best possible way to seek justice, resist evil and do good.

Simply put, it is the best possible way to live.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

List of Participants:

Jonathan Brink – “Why I Am Missional”

Jeromy Johnson – “Why I Am Missional: Three Reasons”

Ben Wheatley – “What Would Shepherd Book Do?”

Bryan Riley – “Jesus is the Way and He was Missional”

Alan Knox – “Demonstrating the Heart of God”

Tim Jones – “Participation or Observation?”

Dave Wierzbicki – “Why I Am Missional”

Things are plugging away with the Indian Taxi Fund. Josh has posted a touching letter from Amit here. Thanks to everyone that is helping out.

Also, if you’re unaware, a new lending feature has been added: The Revolution Money Exchange. It is basically a PayPal spin-off with some different options. The main perk is that you get a $25 advance just for signing up. I’ll say it again—you get $25 free dollars just for signing up. No joke. It is for real. Then, if you refer a friend you get another $10 automatically. I usually have a natural aversion to these type of pyramid schemes, but it is a great way to raise money.

That being said, here’s what I’m going to do. Below is a button. Click on it and I will be “referring” you to the Revolution Money Exchange. You will get $25 and I will get $10. Plain and simple. Now, until it reaches its limit I will commit to donate 100% of my profits from the RME to the Indian Taxi fund under the condition that I have your scout’s honor that you will give a percentage of your profits to it as well.

Deal?

Click away.

Josh has posted an updated on the Indian Taxi Fund progress here. If you don’t know what this is click on the link in my sidebar or follow the links at Josh’s blog. If you haven’t donated please do. Donate here.

So my friend Josh is experimenting with a new type of micro-lending scheme via blog clusters and hubs. Sort of in the style of Kiva or Relational Tithe, but much smaller, more contextual, and most importantly friendship-driven, galvanized by local narratives. Awesome.

The first project is the “Indian Taxi Fund.” Josh’s friend Amit is a church planter in India working to keep his feet on the ground via a local taxi business so he can continue to teach people the way of Jesus. Josh tells Amit’s story HERE. So, please stop now and read it. It’s really moving. Seriously, go read it right now. You can come back when you’re done. I’ll still be here.

I mean it. Click the link.

Ok, so you’re back. Here’s the deal. Through the wonderful tools of social networking and web2.0, Josh is collecting funds to loan to Amit so he support himself and his family and continue to participate in God’s kingdom and process of creativity and restoration. The goal is $7500. There’s not really a strict time frame though I’ve heard Josh say a month would be cool.

So, if you’re willing can contribute please do. You can donate via PayPal here. Later on today I’ll throw up a sidebar for all this so if you want to give over the course of a period of time you won’t have to look around for this post. If you’re a blogger and are willing, you can also promote it on your site. Josh has more about that here and I’m sure he’d be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

Also, Josh runs a sweet design company, Red Cowboy Designs. So if you need anything done in that area, scoot on over there. He does really great work. And if you hurry, you can get a 20% discount with some of the profits going directly to the Indian Taxi Fund. See more about that here.

Ok last thing. I know this seems like a lot, but this is for a really good cause. Josh and another fellow blogger and friend, Nick, have a really nice podcast. Seriously, it’s one my favorites. Good stuff. Check it out here. Well worth a listen.

That’s all.

Thanks in advance for the support!

[Over the next few months, as part of a Missional Synchroblog collaboration at Missio Dei, I will be sharing and reflecting on being "missional." This is first post of the series. See the bottom of the post for a participant link list.]

I want to let you in on a little secret. Some of you may not really like it, in fact I’m not sure I do completely. Maybe that is a good thing.

I think that in the next 20-25 years, maybe even sooner, evangelism will be replaced. I think that in the 21st century if Christianity is to be relevant to the world around it evangelism in its current form must die, because when you really get down to it evangelism in its current form is, for many people, nothing more than coercive colonialism and is not really centered on showing people who Jesus is and what Christians are, but on showing people a particular culture and demanding that they conform.

So what will happen? I think many of us, especially those of us in emergent circles, will abandon the word evangelism altogether. We will replace it with a much more vibrant and generative word.

And that word is missional.

