The Logos Became Flesh

Last night we had a funny old time talking about God. Some was of it was bizarre, including a moment in which one of us ate a jelly bean that had been up someone's nose. Good discussions afterwards. Have a listen if you weren't there or want to relive the hilarity. We attempted to focus on preconceived ideas about God and the paradox of God becoming flesh. Good times, great rock n roll.

In a big way.

Will be looking to put more podcasts up in the future!

TED TALK 2: Amanda Pilbrow – Belonging Before Behaviour Change

In what was probably the most straight up talk of the night, Amanda threw some punches at the idea that people only really seem to start to belong in our communities once they behave in a certain way. The idea that conformity in behaviour is paramount to being a valid part of a community. But Amanda made the case that this doesn’t appear to be anywhere near the character of Jesus who entered into relationship with those on the fringes and let those people makes changes if and when they felt led to.

Amanda acknowledged that this makes for messy church and a heightened degree of vulnerability as we let go of being able to remain comfortable in stereotypes. We leave the timing up to God as we build a community that seeks to not alienate anyone. So in many ways this requires a courageous church to really put this into practice, but the opportunity is always there for us to spearhead true belonging and provide a compelling picture of Heaven on Earth.

Feedback

From the feedback it seemed that people are very conscious that at a church like ours it is really easy to not look outside of our immediate friendship groups and actively develop community. Most groups acknowledged a need to get out of social comfort zones and exercise humility in friendship groups, looking to give more. On a practical level, some feedback reminded to simply follow up on invites to small groups so people feel included.

There was also a strong concern in taking the belonging principle too far, with questions being asked like what about disruptive behaviour? What about those we ‘waste time on’ to the detriment of others? What about those who want to be there but don’t want to belong? How does it look structurally? People stressed the need for boundaries in partnership with this thinking.

TED TALK 1: Grant Harris - Community Worship Beyond Singing Songs

Grant was our first speaker and was asked to present a perspective on a subject that perhaps receives the most complaints and criticism in all of church life. People like to have music the way they like it. But Grant challenged us to think beyond a consumer mentality, arguing that it isn’t all about singing songs led by a music team, and the concept of ‘worship’ should be expanded.

So what could it look like to do community worship differently? Well, Grant suggested that it can be seen as a curated experience, a multi-sensory event that invites everyone not to simply consume, but to participate. Worship could look like multi-media installations that are multi-sensory, incorporating participation across the community, eclecticism, simplicity and space, leaving no room for prima donnas, is experiential perhaps using visual architecture or the use of ancient liturgy with reflective chanting, labyrinths, a Gothic prayer chapel, poetry, or installations of fine art, the use of film and theatre that allows worshipers to create and observe the art of self-expression. All of this is valid and worthy and should be embraced within a modern evangelical church such as Windsor Park.

But the point is that this has to be a community driven idea. There is no way that those in leadership roles can do this all by themselves and so Grant ended with a challenge to the creative asking them to step up. He also challenged us to embrace true community by engaging in worship that perhaps doesn’t suit us, because we meet to bless each other.

Feedback 

It seems from the feedback that most people were pretty positive about this in our church. Some even suggested getting rid of the stage altogether due to what it says about who the focus is! People acknowledged that it would be hard work and would take more planning to curate services well in light of what the content is. Some would like to respond to pieces of music more, rather than just singing songs, and others suggested we could do collective fasting and spiritual retreats.

Most of this is already done at church, but the overarching message was that we need people to step up. It is a call to creatives in the community to get busy.

One strong question brought up by a few of the groups was “what about the non creatives?” How do we worship as a community together in other ways like service? Is it a trap that church has fallen into that worship is seen as a creative event?

Science and Faith - Dr Jeff Tallon

Last Sunday we had the privilege of Dr Jeff Tallon coming to speak with us about science and faith. I'm not sure I understood much of the first part of the talk about black holes and proteins, but it sounded pretty smart and convincing due to the big words.

In all seriousness, it was a massive blessing to have him there and we enjoyed his insights and his generosity with his time! Anyone that gives Richard Dawkins a bit of a bash is okay with me!

You can check his talk out on SoundCloud below:

church got out

So, we gave it a go. And I had fun at least.

As a group we made 35 meals, handed free coffee cards out on a prayer walk all around the neighbourhood and gave a garden a good sorting out, filling 25 black bags with debris. It was cool to know we were practically helping and using our 'church' time for others.

