Bill Ferguson :: Feeds

FAITH, REASON, AND THE WAR AGAINST JIHADISM

I have been reading a book by the brilliant Catholic theologian and ethicist George Weigel called Faith, Reason, And The War Against Jihadism: A Call To Action. It just so happens that I was reading it as the Mumbai terror attacks happened and so I post the headings of his insights here. His issue is not with Islam in general, but with the particularly dangerous brand called Jihadism, and I do find these insights very honest, insightful, and confronting. I am inclined to agree. What think ye?

• Lesson one: The great human questions, including the great questions of public life, are ultimately theological
• Lesson two: To speak of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as the “three Abrahamic faiths,” the “three religions of the Book” or the “three monotheisms” obscures rather than illuminates. These familiar descriptions ought to be retired
• Lesson three: Jihadism is the enemy in the multi-front war that has been declared on us
• Lesson four: Jihadism has a complex intellectual history, the chief points of which must be grasped in order to understand the nature of the threat it poses to the west
• Lesson five: Jihadists read history and politics through the prism of distinctive theological convictions, not through the lens of western assumptions about the progress of dynamic of history
• Lesson six: It is not “Islamophobic” to note the historical connection between conquest and Muslim expansion, or between contemporary jihadism and terrorism. Truth-telling is the essential prerequisite to genuine interreligious dialogue, which can only be based on the claims of reason.
• Lesson seven: The war against jihadism is a contest for the human future that will endure for generations
• Lesson eight: Genuine realism in foreign policy takes wickedness seriously, yet avoids premature closure in it’s thinking about the possibilities of positive change in world politics
• Lesson nine: In the war against Jihadism, the political objective in the middle East and throughout the Islamic world is the evolution of responsible and responsive government, which will take different forms given different historical and cultural circumstances
• Lesson ten: in the war against global Jihadism, deterrence strategies unlikely to be effective, because it is almost impossible to deter those who are committed to their own martyrdom
• Lesson eleven: Cultural self-confidence is indispensable to victory in the long-term struggle against Jihadism
• Lesson twelve: Islamist salami tactics (also known as the salami-slice strategy, a divide and conquer process of threats and alliances used to overcome opposition) must be resisted, for small concessions in the name of a false idea of tolerance inevitably lead to further concessions, and into further erosions of liberty and security
• Lesson thirteen: We cannot, and will not, deserve victory (much less achieve it) if we continue to finance those who attack us, therefore, a program to defund jihadism by developing alternatives to petroleum based transportation fuels is a crucial component of the current struggle
• Lesson fourteen: Victory in the war against global jihadism requires a new domestic political coalition that is proof against the confusions caused by the Unhinged Left and the Unhinged Right
• Lesson fifteen: There is no escape from US leadership

Here is a pdf summary of the above weigelfaithreasonjihadism and you can listen to him speak to the topic here.

‘The community for me?’ or ‘Me for the community?’

The explorations of communitas (the theme for the next series of posts around The Forgotten Ways) took on a very personal form in my own experience as leader of South Melbourne Restoration Community (now called RED), the church I had the privilege of leading for 15 years. When I look back to the early dynamics of that vibrant community, especially as it was still forming, we were functioning as missional church in a very naïve, pre-cognitive, and instinctual kind of way. All we did was set out to build a community that was radically open and engaged with all kinds of people on the edges and fringes of society. Things happened. It was exciting— the community was focused and sharpened by a sense of destiny and mission and as a result we grew in a strange and wonderful kind of way. We were missional, even though at the time this was as yet largely unarticulated, and as a result we experienced a remarkable form of community.

But something seemed to change as we grew and self-consciously became a more trendy, pomo, Gen-X church. For understandable reasons lots of grounded middleclass Christians from Melbourne’s Bible belt moved to the inner city to be part of what God was doing—and we welcomed the newfound stability in what was to that point a very chaotic experience of ecclesia. These were established Christians weren’t needy and that was a wonderful change for us and we basked in a period of sublime stability. But something shifted as we became more stable. And while we gained a lot from the participation of these wonderful people, nonetheless something significant was inadvertently lost as the church culture changed and became more middle-class and steady.

There is something about middle-class culture that seems to be contrary to authentic gospel values. And this is not a statement about middleclass people per se; I myself am from a very middleclass family, but rather to isolate some of the values and assumptions that that seem to just come along as part of the deal. In the chapter on discipleship we noted that much of what goes by the name middle class involves a preoccupation with safety and security developed mostly in pursuit of what seems to best for our children. And this is understandable as long as it does not become obsessive. But when these impulses of middle class culture fuse with consumerism, as they most often do, we can add the obsession with comfort and convenience to the list. And this is not a good mix. At least as far as the Gospel and missional church is concerned.

