Richard Rohr again...sorry...Just save yourselves the effort and buy the books.
"I believe that the religion of the middle class was always tempted to use Scripture primarily to dispense consolation. But the Word of God, like a mirror, must first confront us with ourselves. Second, it has to challenge us to live in a new way, to lead a life of authentic brotherliness and sisterliness...Only after the Word of God has confronted and challenged us do we have the right to take consolation from the Word of God as well. But we've drawn consolation from the Bible before we've changed our lives! The Christian nations are among the greediest and the most intent on security of any in the world, while they maintain that Jesus is their Lord and their security."
Taken from Simplicity again.
Monday, 28 July 2008
Thursday, 24 July 2008
On holiday
I am on holiday until August 7th in ITALIA. I will hopefully be able to blog in the meantime, albeit less frequently.
Strength and honour.
Maximus.
Strength and honour.
Maximus.
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Critique of the Charismatic # 1
The charismatic gifts are important and we should pursue them. However, they are certainly never to be described as the most important elements of the Christian faith. They are gifts for sure, but they are not the main gift.
At the centre of the gospel is the cross and resurrection. This is the main story. All the other stuff is a sub-plot, an important one at that, but still a sub-plot. There is more correction given to people who over-do the use of these gifts (tongues, prophecy, healing etc.) in the New Testament (see 1 Corinthians) than to those that under-do them. That is in part because it is assumed there that Christ followers will naturally be well versed in the practice of such gifts. It should be the same today, but I repeat they are not the centre of the gospel as I read it.
The cross of Jesus shows us what God has done for us and what He would do to us. We must come to the cross and die just as Jesus did. In return for our death, we receive His life. That's a pretty good deal if you ask me and is the meaning of Jesus' resurrection. This life exchange happens here and now, not in some future event, although that is promised too. This god-life within us is described as eternal life in the New Testament.
And this is where the charismatic gifts come in. They are evidence to us and for us that God has given us His life and that his Kingdom has come in our lives. They naturally spill over in the life of those who have received the life of God in exchange for their own death. But they are not to become the focus of our walk with God. The focus is the cross and the empty tomb.
"Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt 6.33).
At the centre of the gospel is the cross and resurrection. This is the main story. All the other stuff is a sub-plot, an important one at that, but still a sub-plot. There is more correction given to people who over-do the use of these gifts (tongues, prophecy, healing etc.) in the New Testament (see 1 Corinthians) than to those that under-do them. That is in part because it is assumed there that Christ followers will naturally be well versed in the practice of such gifts. It should be the same today, but I repeat they are not the centre of the gospel as I read it.
The cross of Jesus shows us what God has done for us and what He would do to us. We must come to the cross and die just as Jesus did. In return for our death, we receive His life. That's a pretty good deal if you ask me and is the meaning of Jesus' resurrection. This life exchange happens here and now, not in some future event, although that is promised too. This god-life within us is described as eternal life in the New Testament.
And this is where the charismatic gifts come in. They are evidence to us and for us that God has given us His life and that his Kingdom has come in our lives. They naturally spill over in the life of those who have received the life of God in exchange for their own death. But they are not to become the focus of our walk with God. The focus is the cross and the empty tomb.
"Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt 6.33).
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
False Religion
"False religion is present when people say, 'Thy Kingdom come,' but don't immediately add, 'My Kingdom go.' And we Christians have believed that we could both say, 'Jesus is Lord!' and go on being the lords of our own lives."
Richard Rohr - Simplicity.
What a profound quote! Costly grace is where we choose to let go of our Kingdom and let God's reign and rule fill the void. Cheap grace is what Rohr describes here as false religion. I think we have done such great harm to Jesus' message not because we have failed to say 'Jesus is Lord!', but because we have failed to live as if he truly is Lord of our lives. As Paul says in his letter to the Romans;
'You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." (Romans 2.23-24)
As a good friend of mine often says, 'either He is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all!'. How different our churches would look if we had lived in this way. But we can! This is why He has given us His Spirit. Not so we can shake and fall down, but so we would stand up to the call placed on our lives and live as Kingdom people.
We need to learn to live a different way. We need to go back to living simply and following Jesus' commands. We need to learn a total obedience to his message. We need to fall in love once more with who He is and what he has said. A group of people who loved God and each other radically. Now that sounds more like the Church, more like the body of Jesus. Bring it on and let His Kingdom come.
Richard Rohr - Simplicity.
