(Ir)religiosity

You may or may not be aware that my site was down most of the day yesterday.  Steve Knight first gave me the heads up and I made some quick changes on the way out the door to the grocery store that I thought would solve the problem.  And they did — temporarily.

When I got home all I got was the white screen of death.  No pages.  No posts.  No Wordpress dashboard.  Nothing.  So I did what I usually do.  I started stripping things away.  Themes, plugins, etc.  That didn’t work either.  I did some Googling around.  Some people had the same problem and were able to fix it pretty easily by tweaking some memory limits.  That didn’t work.  I tweeted about it and go some good suggestions (thanks Gideon) and some not so good.  None of them really worked.

I wiped Wordpress off my server I don’t know how many times and uploaded fresh installs.  Nothing.  I started to panic.  And for most of the night (and some of this morning) I thought I might lose all my posts and comments.

It turns out my sql database was somehow corrupted.  So corrupted that I couldn’t use my main backup and had to export and import reach table manually.  I’m still not done.  A lot of meta-data still needs to be dealt with and I know that some links are dead.

But the good news is I didn’t lose anything.  If you stopped by here yesterday and got nothing but a white screen I apologize.  Hopefully over the next few days I can get thinks back up to normal.

So much for starting off the week with a Moltmann post.  Those will come soon.  I promise.

I’m really liking Ron Martoia’s new book Transformational Architecture: Reshaping Our Lives as Narrative. Most books of this genre, at least most of the ones I’ve been exposed to, concede that we have essentially gotten the Christian message right from the beginning and simply need to change our method — so it is cooler, more attractive, and most of the time, more enculturated in the American ethos of consumption and individualism –  to “reach” more people. Ron’s book challenges that assumption.  He questions the institutional church’s interpretation of the Christian story suggesting that, “Our problem isn’t just one of method, but of message as well.” I like that.  And I think that part of it means to follow the way of Jesus is the humble willingness to question everything, even our appropriation of the story itself.

One of the sub-sections of our assumed story that I struggle and wrestle with is evangelism.  Without going into too much of a diatribe, it has always bothered me that a lot of what passes as “evangelistic outreach,” when you really look at it, has amounted to nothing more than coercion aimed at creating cookie-cutter Christians.  Of course the fear of hell is usually incited and contrasted with the eternal bliss of heaven, somewhere, someday.  Rarely is actual transformation spoken of and there is usually no follow-up or attempt at discipleship.  The number of “converts” almost always trumps any suggestion of radical lifestyle alteration, because we are all just waiting for Jesus to come back right?

Now, that may be a bit overstated.  But I think there is some truth to it.

I think evangelism is part of the message that we have gotten wrong.  And I think we should reevaluate our approach, our definition, and maybe even our use of the word itself.

In the book’s introduction Ron offers an interesting alternate definition of evangelism that I think bears some reflection.

God’s original architectural plans for human “heart space” designed us with cravings, longings, yearnings, that sit at the intuitive level of our lives.  These primal elements, architected deep in the core of our being, drive our desire for transformation.  In other words, “evangelism” is really about helping people along in a journey for which they have desire already built into them at the center of their hearts.

I like that.  I think it is a good new working definition of evangelism.

Here’s why:

• It’s about finding a personal story, an extended narrative, not just a conversion — and sometimes coercive! — experience that will later lose its luster.
• It’s about finding community, a place where the personal narrative can be sustained and nurtured, not restricted and truncated.
• It’s about God’s ongoing story of redemption, restoration, and renewal, not a one-time event, but a process of holistic transformation.

So instead of dominating others with rigid dogmatism, instead of insisting that persons essentially assume the same script and the same story, freedom of creativity and imagination is allowed as persons are encouraged to find their voice and then within a particular local, and contextual community, live that story out in their own peculiar way within the larger framework of God’s narrative of restoration and renewal.

With this approach tangible transformation and actual response to grace are demanded and expected as individuals and communities continually participate in the life of God and partner in the work of realizing the divine commonwealth.

To me, that looks more like the way of Jesus than what has passed as evangelism in the past.

What do you think of Martoia’s definition?  Do you think this more narrative-centered, conversational approach might be more effective than the modern approach of the past?  And, do you think there might be a better word or phrase besides “evangelism” that could be used, something with less baggage that might better communicate the invitation to participate?

Today, on Epiphany, a new social network, called Missional Tribe has been launched.  I’m pretty excited.  Here’s a short description of the network taken directly from the site.

The tribe …

… offers a collaborative space to connect people and generate an accepting, supportive community that intentionally seeks for diversity.

… fosters dialogue in a respectful environment and gathers grassroots stories for mutual encouragement, teaching, and support.

… focuses on serving practitioners through resources, ideas, and stories from the front lines of incarnational engagement and radical transformation.

… shares the nitty-gritty of living our faith and sharing our life in order to break anyone’s sense of isolation on this journey, especially when a virtual support network may be the only community currently available.

… creates an “evergreen” space to capture and continue the collective wisdom of those seeking to pursue Christlikeness, stewarding it in ways that will keep it accessible beyond the first generation of participants.

… encourages using the website as a social space for befriending people of similar (or opposite!) interests, as a discussion space for interactive learning, and as an archive space for links and materials that might otherwise be forgotten.

… engages in discussion of any topic about the missional journey, with a minimum of gate keeping and oversight to maintain it as a safe place for all so that nothing would be off limits except for bullying or belittling others.

… celebrates both individual and communal expressions of a missional paradigm, and constantly seeks to broaden its demographic reach because of its commitment to embrace and learn from the diversity in Christ’s Kingdom.

Although most descriptions of who and what the tribe is were stated in the positive, there is a place for stating some of what the tribe is not, or does not do.

In the tribe …

… it’s not about methods, but about our paradigm and lifestyle.

… it’s not about polishing theory or theology in attempts to get it perfect, but about our movement forward in our practice of a missional lifestyle.

… it’s not about control or ownership by the few, but about empowering each of us to participate responsibly.

… it’s not about celebrities, but about us as everyday disciples.

Well.  Now I’m even more excited.  This is exactly the sort of thing I’m into.  A decentralized, non-hierarchical, grassroots community of collaborators sharing thoughts and ideas.  This has really, really great potential.

You can read more about the Tribe and it’s inception at the site here.  Sonja Andrews, who blogs at Ravine of Light,  has written a great post about it as well.  You can read that here.

And — while you’re at it, go ahead and join the Tribe!  Seriously.  Go ahead.

Time to roll my sleeves up…