Operating under the influence of these ‘bugs’ in our middleclass software, our community became a marketer of particularly zesty religious goods and services vying for the attention of discerning spiritual consumers. Flattered by the numerical growth, and driven by our own middle-class agendas, we thoughtlessly followed the ‘gather and amuse’ impulse implicit in church growth theory and so we grew in numbers, but something primal and indispensable was lost in the bargain. We got more transfers from other churches, but the flow of conversion slowed down to a trickle and then ran completely dry. Paradoxically, we became busier than ever before, but with less and less real missional impact. We had moved from the missional idea of ‘me for the community and the community for the world’ to the more consumptive ‘the community for me’ and it just about destroyed us. We recovered only by recalibrating the community along fundamentally missional lines, and this was not achieved without pain and numerical loss. But in doing so, we moved from an experience of church as community to that of communitas.

putting the adventure back into the venture

I am about to start blogging on the whole idea of communitas as one of the key elements of Apostolic Genius (the latent power inherent in God’s people). But I can’t get beyond a few quotes which I put at the top of the chapter. I love them…here they are.

“That which does not kill you will make you stronger”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

“The ship is safest when it is in port. But that’s not what ships were made for”
- Paulo Coehlo

“It is the unknown that defines our existence. We are constantly seeking, not just for answers to our questions, but for new questions. We are explorers…”
- Cmdr Ben Cisco, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

These seem to get at the heart of what this aspect of human (and missional) experience is on about–the whole idea of communitas focuses on putting the adventure back into the venture.

the baby is out!

OK, at last reJesus is now available in the US via Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, Barnes and Noble, etc.. I understand it will be available in non-US countries sometime in December-early January. Just thought I’d let you know. Its does feel like a birthing. I feel that this is a really radical book in the best sense of the word–it takes us back to our Radix/Root and connects us with our most primary impulses. Just don’t drop it–it explodes!!

BTW, you can download the introduction and the first chapter just under the icon on the right of this post >>>>

the reason for god

Here is a review of Tim Keller’s book, The Reason for God, reviewed by my industrious friend David Mays. this is probably the best apologetics book in a decade.

Tim Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. The church began in 1989, has 6000 regular attendees, and has spawned more than a dozen daughter churches. See www.redeemer.com. Tim’s book is a well reasoned apologetic that grants dignity and respect to all people, regardless of their theological, cultural, political and personal perspectives. The first part of the book examines seven major objections to faith. The second part describes evidence for God and Christianity. This is an excellent book to give to thoughtful skeptics.

“The world is polarizing over religion. It is getting both more religious and less religious at the same time.” (x) “Both skeptics and believers feel their existence is threatened because both secular skepticism and religious faith are on the rise in significant, powerful ways.” (xiv)

People are opting for a nonreligious life, for a non-institutional, personally constructed spirituality, or for orthodox, high-commitment religious groups…. Therefore the population is paradoxically growing both more religious and less religious at once.” (xv)

“Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts–not only their own but their friends’ and neighbors’.” “Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive.” (xvii)

“Skeptics must learn to look for a type of faith hidden within their reasoning. All doubts, however skeptical and cynical they may seem, are really a set of alternate beliefs.” “The reason you doubt Christianity’s Belief A is because you hold unprovable Belief B. Every doubt, therefore, is based on a leap of faith.” (xvii)

“My thesis is that if you come to recognize the beliefs on which your doubts about Christianity are based, and if you seek as much proof for those beliefs as you seek from Christians for theirs–you will discover that your doubts are not as solid as they first appeared.” (xviii)

Part I. The Leap of Doubt

1. There can’t be just one true religion

Exclusivity is a big issue. Believing one has the truth can easily lead to stereotyping, caricaturizing, and demonizing others which can spiral down to oppression, abuse or violence. (4)

“What is religion then? It is a set of beliefs that explain what life is all about, who we are, and the most important things that human beings should spend their time doing.” (15)

“Broadly understood, faith in some view of the world and human nature informs everyone’s life. Everyone lives and operates out of some narrative identity, whether it is thought out and reflected upon or not.” (15)

“It is common to say that ‘fundamentalism’ leads to violence, yet as we have seen, all of us have fundamental, unprovable faith-commitments that we think are superior to those of others.” (19) “Which set of unavoidably exclusive beliefs will lead us to humble, peace-loving behavior?” (20) Christians have within their belief system the strongest possible resource for practicing sacrificial service, generosity, and peace-making. At the very heart of their view of reality is a man who died for his enemies, praying for their forgiveness. Reflection on this can only lead to a radically different way of dealing with those who were different from them.” (20)

2. How could a good God allow suffering?

Some say suffering proves there is no loving, all powerful God. In other words, “If our minds can’t plumb the depths of the universe for good answers to suffering, well, then, there can’t be any! This is blind faith of a high order.” (23) “Many assume that if there were good reasons for the existence of evil, they would be accessible to our minds,…but why should that be the case? (24)

“With time and perspective most of us can see good reasons for at least some of the tragedy and pain that occurs in life. Why couldn’t it be possible that, from God’s vantage point, there are good reasons for all of them?” (25)

“Lewis recognized that modern objections to God are based on a sense of fair play and justice. People, we believe, ought not to suffer, be excluded, die of hunger or oppression. But the evolutionary mechanism of natural selection depends on death, destruction, and violence of the strong against the weak–these things are all perfectly natural. On what basis, then, does the atheist judge the natural world to be horribly wrong, unfair, and unjust?” (26)

“If we ask the question: ‘Why does God allow evil and suffering to continue?’ and we look at the cross of Jesus, we still do not know what the answer is. However, we now know what the answer isn’t. It can’t be that he doesn’t love us. … God takes our misery and suffering so seriously that he was willing to take it on himself. [on the cross].” (30) “Embracing the Christian doctrines of the incarnation and Cross brings profound consolation in the face of suffering.” (33)

