Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, Jason. Many find it difficult to hold the paradoxes of life- the both/and. Often we default to either/or thinking. This is especially prevalent in many church settings, where if you do this and not that, then that’s evidence you are a true Christian. Deconstruction of one’s theological framework is so difficult because if a person questions or no longer adheres to that structure, then there’s nothing left. So many walk away from the faith. By neglecting to provide a broader historical perspective of the Christian faith, the Church has failed in its discipleship model. I see this often in the directees I meet with for spiritual direction. Finding God in all things is difficult when you’ve been told that God and following God has to look a certain way. It takes years to untangle the dualistic theologies that were inherited through the generations. Even more difficult is moving to a posture of compassion for people and systems still embedded in either/or ways of thinking/being. They want to burn it all down or leave it all behind. It takes time to find the third way, the way of Jesus.
Thanks for reading and commenting. I've been engaging in anglo-catholic churches who do seem to share more of the historical context and reality of Faith. But it seems they suffer the same attrition within the pressures of daily life. As you say it is easier to burn it all down (more likely from post-evangelicals) or just drift away. Being Jesus with others is hard in a world determined to train us to always use others for ways of life.
Thanks Jason. I think we often desire to live in a world of absolutes when we are surrounded by relatives (no Christmas pun intended). That the Church is a Corpus permixtum is a truth that we don't always find easy to assign to our leaders and yet it is the essence of the gospel: that all have fallen short of His glory including those who influence us, whether they be leaders, parents, guardians,...
The fallen world is a mismatch of power and authority, use and misuse. Although these situations are truly traumatic they are opportunities for us to grapple once more with areas of our blindness over what is grace, pride, forgiveness, sin, justice, freedom, identity,... and the completed work of the Cross.
Thank you Jason for your writings. They are thought provoking.
"...all have fallen short of His glory including those who influence us, whether they be leaders, parents, guardians". So very true. Thanks for reading Kevin and your comments here.
I love that image of the sun remaining the same, no matter what it streams through. I also receive a healthy admonition as a leader to live as a perpetual gesture to our God rather than claiming to be a proper example, lest someone mistake me for their model.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, Jason. Many find it difficult to hold the paradoxes of life- the both/and. Often we default to either/or thinking. This is especially prevalent in many church settings, where if you do this and not that, then that’s evidence you are a true Christian. Deconstruction of one’s theological framework is so difficult because if a person questions or no longer adheres to that structure, then there’s nothing left. So many walk away from the faith. By neglecting to provide a broader historical perspective of the Christian faith, the Church has failed in its discipleship model. I see this often in the directees I meet with for spiritual direction. Finding God in all things is difficult when you’ve been told that God and following God has to look a certain way. It takes years to untangle the dualistic theologies that were inherited through the generations. Even more difficult is moving to a posture of compassion for people and systems still embedded in either/or ways of thinking/being. They want to burn it all down or leave it all behind. It takes time to find the third way, the way of Jesus.
Thanks for reading and commenting. I've been engaging in anglo-catholic churches who do seem to share more of the historical context and reality of Faith. But it seems they suffer the same attrition within the pressures of daily life. As you say it is easier to burn it all down (more likely from post-evangelicals) or just drift away. Being Jesus with others is hard in a world determined to train us to always use others for ways of life.
Thanks Jason. I think we often desire to live in a world of absolutes when we are surrounded by relatives (no Christmas pun intended). That the Church is a Corpus permixtum is a truth that we don't always find easy to assign to our leaders and yet it is the essence of the gospel: that all have fallen short of His glory including those who influence us, whether they be leaders, parents, guardians,...
The fallen world is a mismatch of power and authority, use and misuse. Although these situations are truly traumatic they are opportunities for us to grapple once more with areas of our blindness over what is grace, pride, forgiveness, sin, justice, freedom, identity,... and the completed work of the Cross.
Thank you Jason for your writings. They are thought provoking.
"...all have fallen short of His glory including those who influence us, whether they be leaders, parents, guardians". So very true. Thanks for reading Kevin and your comments here.
I love that image of the sun remaining the same, no matter what it streams through. I also receive a healthy admonition as a leader to live as a perpetual gesture to our God rather than claiming to be a proper example, lest someone mistake me for their model.
You read that fast, it just posted :-) It is a great metaphor isn't it? I want to be less sewage like so more light might shine through.