the drum|rob fairbanks

Prodigal Christianity: 10 Signposts into the Missional Frontier

Over the last couple of months I’ve had the privilege of reading the book “Prodigal Christianity” with a group of my friends here in Spokane. All of them are good thinkers and we had a wonderful time processing the ideas by Dave Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw. 

The book is really an attempt to locate a way forward that is truly prodigal in today's Christianity, a third way if you will. A writing device the authors employed is a cyclical juxtaposition between a Neo-Reform perspective of Christianity (Piper, Keller, et al) and a more “Emergent” version (McLaren and Jones). Honestly, a device I am not entirely thrilled with and I would suspect the authors represented in the book probably were not wild about either. Nonetheless, while looking at both of these poled perspectives they seek to mine out an alternative way for the church to move forward in the undulating social challenges of Western society.

The authors capably lay out a progression of ideas tethered to the idea of Barth’s “Far Country.” They move from a theological orientation or baseline to the more practical issues such as homosexuality and social justice (both chapters are probably worth the price of the book), both I deeply appreciated. They refer to “Signposts” that assist us to navigate both the church and “powder keg” issues we currently face as Christians in the U.S.

As far as full disclosure, I must say that I've appreciated Dave Fitch’s ideas before I read this book (The Great Giveaway) and am a causal acquaintance of both authors. I have great appreciation and admiration for both of them. You can locate both men’s personal blogs at…Fitch - Reclaiming Mission & Holsclaw - Into the Far Country

One of the key elements of the book for me was the nuanced challenge to be present in every situation trusting God is there before us, an idea often called prevenience. I honestly think if each Christian person I know could embrace the idea that they are expounding it would change Christianity. I know that sounds like a stretch, but I truly beleive it. In Signpost #2, the missio Dei, Fitch vulnerably writes about learning how to pray for his neighbors;

"I had in mind that this meant to pray for my friends to somehow see their need for God's forgiveness and that I would have an opportunity to give them the answer: the gospel of being forgiven from sin. The friend challenging me said, 'No, God is already working there, in each person's life. Just pray that you will have eyes to see what God is doing so you can participate with a word, or a prayer, with laughter, or a tear.'  If the Triune God is already in mission, then I need to see the world in which I regularly walk as the arenas of the Spirit – places imbued with the presence of God. This was a fundamental shift. It changed the way I walked into every space of my life. Missio Dei means that God is already at work in our lives and the lives of all around us."

The other bit that I found quite significant about the book is the author's insistence that these issues that all of us face must be worked out in a local context, the local church. All of the jockeying for influence on the net or in celebrity Christianity is doing nothing more than exacerbating the problems that we have. These issues must be worked out with real people, in real time, in a real location. I could not concur more.

In summary, I would recommend this book with great enthusiasm to anyone trying to navigate the nuances of what it means to live life on mission in a postmodern context. Both Fitch and Holsclaw have grasped the idea that being a Christian today isn't about reactivity or in finding yourself in some sort of theological entrenchment, but in moving  into the “far country,” being prodigal in a nonreactive, loving, open…local way.

r

Listen Then Act

“Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.” -Hudson Taylor

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Lk. 5:16)

I think the word “often” is there for a reason.

Catholic theologian and mystic Thomas Merton writes, “My life is a listening, His is a speaking. My salvation is to hear and respond.” What a unique and fantastic approach to salvation and communication.

For Merton, the goal of life is to listen to God and then act. Not just in his communication with God. His goal in life! Listen then act.

Just as Jesus did, we ought to listen to God and then launch into his mission, wherever that takes us. An yet, even after we’ve jumped into the mission we ought to pray more, we ought to pray often just as Jesus did for God is moving.

We make millions of decisions each day. (You’re making one right now by continuing to read this!) How many of them do you ask God to be a part of?

Listen then act. It will change everything. (Sounds like Jesus doesn’t it…)

Phil 

Slandering the world & the Christian name

    When introducing yourself as a Christian you may sometimes be greeted in a strange manner. Some people assume that being Christian also means you are an extremist. This is because some of the only interactions they may have had with a “Christian” is someone yelling about God's wrath, or picketing on a street corner. They think we all abide to some strict controlling cultist style life. However we know this to be false. We must do our best to correct this misled view of our collective group of believers. Religious extremists, cultists, and hate mongering groups are destroying the good name of Christ, by standing behind it while they speak nothing of the love and grace of God.

    One such group would be the Westboro Baptist Church, who interestingly enough has no association with the Baptist Church, nor should it even be considered a church. This particular gathering of beings is completely misled by their leader, and believe themselves to be spreading the word of God. This word however, is that God hates pretty much everyone, that he is destroying and will continue to destroy the world and everyone who does not agree with him. The list of people the WBC claims God hates consists of: Homosexuals, Transsexuals, Military, Muslims, Obama, Police, Government, Immigrants, and many more.

