Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog

Your Gospel is to Small…Bradley Nassif

Paul writes – Bradley Nassif, an Eastern Orthodox theologian has recently written an interesting essay, The Poverty of Love. In it he responds to the question, “is our gospel to small?” His conversation partner is “desert spirituality” – the desert “Father’s & Mother’s”

“…If these desert dwellers were alive today, I believe they would tell us that our gospel is too small because our wills are too big. The core battleground, they argued, is the human heart. They would counsel us to declare war on the inner adversaries that hide secretly in our hearts, and to be watchful of their stealth attacks. We're wisest, they taught, when we concentrate our energies on the source of all our problems, the inner person; its selfish orientation, dark impulses, sexual preoccupations, greed, lust, anger, unforgiveness, hatred, and other "works of the flesh" (Gal. 5:19&21). Every believer still has a powerful attraction to sin. So the monks took decisive action in their reliance on God, engaging in the hard work of holiness, something they called ascesis or spiritual training…”

Again I’m struck by the importance of the inward dimension of the Christian life. Those of you who listened to the recent interview with Abbot Christopher Jamison will recall the stress he placed on that dimension and its ongoing importance for the outward / missional dimension of the Jesus following life. I’d want to describe this heart-work in terms of the counter-cultural work of the desert in the heart. It is the important but much neglected work of orthopathy (typically neglected in favour of “orthodoxy” and more recently “orthopraxy”. I first heard the term used by Brian McLaren. Alan Hirsch writes about it here. Henri Nouwen was describing it in his little book, The Way of the Heart). Parker Palmer might want to describe it as “the inward journey of the cross”. Thomas Merton might want to describe the journey and the work of the heart in terms of “the recovery of the True Self”. Others might want to talk about it in terms of an integral part of our becoming more fully human, more fully alive!

Additionally I’ve been listening to some great 10-14min podcasts by Nassif. They include an introductory series on “Desert Spirituality for Ordinary Folk” – a series on desert monasticism. He also has some other excellent podcasts including a two-part interview with Scot McKnight on the Atonement. You can find all of his podcast’s here – scroll through them and have a listen to those that interest you. They’re also downloadable as Mp3’s.

Parker Palmer – Celebrating with him the Contradictions in the Christian Life.

Paul writes – Jossey-Bass has done us a wonderful service in reprinting (2008) Parker Palmer’s simply wonderful, The Promise of Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Christian Life (2 Introductions plus 145 pages of text. The book is hardcover and is 13.5cm X 18.5cm). Ave Maria Press originally published the book in 1980 while I was in my late teens and I was still years from discovering Palmer. The original introduction by Henri Nouwen remains, but has now been supplemented by an excellent 13-page introduction by Palmer.

As I read Palmer’s introduction on the eve of the Anglican Lambeth gathering, I couldn’t help think of the importance and relevance of Palmer’s notion of paradox and the Christian life. I want to a paragraph and a few additional lines of text. This sets the tone of the book.

Palmer writes [with an addition by me]:

“ …The capacity to embrace true paradoxes is more than an intellectual skill for holding complex thoughts. It is a life skill for holding complex experiences. Take for example our encounter with “the other,” with the person who sees a different reality from ours because he or she stands in a different place. To some extent, the other contradicts not only our thoughts but also our lives, and that can be threatening. If we lack the capacity to allow this to segue into a paradox – a both-and that has the potential to open our minds and hearts to something new – we will most likely fall back on our hard-wired “fight or flight” response. But if we understand the promise of paradox, our encounters with “the other” have the potential to make our world larger, more generous and more helpful…

If we are willing to “hang in there” with a country, a colleague… a child [or a fellow Anglican with a different understanding of Biblical interpretation, sexual ethics, truth, and orthodoxy] – holding the unresolved tension between reality and possibility and inviting something new into being – we have a chance to participate in the evolution of a better reality…” (Pp. xxx-xxxi).

Cultural Accommodation…?

