Conversations along the journey

622_dawson_joey
Originally uploaded by andebos.

One of the aspects I love most about the show Dawson's Creek, or Smallville, is the in depth, honest, thought provoking, high vocabulary conversations. Nearly finishing A New Kind of Christian I am flashing back to an earlier part...it has brought about a great deal of thought - quite interesting, worthy of dialogue. Reading though a few articles tonight I also found some interesting insights from Doug Pagitt, pastor of Solomon's Porch, and his perspectives and hopes for his church. Take a gander at the following experpts from McLaren and Pagitt respectively.

Most of your peers live in a different world from you. They have already crossed the line into the postmodern world. But few of you have. Why? Because you want to be faithful to the Christian upbringding you have received, which is so thoroughly enmeshed with modernity...will you venture ahead in faith, to practice your faith and devotion to Christ in the new emerging culture of postmodernity. . . . Is it possible that we as moderns have similarily intertwined a different but equally contingent worldview with our eternal faith? What if we live at the end of the modern period, at a time when our modern worldview is crumbling, just as the medieval one began to do in the 16th century? . . . .We live on the border of an emerging culture where no paths exist. Not everyone should head for the hills. But some should. They'll be criticized; at times, they may criticize those they (mis)judge as too timid to join the adventure. Instead, though, I would hope that the innovators would respect their cousings in the colonies (he uses metaphors of colonists journeying west and branches and roots relying on one another) and vice versa. Both have a job to do. We need roots and leaves, settlers and pioneers. To fly, we need to lean back and kick forward, swinging new/old with joy and maybe even childlike laughter.

My own thoughts...it is interesting as I converse with friends, non-christian in perspective, and their opinion on postmodernism is that it's not that important. To them it is long past and already among us - nothing to worry about, focus on, or talk about. Why? They've grown up in postmoderninty, and through their classes, culture, and very existence - are postmodern. But I fear that in our traditional churchy perspective...we have not progressed. More so, we get defensive when we even slightly see the postmodern world affecting our churches. Perhaps because it's affecting an identity we so sacredly cherrish - one we are afraid to question because we rely on that as opposed to Christ. Still tackling these things as I have for the past year or more.

More thoughts from Pagitt. How might we apply this to an existing congregation (aspects of Solomon's Porch and other experimental communities), perhaps more rooted in traditional spiritual formation?
I don't know if that's possible...but we need to begin by asking some important questions. Why are students transformed by one mission trip? Why does one week with Habitat for Humanity impact an adult's soul in a way 50 sermons will never do? Every experience counts for spiritual formation, not just the ones we have in the church building. . . . rather than adding programs about God to someone's life, we try to incorporate God into what people already do.

Interesting stuff - does anyone find it bizzare that I posted a picture of Dawson's Creek on this post? Seriously, I gotta upload some new pictures.

And for real, who does my brother think he is these days? Check out Rudy in the living! Always loved that shirt on you Mike...No one encompasses that man better in heart.