Brain Engaged
In between a series of honey-do's yesterday (they involved demolition of sorts--removing sliding shower doors and decapacitating a vanity--so don't get the idea that I was really involved in home repairs. I was just preparing the room for the real redecoration.) I got in some professional reading.
There was an article by Dean Nelson who interviewed Eugene Peterson and I thought I'd throw out there for your review and consideration:
Q: You have said that most of what we've been taught about God is wrong. How can that be?
A: Maturing is a long process of correcting misperceptions. Everything we experience is distorted by sin. Our desires and experience distort God's reality. Why do you go to church every Sunday? Because your eyes get dirty. We need to get our perceptions cleansed...It doesn't happen all at once. It happens incrementally.
[after a discussion on a church's role in culture]
A: You can't be relevant to this sick, sick culture.
Q: What's sick about it?
A: It's totally depersonalized. Everything in the culture is against anything relational. You are defined by your function. You can do most jobs competently and excellently without caring one bit about people. This depersonalization is so pervasive, and the heart of the Gospel is relational. So, when the Church tries to be relevant to culture, the first thing they do is depersonalize it so it can be relevant and efficient and successful. But te minute you start being personal and relational, you are not successful in terms of the culture, because you're not efficient. The crowd we're trying to draw has grown up watching football games in big stadiums, shopping malls where no one knows their names. They'd much rather be in a crowd than in a room with a few people. Technology removes us from firsthand participation in basic realities. If we're going to save our lives, society and culture, it's important to restore practices in which we are part of what we are doing.
Q: Are you hopeful about the church's future?
A: Statistically, churches are diminishing. I'm not sure that's a bad thing. You can't be a member of a church anymore without making some decisions. A lot of churchgoing used to be cultural--you just did it. It's not cultural anymore...There's never been a perfect church. If you're looking for models that will work and be successful and work, forget it. The Church has always been in trouble...(we need to know about "success" stories) but we can't replicate them. We need to discover ways to do it here...And be wary of making the Gospel attractive in a consumerist way. The Gospel is not a consumer thing. It's a sacrificial thing.
*flips Diner sign to read "Yes, We're OPEN (underlined twice for emphasis)" to those outside*
*sets up chairs & gets the coffee pot going*
*laughs to himself, because there's WAY more to discuss here than can possibly be hammered through in a day*
In between a series of honey-do's yesterday (they involved demolition of sorts--removing sliding shower doors and decapacitating a vanity--so don't get the idea that I was really involved in home repairs. I was just preparing the room for the real redecoration.) I got in some professional reading.
There was an article by Dean Nelson who interviewed Eugene Peterson and I thought I'd throw out there for your review and consideration:
Q: You have said that most of what we've been taught about God is wrong. How can that be?
A: Maturing is a long process of correcting misperceptions. Everything we experience is distorted by sin. Our desires and experience distort God's reality. Why do you go to church every Sunday? Because your eyes get dirty. We need to get our perceptions cleansed...It doesn't happen all at once. It happens incrementally.
[after a discussion on a church's role in culture]
A: You can't be relevant to this sick, sick culture.
Q: What's sick about it?
A: It's totally depersonalized. Everything in the culture is against anything relational. You are defined by your function. You can do most jobs competently and excellently without caring one bit about people. This depersonalization is so pervasive, and the heart of the Gospel is relational. So, when the Church tries to be relevant to culture, the first thing they do is depersonalize it so it can be relevant and efficient and successful. But te minute you start being personal and relational, you are not successful in terms of the culture, because you're not efficient. The crowd we're trying to draw has grown up watching football games in big stadiums, shopping malls where no one knows their names. They'd much rather be in a crowd than in a room with a few people. Technology removes us from firsthand participation in basic realities. If we're going to save our lives, society and culture, it's important to restore practices in which we are part of what we are doing.
Q: Are you hopeful about the church's future?
A: Statistically, churches are diminishing. I'm not sure that's a bad thing. You can't be a member of a church anymore without making some decisions. A lot of churchgoing used to be cultural--you just did it. It's not cultural anymore...There's never been a perfect church. If you're looking for models that will work and be successful and work, forget it. The Church has always been in trouble...(we need to know about "success" stories) but we can't replicate them. We need to discover ways to do it here...And be wary of making the Gospel attractive in a consumerist way. The Gospel is not a consumer thing. It's a sacrificial thing.
*flips Diner sign to read "Yes, We're OPEN (underlined twice for emphasis)" to those outside*
*sets up chairs & gets the coffee pot going*
*laughs to himself, because there's WAY more to discuss here than can possibly be hammered through in a day*
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