A Living Alternative

The other day I enjoyed a great afternoon with my good friend Norm Voth (Director of Evangelism and Service Ministries for the Mennonite Church of Manitoba). While enjoying our Mongolian BBQ, Norm told about an interesting story he heard while visit Mayan country. While touring a local cathedral, the tour guide recounted how the missionaries arrived they immediately started undermining the local Mayan religion. They forced the locals to tear down their temples stone by stone. They were faced with a challenge then: How would they keep them from simply rebuilding their temples?

In what they assumed was a clever solution, they forced the Mayans to build the cathedral and surrounding compound using the stones of their destroyed places of worship. However, unbeknownst to the missionaries, the Mayans secretly hid their idols in the walls of the church, only to be discovered generations later. As they were forced to adhere to the external practices of Christian liturgy, in their hearts they worshipped the unseen gods smuggled into the heart of the church.

Norm & I both marvelled at the significance of this story to us today. All of us smuggle in our own idols, either hiding them in the secrecy of our own hearts or syncretizing them into our beliefs and practice with no one the wiser. This problem only becomes more pronounced as we attempt to force peoples compliance to practices and ideas of faith through external and/or verbal adherence.

Which idols have you hidden in the heart of your faith? Which idols is our culture most prone to let slide? What can be done about it?

In the (nearly) three years that I have been blogging, without question the post that has drawn the most attention was when I shared about my own life long struggle with homosexual orientation. It has almost been a year since I wrote that post and I still receive comments and emails from around the world, the vast majority of which are positive. I am still working on my book, in which I explore in more detail my experiences.

One unexpected result of this post has been the number of letters I have received from people, mainly men, from all over the world who share with me very personal struggles with their own sexuality. I am humbled to be trusted with such intimate information and nervous when asked for advice. However, it has been deeply rewarding to be able to be a catalyst for openness and healing for some.

There are two common factors in almost all of these emails: first, that they do not feel at all safe sharing their struggles with their church community, even to specific friends and leaders (and be aware, some of these men are pastors themselves). Many believe without hesitation that it would be career and relational suicide to make such struggles known. Each time I read this I break a little bit inside.

The second point is desperate questions about what they can do to overcome or even survive the daily struggle. These questions are always most difficult, in part because I am not always qualified to speak to such complex issue and contexts I am so distant from, but also because the answer runs square into the wall of the first point above. What people need is the support, understanding and love of the Body of Christ. Sadly, this is often the very thing that is most unavailable and dangerous.

What is your experience with sexuality and the church community? Do you have a community where there is a safe and natural place for you to share your struggles, uncertainties and failures? Even if they are open, are they equipped to help you with the specifics of the issues? If you wish to reply anonymously, please feel free to do so. Of course, anyone demonstrating what I feel is insensitive or off topic comments will be deleted.

Let’s talk.

Missional Homosexuality Church

But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12,13 (NASB)

Growing up, when I heard this Scripture, I often found myself confused. I understood the basic premise- that Jesus did not surround Himself with the religious elite, but came to seek and to save the lost. However, it was clear to me that Jesus held His strongest words or reproof for those who were part of the established religious community. They were exploiting their power and position, compromising to the powers of the surrounding culture and play-acting their reighteousness for show. Would this not make them, in a very reall sense, “sick” as well?

Over time it became clear to me that while they were indeed “sick”, they had in their means and understanding the “cure”, but ignored it. When Jesus referred to the “sick”, He was referring to those who were on the outside. While many of the people Jesus focused on were victims of systems of injustice (the poor, orphans, widows, etc.), they were also sinners who were responsible for their sins. And yet Jesus did not approach these sinners with reproof but with mercy, compassion and love. Clearly, from the religious leaders he wanted them to practice the same way of life, not primarily concerned with their adherence to the letter of the law. In the end, Jesus addressed those leaders only as much as was necessary (often at their initiation), spending most of His time and energy with those He was called to.

Despite this seemingly clear and simple lesson, we find it very difficult to practice it ourselves. Sadly, so much of our time, energy and resources are invested in challenging failed models of faith that we see all around us. While prophetic voices are needed to call the Church on our very real failings and compromises, we are called primarily to be incarnational agents of mercy and compassion to those on the margins. Our corrective efforts must be first and foremost within ourselves and our own communities, allowing our lives to be a living rebuke to those who fail to follow Christ’s way.

In our passion to see the Church challenged and changed, have we blinded ourselves from our primary responsibility? Have we allowed ourselves to be distracted from our missional vocation as the Body Christ with an excessive effort at “self-improvement’?

Missional Jesus Mercy Compassion

One of the most significant characteristics in the Church today (as in most aspect of the world) is the rapidly increasing complexity of every aspect of life. From the unfathomable development of communications technology to the rise of multi-national organizations, the dynamics of these changes have had significant and obvious impacts on Christianity and the way we understand and function as the Church. While many of these changes are clearly advantagous to missional vocation of the Body of Christ, it is also undeniable that it has created a complex reality unlike anything we have faced before. (See my post “Being Missional In An Age Of Liminality”)

With all of our advancement and “progress” we are also recognizing that we have often demonstrated an inability to control the outcome of our growth or the sense or integrity to utilize it properly. We are a risk of falling prey to the same temptations that drive many corporations and governments to pursue their goals at the expense of people, the ecosystem, etc. And like these institutions, who we have too often drawn our models for leadership, organization and even ethics, we will find our lives intricately connected to these systems in ways that, in order to correct them, will cost us dearly.

I am not trying to be a fatalist, as I also believe the Church is entering into an historic phase where prophetic voices and examples are pointing out a new way. While some aspects of these systems will have to be outright rejected, we need to learn to move forward through and with these changes. And this is the crucial point: the most significant change we need to learn to adapt to is change itself, all the while doing so in such a way that does not ignore or exploit the purposes (and the people) of God.

Ironically, it is often the very means we employ to resist change that contribute the most to the unsustainable and destructive forces mentioned above. While it may seem that people are resistant to change, the reality is that we are all very well used to it. From the moment we are born we learn to accomodate the natural, though surprising, processes of growth, development and maturity. While we play a role in monitoring, caring for and developing certain aspects of this process, ultimately we are able to subordinate ourselves to the natural created intention.

In the same way, if the Church is to move into the future, we will need to stop attempting to impose change. Rather, we need to learn to monitor, care for and help develop through the changes as they emerge. This disempowering is one expression of the poverty of the spirit we are called to embrace. This is by no means a casual process, but a fiercely intentional expression of our individual and collective will. We cannot undo what has come before, but we can choose to move differently into the future.

What do you think? Is this too abstract? Too fatalistic? Does it resonate with you?

Missional Church Change Liminality Power

While money prohibits travel at the moment, this event is one I would certainly attend if I could. November 17th, Resonate and The Freeway are hosting Cultivate Gathering in Hamilton, Ontario. Tim Baily, Joe Manafo, and David Fitch are among the speakers. The cost is $50 which includes lunch. If you are able to be there, make the effort. It will be worth it. Oh, and pass on the word at your own blog too!