3. Christianity is a straitjacket.

“Many say that all truth-claims are power plays. When you claim to have the truth, you are trying to get power and control over other people.” (37) “If you say all truth-claims are power plays, then so is your statement.” (38) “All denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind…” (38, quoting G. K. Chesterton)

“In many areas of life, freedom is not so much the absence of restrictions as finding the right ones, the liberating restrictions.” “Instead of insisting on freedom to create spiritual reality, shouldn’t we be seeking to discover it and disciplining ourselves to live according to it? (46-7)

4. The Church is responsible for so much injustice.

There are three issues to consider: the behavior or character flaws of Christians, the issue of war and violence, and fanaticism. (52)

It is argued that religion tends to make cultural differences into a cosmic battle. However, Communist, Russian, Chinese, and Cambodian regimes of the 20^th century rejected all organized religion yet produced massive violence against their own peoples. When the idea of God is gone, a society will make something else the transcendent ideal. (55)

“In Jesus’s and the prophets’ critique, self-righteous religion is always marked by insensitivity to issues of social justice, while true faith is marked by profound concern for the poor and marginalized.” (60) “The shortcomings of the church can be understood historically as the imperfect adoption and practice of the principles of the Christian gospel.” (61) “To give up Christian standard would be to leave us with no basis for the criticism.” (62)

5. How can a loving God send people to Hell?

“In our culture, divine judgment is one of Christianity’s most offensive doctrines.” (69) There are a number of hidden beliefs inside this critique.

“In ancient times it was understood that there was a transcendent moral order…built into the fabric of the universe.” Violation of this order brought consequences. One had to learn to live in conformity with this reality. Modernity, presented the natural world as ultimate reality and we could mold it to fit our desires. We now think we can control the spiritual world too. It seems unfair that there should be a God who would punish us. We believe in our personal rights! “Not all of humanity has accepted modernity’s view of things.” “Why should Western cultural sensibilities be the final court?” (71-2)

“God’s wrath is not a cranky explosion, but his settled opposition to the cancer…which is eating out the insides of the human race he loves with his whole being.” (73, quoting Becky Pippert) “He is angry at evil and injustice because it is destroying its peace and integrity.” (73)

“The biblical picture is that sin separates us from the presence of God, which is the source of all joy and indeed of all love, wisdom, or good things of any sort.” “if we were to lose his presence totally, that would be hell–the loss of our capability for giving or receiving love or joy.” (76) “Hell, then, is the trajectory of a soul, living a self-absorbed, self-centered life, going on and on forever.” (77) “In short, hell is simply one’s freely chosen identity apart from God on a trajectory into infinity.” (78)

“It is not a question of God ’sending us’ to hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will BE Hell unless it is nipped in the bud.” (79, quoting C.S. Lewis)

6. Science has disproved Christianity

“Must we choose between thinking scientifically and belief in God?” (850

“It is one thing to say that science is only equipped to test for natural causes and cannot speak to any others. It is quite another to insist that science proves that no other causes could possibly exist.” (85)

In the statement, “miracles can’t happen,” there is a premise that “there can’t be a God who does miracles.” (86)

It is one thing to say that I will look for my car keys under the streetlamp because the light is better there. It is another thing to say that the car keys cannot be elsewhere because I can’t see there!

7. You can’t take the Bible literally

What people mean is that the Bible is not entirely trustworthy because some parts…are scientifically impossible, historically unreliable, and culturally regressive.” (99-100)

“I find more people now especially upset by what they call the outmoded and regressive teaching of the Bible. It seems to support slavery and the subjugation of women. These positions appear so outrageous to contemporary people that they have trouble accepting any other parts of the Bible’s message.” (109) “Many of the texts people find so offensive can be cleared up with a decent commentary that puts the issue into historical context.” (110) “Some texts do not teach what they at first appear to teach.” (111)

For many, “their problem with some texts might be based on an unexamined belief in the superiority of their historical moment over all others. We must not universalize our time any more than we should universalize our culture.” “To reject the Bible as regressive is to assume that you have now arrived at the ultimate historic moment, from which all that is regressive and progressive can be discerned. That belief is surely as narrow and exclusive as the view in the Bible you regard as offensive.” (111)

“To stay away from Christianity because part of the Bible’s teaching is offensive to you assumes that if there is a God he wouldn’t have any views that upset you. Does that belief make sense?” (112)

In addition, we should distinguish between the major themes and message of the Bible and its less primary teachings. …consider the Bible’s teaching in their proper order.” (112) “It is therefore important to consider the Bible’s core claims about who Jesus is and whether he rose from the dead before you reject it for its less central and more controversial teachings.” (113)

Intermission

“Underlying all doubts about Christianity are alternate beliefs, unprovable assumptions about the nature of things.” (115)

The second part of the book exercises a “critical rationality” that “assumes that there are some arguments that many or even most rational people will find convincing…. It assumes that some systems of belief are more reasonable than others….” But, of course, these do not eliminate all counter arguments. (120)

“When a Russian cosmonaut returned from space and reported that he had not found God,…this was like Hamlet going into the attic of his castle looking for Shakespeare. If there is a God, he wouldn’t be another object in the universe that could be put in a lab and analyzed with empirical methods. He would relate to us the way a playwright relates to the characters in his play. We (characters) might be able to know quite a lot about the playwright, but only to the degree the author chooses to put information about himself in the play.” (122)

“In the Christian view, however, the ultimate evidence for the existence of God is Jesus Christ himself.” ‘He wrote himself into the play as the main character in history….” (123)

Part 2. The Reasons for Faith

8. The Clues of God

There are no incontrovertible proofs for God. But when we looked at them as clues, “cumulatively, the clues of God had a lot of force to them.”