Paul writes – Nice little quote from blogging friend Jason Clark:

“…A great deal of academic theology and thought explains how the modern church has lost touch with culture due to the influence of postmodernity, and it’s enculturation to modernity. In other words the modern church [on the ground] mistakes some of what is thinks as biblical and theological, for cultural accommodations, as has been the case with every other form of church in history. And when culture changes, the church is left disconnected from people…”

Link, here…

The Paradox of the Missional Life being nothing special

Paul writes – I was struck, at a number of levels by the following few paragraphs from Parker J. Palmer.

“…When Thomas Merton was a novice master at the Abbey of Gethsemane…He started off one class by speaking [the following] words to the earnest and pious would-be monks who’d been placed in his care: “Men, before you have a spiritual life, you’ve got to have a life!”

I [Parker Palmer] treasure that line because it sheds the light of humor on one of the big problems of religion and spirituality: the assumption that the spiritual life is a life set apart from the “secular” life – which is to say, from the life one is living.

… Merton’s point, of course, is that we will find our spiritual lives in [the mess of our lives themselves], in [their] earthly realities, unpredictable challenges, surprising resources, [and] creative dynamics…

…If we stand in the middle of the mess assuming that the spiritual life will be orderly and pristine, linear and logical without complexity or contradiction, we will pray… for an extreme makeover, [and] of course, the ultimate extreme makeover is an embalmed and well-accessorized corpse, which is what we become in life when we try to defy [and reduce] the wideness and wildness of God…”

Palmer’s thoughts, absolutely valid in relation to the Christian life, also shed some light, I think, on the missional challenge as well (not that I’m suggesting the “Christian life” is one that is distinct from the “missional”).

A life that is missionally orientated and engaged is a life lived, not in the head or removed to academia, but rather is a life, a way of living humanly, a way of listening, and a way of living into and out of the biblical text in the midst of the mess, ordinariness, brokenness, and lovelessness of the ordinary and the everyday. It’s a life lived. It’s Scripture being creatively and imaginatively engaged with and embodied by ordinary people trying to live more authentically and more freely. And so communities like Northumbria can say that mission is what their members are doing as they go about their lives.

To engage with life missionally is to “…recognize, identify, and lift up those moments, those acts, those people, [and] those stories that contradict the ways in which the world says no to life…” (Parker J. Palmer)

The missional life is not a life removed from the ordinary. The missional life is nothing special, it’s just embodying and giving expression to “gospel”, gospel centered on Jesus’ life lived in all the everyday contexts and circumstances we find yourselves in, and “yes” most especially in the mess and inadequacy of our own lives being lived in those places – the places of doubt, brokenness, failure, sickness, vulnerability, and powerlessness – in other words, in our simply being human! In our simply being alive and being about life as living persons, not as the “living dead”. This is the spiritual life. This is the missional way. This is the Jesus-way.

Discerning the Heart of God…

Paul writes – I still find myself in the “middle” between the two poles of the current (and in many cases bitter) debate around questions of sexuality and sexual practice. Many people I respect deeply are on both sides of the debate.

I was struck by this statement in a column written by the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson for the Guardian Newspaper (12^th July 08). There was much in his column that I unhesitatingly agreed with. I did however wonder about this statement. For me, there’s something of a paradox in it   

“…This is the God I know in my life - who loves me, interacts with me, teaches and summons me closer and closer to God's truth. This God is alive and well and active in the church - not locked up in scripture 2,000 years ago, having said everything that needed to be said, but rather still interacting with us, calling us to love one another as he loves us. It is the brilliance of Anglicanism that we first and foremost read scripture, and then interpret it in light of church tradition and human reason. No one of us alone can be trusted to such a process because, left to our own devices, we recast God's will in our own image. But in the community of the church, together we are able to discern God's will for us - and sometimes that may mean reinterpreting and even changing old understandings of things thought settled long ago…” (Gene Robinson)

Robinson is rightly stressing the aliveness of God, and the ongoing activity and interaction of God in the Church. He is challenging the notion (held by many) that somehow God stopped revealing God's self with the closing of the canon of scripture at the end of the first century. In other words, he’s challenging the notion that Scripture contains all that we can know about God, God’s ways, and God’s purposes.

