nuance

I have heard several pastors and leaders recently point out that there is really one identifiable heretical teaching within the pale of evangelicalism today: prosperity teaching. I tend to agree, with the caveat that even a heretical teaching can thrive in a truly Christian heart and community. That is, I believe that a lot of people that adhere to prosperity teaching are legit Christians. But that doesn’t excuse the teachers.

I remember being in church one Sunday, and in the sermon the pastor threw Joel Osteen’s book on the ground; and that was kind of over the top. I mean, critiquing Osteen’s theology is one thing - well and good. But throwing down the book while yelling, especially when the book is hardcover and features a lifesize picture of the writer’s head on it, is getting really close to an act of physical violence. And the pastor’s red-faced intensity provided a really weird contrast to Joel’s well made-up, glistening smile, and definitely made Osteen look like the nicer fella. Probably, the pastor should have made more of an effort to send a “love your enemies” message, rather than a “slam your enemy’s face onto the platform” message. IMHO.

So that’s not where I’m coming from.

But the point is, prosperity teaching is still daggum close to heresy.

It is not quite the same as most formal heresies, though. Formal heresies tend to attach themselves to basic and essential biblical truths - like the deity of Christ or the Triunity of the Godhead. But prosperity teaching is more subtle; it is a weed that grows right in the garden of otherwise orthodox evangelicalism. Yet in its full bloom it does show that it has an effect that is on the “level” of heresy - what it destroys, in the end, is in fact an essential, though less obvious, biblical truth. (But here I should interject - some prosperity teachers, like T.D. Jakes, also sport formal heresies like Oneness Pentecostal modalism.)

Well, I’ve been thinking about this a lot this week because this week has really proven the wrongness of prosperity teaching for me. The basic premise - that if you adhere to certain principles of faith and life then God will bless you abundantly with material things - is quite frankly an out and out lie. It just is. And that is the tragedy of it; perhaps more than any other heresy it is particularly destructive in this life, preying upon those who are most in need economically, and leaving them more destitute than when they began. It is also tragic eternally - teachers turn themselves into predators, profiting from the gullibility of the weak, and masses give up on God and his church when the blessings the preacher promised don’t come.

And I want to be clear: there are some prosperity teachers who really do tighten the reigns and stop short of truly abusing people, even though their teaching regarding money is questionable - Jakes and Osteen would fit into this category, methinks. These guys are genuine-hearted, as far as I can tell. But there are also true charlatans out there, hypocrites of the highest order. I have a hard time not putting Benny Hinn in this category, especially after watching him threaten Y2K judgment upon anyone who didn’t put money in the coffer at a 1999 crusade.

But anyway, my week has shown that there is something else going on. This week, my wife and I moved. Our core decision to move was really based upon the notion that God was sending us into Burlington, to live in the city, in a poor section, so that we could serve Him better. In the process we had to sell our nice country condo for $11,000 less than what we bought it for, after all is settled. We had to borrow money to make the sale work. But it was a no-brainer, an easy sacrifice for the mission God is sending us on.

Then the boiler broke in the house. An expensive fix. Electrical issues, too - more money. Then a truly devastating twist - a week ago, my wife lost her job, leaving us without a key part of our income and the vital means of paying looming bills. And this week has yielded no hopeful results in her job search.

We have been living godly, making sacrifices, decreasing in our lifestyle, so why isn’t God blessing us? Is he mad? Is he trying to tell us that we made the wrong choice? Is it an attack of the enemy? Did we not DO enough or BELIEVE hard enough? Did we not SOW enough SEED into some dude’s TV ministry?

I think the enemy is involved, to be sure; and I don’t doubt God’s hand in this either, for he is always pruning us, always proving us, making us more like Jesus. But there is something more here - precisely that God is strong in our weakness, prosperous in our need, powerful in our want. There is a humbling of heart here, a sense that yes, we are following God on mission into a city in need, and yes, we will not find some kind of pot of gold to reward our obedience but rather a further experience of need so that we might depend even more on the God who loves us and sends us.

This is the Christian experience - not a legalistic game of give and get but a desire to give with no promise of return and satisfaction with whatever God chooses to give. If we are abased, let us be content. If we abound, let us not get too hyped up on it and just be content. We should glory in weakness! We should delight in suffering! Again, there is something fundamentally CHRISTIAN in that experience!

But let me tell you what I do believe, with all my heart - I do believe that my God will ever provide for me whatever I may need, for he loves me, O, how he loves me. My good father will not give me a stone for bread - he will feed my belly and house my family and clothe my body and I ought trust him without reservation.