The Big Bang is a clue. That the cosmos is fine-tuned for life is a clue. The regularity of nature is a clue. Beauty is a clue.

“…the very fact that the universe had a beginning implies that someone was able to begin it. And it seems to me that had to outside of nature.” (129, quoting Francis Collins, The Language of God.)

Richard Dawkins says there may be trillions of universes and some of them may be fine-tuned to sustain life. “Although organic life could have just happened without a Creator, does it make sense to live as if that infinitely remote chance is true?” (132) [I don't think it is scientifically possible for life to have happened. dlm]

“Evolutionists say that if God makes sense to us, it is not because he is really there, it’s only because that belief helped us survive and so we are hardwired for it. However, if we can’t trust our belief-forming faculties to tell us the truth about God, why should we trust them to tell us the truth about…evolutionary science?” Or any scientific theory at all? (138)

9. The knowledge of God

Keller demonstrates that deep within us we already know there is God.

“The secular, young adults I have known have a very finely honed sense of right and wrong. There are many things happening in the world that evoke their moral outrage.” (144) “…but unlike people in other times and places, they don’t have any visible basis for why they find some things to be evil and other things good. It’s almost like their moral intuitions are free-floating in midair….” (145)

“I think people in our culture know unavoidably that there is a God, but they are repressing what they know.” (146)

If there is no creator God then there is no sound rationale for moral obligation or human rights. Who says so? In fact, nature itself is terribly violent.

“If a premise (’There is no God’) leads to a conclusion you know isn’t true (’Napalming babies is culturally relative’) then why not change the premise?”

10. The problem of sin

“Sin is the despairing refusal to find your deepest identity in your relationship and service to God. Sin is seeking to become oneself, to get an identity, apart from him.” (162) The primary way to define sin is “the making of good things into ultimate things. It is seeking to establish a sense of self by making something else more central to your significance, purpose, and happiness than your relationship to God.” (162)

“Every person is desperately seeking…’cosmic significance.’” “Our need for worth is so powerful that whatever we base our identity and value on we essentially ‘deify.’ We will look to it with all the passion and intensity of worship and devotion, even if we think of ourselves as highly irreligious.” (163, citing Ernest Becker)

“…sin destroys us personally. Identity apart from God is inherently unstable. Without God, our sense of worth may seem solid on the surface, but it never is–it can desert you in a moment.” (164) “There is no way to avoid this insecurity outside of God.” “An identity not based on God also leads inevitably to deep forms of addiction.”

“Building our lives on something besides God not only hurts us if we don’t get the desires of our hearts, but also if we do.” (166) “…if you don’t live for Jesus you will live for something else.” (172)

11. Religion and the Gospel

12. The (True) Story of the Cross

“Why would Jesus have to die?” is a very frequent question. (187) If someone damages you, you can get revenge–which goes on and on–or you can forgive. But someone pays for the damage. To forgive is a form of suffering. You have both the damage and you forgo revenge. It hurts. Someone pays.

“Forgiveness means bearing the cost instead of making the wrongdoer do it, so you can reach out in love to seek your enemy’s renewal and change. Forgiveness means absorbing the debt of the sin yourself. Everyone who forgives great evil goes through a death into resurrection, and experiences nails, blood, sweat, and tears.” “Everyone who forgives someone bears the other’s sins.”

God himself absorbed the pain. “This is a God who becomes human and offers his own lifeblood in order to honor moral justice and merciful love so that someday he can destroy all evil without destroying us.” (192) “There was a debt to be paid–God himself paid it. There was a penalty to be born–God himself bore it. Forgiveness is always a form of costly suffering.” (193)

13. The reality of the resurrection

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.” (202)

“The only way anyone embraced the resurrection back then was by letting the evidence challenge and change their worldview, their view of what was possible. They had just as much trouble with the claims of the resurrection as you, yet the evidence–both of the eyewitness accounts and the changed lives of Christ’s followers–was overwhelming.” (211)

14. The dance of God

“I have been arguing that the Christian understanding of where we came from, what’s wrong with us, and how it can be fixed has greater power to explain what we see and experience than does any other competing account.” (213)

“If God is triune, then loving relationships in community are the ‘great fountain…at the center of reality.’” (216)

God calls us to glorify, praise, and serve him. “And the only way we, who have been created in his image, can have this same joy, is if we center our entire lives around him instead of ourselves.” (218)

the last thing to convert…is the wallet

A cartoon by Thom Tapp in these hard economic times….HT

sorry–few posts

Hey e-fam, sorry that I have not been blogging regularly.  As I mentioned earlier, I am visiting family and friends in Australia.  I have to say that it feels a little like a two week long Christmas Day!! Its pretty intense!  I might be able to get to it sometime soon.  I come back to the US this week but only get home by next Friday/Saturday.