What a profound quote! Costly grace is where we choose to let go of our Kingdom and let God's reign and rule fill the void. Cheap grace is what Rohr describes here as false religion. I think we have done such great harm to Jesus' message not because we have failed to say 'Jesus is Lord!', but because we have failed to live as if he truly is Lord of our lives. As Paul says in his letter to the Romans;
'You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." (Romans 2.23-24)
As a good friend of mine often says, 'either He is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all!'. How different our churches would look if we had lived in this way. But we can! This is why He has given us His Spirit. Not so we can shake and fall down, but so we would stand up to the call placed on our lives and live as Kingdom people.
We need to learn to live a different way. We need to go back to living simply and following Jesus' commands. We need to learn a total obedience to his message. We need to fall in love once more with who He is and what he has said. A group of people who loved God and each other radically. Now that sounds more like the Church, more like the body of Jesus. Bring it on and let His Kingdom come.
Monday, 14 July 2008
Can we imagine such a reality as this?
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet"; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
- Romans 12:8-10
Nothing to report
As my good friend Iain pointed out, I have not written anything on here for a week or so. This is simply due to the fact that I can think of nothing worth saying. There will be more to come in due course I would think. Jonny
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
My Hero
This is one of my heroes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I encourage you to find out about his life as it will inspire you no end. I have already quoted him a number of times on this page, but wanted to add an excerpt from one of his poems ('Stages on the Way to Freedom') as it arrested my attention this morning.'ACTION
Choose and do what is right, not what fancy takes,
not weighing the possibilities, but bravely grasping the real,
not in the flight of ideas, but only in action is there freedom.
Come away from your anxious hesitations into the storm of events,
carried by God's Command and your faith alone.
The freedom will embrace your spirit with rejoicing.'
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Belonging
This is a photo of me and my entourage before my wedding (my dad is partially obscured on the right). We look good don't we? I was looking through some of these pictures the other day and I realised that this picture describes something of what every person needs; good people to stand behind them and support them in what they're doing and who they are.It is because of friends like these guys that I was able to do what I did that day. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them as I wouldn't have been the kind of person who could.
This is really what the church is designed to be. A group of people who stand up for the one who falls, picking them up when they fall and shouting them on in encouragement when they need it. When the church does this well it is bound to be a place where there is life and growth. Thank God for His vision of the church and for every place that it is being lived out.
Friday, 27 June 2008
Oh to be a Free Radical
Free radicals are known in chemistry as atoms or molecules with unpaired electrons on them. Electrons most 'comfortably' exist in pairs, but in these radicals they are alone. Because of this, they are a highly reactive bunch. They're always looking to complete the pair you see.
I'd like to be a free radical, to be highly reactive in this way. Augustine defines freedom as to only be able to do the good; free will put to good use as someone else put it. And to be radical is to be someone who gets to the roots of a thing (radix = roots in latin). So to be a free radical is to be someone who is singular in their pursuit of most essential type of good, God Himself.
If this is what we pursue, we can be sure this is what we will find.
I'd like to be a free radical, to be highly reactive in this way. Augustine defines freedom as to only be able to do the good; free will put to good use as someone else put it. And to be radical is to be someone who gets to the roots of a thing (radix = roots in latin). So to be a free radical is to be someone who is singular in their pursuit of most essential type of good, God Himself.
If this is what we pursue, we can be sure this is what we will find.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
MLK
"...In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson, and the great grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust…”
Taken from Martin Luther King’s letter from a Birmingham Jail and sent to me by Katherine Dunn
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust…”
Taken from Martin Luther King’s letter from a Birmingham Jail and sent to me by Katherine Dunn
Friday, 20 June 2008
Laying it on the line
The God revealed to us in the New Testament is a God who lays it all on the line, a God who can't help but roll up his sleeves and get involved; A God interested in providing solutions, not focussing on problems.
It is this facet of God's nature that gives us our mandate to be world changers and Kingdom bringers. We are to be people who lay it all on the line. Just as God has done, so we must do for the world, irrespective of whether those we help acknowledge God or not.
Jesus is what it looks like when God lays it all on the line and it is God's intention that we become like Jesus in every way.
It is this facet of God's nature that gives us our mandate to be world changers and Kingdom bringers. We are to be people who lay it all on the line. Just as God has done, so we must do for the world, irrespective of whether those we help acknowledge God or not.
Jesus is what it looks like when God lays it all on the line and it is God's intention that we become like Jesus in every way.