Robinson is instead arguing that God, God’s purposes, and God’s revealing of God’s will (invitations / prohibitions) are in fact ongoing; an ongoing “unfolding” of God’s drama, within which we have ‘parts’ to play. Here I hear echoes of Tom Wright’s understanding of the “authority” of Scripture – see this paper and his book The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of Authority, though I’m not saying Robinson and Wright are necessarily saying the same thing.

You Gotta Laugh at the Aussies

Paul writes –ABCs Gruentransfer "Pitch" was to create an Ad campaign to persuade Australians that it would be a good idea to invade New Zealand. Very amusing. Duration 5min. 43 sec.

The Best on Benedict: A Selection of Papal Biographies

Paul writes – With Benedict XVI in Australia next week, I noted that TIMESONLINE have an interesting selection of biographies on Pope Benedict XVI. Catholic Herald editor Luke Coppen chooses his “Top 5”. I haven’t read his choices 2 through 5, but having read most of his selection for the number 1 spot I agree with his thoughts:

1.           Tracey Rowland: Ratzinger's Faith: The Theology of Pope Benedict XVI, Oxford University Press – An acute and sympathetic study by an Australian academic. The perfect introduction to the ideas of Joseph Ratzinger.

2.           Aidan Nichols: The Thought of Benedict XVI: an Introduction to the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger…

Faith’s Legacy… Faith’s Invitation

Paul writes – This is an excerpt from an interesting (and largely positive) column in Monday’s New Zealand Herald newspaper. Read in conjunction with some of Rowan William’s reflections on Faith and Politics / Faith and History, there is much that help us both reengage our tradition, the Scriptural narrative, and our culture in life-giving and “good news” ways.

“…Sure, wrote Gallup, "a great deal of evil in the world has been perpetrated in the name of religion by fanatics and persons with distorted agendas".

BUT the data was clear. Spiritual commitment "serves both as a brake on anti-social activities and a powerful impetus to pro-social, even sacrificial, behaviour and attitudes. And the deeper the spiritual commitment, the more pronounced the effects. Indeed, a mountain of survey data from the Gallup and other survey organisations shows that when educational background and other variables are held constant, persons who are 'highly spiritually committed' are far less likely to engage in antisocial behaviour than those less committed. They have lower rates of crime, excessive alcohol use, and drug addiction than other groups…"

Read the whole column here.

Alan Jamieson talks about “Chrysalis” with Len Hjalmarson

Paul notes – Alan Jamieson was recently interviewed by Canadian friend, Len Hjalmarson. Here’s the opening question

“Alan, it sounds like you wrote this book with a specific audience in mind… those who have either left the “organized” church or those who for whatever reason feel they can’t pursue their journey within the church. Can you comment?

Alan: In this book I hoped to update and make more readably available the material in ‘Journeying in Faith’ and the 8 years Jenny McIntosh and I worked with people in faith (and church) pain. Chrysalis was written for those who leave organized church but also those who loyally stay when the lights have gone out within (Internal leavers). But there was also one other major reader in mind – the church leaders/pastors. I wanted to include them so they might understand, validate and be able to accompany people in the midst of faith transformations…”

You can go read the whole interview here. Thanks Len.

St Brendan... and The Church of the Perfect Storm

Paul writes – On Saturday Steve Taylor screened for a group of us a short video of Mark Berry talking about mission, St. Brendan, and leadership. On the same Saturday a kindly gifted copy of the Len Sweet edited collection of essays, published under the title The Church of the Perfect Storm, arrived in my letterbox.

The book contains an essay by good friend and fellow “Prodigal Kiwi” Alan Jamieson. It’s titled: “Seasoned Sailors” and at 10-pages in length it’s a cup-of-coffee read, and a thought provoking read at that! Alan wonders where the “seasoned sailors” of Christianity are, those working, thinking and living counter to the dominating practices, thinking and ethos of what others and I name as “Christianity-lite.”