the role of theology in faith

The god of whom no dogmas are believed is a mere shadow.  He will not produce that fear of the Lord in which wisdom begins and therefore will not produce that love in which it is consumated….There is in the minimal religion nothing that can convince, convert, or (in the higher sense) console; nothing therefore which can restore vitality to our civilisation.  It is not costly enough.  It can never be a controller or even a rival to our natural sloth and greed.
- C.S.Lewis

In light of the various posts done recently on the limitations of our rationality and of positive theology (here and here), I thought I should put a balancer into the equation.  I have always been deeply suspicious of the more liberal theological approach that gives away the family treasures.  However limited our capacity to ‘capture’ God in theologial statements, the oppostite error is doubly as dangerous.  We end up with something other than Christianity and something deeply deceptive, dishonest, and a ‘faith’ which certainly cannot save.

comprehensive primer

The mercurial JR Woodward has managed to put together a very comprehensive primer on missional church here. Where does he get his energy from? One of the adantages of being single I suppose! Thanks JR.

praying for the US

No matter what I or others think about who should win the elections, this is a very significant choice that will be made in the next 24 hours.  A historic and world significant choice is about to be made by the American people.  Let us all pray for the right outcome.

Debs and I are off to Oz for family time.  We will be watching, so behave yourselves!

planting the gospel

I am more and more convinced that the idea of church planting atomatically comes with some associated flaws.  And these flaws are bound up with the inherited idea of church, which if unexplored, is simply reproduced without incarnational principles guiding it.  I suggest that instead of useing the term church planting, how about we substitute it with ‘gospel planting’.  Consider this…

The Gospel is like a seed, and you have to sow it.  When you sow the seed of the Gospel in Israel, a plant that can be called Jewish Christianity grows.  When you sow it in Rome, a plant of Roman Christianity grows.  You sow the Gospel in Great Britain and you get British Christianity.  The seed of the Gospel is later brought to America, and a plant grows of American Christianity.  Now, when missionaries come to our lands they brought not only the seed of the Gospel, but their own plant of Christianity, flower pot included!  So, what we have to do is to break the flowerpot, take out the seed of the Gospel, sow it in our own cultural soil, and let our own version of Christianity grow.
–Dr. D.T. Niles of Sri Lanka

forge canada up-and-running!

It is with great pleasure that we announce the new partnership between Missional Training Network and Forge to create a network of Forge Missional Training Network (Canada). Pioneered and led by my great buddy Cameron Roxburgh and a fantastic team of thinkers and practitioners. We are excited about what God is going to do in the coming years in enhancing grassroots mission and incarnational church planting in that great land. All I can say is “yessss!!” We are now looking at a ForgeUSA sometime in ‘09.

Click on the image to see the website. Or click here…

BTW, I will be away in Germany for the r(e)formation gig. I might not get to post. Forgive me if I don’t.

barth on missional church

As Jesus’ community [the church] points beyond itself. At bottom it can never consider its own security, let alone its appearance. As His community it is always free from itself . . . . Its mission is not additional to its being. It is, as it is sent and active in its mission. It builds up itself for the sake of its mission and in relation to it.
–Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics IV/

HT

a political christian?: quiz

Matt Stone posted this quiz hosted by Christianity Today recently. Given the host of comments made on my choice (if I had one!) for presidential candidate recently, I thought it might be useful to take the test. Give it a go.

two sample chapters from rejesus

As reJesus is coming out in the US in December (and elsewhere in January), the publisher have released two chapters as a sampler. I really am deeply excited about this book. Mainly because I believe it gets to the very core of missional Christianity–namely Jesus and his role in defining the movement that claims his name. Anyhow, some more endorsements have come in. Here are more of them, followed by a download of the two chapters.

“At this moment in history we are in the middle of an ecclesial and theological reformation that is at least as radical as, and likely more significant than, the Protestant Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries. In this bold, compelling, and prophetic masterpiece, Hirsch and Frost articulate the beautiful vision of the Jesus-centered Kingdom that is driving this new Reformation. Hirsch and Frost brilliantly weave together insightful biblical exegesis, critical historical reflection, transforming spiritual discipleship, probing cultural analysis, and even a good bit of humor in ways that help readers get free from the deadening yoke of the Christian religion and rediscover the wild, untamed, life-giving Jesus of the Gospels. I hope everyone who professes faith in Christ will dare to read this book. They will not put it down unchanged.”
—Greg Boyd, Senior Pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, co-author, The Jesus Legend

“In ReJesus, Alan and Michael successfully reinstate Jesus at the center of the spiritual life and mission of God’speople. In an era overly focused on how to ‘do church,’ their message is clear; we must take a closer look at the life of Jesus. If you want to jump back into authentic, New Testament discipleship, then take their challenge to recalibrate the mission and work of the church around the story of Jesus. As only true practitioners can, they provide an abundance of practical insights and inspiration.”
—Matt Smay, Missio Director of the Missional Church Apprenticeship Practicum, co-author, The Tangible Kingdom

