Decisions, decisions

I have been rolling the theological issue of evangelism in my thinking. What this has come down to is the issue of a "personal decision" and hence a "personal" Lord. I think that this theological issue needs to be re-thought (which some are doing). We are in a post-Christiandom, post-Constantinian age (for those who do not know what those mean, simply think postmodern. if that still is drawing blanks, read some political philosophy or something current concerning religion) which means that we Christians can no longer think that we can pack out stadiums and send an evangelist in front of them to preach the Good News in order to get them "saved." It does not work like that anymore, that day is dead.

What that evangelism has generally done to the Christians is pretty much nothing. It "saved" them and then told them to go find a church and read the Bible. So a bunch of newly "saved" people who had little idea of the "liturgy" of the church and were interpreting the Bible on their individually own, entered into churches with no clue. And if these churches were somewhat normal, it seems to take some time for the congregation to warm up to those who are more introverted, which means even more isolation of the individual who thinks that he or she goes to church in order to receive that "nugget" of truth or that spiritual food, which they do but it is not in the form of an objective proposition that a person can take home like some commodified good, (and do whatever they want with "it"); it comes through the re-membering of the Body of Christ through the Liturgical re-telling of "calling out"; confession of sin; communal prayer; hearing the Word; participating in the Eucharist/Lord's Supper/Communion; and the "sending out" which re-narrates us into the narrative of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What we need to do as churches is come together and becom a prime community in our lives as Christians and not just simply something we do on Sunday morning (though the Sunday worship is absolutely vital being the eighth day of the week; The Lord's DAy. It just does not stop there). We need to find creative ways to be able to learn how to depend on each other as opposed to being completely self-sufficient. We need to learn how to help each other out of the hard times so when the real hard times come, we will know how to "be." Within this context we can start inviting our friends to participate with us (that is to say that we need to build the friendship first and when they notice that we are on a different mission that liberal, consumer-capitalist mission then we can invite them into the mission of Christ). Therefore, we are after baptisms that bring people into the story that will convert and transform them into new creatures as opposed to a "personal" decision to have a "personal" lord.

Concerning this "personal" lord idea, Christ is titled as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the King of the cosmos and his mission is redeeming the creation back unto himself. This is far greater and far larger than simple some God "vacuum" with each one of us. To come together in his Body is to come together and become a part of each other lives and to confess our sins one to another and bear each other's burdens. This is the farthest thing from some simple religious "opinion." This means that the Christians in my community will have a say in my life and I in theirs, likewise Christians everywhere have the right to dialogue to me about my life and thoughts, my interpretations and actions. This is not personal as made known by our society.

Our surrounding society wants us to think that the Way is simply personal, beliefs and convictions that have no more substance than ignorant opinions. They want the Way to be opinion and it will be ok for us to have those "opinions" as long as these opinions do not leave our own personal lives. You see, as an American, my neighbor has really no right to become involved in my life if I choose to keep him out. I have even heard those stories of people sueing those who have saved others from some life-threatening tragedy! We do not even have the right to help the afflicted, for that is why society has instititued the "specialists" in those "helping areas" like the police officer and the medical technician. This society has no place for the Way, for the King of kings to really be a King of the cosmos, but it needs a cultured, impotent faith that is about a "personal" king of each "personal" individual - the "personal" being are his borders.

Therefore, we need to have a way of life in a King that crosses these false borders!

Theology and "real life"

Theology has been on my mind as of late, with a few conversations that have brought the subject up. One conversation in particular spoke as if what is happenening in theology or more generally "academia" is not what is happening in the local congregation, or more appropriately in "real life."

I disagree. I believe what I am going through in seminary is real and it is concerned with what is happening outside of the walls of the classroom. If we are exploring and wading through the assumptions that most people are affected by and which the people may live whole lives without ever becoming critical or thinking about such assumptions does not constitute my study as being not about life.

Let us take an aspect of the theology of sexuality and what I have heard titled as "Evangelical Egalitarianism." The assumption behind the egalitarian position was the liberal, western, democratic politic (not republican vs democrat vs third party politics but the idea that politics is about how we gather as a people. This way of politics makes republicans and democratic parties two side of the same coin, hence 6 to one, half a dozen to another!). The problem with the assumption is that not many people talk about this assumption, even with some people saying that they have gotten past the assumption. I do not think that not talking about the asssumption means that one has transcended the assumption. I do not talk about St. Augustine's theology and way of thinking but I know it affects me and is still a part of my assumptions. Anyways, Academia explores the deep thoughts that a regular "worker" may not ever go through, yet we do because we are trying to create a change, a difference in life. Difference does not come through simply not talking about something or trying not to do one thing the same way as before, but real change comes from altering and exposing the deep roots of our thought "scripts" or patterns or ways or how ever you want to entitle them.