Jeff’s blog

Here is a quote from a recent www.resonate.com blog entry:

leadership as a contemplative movement

We tend to associate leadership with activity. In yesterdays world this was particularly true.. to lead is to influence, to move and to cause movement, to facilitate change.

But in the new world that won’t cut it. Too much activity, particularly that on the part of leaders, was shaped because there was a drive to succeed.. a need to be successful.. a hunger to be seen as effective, to feed the ego. But the biggest egos are usually fed at the expense of others. In the new world that kind of oppression is seen for what it is.. self-serving, manipulative, oppressive. As we clearly see that kind of activity as the antithesis of Christ’s kingdom, we are waiting for a new kind of leadership.. one that is essentially spiritual.

Now instead of simply responding to this idea, I thought it was very interesting to consider the blog entry directly before this one.  In the process of completing a short review of a new book by Eugene Peterson, the following theme within Peterson’s work was highlighted:

A recurring theme is our tendency to gnosticism.. to want to live in an ideal and spiritual world at the expense of honest living in this real and concrete world. Closely connected with this theme, our tendency to separate a theology of Spirit from the Cross. Peterson is far too serious a disciple to ever let that happen. He reminds us that for Jesus, the Cross was the path to glory.

Does anyone else see a critique of the first post emerging from the second?

I think the hallmark question that the traditional evangelical Christian voice used in it’s attempt to establish orthodoxy and draw lines between ‘us’ and ‘them’ was “What do you believe?”

A good question and a necessary one.  However, I believe another question will overtake this one as evangelical Christianity learns that the world is far more impressed with our orthopraxis that -doxy.

I believe the line-in-the-sand question will shift from “what do you believe?” to “For whom do you live?” 

Here is a except from Adventures in Missing the Point. 

“I love the Bible, and I want those I serve to learn to love the Bible, too. But sometimes I feel like a guy trying to hook up a buddy with a girl I know—you know, do a little matchmaking —but the introduction isn’t going so well.

 It’s not because the two are incompatible, but how I set them up. I told my buddy that the girl was gorgeous, brilliant, outgoing, warm, accepting, personable, charming, “Perfect for you,” I gushed.  

Then they met. It’s not that I stretched the truth about the girl—she’s everything I said—but the truth is, she can be a bit shy at times. She doesn’t just go around spilling her heart out to everyone. You have to know the right kinds of questions to ask her; until then, sometimes she can seem a little aloof. And although she is beautiful by anyone’s standards, she dresses a little oddly by American standards, being from a Middle Eastern country and all. And I never mentioned her accent, and my buddy found her hard to understand, which made their first date awkward and uncomfortable.

 I think they still have a chance, but next time I matchmake, I need to be more realistic. 

That’s how I understand the Bible in these strange and changing times. As we move from a world of high modernity to a transitional world, half in and half out of modernity and half into a new postmodern world that nobody quite knows how to describe—well, let’s just say that introducing the Bible can be rocky.” 

Some pics from ENCARNA.  We had seven different stations for participants to engage in throughout their time with us.

Well, after an intense 35 hours ENCARNA is over.  Hopefully I’ll get some pics up, but those just won’t do the event justice.  It really was remarkable.  After the first night I felt it transcended both Andrew and my creative efforts.  God showed up in unexpected ways. 

Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us.  A special thanks to our ”Mary” Kristen Boonstra , Dave Adams and John Allsop for trusting us with this experiment, as well as Sara Flynn, Mike and Mandi Shenk for their set up help the day of–you guys saved our butts. 

Also, thanks to Helga Morrison, who donated all of her own original artwork for use at ENCARNA, and Andy Montgomery for designing our logo.

Have a great Christmas.