imagining how the church can reorient around mission

As I arise this morning to pictures and videos of a church full of people worshipping (some who I know personally) while a group of angry, torch bearing white supremacist rallied outside in Charlottesville, my heart is in knots. I honestly feel sick.

I am stirred up today. Perhaps anger would better describe my feelings. The reason? I woke today to the news that a restaurant that I frequent was vandalized last night with racially charged graffiti.

  read more

I wanted to put this out before it moved from the front of my thinking. A few of us have been very concerned about the increase in violent activity in our city (here is a different recent post about this). The question I have been grappling with is what is the church’s response to such issues. To be honest, the complexity of urban violence is beyond me. What can be done? What can I do? I am not sure.

One thing we (Eric Blauer and Liv Larson Andrews) arrived at was we did not want to become desensitized to how these brutal acts fractured shalom. I believe many Americans are becoming fatigued by the constant cascade
of news of this kind; that they are in a way de-selecting it for their possible choices of issues to be concerned about. read more

I came across this today and felt like posting it, particuuarly as our country continues in its warring posture and stands on the precipice of another engagement.

We call a poor man “Lord” and in his name determine friends and enemies on the basis of who has oil for us. read more

I awoke this morning
to two very different bits of news.

The first was on CNN
about another senseless and seemingly random murder…this time in my own city. We’ve finally made the top story on CNN. Unfortunately, it was for
reprehensible reasons. Two teens beat a World War II vet to death yesterday
not far from my home. An 88-year-old man! This is immediately on the heels of
the similar senseless shooting of an Australian youth living and going to
school in Oklahoma by 3 other teens, apparently because they were “bored.” Although,
there does seem to be some race motive behind that act. Many in Australian at
this point are measuring whether coming to the U.S. is a reasonable venture
because of fear of this type of violence. There is even gestures of a “Boycott”
of the U.S. read more

 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 by 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. read more

Sample dialogue for any
conversation ever right now
Well-meaning person: well now, and what are you
going to do after graduation? 
Me: *turns into a monster taco and eats them*
Okay, actually I mumble something about looking
mainly for internships and a few jobs, mostly in churches. But inside that
panic attack is kicking into high gear. I’m not making assumptions for the rest
of the senior class, but I have no clue where I’m going to be after graduation.
What I’m going to be doing. Where I’ll be living. 
Hello, terror. 
Worst of all is that feeling that I won’t end up
in the right place, that I’ll suddenly discover I hate what I’m doing and now
I’m stuck with it. for me, that confusion is compounded, because I’m about to
switch to only a music ministry track and what if I suddenly decide music
ministry is just not for me? or I’m really bad at it? I can barely stumble
through the prayers of the church on Sundays, and I want to lead services? 
Okay, step back for a second, Anna’s just writing
a post about general graduation freakout, we’re in a class called missional
church, how do these connect? 
Well, they sort of do in my mind. When I track my
terror to its source, it’s that I’m not sure I’m going to end up in the right
place. And oh, God’s not going to guide me to the right place? God has no plans
whatsoever? great. Once again, my anxiety is really just me pushing God away.
No big deal, I got this, I’ll panic about it on my own thanks very much. 
Wherever I end up in four months, God’s going to
have work for me to do there. And this is the big takeaway for me from this
whole class: I’m on mission for God wherever I am. Whether I’m living in my
parents’ basement or working at a megachurch (or both), I’m living out God’s
mission. And as long as I spend a lot of time prayerfully asking for guidance,
I can’t go too far wrong. 
Can I?

Anna

Then
Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite
your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors;
if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you
give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and
you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the
resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14)

             The great
eighteenth-century hymn writer and ex-slave trader John Newton marveled at the
far-reaching impact of these words spoken by Jesus in Luke. “One would almost
think this passage was not considered part of God’s word, nor has any part of
Jesus’ teaching been more neglected by his own people. I do not think it is unlawful
to entertain our friends” he says, “but if these words do not teach us that it
is in some respects out duty to give preference
to the poor, I am at a loss to understand them.” Looking at the current state
of the American church, one can’t help but wonder if the “luncheon or dinner”
Jesus was referring to could be what we call our church service today. We spend
so much time catering our churches to our friends, brothers, sisters, relatives
and neighbors, that we completely disregard those Jesus is calling to invite
join us in our “banquet.” read more

    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. read more

   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. read more