ranting on religion

There's an interesting topic being discussed here about this book written by Spencer Burke on the controversial subject of Hell. This is apparently a hot topic within the Emerging Church crowd, especially since McLaren's book on the topic came out. I wanted to touch on this quote Scott McKnight used in his review of Spencer Burke's book:

1. We need to get beyond religion. The problem today is “religion” – institutionalization of the Christian faith, focus on propositional creeds, driven by Sunday morning services, and propped up by the economy of the church that keeps people coming back and the staff fully paid.
2. We need to get beyond religion to find a spirituality.
3. We need to discover that following the way of Jesus can get us beyond religion to find this spirituality.
4. What we will find beyond religion is grace.
5. People who will take us into that grace, where we find the “sacred beyond religion,” are heretics. Jesus was the “original heretic.”
6. Panentheism is reality: we are all “in God”. This is not the same as “pantheism” which contends in one way or another that all is god.

Please bare with me while I rant about this...

1. I'm tired of the "we need to get beyond religion" thing. I know that's the cool, emerging church kind of thing to say, but it's crap. We need to get beyond ourselves. We need to get beyond our hang ups. We need to realize that "religion" in itself is not a four letter word. God is big on religion, at least that's the impression I get from the Bible. He's not a fan of empty religion. He doesn't want lip service. This doesn't mean he's opposed to religion, just our crappy attempts at it. Seems to me that a fairly good part of the Pentateuch is concerned with God dictating the details of forming a religion for his people. He likes liturgy, smells & bells. He likes spiritual discipline. He appears to be a fan of order and structure.

I'm also slightly appalled--though not surprised--at his assumption that creeds are somehow a bad thing. They are essential tools of defining who we are as a people. The early church--people much closer to the Apostle's than we are--thought creeds were important. It's this contempt for our fathers that condemns us to reinventing the wheel over & over again.

2. Sorry but what we need to do is let spirituality infuse our religion and let our religion guide & form our spirituality.

3. Following Jesus is going to lead us toward godly, Spirit-empowered, living religion. Jesus didn't come to destroy religion but to show us how to have true religion (Matt 5:17).

4. Religion is NOT opposed to grace. It is where we encounter grace, receive grace and practice grace.

5. Sorry, but I just wanted to vomit after reading that one. Jesus was a heretic?! Are you kidding me? Sorry, but heretic has never been considered a positive comment/trait. I can't even talk about this one.

6. Sorry, but we're not all in God in the same way. This gets to the neo-universalist argument Burke & McLaren trumpet: "How could a loving God send someone to Hell?" Um, are we not reading the same Bible? Sin separates us from God. Sin cuts us off from God. Sin makes us dead. It's the human condition. God made a way through Jesus, but you've got to be in Christ to be saved, to participate in the life of God. The NORMAL way for that to happen is through baptism and faith. That is what those messy, inconvenient creeds remind us about. This doesn't mean that God can't act in an extraordinary, supernatural way to those who never heard the gospel, but it also doesn't mean that everyone is automatically made a part of the Kingdom by default.

What I don't like about...

Catholicism

• the whole priest abuse scandal & cover up attempts by numerous bishops
• insisting on celebacy for clergy
• using bad theology to justify bad doctrine: a priest acts "in persona christi" and represents Jesus as the groom with the bride as the church therefore priests can't be married
• claims of infallibility preventing the church from admitting/correcting mistakes
• encouraging a dual-caste system of religious/clergy vs laity

Evangelical Protestantism

• shallow, oversimplistic approach to faith
• general lack of any sense of history or connection to the historical church
• extreme individualism leading to a me-first, me-centered approach to spirituality
• poor attitude towards children--they're often tolerated as second class citizens

Emerging Church

• Brian McLaren
• Too much effort spent trying to reinvent the wheel
• Theological sloppiness
• Some, not all, can be too critical and prideful

Orthodoxy

• Way too tribal/ethnic
• Perceived lack of evangelistic concern/effort
• Not willing to be more flexible in worship
• Triumphalism to the extreme

surreal dining experience

We went to Moe's Southwest Grill tonight for dinner--$5 burrito night! Anyway, we're sitting in the dining area where they have at least one TV tuned in to the Animal Planet channel. The TV is muted so it's merely there to serve as visual noise. So far there's really nothing out of the ordinary. That's when I noticed what was showing on the TV. Animal Planet was running a show about medical use of maggots. They were showing images of infected, non-healing flesh wounds as doctors placed "sterilized" live maggots in the wounds to clean them. It's exactly the visual images any restauranteur would want to show to a room full of people coming to my business to eat with their friends and families.

spiritually schizophrenic

I've been feeling rather schizophrenic lately, drawn in different directions by different expressions of the faith. This has been stirring in me for some time and has become more pronounced this summer. I'm not really sure what to do about it if anything. I've been reflecting on different spiritual traditions, the positives and negatives, and how I feel/respond to each.