“THIS is THE conversation to be had! While everyone is obsessed with reinventing the church—this puts not just the conversation, but the focus squarely back on where it belongs: Jesus! It’s not the forms, the structures, the styles, the venues—it’s the person of Jesus. I devoured every page of this book; I was completely engrossed in it. All true missional living starts and finishes with Jesus. When Jesus is at the core, not just of telling others about him but of creating a new life within us, we will be transformed and the church will be redefined. It will come not from ideas from without but from a person from within—Jesus! When Jesus is at the core, our faith and the church will always be alive to anyone, any time, any culture, and any place in the world. What Alan and Mike have done is write a book that answers the ‘so what’ of Jesus to his followers. The book is profound.”
—Bob Roberts Jr., Senior Pastor of NorthWood Church in Keller, Texas, author, The Multiplying Church

“Frost and Hirsch excavate the ruins of Western Christianity, digging through the accumulation of 2,000 years of dust in order to return the church to the sure foundation of Jesus Christ. This book is a challenging and helpful addition to the task of re-centering, re-founding, or, in their words, ‘re-Jesusing’ Christianity. The Jesus- shaped church will look quite different from many of the modern variety, and Frost and Hirsch skillfully articulate both the need and the means to align the way of Jesus with the religion that bears his name.”
—Mike Erre, Teaching Pastor at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, California, author, The Jesus of Suburbia

“ In response to our present challenges, Frost and Hirsch offer a fresh and provocative reading of the person of Jesus as the key for Christians to draw upon in living as contemporary disciples. They dig deep into the Jesus narrative for clues in understanding a wild Messiah—a ReJesus—and they discover key resources that are used to reclaim a radical call to discipleship. The reader will find their proposal to be openly invitational but should be prepared to be quite challenged.”
—Craig Van Gelder, Professor of Congregational Mission,
Luther Seminary, author, The Ministry of the Missional Church

“Is the religion of Christianity the religion of Jesus? Is Jesus to be a model for our lives, or is he just a God-shaped security deposit? Frost and Hirsch recover God’s call to become more like His Son and dare to place an earthy, narrative Christology at the center of all things missional.”
—Sally Morgenthaler, author, Worship Evangelism, contributor, An Emergent Manifesto of Hope

“As Christendom dies a slow death, people scour the landscape of literature to find answers for how to redo church, re-engage faith, or reposition so that we can maintain our present status quo of reputation, resources, and rest. In ReJesus, Hirsch and Frost call us past these pathetic pursuits to a new world, or old world, in which leaders follow Jesus and let Jesus reform the church. Read, only if you’re willing to rethink everything.”
—Hugh Halter, Missio Director, Pastor of Adullam in Denver, Colorado, co-author of The Tangible Kingdom

“The themes of mission and personal and corporate renewal can be approached from a variety of perspectives. Many books on mission take a pragmatic approach, focusing on strategies; while those addressing renewal tend towards a nostalgic spiritualizing, drawing inspiration from previous revivalism the church. ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church represents a different approach. It draws together three key themes that are all too often compartmentalized: Christology, Missiology, and Ecclesiology. So many churches in the West are suffering from amnesia with regard to the Biblical narrative, or at best are guilty of a selective reading, resulting in a misrepresentation of Jesus to conform to our cultural assumptions and boundaries. Frost and Hirsch present us with a faithful portrayal of Jesus as fully human, as God intended us to be, by showing us what the God who dared to make us in his own image is really like. The authors present an untamed Jesus who makes scary, radical demands, while at the same time giving of himself to empower his followers with the courage and resources necessary to follow his leading. ReJesus reveals abundant evidence of extensive research, and dropped into the text are brief descriptions of individuals who embodied the challenges Frost and Hirsch present to the reader. In confronting such a gospel every seeker will find more than they bargained for! But the gospel was never a bargain, it is always a gracious gift—far too great and glorious for us to ever fully comprehend or exhaust its potential. In reading this book be prepared for a wild ride!”
—Eddie Gibbs, Senior Professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, author, LeadershipNext

“Frost and Hirsch have done it again. Reading ReJesus provoked, frustrated, and ultimately convicted me of my need to live more deeply in the way of Jesus. If you are looking for another book on simply bolstering church as-we-know-it, this is not for you. If you and your church want to be challenged to walk in the Way of Jesus, this book delivers.”
—Ed Stetzer, blogger (www.edstetzer.com), author, Planting Missional Churches

“It is with such ease that the church veers off course. ReJesus draws us back to Jesus in all of his radical, passionate, and transformative beauty. Frost and Hirsch demonstrate by word and example that to be the church demands a fearless, intimate, and constant encounter with Christ. As individuals and as a community, we have no option but to heed their wisdom.”
—Daniel M. Harrell, Associate Minister at Park Street Church in Boston, author, Nature’s Witness

And as promised, here are the downloads….

rejesus-intro and rejesus-ch 1

to choose or not to choose…

Wow! Some pretty hot responses to the last post. I have now officially had my wisdom challenged, my faith questioned, and my name forever tainted for venturing an opinion on an important subject. I am beginning to think that perhaps my wisdom was in doubt, but my love of God and my reputation as a diligent spokesman for the missional cause? C’mon guys, a little more grace and civility than that!!