Now, part of me doesn’t really like this. Part of me hates it actually. Maybe it’s my uber evangelical upbringing, but deep down inside part of me wants to redeem words like “evangelical” and “evangelism.” And maybe they can be redeemed, but more and more I am led to think that in our post-Christian age, where the Christian narrative is no longer the dominant or most compelling story to most, evangelism and evangelicals will continue to weaken until they are almost no more.

And on a certain level, that’s really unfortunate. Given the original meaning of “evangelism” and “evangelical” I find myself wondering how the words ending up being perverted into what they are today. Shane Claiborne, in his first book, “The Irresistible Revolution,” puts it like this:

“Sometimes folks ask me if I am an evangelical Christian. I want to make sure we have a proper understanding before I answer. I always find it important to note that the Greek word evangelion…is an ancient word that predates Jesus. It is a word Jesus takes from the imperial lexicon and turns it on its head. For instance, in 6 BCE there was a saying inscribed around the Roman Empire: “Augustus has been sent to us as Savior…the birthday of the god Augustus had been for the whole world the beginning of the gospel [evangelion].” The early evangelists announced another gospel, proclaimed an allegiance to another emperor, and conspired to build another kingdom. If by evangelical we mean one who spreads the good news that there is another kingdom or super-power, an economy and a peace other than that of the nations, a savior other than Caesar, then yes, I am an evangelical.”

Wow. Now tell me, how did we go from that to where we are today, where we dominant people and coerce them (most times) into becoming what we think should be someone exactly like us: a good, imperial, capitalist, American, Christian.

It’s beyond me.

So, I think a lot of us are going to start reclaiming that original meaning, but with a different word that doesn’t have as many negative connotations. We will call ourselves missional

Well, what’s the point of this excursus? The point is many people are beginning to opt for the word missional over evangelism and that number is likely to grow. SO—given all that, what does missional living look like?

Many of us will say we know what missional living looks like and we would be able to point to a certain instance and say, “There! That is missional!” But when asked to describe what that actually looks like in finite human language, well, some of us get tripped up. It seems easy to point out, but hard to describe.

So bear with me as I humbly try to articulate.

Simply put, missional living is, to me, participating in God’s work in the world, accepting the invitation of grace and responding to it and being part of God’s story, being part of God’s life. When I see people intentionally and earnestly seeking to discover what God is already doing in the world and when I see people partnering with God as co-creators, participating in divine, redemptive action in the narrative of history, that’s where I see missional living taking place.

But just as important, when I see people living missionally, it is always local, always within a particular context. Missional Christians go to great lengths to understand the context around them and how they might own that context while faithfully and creatively living the gospel message, the good news of redemption and subsequent restoration. In fact, when you think about it, that is the essence of the incarnation. God becoming human, putting skin and bones on, God getting local, pitching a tent among us, and showing us in our context how to live in God’s story and how to participate in the synergetic process of creativity, nurturing an alternative reality of reconciliation a.k.a the kingdom of God. Friends, it doesn’t get much better than that.

I’ve probably gone long enough. Since it’s always easier and more effective to offer an example, and especially since this post is titled “What does Missional Living Look Like” and not “What Is Missional Living,” I will do so.

It’s really funny how things work out. Maybe this is coincidence, or maybe it’s providence (though I’m a bit apprehensive about that), but this past week I was trying to gather my thoughts about this missional business and how all my attempts to describe it would ultimately fall short. Then the most beautiful thing happened. My friend Josh (and I hope he doesn’t mind me using him as an example) started doing what he does best, dreaming and co-creating. And he’s come up with an imaginative dream, a dream that embodies what it means to live missionally in the world, to bear the gospel message in a context, and to creatively participate in God’s story and live into God’s life.

So, I’ll shut up now and you can go and see a tangible, vibrant example of what missional living looks like here, here, and especially here.

And, of course, don’t forgot check out the rest of the synchrobloggers too, the links are below in no particular order.

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List of Participants:

Jonathan Brink – “Meeting God Where He’s Already Working”

Ben Wheatley – “Are the Things You are Living For Worth Christ Dying For?”

Alan Knox – “Living the Love of God”

Dave Devries – “What Does Missional Living Look Like to Me?”

Bryan Riley – “What Does Missional Living Look Like to Me?”

Jeromy Johnson – “What is Missional Living to Me?”

Tim Jones – “Living Like the Word Says”

Dave Wierzbicki – “We Are Missioning”

Nathan Gann – “Inevitability”