Model Drift

After watching the final presidential debate last night, I couldn't help but to see the parallels between the national mood and the state of the church. I am going to be citing from David Brooks, a conservative voice in the media that is addressing issues within the GOP, and I am using his references to draw a similar conclusion with the church. I am not concerned about the Kingdom of God in the least, but I have some grief around the current state of the church, so please do not see this as a political endorsement rather how these things mirror one another. Let me start with Brooks op ed piece I read this past spring, he writes:

Trump is prompting what Thomas Kuhn, in his theory of scientific revolutions, called a model crisis. According to Kuhn, intellectual progress is not steady and gradual. It’s marked by sudden paradigm shifts. There’s a period of normal science when everybody embraces a paradigm that seems to be working.

This had been the state of the north american christian church since the turn of the 20th century, more specifically in the latter half of the century.

Then there’s a period of model drift: As years go by, anomalies accumulate and the model begins to seem creaky and flawed. Then there’s a model crisis, when the whole thing collapses. Attempts to patch up the model fail. Everybody is in anguish, but nobody knows what to do.

Though I do not consider myself a republican, I have friends who agree that they are now experiencing a model crisis and cite the tone of the debates as an example. The fact that many folks who proclaims themselves as christian identify with republican ideals lends itself to the paradigm shift parallel in the church. The seeds of change are being planted however, there is enormous push back from what I call the 'gatekeepers' in the church who are trying to patch up the model. Truthfully, this will be a shell of its former self and will not be life giving, it will drain us if we keep trying to patch it up, rebuild it or make it great again.The model drift the church is experiencing is the same thing the Hebrew people experienced when they left Egypt. They experienced it during the exile. Brooks continues:

At that point the GOP will enter what Kuhn called the revolution phase. During these moments you get a proliferation of competing approaches, a willingness to try anything. People ask different questions, speak a different language, congregate around a new paradigm that is incommensurate with the last.

It's easy to see how the Emergent church conversations fit into this phase. They've been discerning this for the past 10-15 years. During my time with the APA folks 10 years ago, I began encountering a conversation that felt a lot like this revolution phase. We were asking different questions, learning to speak a different language and seeking to congregate around this new paradigm. It was merely an entry point. Yet even then we were moving beyond the revolution phase. And Brooks speaks to the current pulse of where many republicans find themselves in the midst of either a Trump loss in the election (especially since his comments about conceding and rigged elections) or a Trump presidency (which he hopes will not be the case):

... this is a moment of anticipation. The great question is not, Should I vote for Hillary or sit out this campaign? The great question is, How do I prepare now for the post-Trump era?

It seems to me that the church often lags behind the culture in addressing issues. Yet during my time with the APA folks 10 days ago, I felt as though the church is moving forward possibly even ahead of the culture. This model crisis is exactly what the north american church is experiencing. We are entering a period where our attempts to patch up the model are failing. We are in deep anguish about these circumstances. And I for one will admit to my sense of disillusionment when it comes to the church. It's easy to let the anguish sink its talons into your spirit. Maybe that was why I was having an unsettled spirit at the APA retreat, because for the first time, I was actively engaged in a conversation of how do we prepare now for the post-Christian era? I've been stuck in metaphorical questions of who should I vote for (i.e. keeping the church relevant and holding my ground on issues) that I could not see past that dilemma.

So what I am saying in all of this? I am saying this. I am completely comfortable holding the collision of opposites in accepting that we are now in a post-christian era and need to recognize the hope and anticipation of what God is already doing. Unknown blessings are already on their way. Yet as a father of young children, I long for the semblance of faith that has been passed down to me. I will pass it along to my children, it just won't look anything like what I was given. For such a time as this I suppose. They will live into this new paradigm of a life in Christ that will sustain them. As parents, we just need to be good storytellers and model faithful discipleship.

The parallels are there, all we need to do is look.

Encounters

It was over 10 years ago that I was able to be with the A Place Apart community for a retreat. This past weekend I was able to meet with 25 others who are seeking another way of being true to the story of Jesus while asking crucial questions around that seeking.

The weekend was not what I had come to expect as we spent more time in intentional conversations around what shifts are taking place in the church. What was equally important was the opportunity to begin using a guidebook called "Encounters." I suspect that the next few posts on this blog may pertain to how I'm engaging the guidebook. So I hope if this becomes interesting to you, that you will engage me in conversation as well.

This most certainly is a pebble creating a concentric ring in my own journey and hope that you will walk with me along the way.

Fertile Soil

My son was born a little over 3 weeks ago... and more than 2 months ago I began a wellness journey that has absolutely doing everything I had hoped for and more!

When you begin to discipline yourself in one area, I believe it spills out into other areas of your life as well. I am experiencing a wave of creativity and synchronicity that is propelling my life forward in a way that I've not felt in a long time and it is exciting!

I'll post more later, particularly as it relates to where this journey is taking me... but rest assured... there hasn't been this much fertile soil in my life since I left for WAS nearly 7 years ago.

It's More Than...

Every year, (for the past 10 years) it's the same challenge and ultimately the same struggle.

Not this year.
Something's changed.
Something's different.
It's more than just not being able to keep up with my 2 year old.
It's more than realizing I'm going to be a father again.
It's more than just being in the worst shape of my life. (read more than just physically..)
It's more that I've been stuck in my head and not listening to my body.
It's more that I still believe I can think myself into a new way of living.
(Look where that has gotten me.)
It's more than seeing how it affects every aspect of my life.

A recent quote by Neale Donald Walsch got me thinking about how I have to approach this:

Yearning for a new way will not produce it.
Only ending the old way can do that.
You cannot hold onto the old all the while declaring that you want something new.
The old will defy the new. the old will deny the new; the old will decry the new.
There is only one way to bring in the new. 
You must make room for it.

It's more than just yearning for it.
It's more that I've not made room for it.

I am making room for the new me.