But as all this raises the issue of public faith and morality, lets chew on this for a while. One commentator suggested that I stick to theology and don’t venture into places I don’t understand. Besides this being counsel of despair, it effectively means that faith has nothing to say to issues that concern us all and that I should just shut up. My only response cannot be to say that the dude should take his own advice but surely must be to say that the Lordship of Jesus doesn’t allow me (or any claim His rule for that matter) to compartmentalize life in such a way. We all live in the world and we must seek to live out our faith in the public sphere. To divide politics from faith and family from economics for instance, is to create idolatrous zones where the Kingdom/Rule of God has no say and to invite false gods to rule where the Kingdom has vacated. For instance, apartheid South Africa was in part a direct outcome of the separation of the love and grace of God for all people from God’s call to act consistently with His love and grace. I was raised in those conditions and it was both morally sinful and socially disastrous.

I said that I am neither a leftie nor a rightie-I really mean that. Neither of them can claim to be more righteous than the other, and this is precisely because the Lordship of Jesus transcends (but includes) politics. Both left and right have perspectives that square with God’s rule and those that jar with it. For instance, from my perspective, the left tends to be more socially concerned while the right more concerned in terms of personal morality. Both political stances, where entrenched, have serious blind spots as far as I can discern. For one, they are weak precisely where the other is strong and both are mere ideologies. That’s why I can legitimately self-identify with neither. And for what it is worth, in the last few years I have probably had more debates with my lefty friends and have found them as fundamentalist on political issues as the right is around issues that they think important.

Those who follow Jesus must be far more discerning simply being politically aligned with one party: we must always strive to discern which best represents the Jesus’ challenge to bring all under his rule, recognizing that sometimes it simply ain’t that clear. And we cannot afford to become one-dimensional in our approach. Single issue Christians are by definition dualistic and don’t understand the monotheism (the claim of the One God over all our lives) or the dynamics of Kingdom of God (and that we are agents and must express this agency in the world). Disciples have to live under Jesus in such a way so as to try our best to honor Him as far as possible without becoming morally paralyzed by the complexity that confronts us in some of the choices we are called to make. So lets be clear, not to choose is also a choice that has moral consequences. There are many who were simply by-standers during the holocaust! They refused to have an opinion and express it or act on it. Does that make them morally neutral? No way Jose! To counsel that we should not have an opinion, or at least we should not venture to express that opinion, is to imply that discipleship is purely a private affair…a question of personal value and preference. But as mentioned above, this results in idolatry. And surely this Kingdom of God must call into question any attempts to make an election of a candidate a one issue choice.  Surely God is concerned about more issues than simply homosexuality and abortion? surely God is for fetal rights as much as he is for environmental concerns–particularly if this has implications for the poor (and it sure does–there is going to be a lot more death and starvation because of climate change!) Anyhow, I’d rather be wrong and have an opinion, than be a deliberate idolater. Choose my friends! McCain or Obama (they are both good men as far as politicians go), but do so in good conscience before the Lord and, please,  grant others their right to differ.

In terms of how we communicate our opinions, well that’s back to the question of civility without which civil society cannot function. We are Christians living in a democracy…lets be gracious to each other as the lack of grace for the disciple is a greater sin than simply expressing a wrong opinion.

“Obama or McCain? It’s a no-brainer!”

That was what our Aussie friend Sally T, who was here in the States recently, said when asked her opinion about the American presidential election. And she meant by this that Obama was the hands-down best choice. I have to be honest and say that this is what every non-American I have met in the last year says about the choice of candidates. I cannot recall even one who has pitched for either Clinton (in the primaries) or McCain when venturing their opinion. And just so that you know, I do travel extensively in the US, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. Now fair enough, they don’t get to vote for either candidate, and so can be dismissed as seemingly insignificant. But Americans need to be aware that all non-Americans do get to wear American choices because the President of the US is in fact the most influential person in the world and directly affects everyone, everywhere. Please don’t forget that.

What I am about to say I have deliberated long and hard over. And I do it with a deep sense of caution as well as a sense of profound love for (and calling to) America and the American people. I am about as American in spirit as a non-American can get! and I don’t mind going on record that I am strongly pro-American. So, I don’t say this lightly. On top of this sense of respect, I am loathe to engage directly in a sensitive political issue on a dedicatedly missional website. I don’t want to mix the message and dilute what I believe to be the essential one–that the church gets its missional act together–so the reader will have to excuse my political diversion here. I hope and trust you will. And once this is said, we can get back to business as usual for ye olde TFW site. So let me just say it– I agree with Sally (and all the others) here.