    While we would all very much enjoy to shut this group up permanently, our response to them must not be one of equal disprovable as they preach. That would be fueling their fire, as much as it pains me to say, we must react to them in a loving nature, kill them with kindness, in order to prove them wrong. 

Joshua

Thankful

Today as I sit in my house in Portland, sipping coffee, and listening to the sweet sound of rain fall on the ground outside, I am thrust into waves of peace. I am reflecting on a month of learning, laughter, increased friendship, sorrow, and deep joy. The past three weeks I got to spend listening to amazing classmates (who I now consider friends) discuss and grow in what it means to be the church. I again learned that there is no perfect church, mostly because there is no perfect person. And in my most vulnerable moments, I have to remind myself that the church is people. Beautiful, broken, alive, and challenging people. 

We read the Gospel and understand maybe a tenth of what Jesus was trying to teach and model to us. Reading through Mark 10 and 11 a few minutes ago, I am in awe of how little I seek the Kingdom of God and instead seek the opinion of the world. How often do I stop and listen? How little do I remind myself that joy is a gift and a choice? How terrible am I at thinking of myself as a little child, hopeful that God redeems and saves? How often do I care more for my possessions than I do for my present relationship with God? 

All of these questions I examined this past term and found that there is no greater answer than the person of Christ. And for me, that begins by being thankful and being disciplined enough to listen wholeheartedly to God. So today, I don’t have any huge theological answers to how the church should function better, serve God more, or be wholly united. But I am able to live into the posture of being thankful. Thankful for a class who tested me, encouraged me, and put up with me. Thankful for a Creator who is infinitely more able and loving than I. 

Thankful.

Katherine

Move It! ‘Cause you really ‘ought to

    There is something heartfelt and immediately piercing about praising God with
movement. There is a part of ourselves, our physicality, that we have neglected in our
worship. And because of it we have lost touch with our emotional souls; our movement
and our emotions are intricately linked. It is hard to lie and keep the world out when you
are engaged in authentic movement. I have found that some of my most honest and
vulnerable moments have been when I have used movement as a form of worship.
    Our bodies, our movements, I think, are that last piece in our worship; the piece
that connects it all together. I cannot express how freeing it is to use dance and
movement to pray and worship God, and at the same time, I cannot express how hard it
was to get to that place. It is not natural for us to be open and vulnerable with each
other. It is not natural to be uninhibited in our emotion and movement. So we have
learned to worship unnaturally: keeping everything inside locked up tight. But I don’t
think God wants us to worship only with our voices; I think we glorify Him most when we
are authentic and honest with each other. And I think that we could do that better if we
all learned to move a little more; to dance a little more. David danced, after all, as did
Jesus. So why can’t we?

Zach

Food and Family

    I walked in the front door of my church at 9:55 and headed to a college bible study class. We pored over Romans 6, prayed together, and dreamed about how to serve our church body and the surrounding community. Then, at 11 we wrapped up and joined the congregation in the sanctuary for worship and the sermon. We sang, heard the message, and prayed together, and if the church part of my day had ended here, I wouldn’t have been disappointed in any way. I had learned, praised, and fellowshipped with my church family and now I would head back out into the world renewed by some time with God.

BUT WAIT! DID SOMEONE SAY IT WAS POTLUCK SUNDAY?!?!

    Heck yes! We all headed for the food and sat in the church basement as delicious scents wafted by. I sat at the table with older couples, young families with toddlers, teenagers, and widowed grandmothers around me, and we ate homemade lasagna, meatballs, salad, and cookies, laughing and talking about whatever we wanted. I heard stories about war, about shoveling the snow, about grandchildren and children, and I told about my family, my home, and my hopes. And as I sat there I realized that it was in this context that I truly interacted with this new family of mine. Yes, we had all listened to the sermon together and spent this Sunday and others sitting in adjacent pews exchanging hugs and handshakes, but here we could love each other in a tangible way over a good meal.

    As I left, an older woman I had been talking with walked out with me. She had told me about her husband who had recently died, her daughter who owned a bakery, and her beautiful granddaughter, and as we pushed past the door she turned to me. “I’m going to be your grandmother here in Spokane, Katie,” she said as she hugged me. We said goodbye and all I could think about was how much love she held in her heart for a college girl she met barely an hour before. At times it is easy to forget that our one to three hours on Sunday isn’t always true fellowship. When we invest in the lives of those around us and love our many brothers, sisters, and grandmothers we experience the joy of family. That is why I love the Church; they are my family in the best sense of the word.

