Thursday, August 26, 2004
I'm Smelling Cat Pee While I Blog
I can't tell where in the room it's coming from. I'm pretty sure I know with whom it originated, though.
The highlights are nice. I'd say they brighten more than lighten - they're pretty subtle. The two inches taken off my hair is more than subtle, though, and it looks good. A chunky bob sort of cut. It took James a few minutes to notice, but it pleased him that I went to the effort to do my hair. I put on make-up, too, because work started yesterday (2-day faculty retreat). And I wore "work clothes" (that means "not sweats"). You'd hardly recognize me!
Greg Boyd (former Bethel faculty) addressed the faculty this morning, and it gave me much to think about. He's been on a leave-of-absence from Woodland Hills Church for several months, considering whether or not he wants to remain a pastor. He said he's in a crisis of faith. He said he was questioning whether or not there is a meaningful relationship between the church and the kingdom of God. Does the church contribute to the koG, or could we better love people and change the world without organized religion? He says the koG is about love, but if you went up to a person on the corner and asked them what born-again evangelicals are like, no one would say 'love.' They'd say 'judgment', 'arrogance', 'isolation', or 'moralistic.' What people say about the evangelical church today is what people once said about the Pharisees.
Greg said that if you have the right gifts, it's not hard to start and run a mega-church. He's concerned that his charismatic, entertaining speaking style is feeding peoples' consumer desires for church. Is he just feeding more entertainment to American evangelicals?
In the end, he said he thinks he was asking the wrong question at the start. His question was, "Does the church contribute to the koG or not?", but embedded in that question was a deeper one, "How can I change the church so it becomes more loving?" In recent days he has refocused on the real question which is, "What am I supposed to be doing with my life to share God's love with others?" He can't change other people, and he can't change the nature of the church, but he can change his own life. He says he's still called to love people, specifically to love evangelical people in his church as a pastor. Maggi Dawn has been writing about this also - if you're in the church only to change it, that's not right. We should love each other, love the church, and love the world.
It was helpful for me in thinking about being a professor this year. Do I see my students as deficient and in need of change? Do I view them as uneducated, naive, and parochial? Or do I love them as they are, and invite them to join me in exploring God's world together?
I can't tell where in the room it's coming from. I'm pretty sure I know with whom it originated, though.
The highlights are nice. I'd say they brighten more than lighten - they're pretty subtle. The two inches taken off my hair is more than subtle, though, and it looks good. A chunky bob sort of cut. It took James a few minutes to notice, but it pleased him that I went to the effort to do my hair. I put on make-up, too, because work started yesterday (2-day faculty retreat). And I wore "work clothes" (that means "not sweats"). You'd hardly recognize me!
Greg Boyd (former Bethel faculty) addressed the faculty this morning, and it gave me much to think about. He's been on a leave-of-absence from Woodland Hills Church for several months, considering whether or not he wants to remain a pastor. He said he's in a crisis of faith. He said he was questioning whether or not there is a meaningful relationship between the church and the kingdom of God. Does the church contribute to the koG, or could we better love people and change the world without organized religion? He says the koG is about love, but if you went up to a person on the corner and asked them what born-again evangelicals are like, no one would say 'love.' They'd say 'judgment', 'arrogance', 'isolation', or 'moralistic.' What people say about the evangelical church today is what people once said about the Pharisees.
Greg said that if you have the right gifts, it's not hard to start and run a mega-church. He's concerned that his charismatic, entertaining speaking style is feeding peoples' consumer desires for church. Is he just feeding more entertainment to American evangelicals?
In the end, he said he thinks he was asking the wrong question at the start. His question was, "Does the church contribute to the koG or not?", but embedded in that question was a deeper one, "How can I change the church so it becomes more loving?" In recent days he has refocused on the real question which is, "What am I supposed to be doing with my life to share God's love with others?" He can't change other people, and he can't change the nature of the church, but he can change his own life. He says he's still called to love people, specifically to love evangelical people in his church as a pastor. Maggi Dawn has been writing about this also - if you're in the church only to change it, that's not right. We should love each other, love the church, and love the world.
It was helpful for me in thinking about being a professor this year. Do I see my students as deficient and in need of change? Do I view them as uneducated, naive, and parochial? Or do I love them as they are, and invite them to join me in exploring God's world together?
3 Comments:
What you write about Greg Boyd is of great interest to me and I'm glad to know that he's asking such questions of himself and his church. Along these lines I've spent some time this week with an article by Brian McLaren along with a response from Dr. Duane Litfin, President of Wheaton College. PDFs of both can be found on this site "nextreformation.com" on the August 19th entry. I highly recommend these readings. Some of what Greg is struggling with is right in line with portions of Brian's article... It has given me much to think about as well.
Look forward to seeing the highlights Prof. Paris ;-)
-L. Smith
By
Anonymous, at 11:12 AM
Can a prof. love a student, and still think of them as naive and in need of taking steps in a path in which the prof thinks they should go? I think so. If not, professors would stop being professors. No one would teach that which they do not believe worthy of being taught (unless they got paid a hell of a lot of money for it, I suppose). Hopefully profs still hold on to the belief that they know something the students don't and want to help them gain this knowledge. But I'd like to hear from you your ideas about what it would look like to 'love' a student. I wish some of my profs had loved me by spending more time with me and taking me further down the path they were on themselves. How do you do it?
By
Jimmy, at 10:20 PM
I think Greg is dealing with questions we, at SP have been dealing with since it's inception (6 years ago). Doug spent years of his life as a very successful pastor in a mega church and has a similiar skill set as Greg Boyd. I am thankful for his willingness to consider leaving his power (in his ability to attract and lead masses) behind in search of a different way to "be church" and a potentially better way to love people. I think Greg's soul would sense some healing if he would read Reimagining Spiritual Formation: A week in the Life of an Experimental Church. I have heard from many pastors that this book has been both healing and eye opening for them.
Shelley P.
By
Anonymous, at 11:44 AM
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