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Unity of purpose
If we are to be really effective in living for God we have to find a unity between our means and our goal. That is to say that we must match up our ultimate purpose with our values. Too often there is schism between where we eventually want to end up and how we percieve we might get there. Either the goal is lovely and the means awful, or the goal is greedy and the means nice and fluffy.
Neither situation is capable of bringing the Kingdom of God in the context of our personal or professional lives. Our goal for everything must be as godly as the means by which we achieve it. This is Kingdom living through and through.
Neither situation is capable of bringing the Kingdom of God in the context of our personal or professional lives. Our goal for everything must be as godly as the means by which we achieve it. This is Kingdom living through and through.
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
What am I to you?
Who am I to God?
Not what can I do for God or what are my gifts, but who am I to God? Who am I when I am nothing but me, when I am naked and vulnerable before God? Not what does the world say that I am, but who does He say that I am?
Jesus was asking this very question and he received the definitive answer at his baptism. We can be confident that the same answer will be given to us, that we are his 'sons and daughters, in whom He is well pleased.'
Not what can I do for God or what are my gifts, but who am I to God? Who am I when I am nothing but me, when I am naked and vulnerable before God? Not what does the world say that I am, but who does He say that I am?
Jesus was asking this very question and he received the definitive answer at his baptism. We can be confident that the same answer will be given to us, that we are his 'sons and daughters, in whom He is well pleased.'
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Gospel Entrepreneurship
You may have noticed the change in emphasis in the tag line at the top of my blog. I have - as you can see - chosen to describe myself as a gospel entrepreneur (in the making). It's a term I haven't heard before, which is partly why I am using it. I think it also has some value to it too.
You may have heard of or even know a social entrepreneur. For those still in doubt, this is someone who makes it their business to use business for good ends. Somebody who delivers services often given by charities through entrepreneurial means, rather than by writing off for donations. The results are often broadly the same as those of the third sector, although they should also be self-sustaining. Therein lies the genius of social entrepreneurialism.
However, I don't think it goes quite far enough. I don't think social entrepreneurialism yet embodies the fullness of the gospel call. I think that taking care of the poor is wonderful and is right at the heart of the gospel, but there is more too. Jesus quotes Isaiah in Luke 4. 17-19...
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
I want to find ways to do all of this stuff using all the tools in the box, including enteprise, but not exclusively enterprise. I believe that what Jesus said of Himself here is true of me and you too. So, I want to make it my aim to fulfill it all and to be as artistic and creative as I can along the way. I haven't attained any of it yet, but I really want to.
If we start doing more and more of this stuff in new ways, we will truly "rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated...renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations." (Isaiah 61.4)
Nothing else is a big enough aim for the God filled life. God Himself is the end, everything else simply the means.
You may have heard of or even know a social entrepreneur. For those still in doubt, this is someone who makes it their business to use business for good ends. Somebody who delivers services often given by charities through entrepreneurial means, rather than by writing off for donations. The results are often broadly the same as those of the third sector, although they should also be self-sustaining. Therein lies the genius of social entrepreneurialism.
However, I don't think it goes quite far enough. I don't think social entrepreneurialism yet embodies the fullness of the gospel call. I think that taking care of the poor is wonderful and is right at the heart of the gospel, but there is more too. Jesus quotes Isaiah in Luke 4. 17-19...
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
I want to find ways to do all of this stuff using all the tools in the box, including enteprise, but not exclusively enterprise. I believe that what Jesus said of Himself here is true of me and you too. So, I want to make it my aim to fulfill it all and to be as artistic and creative as I can along the way. I haven't attained any of it yet, but I really want to.
If we start doing more and more of this stuff in new ways, we will truly "rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated...renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations." (Isaiah 61.4)
Nothing else is a big enough aim for the God filled life. God Himself is the end, everything else simply the means.
Monday, 9 June 2008
Being a control freak...
"We create artificial fullness and try to hang on to that. But there's nothing to hold on to when we begin to taste the fullness of the now. God is either in this now or God isn't at all.
As we grow older, we tend to become control freaks. We need to control everybody and everything, moment by moment, to be happy. If the now has never been full or sufficient, we will always be grasping, even addictive or obsessive. If you're pushing yourself and others around, you have not yet found the secret of happiness."
Richard Rohr - Everything Belongs
As we grow older, we tend to become control freaks. We need to control everybody and everything, moment by moment, to be happy. If the now has never been full or sufficient, we will always be grasping, even addictive or obsessive. If you're pushing yourself and others around, you have not yet found the secret of happiness."
Richard Rohr - Everything Belongs
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