Catholicism
I was born and raised Catholic. I came to know Jesus as a Catholic. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit as a Catholic. I have a degree in theology from a Catholic college. I was married as a Catholic. Two of my daughters were baptized in the Catholic church. Needless to say I have a certain affinity towards Catholicism, but I am no longer a practicing member of the Catholic church. For those unfamiliar with our story Lisa & I left the Catholic church to join the Vineyard in 1996-97 (it was a process). We didn't leave because we were angry or disgruntled, but because we felt God calling us to the Vineyard & the larger Body of Christ. We didn't know if it would be temporary or permanent--and still don't quite frankly.

If you've never been Catholic it may be hard to understand, but there is a deeper identity there than just a denominational affiliation. Being Catholic carries with it a sense of identity in much the same way as being Jewish is more than just holding to a set of religious beliefs & practices. I have found very few, if any, Protestants who can relate to this. As a Catholic you belong to a certain people group, a subculture. Ironically, it is what many in the emerging church are now trying to create in their own communities. The other positive about Catholicism is its inclusiveness. There is a united diversity in any Catholic parish, just like any family. On one hand you may have a charismatic prayer group, on the other a rosary group, but despite their differences there is that deeper sense of belonging that unites in spite of the differences. You don't find this in Protestant churches. We've become too fractured, our diversity is a source of division and resentment. Protestants have managed to form their own denominational clicks that gather similar groups together to the exclusion of others.

Evangelical Protestantism
I'm not sure I've ever really been an evangelical, but I've been living in its culture for about 10 years now. I do believe that having a personal faith is essential, but I don't buy the idea that reciting the Sinner's Prayer is the only way to do that. I am very grateful for the experiences and opportunities I've had within the Vineyard. The emphasis on Kingdom theology and being naturally supernatural has provided a great answer to some of the stranger excessives of charismatic theology/practices. The Reformation was crucial in challenging and correcting various abuses in the Catholic church & likely ultimately lead to the wide-spread changes in the Second Vatican Council. We need to be reminded of the importance of having a personal faith and devotional life, the primacy of scripture and the priesthood of all believers. Within the Vineyard in particular (my experience of evangelicalism) the importance of worship has been a great influence in my life.

Emerging Church/Neo-Monasticism
This is really where we've been at for the last few years. Matthew's House has been an experiment in doing church differently from day one. We've sought to capture some of the simplicity of the early church by meeting in our homes in some informal gatherings. We've helped people detox from churchy religiousness and reconnect with a simple love of Jesus and one another. We've experienced great relationships and treasure everyone we've come in contact with, even those that have decided that our little form of church wasn't for them. We've been able to teach ancient methods of prayer (lectio divina, daily office, etc) and develop a deeper understanding of baptism and eucharist than many had previously. Through the wonders of blogging we've made real friendships with people who share similar passions and ideas. There has been a greater sense of genuineness in our weekly gatherings than in many of my other experiences with church. I deeply love and care for the people who have decided to come along side of us on our own spiritual journey, and have been blown away by the acceptance and openness to new ideas from them. I think there are some definite similarities between what we're doing and what some are calling neo-monasticism--small groups of people committed to sharing a common purpose of life, a common meal & worship, and common values.

Eastern Orthodoxy
My good friend Clive and his wife joined the Orthodox church about 18 months ago. Clive is batting for the cycle having been Catholic (we were college roommates & taught at the same Catholic high school), then left with us to join the Vineyard before making the trek to Orthodoxy. I'll admit that his conversion threw me for a loop initially. I've had limited experiences with Orthodox liturgies which I considered painfully dull and Spirit-less. Like many I had a prejudiced view of Orthodoxy as backward & overly ethnic in its nature. Clive has helped chip away at those perceptions. I've spent time looking at Orthodox theology and am very drawn to it. I love their embrace of the mystery of God and their authentic historical connection to the early church. The OCA (Orthodox Church in America) is a English-speaking, ethnically neutral expression of the faith. They are attracting evangelicals in large numbers--there was even an entire Vineyard congregation in CA that converted. Unfortunately, there are no OCA churches in Lakeland and with commuting 2-3 hours a day during the week I'm not up to another long commute on the weekend to visit an OCA parish. I would like to see what their liturgies are like sometime.

Franciscanism
Lisa & I both attended the Franciscan University of Steubenville (OH). For four years we were surrounded by Franciscan priests and Franciscan spirituality. We both became members of the Secular Franciscan Order--Lisa permanently professed & I finished my noviate year before graduating. We have always felt a closeness to Francis and his simple example of following Jesus (heck we named Clare after Clare of Assisi, Francis' friend & companion). I often still wear my Franciscan TAU cross. We have tried to live our lives in accord with Franciscan values. Of course, part of the Franciscan spiritual feeds back into some of the Catholic qualities I mentioned previously.

I guess I'll end things for there now by bring things around full circle. I'll try to post some of my critiques of some of these traditions soon. There's certainly a ying-yang effect that pulls me in one direction then pushes me away again. I'm not really sure what I'm getting at with this post. I think that right now there's a stirring and longing within me for something, but I'm not sure what that is yet.

pics from my new camera

I accidentally deleted my previous post about getting my new camera. Here are some pics I took with it.