I believe not in a God who grants massive financial wealth and success to those who do the right stuff and think the right stuff and pray the right stuff and give enough stuff to the right guy on TV - BUT I believe in a God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and if he clothes the lilies of the field in such radiant glory will he not clothe me, the child whom he spilled blood to adopt, once and for all, into his family?

I believe in a God who makes money appear in bank accounts out of nowhere - as he did recently for some friends who hit a zero balance due to job loss. I believe in a God who sends family to give generously, even when they don’t have much, and a friend to slip a check into my hand at lunch, even though he probably doesn’t have the cash to spare.

I believe in a church that loves to give, lives to give, and doesn’t mind if its pockets are emptied in the process and never overflowing, ever. I believe it because I have seen it, and I know who Jesus really is because of it.

Tomorrow we close on that old country condo, and I can only pray:

God you are so good. What a faithful God have I.

I have to be honest. My blogging prowess is dwindling the way that newly learned snowboard tricks dwindle during the off season or newly formed muscle dwindles when you don’t have the time to work out for two or three or four weeks, all of which are currently happening to me right about now. So this is my attempt to get back into the game. It’s the first rail of the season. It’s the first chest press after getting over a relentless cold.

And it is an interesting moment in time for me. God has been doing amazing things in my life, things I don’t thank him for enough. Our group has morphed and evolved into a church, an intentional community of faith called dwell. We are outgrowing my living room really fast. It’s a sprint right now. A sprint towards a finish line that we know is there, but can’t see.

I have great expectancy for this Sunday, and I’m not quite sure why. I am expectant, and actually really nervous. Which is weird because I don’t really get nervous anymore when I am leading or speaking, but I am legitimately nervous, three days out.

Perhaps the reason is because last week was such a canon-shot forward for our group. Chris’s last week leading worship, Josh getting into the mix, lighting up the living room with acoustic+electric, heartfelt songs to Jesus. Almost 20 people. Such rich fellowship. A glimpse of things to come.

I am also a bit excitedly nervous about the wedding next week…but again, this nervousness is strange and not really negative. It is just speaking to me of the bigness of this time. It is a big time. Big time.

I talked to Chris and Cass last night about the wedding theme, and I couldn’t be more pumped. Transformation. Death and resurrection. Life. Grace. It will be the BEST EVER.

That’s all I got right now…except for the geese. I couldn’t sleep the other night, nervous, anxious, praying, desperately praying even, asking God to speak to me. Give me a vision or something! I’m half delirious anyway! No vision. But peace came over me as the thought came in….God is already speaking and showing himself, just look at all that is happening around you. I started to doze, like someone threw a warm blanket over my overthinking brain. Then the loudest sound of a flock of geese pierced the silence and woke me up - the thing were shreiking and squawking and dogs started barking like mad. I thought I was dreaming.

Maybe God was giving me what I asked for. All creation groans. The city of Burlington groans. Sure it’s for the manifestation of the sons of God when Jesus comes back, but the eschaton starts now when the church does its job and the Spirit moves resurrecting hearts. So Burlington is groaning, if we’ll wake up and answer the call.

I try to give props as much as possible to other blogs that are influencing me at the moment…and one of them is definitely YoBeat.

If you just hit the link, you’re probably like, what does this weird culture-y blog have to do with amateur theology to keep the pros on their toes? Not much, I guess, except that I am a part of snowboard culture, that’s where God put me, and that is one of the main places that I am living out my missional theology.

YoBeat gives insider, scenester-level glimpses into the shredding world, the kind you don’t usually get out of Transworld or Snowboarder. And it’s free, which makes it even better.

There’s a recent interview on there with my new favorite female snowboarder (step aside Laura) Desiree Melancon. I mean, just look at the Runway Films teaser below…tailpress over the kink - that’s a GIRL??? Insane.

And that interview is a case in point. Desiree is not your average so-hot-right-now girl snowboarder with pink pants and a powder-turn Burton ad. She’s on Holden, rides Dinosaurs Will Die. Alternative shred on an alternative blog.

There are video reviews galore, even on non-Mac Dawg films. This is how I’ll choose the lineup for the 2nd Annual Snowpants Video Festivale next month. This year’s theme: Who is Mac Dawg, anyway?

And there’s also an interesting little re-post about Christian pro shreds - read it to find out what alternative snowboard culture thinks of Jesus. It’s sarcastic and stupid, but a helpful insight into how my boardin’ compadres minimize the issue of faith by making fun of it. The reference to Catholicism proves that a new way of doing church is the only thing that may undo such an ingrained and flippant disillusionment - church based on relationship and not rules.

So check out YoBeat the night before your next resort session - it’ll get the stoke stoking.