Kate

Being Missional Will Kill Me

    Relationship. This is the word I keep coming back to the more I learn about the true calling of the Church and the people of God. Everything centers on the idea that to be a “city on a hill” we have to have relationships with the people around us that will allow them to see what the family of God looks like and what being a dedicated disciple of Christ really means. And, yes, I love the idea of “doing life” with fellow Christians and living in a way that shows what the gospel is about.

    BUT, I am terrified at the idea of relational. I’m not kidding; I am not good at first impressions, holding coherent conversations, making small talk, meeting new people, etc. Don’t get me wrong, God has given me a heart for people and I love being around those whom I already know, but for some reason God also made me a person that would rather stay in a corner than engage others. So when I think about starting conversations with strangers and putting myself out there with other Christians, it scares me.

    At times it is easy for me to tell myself that God must have a more “behind-the-scenes” plan for my place in the Church, since He made me an introvert. However, I have realized that in some way or another Jesus calls everyone to radically change who they are and how they act when they join the family of God. He asks us to lay down idols and sins and our old selves in order to abide in Him and rescript our stories to include the fullness of life that He wants to give us. Jesus says to us in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” What if, for me, denying myself means denying the part of me that would rather not talk to anyone? It might be that being missional will kill that part of me, but I am called to die to myself anyway; “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Reaching out to strangers and engaging the world might scare me, but if stepping outside of my shell and into Christ’s power allows me to be a part of the work of the Kingdom of God, then it will be entirely worth the pain of death.

Kate

Eucharistic Mess

Jessica

Yes, the Bible does critique your facebook posts.

   Today in class we talked a bit about social justice for the starving and extorted and powerless, talking through Nehemiah 5 and the situation there. Quick summary: the Israelites are extorting their own countrymen, and these countrymen complain to Nehemiah that they no longer have money for food and so are forced into mortgage and slavery. Nehemiah rebukes the nobles and officials, asks them to throw out their usurious ways, and then sets the example by feeding his fellow men and not taking the taxes and food he is due as the governor.

    There’s the example the bible sets—feed the hungry, redeem the enslaved, set a good example for everyone. This picture I pulled off a friend’s facebook page (someone I would consider a deep and sincere lover of the Lord) says something entirely different. If we feed the hungry, they’ll become dependent on us. I know this picture is only meant to be sort of funny, but it sends a powerful message that the Christians liking and reblogging can’t really mean, and yet we espouse all the time. I hear it from my parents, my home church, peers at Whitworth. We believe that everyone is offered the same opportunities and those who are poor simply didn’t take advantage of those—so it’s their fault they’re starving, suffering, powerless. It’s a completely American attitude, and yet we’ve pulled it in and started expressing it as part of our political views despite the way it contradicts everything our Bible teaches us.

    I’m looking at Nehemiah this way: we are the governors, the noblemen and the officials. Right now we’re Nehemiah, looking at the people and saying “you didn’t save enough grain to feed yourself. You made bad financial choices, went with the wrong mortgage, didn’t raise your kids properly. And if we feed you, redeem your children from slavery, and give you power in place of powerlessness, you’ll only become dependent on us and rely on our free handouts.”

    I’m exaggerating. Even the people who would trash food stamps and welfare programs help out at a homeless shelter from time to time, do laundry for the clothing bank. But in some sense we look at these things as beneath us—and therefore, the people who utilize the ministry as beneath us too. That needs to change. We need to become the biblical Nehemiah. 

Anna

The Primary Role of the Church

    Karl Barth’s theological address, God In Action, speaks of the church, “…the constitution and preservation of the Church rests in this, that man hears God. This is what makes it truly great and truly little.” Is this news to you? Perhaps not at first, however it is bizarre when we really think about it. Essentially, Barth is saying that two random people on the other side of the globe could be the church! Two un-ordained people congregated with listening ears and obedient hearts living out God’s mission.

    As I grew up, countless times I failed to listen to my parents, just like everyone else. I found myself joining a selfish mission. This struggle may be the same for the Church today—sheep following voices other than their Good Shepherd’s. After all, there are many voices to hear. Where do we begin?

    "Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; And listen to Israel your father.”  (Gen. 49:2 NASB) Gather together and hear. That’s our command. The Bible is covered with God’s longing for his people to listen, and communication with him is what the we should ultimately want—the Church, the Ship of Salvation, avoiding shipwrecks because the captain is heard. Like a quiet course before a golfer swings, (both the Church and individually) we ought to focus in silence to truly hear our Father speak; the rest will follow.

    Gathering together to hear God is that crucial, sometimes, we as the Church, completely skip over it. Man listening to God is a wacky ordeal. Isn’t it? Truly hearing God can be scary for you just as it is for can for your church. Yet given its mystery and challenge, there is no mission as glorious as our Father’s—our God moving and working in us and in spite of us.

Phil