Alan includes a prayer attributed to Celtic St. Brendan (and sourced from Mark Berry – see here and here. Mark also mentions the Len Sweet book, here).

“…Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home?

Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea?

Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy, without silver, without a horse, without fame, without honour?

Shall I throw myself wholly upon You, without sword and shield, without food and drink, without a bed to lie on?

Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under Your yoke?

Shall I pour out my heart to You, confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness, tears streaming down my cheeks?

Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach, a record of my final prayer in my native land?

Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict?

Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean?

O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea?

The Simple Life - Monastic Steps for Everyday Life. An Audio Interview with Abbott Christopher Jamieson.

Paul writes – I’ve mentioned previously on this blog the BBC TV series The Monastary and Christopher Jamison’s excellent book Finding Sanctuary: Monastic Steps for Everyday Life. Whilst I’d hoped to get see a DVD copy of the BBC series (recorded on a home DVD), this sadly never eventuated. I did however get to read Jamison’s book when it was first published. It’s excellent! Jamison talks about the spiritual life by means of the analogy of a house and different rooms etc within the house.  

Well today, I got to hear Jamison as he was interviewed on Radio New Zealand. Here’s the promo for the interview:

“Abbot Christopher Jamison is a Benedictine Monk at Worth Abbey in West Sussex. He and 22 other monks follow the teachings of St Benedict - written 1500 years ago, which emphasise the importance of silence and contemplation.

All was silent and contemplative until the BBC approached the monastary about taking part in a reality series.  The resulting show, The Monastary, was a huge hit. It followed five very different men as they lived a monastic life for 40 days and 40 nights. Millions tuned in to watch, and Abbot Christopher Jamison, followed up the series with a book called Finding Sanctuary which was a top seller…”

You can hear the interview here (27:47 mins), and/or you can download the Mp3 by going here (and scrolling down until you find it). One day we might get the TV series on NZ TV… Audio is available for 7 days after broadcast (which was 8^th July 2008).

Some of you will be interested in the Australian variation of this format / concept – The Abbey (DVD area 4) which can be purchased through the ABC shop. Go here.

Skimming the Surface

Paul writes – Simon Carey Holt, more eloquently than I (I talk of “running on empty”) names one of the central realities of my life: 

“…Skimming the surface is the best I can do sometimes.  Though I crave depth--the leisure of lingering in one place, one conversation, one task, one thought--the pace of the day doesn’t always allow it.  Such is life ... I know that.  But I know myself too; I can only skim the surface for so long.  My spirit begins to crumble at the edges…”

It’s a huge challenge, and one I was reflecting on over the weekend. It begun on Saturday morning as a small group of us reflected on the reality that for many busy people their home’s become a place to “escape” to at the end of a working week. Our home’s become (we hope) places of revitalization, healing; they provide spaces within which we can “linger”; they become places of retreat and healing.

But, too often depending on the stage of life we are at, this isn’t the reality of home life. Homes can become busy, demanding places where space for depth and an engagement with what Thomas Merton calls “inscape” (see this post from Len Hjalmarson). Home for the elderly can often be more a lonely “prison” than a “sanctuary”.

And so we reflected on the practicalities of how we could resource (from within the Christian spiritual tradition) the longing that so many have for their homes to be a place of renewal and healing.

A couple of examples: “Offer discussion starters and encouragement for families to sit down for a meal together and to talk together.” “Offer a series of rituals for activities that happen within the home – rituals that invite peace and renewal, e.g. a bath ritual; a ritual for those returning home at the end of a work day…”

Are there any rituals, resources or practices you use to help yourself and others nourish the deeper places and needs in their lives while at home…? Others and I would undoubtedly be grateful if you left them as a “comment” below.

"The idea they have a monopoly on Biblical truth won't do," he said.

