Posted by Jim Henderson on: 02.03.2008 /
By Jim Henderson
A couple of weeks ago I had breakfast with a nationally known and quite conservative Christian leader. My motivation was to thank him for encouraging people to read Jim and Casper Go to Church. But before I could get “thanks for meeting with me today, I really appreciate…” he blurted out “Do you think something is wrong with the church? I know I do and some of my well known Christian friends do as well”
I tried to appear nonplussed with my well of course everybody knows that face but inside I was picturing all the not-nationally-known Christians (and atheists) with whom I’ve had that self same conversation over the past few years.
“New paradigms do not establish themselves overnight. They take decades, sometimes even centuries, to develop distinctive contours. The new paradigm is therefore still emerging and it is, as yet, not clear which shape it will eventually adopt. For the most part we are, at the moment, thinking and working in terms of two paradigms” Transforming Mission by David Bosch
One of the contours I look for in trying to determine the level of Gods involvement with a new paradigm is diversity. Over time I have come to believe that when God is up to a big idea he introduces it simultaneously to people with historic theological differences (who usually don’t trust each other).
The Charismatic movement of the late sixties-early seventies is a great example. Pentecostals had cornered the market on the Holy Ghost until their theological enemies the Roman Catholics began speaking in tongues. The Anglicans, Lutherans and Jesus people weren’t far behind. And suddenly it seemed everybody was talking in tongues. We now know the rest of the story. The Pentecostal movement is the fastest growing segment of Christianity in the world. I recently read where a pastor who graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary said something about needing to rethink the cessation of the gifts view. I guess Josh McDowell would call this evidence that demands a verdict.
This is the Jesus approach to paradigm shifting. Jesus being the free-est. person who ever lived doesn’t play favourites and only reveals his intentions to those who practice humility - meaning people who talk a lot about what they don’t know and little about what they think they know.
“It once went without saying that the Earth must be flat. Some believed it was a flat platter floating on water, or was square. Others thought it flat and supported by four elephants standing on the back of a giant turtle. Homer probably reflected the conventional wisdom of his time when he described Earth as flat disk surrounded by an ever flowing ocean” The Mapmakers by John Wilford
For people living (on a round earth) but thinking they were living on a flat earth the “idea” of a round earth was frightening. It’s hard enough for us moderns who know about “the law of gravity” to live with this when we are confronted with actual images shot from outer space of our “free floating round earth” we wonder ourselves - how do we stay on this thing - mostly we try not to think about it.
For our ancestors who lacked the luxury of this science, the round earth idea was simply unacceptable and dangerous. Nonetheless while they hung upside down arguing about its flatness the earth continued spinning furiously in all its roundness, waiting for its inhabitants to catch up with reality.
If they had understood gravity they might have been able to think new thoughts about how they could live life, explore and live more freely from myth and fear. Unfortunately history records that it was the religious leaders who benefited most directly from culture maintaining the perception of a flat earth. They promoted this idea in the face of clear evidence to the contrary for well over a thousand years.
Is God trying to communicate a major new paradigm about what Christianity or as I prefer to call it The Jesus Movement is supposed to be about. A shift that is akin in scope to The Reformation or The Charismatic Movement. Is Peter Drucker right when he says that Western society has a unique window of three decades to make changes that will impact the next three hundred years? If this seems farfetched remember that evangelical Christianity as we know it today is largely based on the Protestant Reformation model initiated over five hundred years ago.
As my nationally-known-Christian friend and I traded stories I felt as if we were two explorers (pirates?) trying to pick each other’s brains. We were both motivated to overcome the myths we had been taught (don’t talk with those kinds of Christians) and our own narrow human experiences so that the people for whom each of us function as a guide might be provided safe passage as they transition from one paradigm to another.
We liked each other. We established a friendship. We will speak well of each other. We will introduce each other to our respective circles of influence. We are both seeing the same thing and experiencing similar emotions to the things we are seeing and hearing from others. Together we’re trying to make sense out of the contours we are feeling.
If we keep this up we might turn into Christians :-)
Comment by: Beth
1(Hm. Dobson? Nah. Swindoll?? Neh. Hmmm…)
Church History was the most thrilling course I took at Denver Seminary. God is utterly alive to me in the stories of people devoted to him through post-Nicea history.
Imagine it! We, all of us living in this time, are players on the stage of this unfolding drama (comedy?), this new, electrifying chapter in the history of Jesus’s followers.
Heavy.
Bruce Shelley is going to need to add a chapter to his page turner “Church History In Plain Language.”
Comment by: Keith
2Thanks for that, Jim, I needed to hear that. Keep doing what you’re doing, bro.
Comment by: Stephan
3Thanks for sharing this, Jim.
I have had a similar “concurrent revelation” experience lately, although in a much smaller way.