Recently there has been a hubub of sorts in the b’sphere about the label “Emerging Church” and whether or not it has continuing relevance - that is, whether it is a clarifying term or a confusing term. Recently, by popular demand, Andrew Jones decided to kill the label once and for all. Dan Kimball, who wrote The Emerging Church, might be following suit, using the term “more retrospectively than futuristically.”

It seems that as of now, Mark Driscoll hasn’t totally abandoned the emerging church label, although he has taken great pains to explain his place in it. We all know that Mark Driscoll has been working hard to clarify “good” and “bad” streams within the emerging church world, and does so pretty well in this video:

For an extended version of that breakdown, check out this talk from a recent conference in Ohio.

Now, in my view, Mark’s “lanes” should not be viewed as some kind of dogmatic definition of the emerging movement; Mark is just doing his best to distinguish the streams according to his perception and experience within the emerging church. And it’s also useful to note the kind of critique that Driscoll is making: it’s largely pastoral, and the interest is protecting his flock from deception, which is a good, good thing. If a pastor isn’t doing that, then he’s not doing his job.

However, in the interests of fending off heresy, some pastors can be too rigid, and Mark might be guilty of this. (Note well: I said “might be” because I “might be” totally wrong, and I’m open to correction.) I am particularly struck by Driscoll’s quick dismissal of Rob Bell and Mars Hill Grand Rapids, especially when some very evangelical theologians who are sensitive to the emerging movement have given at least a measure of approval to Mr. Bell. I think specifically of two faves right now, Ben Witherington and Scot McKnight; while both are critical of Bell’s stance on certain things like homosexuality, and will call him out for other theological inaccuracies, neither are willing to throw him off the bus as a Liberal, albeit an Emergent one. This harshness is in line with the way Driscoll holds up his “Emerging Reformers” stream as the only really pure/orthodox stream within the movement, although he tolerates the Emerging Evangelicals and the Emerging House Churchers (probably meaning the new monastics or intentional-community folks especially; I don’t see the old-school charismatic house-churchers as fitting within the emerging church movement).

I have to take issue with this emphasis because at present I probably do not fit precisely within the Emerging Reformers camp. My Reformed theology has been undergoing some renovation, leaving me, at the moment, post-Reformed. Further, my love for God’s people has been growing in its scope of acceptance for all those who genuinely profess the orthodox faith according to the creeds. And this is, in a word, why I still really value the term “emerging church” - because new things have been emerging in my heart over the past couple years that have brought me to an emerging “consciousness” of sorts (not to get all hippy on ya).

So as we move forward in Burlington, I don’t want to abandon the sense that we are doing something new in a new way - that we are planting a church that is not static and conforming but emerging in its orthodoxy and evangelical-ness. This emerging attitude or perspective has several characteristics as I see it in my finite mind’s eye:

>>A love for Jesus and the biblical story. Systematic theology is not thrown out, but it doesn’t turn the emerging church on. The story - and what it means for us to be in the redemption story with the resurrected Christ - turns us on.
>>A supreme simultaneous focus on mission and community. The mission defines the community and the community defines the mission, and neither are left out of the equation. This means we are contextual, missional, relational, etc. in our outreach - it is not agenda but life and love and friendship. This also means that we are in love with the utter supremacy of Christian community over any other form, and we want the whole world to be a part of it.
>>A holy distaste for the forms of church and church life that do not simultaneously value mission and community but emphasize one over the other (mission in megachurch, community in millichurch). We’re not stoked on the churches that have walls and not doors, that act like bounded subcultures and not relevant, welcoming countercultures. But we still love the people in those churches like brothers and sisters in Christ.
>>A tenacious grasp on historic orthodoxy, and in our case, evangelical orthodoxy. This means we’re not going to compromise who the Bible says Jesus is; we’re not going to let go of our human-yet-divine Savior nor our three-in-one God nor our Spirit-inspired Bible nor our life everlasting nor our substitution-atonement. We are not liberals.
>>A big gospel. Big enough to save sinners from hell and save the homeless and hungry from starvation.
>>A moving Holy Spirit. Can’t really define that one, it’s just the way it is.

Now, all that said, a statement of what the emerging church is not is still very valuable. I do believe it is quite important to make the distinction between the emerging church and Emergent Village, which is essentially a brandname born out of the emerging movement. And while I think it is a mistake to dismiss anything associated with EV as some kind of liberal heresy, it is not a mistake to very clearly point out a trajectory of thought on traditional theology that is troubling at times.