I say this mainly because I think that Obama is the symbolic choice: His election, if successful, will signal the healing of deep racial wounds and will, in effect, symbolize the utter greatness of America. Think about it! That America can elect a professing Christian, with an African Muslim (of all things!) father, a white mother, and a very strange sounding name to boot, to be its leader (and by extension, the leader of the free world) IS significant in the true meaning of the word. I can’t tell you what this will communicate symbolically to the rest of the world! imagine what this will mean to the Africans alone, let alone all those nations who struggle with race and ideological issues? And who doesn’t? And to do this in precisely this current, profoundly complex, global situation we all find ourselves in–well, that’s the historical piece. Hey, at the very least Obama represents the reconciliation of opposites…just look at him. He is himself a symbol of what I am saying: He reconciles black and white in his very person. He reconciles ‘the familiar’ and ‘the other’ in the precisely same way. He cannot but be symbolic. And that’s the least of it. At best, the symbolic power of a President Obama can itself potentially restore the prestige that America has lost over the last decade. Perhaps he might even develop it beyond where it has previously been since perhaps FDR in WW2. This can only be a good thing! America can, and should, stand as the symbolic re-presentation of the worlds best hopes. The other continents have a much darker history and struggle to be that which America at her best can, and should, be (except perhaps for my beloved Australia-but we are so far “down under” that it doesn’t really matter )

Seriously, as I see it, this choice represents a genuinely historical one. In my hack opinion, I do not think that such choices present themselves to any nation very often. It might be decades, if ever, that such an opportunity presents itself again–especially in light of the global situation. Viewed in this way, Obama can be seen as “a gift” to an America that has lost its moral standing in the global context.

One more thing, and here it becomes much more subjective, I do sense something of possible greatness in Obama. He has all the potential to be what can legitimately be called a ‘great leader’. He seems to be a very wise and considered person. There is sense of moral authority in him and we can only pray develops into genuine greatness–a Mandela-in-the-making. In saying this I am NOT saying that he is perfect, or that he is some sort of black messiah. God forbid we should lay any of our deepest hopes on him, or any other potential human pretender to Jesus’ rightful place. But I do believe he is the man of the moment. And as you can see, for my vote (if I had one), he has won my heart. It is interesting to note that Colin Powell has come to the same conclusion today in endorsing Obama.

And just to soften what I am saying here for my Republican friends and colleagues, I am NOT a natural ‘liberal’ of “lefty”. In fact I would be what Americans call “an independent” or a swing voter. And I am NOT saying the McCain isn’t a really good man. I think he is a very principled, open-hearted, dedicated, politician who has served his country well over a lifetime. In fact I think he can be a really good president. Its just that he cannot represent to the world, and to America itself, what Obama can. Greatness will therefore elude him. And lets face it, the election of the president of America is not only an American event, it is a global one. Therefore I am calling for Americans to go for greatness.

So there, shock, horror, I said it!! And if I have offended protocol, or intruded on your political sensibilities, forgive me and be kind to me. I have just felt that I should take the risk of possibly alienating some people in order to bring a perspective that Americans might not normally get….a global one.

two brilliant works on missiology

I have never ceased to be amazed at the prescience of Roland Allen the great missionary thinker and activist. Seriously, these books are waaayyy ahead of their time. All interested in missional movements MUST read them. His ideas have seldom, if ever, been surpassed. So, here are two of his books as freebies online….

Missionary Methods, St. Pauls or Ours?
‘The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and the causes which hinder it’

a picture paints a thousand words

worshipping an idea of God?

Actually, a great discussion was had in the post on theologizing below. As Gregory of Nyassa was the guy I quoted below, I thought I would another thought from him along similar lines…

‘Concepts create idols; only wonder comprehends anything.’ - St. Gregory of Nyssa

Ideas are simply that…ideas. To substitute God for an idea of God is a sham! Lets be clear…I do love ideas. But that does not mean that I am allowed to worship them! And it sure is tempting to do so.  And just to add the weight of C.S.Lewis to the subject,

My idea of God is not a divine Idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it Himself. He is the great iconoclast. Could we not almost say that this shattering is one of the marks of His presence….all reality is iconoclastic - C.S.Lewis A Grief Observed

where the ‘great’ depression came from

Jan put me on to this. Couldn’t miss the opportunity.

when theology becomes idolatry

“Every concept formed by the intellect in an attempt to comprehend and circumscribe the divine nature can succeed only in fashioning an idol, not in making God known.” - Gregory of Nyssa, “Life of Moses” -

Our ideas about God are only meant to direct our attention toward God, who is always greater than our ideas.

the new friars

I have to be honest and say that I have learned much of what I know about the basics of incarnational mission/ministry from those in the urban mission tribe. To reach the poor necessitates a deep identification with them, or else it risks being seen as overexploitation or welfare. A relatively new book to underscore this is by Scott Bessenecker, The New Friars. Its a good book that looks at how Protestant missional orders are beginning to form in order to reach the poor. Here is a quote from the book…

To undertake an incarnational approach to ministry is to be sent as Jesus was sent–to empty yourself of all that alienates you from a people and to become to a significant degree as they are. (62)

the ocean of god

“No man is satisfied in a swimming bath; he knocks his knees and elbows against its sides; he wants the sea. So with man’s soul, he hungers and thirsts for the ocean, for God; God infinite and Other, different to man, yet working in man…” - Baron F. Von Hugel

we are explorers

“The reward of the search is to go on searching. The soul’s desire is fulfilled by the very fact of its remaining unsatisfied; for really to see God is never to have had one’s fill of desiring Him” - Gregory of Nyassa

We really are explorers. Its part of what it means to be human. To taste God is to be driven to an eternal quest to know him more. It always amazes me when people think they have arrived at the knowledge of God. When people come to that point, all they believe is an idol.