Up until last Spring I was very involved in leading worship at my church. I decided to step back from almost all of my responsibilities and see if there was something else I was supposed to do. My wife and I started thinking about college kids in our church and how there was really no organized outreach in that area. We are close to two Christian colleges and several secular ones, but we have no program to reach out to them. We decided to work with some college kids we know to remedy this.
We soon discovered that there were several other “grownups” in our church that felt the same thing at the same time. And some of the college kids started organizing some things on their own without any church leadership. This “organic” growth is proof to me that this is where God is working in our church, and it is exciting to me to be involved. We are now pooling our ideas and resources so we can reach out to these kids and give them a place to belong and grow.
On a larger scale I have felt for years (at least 10) that there was something new that God was starting in the world at large. Bryan McLaren’s book “A New Kind of Christian” encapsulated it for me. I’m thrilled be see where it is going.
Comment by: jeff medders
4Jim, I want to hear you explore this pirate theme some more. I have felt like a pirate for years.
“Perhaps on the rare occasion pursuing the right course demands an act of piracy, piracy itself can be the right course?”POTC1
Comment by: Jim Henderson
5I think every person (and especially those of us who claim to hear from a personal God) deserves to have this kind of experience. Every person wants to participate in some kind of Divine initiative. Humans do remarkable (as well as really stupid) things when they are convinced God is with them
More and more people are taking initiative. Blurring the lines between who leads and follows and who gets credit. These affiliative relationships capture the organic feel we see in the Book of Acts and again energize us and help us to introduce people to Gods movement in our world.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
6Jeff , Thanks for the invite to comment on
Back soon with more on piracy
Comment by: Peter Walker
7Jim, great post. It’s encouraging to be reminded that some of our most vehement critics - or at least more staunch cousins - are watching the same things we are. They may process differently, and their conclusions may not look like ours, but they are Christ-loving and their eyes are open. Amen!
Now, on the theme of piracy, can we not delve into that too deeply? I always appreciate a word picture, but there is an attention-craving subculture that has already “done the pirate thing” to death - like a high school drama club on a bender.
Talking about piracy right now is similar to using Matrix movie analogies three years later. Let’s think of something fresh!
Um, like Star Wars and “the force.”
Kidding… seriously.
;)
Comment by: Jim Henderson
8Peter
Thanks for the piracy warning
Being 60 has its drawbacks
I used to be cool
Comment by: Jeff Medders
9Is the shelf life of an analogy that short? The latest flik has only been on dvd for 2 months. I believe there is something to Jim’s pirate analogy that hasn’t been explored in sunday school yet. It resonates. Please don’t call it moldy too soon. Let me share a pirate story. Tomorrow morning I= a died in the wool, born again, conservative,evangelical,whatever will join a hundred crusty bikers at a funeral home to protect the family of one of our fallen soldiers from a group of “Christians” who will be protesting outside their son’s memorial service; Holding signs that say “God is your enemy” and “Thank God for IED’s”. If those guys are Christians I am jumping ship. Forgive me for not having a more up-to-the-minute analogy but I feel like a pirate. I am siding up with some really rough characters to shield the innocent from church people!!! I feel like a pirate because this kind of stuff is off the map; at least my map. I’ve been doing this for a while now but it remains unfamiliar. In coming closer to Jesus I find myself in uncharted waters, farther from the safety of the shore, with unlikely shipmates. But in this different place I find purpose and courage and resolve. So please do share your pirate stories so I may be encouraged.
Comment by: Helen
10Thanks for your comment, Jeff.
They must be splitting up - they are also going to be here locally tomorrow to protest at the funerals of five women shot in a shopping mall last weekend.
By all means be a pirate if that’s what you need to be to protect the family. The last thing they need is hatred spewed at them in their time of grief. Thank you for caring about the family in their time of need.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
11Jeff
Of course I love your pirate analogy and ofd course I identify with it.
Peter is young and hip while I am old and funky so I am still cool with pirate talk.
Pirates live off the map. I admire your particular form of piracy.
How did it go?
Comment by: Jeff Medders
12Thankfully, It was uneventful. They (uninvited guests) didn’t even make the news. The fallen soldier did however and that’s the way it should be.
Comment by: Helen
13Jeff I’m glad it was uneventful and the soldier was honored appropriately. Thanks for the update.
Comment by: amy powell
14hey jim,
i love your post. as a vineyard church planter, i’ve joined a local group of diverse clergy types to ban together on the ‘common ground’ we share in our concerns for the health of our community. by diverse, i do mean diverse. vineyard, lutheran, traditional evangelicals, unitarians, united church of christ, you name it. it’s amazing and i love it. we are doing great things together based our shared concern for the community. i feel so honored to be a part of it, to have a voice through authentic relationships and to learn from these loving people.
Comment by: Helen
15Thanks for stopping by and sharing, Amy.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
16Way to be open and courageous Amy- keep growing