And, I should mention that Rob Bell is not doing a great job of stepping to the side of the EV trajectory. He has given blanket approval to at least McClaren and Pagitt, and has hosted other even more mainline/liberal speakers in his pulpit as recently as this summer. I like Rob, and I think I understand his theology better than before, and I even like a lot about his theology, but maybe he is too weak on the pastoral responsibility that Driscoll is a bit too strong on.

If all that is confusing, here’s McKnight (from Kimball):

I maintain a crucial distinction between two related streams: emergent and the broader emerging movement. Emergent is crystallized in Emergent Village and its leaders Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, and Doug Pagitt. Emerging is a mix of orthodox, missional, evangelical, church-centered and social justice leaders and lay folk. When I think of this broader emerging movement, I think of Dan Kimball at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, Dave Dunbar at Biblical Seminary in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch and their book The Shaping of Things To Come, and Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz.

So there you have it. The church I see in Burlington is indeed an emerging church - it is a unique church for this time, in this movement. Let’s not lose that identity as we move forward.

But regardless, Emergent is not the emerging church. It is an offshoot, a stream, if you will, but not even a very well-defined one. It’s kind of a…website. And three bishops and their books: Brian McClaren, Tony Jones, and Doug Pagitt.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I found these animated shorts a second ago on YouTube, and here’s the description:

This series, including the original Oscar-nominated short, from Brown Bag Films is based upon the 1960s recordings of young children telling Bible stories in a classroom to their schoolteacher. When a film crew arrives at an inner city Dublin National School to record the children, the result is a warm, funny and spontaneous animated documentary, featuring young children telling the story of John the Baptist, The birth of Jesus, the Crucifixion, Saint Patrick and others. Give Up Yer Aul Sins combines simple humour with clever animation to create films with a timeless quality and appeal to a family audience. Give Up Yer Aul Sins has screened in almost 50 film festivals, including The Galway Film Fleadh (where it won Best Animation), Cork Film Festival (Best Irish and Best International Animation), Cartoons on Bay (Special Award for Original Idea), NewYork Comedy Festival, Boston Irish Film Festival, Aspen Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival.

You can check out Brown Bag Films’s website here. And now, my favorite of the group, The Birth of John the Baptist:

And for good measure, my second fave, Death of Jesus:

I love a few things about these: a) the way these kids tell the stories in such a compelling way - and completely contextual - is a lesson to modern preachers who have lost the love for biblical story; b) the animation is appropriately funny and light; and c) there is such a strong conviction behind it…such a childlike certainty…it breaks down all the puff and smoke of our sophisticated skepticism.

Enter the kingdom like a little child…it’s the only way.

Tony Campolo is perhaps the most well-known leader of what some call “the evangelical left.” That is, Tony is a public member of the Democratic party, a supporter of government aid for the poor and oppressed, and a preacher of a Jesus/kingdom perspective regarding the present life. On a recent evangelical radio show, the host railed against Campolo for his apparent “wider mercy” perspective, which is fairly evident in this interview with Shane Claiborne.

Apparently, Campolo played a part in establishing his party’s platform on abortion, and you can find his comments on it here. I have to say that I am encouraged…I find myself very much respecting his point of view and his efforts to work towards reducing abortions insofar as it is possible. And that may be a point of emphasis: that an evangelical, pro-life person may reasonably adopt the Democratic agenda on abortion because he or she sees it as a more likely means of deterring or reducing abortions than the Republican “attempts” to eliminate Roe v. Wade.

Just so’s ya knows, I HATE abortion. Hate it. I think it is a scourge, an open, pussing sore on the skin of our nation. I hate it.

But

I love God’s people. I love people who love Jesus and love justice and love life and defend its sacredness - and regardless of their political affiliation, I want to love them and accept them and affirm them. Tony has made it easier for me to understand my brother or sister who is an enthusiastic Democrat and a Jesus-lover all at the same time. It’s not that I thought Christians ought to be Republicans - don’t lay that trip on me, I’m no Republican - but I thought the Democratic view of abortion was just too forgone. So, despite certain of your theological leanings (which are another issue) - thanks, Tony.

Found this old post out in the blogosphere today, and thought it was good and shareable since we are all on this church planting journey together. Just FYI, the author of that post doesn’t really think that church planting sucks, but he describes some of the challenges involved, as well as the many joys.

As I tooled round Burlington today looking at potential meeting spaces, I was struck by all that God has done in our group thus far that has brought us to this point. It’s truly incredible. The bottom line is that life is far too brief - a vapor, the Bible says - to sit around on our a’s waiting for all the circumstances to be perfect before we try something for God.

I’m convinced, more and more, that no move of God ever started with safe and careful people. Risk-taking - faith, the Bible says - is an utter necessity. Without it, it’s impossible to please Him.

So, take a risk for God this week. You won’t regret it.