Paul writes – The story title is sensationalist and misleading, but Tom Wright’s comments (from a BBC interview) will resonate with many of us who find ourselves between two significant polarizing forces in the Anglican Communion. Wright says what not a few of us would want to say…

Download tom_wright_more_following_gafcon_3_july_2008.pdf

Download tom_wright_after_gafcon_30_june_2008.pdf

The Elephant in the Boardroom: Speaking the Unspoken About Pastoral Transitions

Alan writes – Being in the midst of a church leadership transition it was suggested to me recently that I might like to read The Elephant in the Boardroom by Carolyn Weese & J. Russell Crabtree. This book sets out to explain a process for the healthy change (transition) in the senior pastor role in churches. While it has many common sense pieces of advice to offer, I was disappointed with the fixation on management processes and the lack of biblical and ecclesiological discussion. I was left thinking that if the word ‘church’ were replaced with ‘fast-food outlet’, or ‘business’ and the word ‘pastor’ was replaced with ‘CEO’ or ‘manager’ the rest of the book would need very little editing before it could be offered as a guide in the transition of leadership in any organisation. And while churches are organisations and can learn from management and organisational knowledge sets they are also unique communities and this uniqueness demands some discussion.

This critique aside there was much in the book that I found helpful. The four types of churches it focuses on – Family, Icon, Archival and Replicative – and how transition requirements are different in each. The advice about the respective roles of the out going pastor, the incoming pastor, the board and a transition consultant. The focus on strong and clear communication and the need for advance planning were all helpful.

The discussion of maintenance focused churches was insightful and the strength of culture over strategic plans and the dreams and efforts of ministers was sobering. The analogy of a church culture being like the operating system of a computer (Mac or PC) and all the churches programmes and plans and visions and dreams being like subsidiary programmes in the computer. They can only bring change if they are themselves combatable with the operating system.

But overall this was a management book for churches not a book that begins in the uniqueness of church (the bride of Christ) and draws on management theory to aid the mission and heart of the church.

The Cross and the Prodigal: Luke 15 through the eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants

Alan writes – I have dipped into the writings of Kenneth Bailey – The Cross and the Prodigal: Luke 15 through the eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants (PDF excerpt here) – as part of my sermon preparation, but never really thoroughly read his books before. Recently I bought three and am finding them incredibly helpful in terms of getting behind the text and understanding them through the Middle Eastern mindset.

The Prodigal Father has always been a favourite parable. It is, as Bailey states, ‘the gospel in the gospel’. In Luke 15 Jesus responds to a direct question of the Pharisees by telling three stories the last and longest is the parable of the prodigal son. Bailey’s experience of Middle Eastern culture enables him to shed new light on this old story. For example:

From a Middle Eastern perspective, the younger son wishes his father dead; leaves with his inheritance; spends it in wild living; and later is left starving. We would expect the Father on seeing his son to slap him in anger in the face with “the left-hand back-side of his hand. (This is more degrading in the Middle East than the right-hand or open palm.)”

But when the son is a long way of and before the son says anything to his father, the father is already running to the son. When he reaches him he kisses him and hugs him. He then very publically restores his son in the eyes of the community (placing the robe on him), and re-establishes his authority (putting his own ring on his finger). It is only after all this that the Son sees; is aware of and recognises the love of the father for him, perhaps for the first time. Had the father not been willing to run to the son—to show a costly demonstration of unexpected love, the son would not know the father's heart. And there would be no right-relationship:

Through this parable Jesus explains why he needed to die on the cross: “The father’s suffering at the beginning of the story has no effect on the prodigal son. The son isn't even aware of it. The son must first witness a demonstration of the father's suffering. WITHOUT WITNESSING this demonstration, the callous son will NEVER understand that he is the cause of the broken relationship. Without the father's visible demonstration of suffering, the prodigal will return to the house as a servant. He will—quite likely—take on more and more of the characteristics of his older brother. Without this visible demonstration of costly love, there can be no reconciliation. Isn’t this the story of the way God deals with us all on the cross?

Bailey’s book opens up new insight after new insight as he unfolds these three parables through the eyes of Middle Eastern culture.