The challenge is now how to help make it part of the fabric of who we are. What did you guys think? Any other ideas?

stay on the fringes and pull the church out there with you

I used to to watch pastors and those involved in ministry and think to myself "There is no way I'd ever do that - the pressure and the criticism and the difficulty of building a community is too much." For the past few years I've felt very much on the fringes of church, wanting to be involved but not really liking what what I saw. For a while I was pretty lost and didn't feel like I had a place. I was a keen truth-seeker that felt that church stamped out important conversation in favour of the trivial and therapeutic. And in many ways I was a law unto myself with how I lived, happy to be in the background because of the absence of any real accountability with how I lived.

And then all of a sudden I was working for a church I'd only just arrived at. When I found out I had the job, I was excited for about five minutes, and then I became increasingly terrified, knowing that I probably had the ability and had done the thinking, but felt I completely lacked integrity. I felt like I had been too much an impulsive loose unit to ever be in a role like that. This has been an ever-present battle that sticks with me every time I get up the front of a meeting to say something. But I've never known God to be more invested in me personally, and in my realisation of how much I've messed up and need Him, he has begun to recalibrate how I feel about myself.

The other side of the coin with this is that while I have this opportunity working like I do, I haven't just ditched my frustrations with church, or have suddenly become okay with all church practice. I still find I gravitate more to the critics on the fringes, to the alienated and the disengaged. I know how they feel all too well, and want to somehow let them know that they are not just heard, but wanted back for their input and perspective and ability to shape the future of church.

One major criticism that most of us young people seem to resonate with is that the Western church farts around talking about the love of God but never really does anything about it. Every community is home to broken and needy people, but unfortunately the gospel message has been allowed to be distilled into a 90 minute meeting on a Sunday in which people sing repetitive, self absorbed nonsense and listen to a 3 point monologue on "growing in God" or something. We're trying really hard to break this down, but tonight in particular we're looking to address this.

Tonight, our meeting will be outside. Our worship will be mowing lawns, cooking meals, offering free coffees, and doing gardening. Our sermon will be giving time to the stories of the needy. We will pray with our hands and our meeting will be about others, not just ourselves. I don't know whether people will be into this or not, or whether it will have any lasting effect at all. But most of us would agree that the Western church needs to grow up, to understand it's an adult and it's time to stop screaming for lollies and waiting for God to change our spiritual nappies all the time. We can actually do something working alongside God.

This is a small step that will hopefully birth something new. Will let you know how it goes!

Paul and his terrible PR team: women in leadership part 4

A lot of fingers get pointed at Paul. There are a lot of people out there who see him as an arrogant church leader on a power trip with an inflated sense of God’s anointing who was heavy handed and likes to have a good go at churches. Without careful reading, it’s perhaps understandable why people feel like this; he does sound angry quite a lot. However, particular ‘angry’ statements always need to be put in context of Paul’s thinking shown in all his writing.

When it comes to gender roles, there are a couple of comments that seem to give no room for women to be on the same level as men with leadership. The most direct of these appears to be in 1 Timothy 2 v12 in which he says:

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a wife to teach or to assume authority over her husband; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Not only does this seem a little harsh, but the reasoning appears to be pretty whacked too. Women can be saved through childbearing? What the?! The woman has to remain quiet because she was made second and was the one who was deceived? Surely Paul isn’t arguing like this. Surely. Let me suggest we can look at this differently, like this:

If you read the beginning of the chapter, you can see that the point Paul is trying to make is that people should be quiet when they get together so that everyone can learn. If you hold this at the forefront of the reading then it might change things. And also note that Paul is using the creation story here, but for the agenda above, not to put women in their place. He wants everyone to learn.

So, to put it simply, women should be quiet so they can learn. In the first creation, Adam was formed first and Eve second. Adam was taught, but Eve wasn’t, and this led to her deception. To avoid this sort of deception happening again, teach the women this time! After the deception, God promised Eve that she would be the bearer of the Saviour, which through Mary she was, and now he stand as an example for other women to bring forth God’s word to the world.

This kind of interpretation is the only one that will really work with the rest of Paul’s writing. In Romans 16we see Paul referring to Priscilla as a minister (a word often used for Jesus) and a fellow worker equal to her husband, Aquila. In the same chapter we also see him calling Junia an apostle and one third of the people mentioned at the end are female which people are called to submit to, female workers, not merely male. This goes hand in hand with statements in Galatians saying ‘there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free for you all one in Christ Jesus’. To turn this passage in 1 Timothy into a damaging doctrine that stifles the role of women in church is to do something anti-Pauline and completely unnecessary. What a shame that so many people proof-text passages and end up with positions that oppress people – in this case, half the population! Reading the Bible properly is important stuff y’all.

I would like to acknowledge a lot of great work by Roger and Faith Forster on this issue, from which I’ve grabbed a lot of this stuff from.

Ladies, do your thing! We males need to learn to be led by you as well!