It's time to write.
I have spent the last year navigating some unanticipated turns in the road. Maybe you can relate? One of the outcomes from such a ride is the gift of pondering. At times it feels like a curse but that is actually the deceptive work of our Adversary. God, in His love, created us with an arsenal of faculties intended for extensive use. And it is good. To think or to ponder is a gift to us from Him.
During this thoughtful season I have found myself pressing deeper into the mysterious complexities vis-a-vis "tensions" that exist for followers of Jesus. Our orthodoxy, strangely enough, is anchored by entrenched theological assets that are fully dependent on the coexistence of opposites. And yet they work.
Consider. God is Father, Son, and Spirit. Jesus is fully God and fully human. The Kingdom of God is here and yet it has not fully arrived. Scripture is God-inspired and written with human hand in time and space. Mary was a pregnant virgin. It seems that one cannot be theologically reflective and guided without openly embracing tensions.
Why is this important? I want to blog about a specific ecclesiological tension that seems to be dominating the Church-world. Here is the question I am asking and inviting us to seek answers together: How can the Church be new and old at the same time? Both are essential, non-negotiable, and integral to a sustainable expression of the Body of Christ. And yet, we tend to over function in an unbalanced drift to one or the other. Even worse, we are prone to being critical of which ever side is opposite our comfort zone.
So let's stop fighting and begin pondering how every aspect of our life in Christ can reflect the coexistence of the following: old and new words, new and old music, old and new writings, new and old architecture, old and new proclamations, new and old prayers, old and new techniques, new and old traditions, old and new disciplines, new and old fashion styles, old and new generations, new and old liturgies, old and new creeds, new and old art, old and new prophecies, new and old translations, old and new__________...you fill in the blank.
Perhaps this new blog might serve to be a galvanizing and unifying instrument for us around this motif? I need space to express my thoughts, ask questions, and listen. You might have need for this as well. So let's begin. Become a Follower if you feel so inclined or be a stealth reader. In either case I welcome your comments, questions, and/or responses.
Ex nihilo,
R.J. Rhoden
Old v young.... In local bodies, older members giving grace and follow-thru to younger when their wisdom goes unheeded. Younger members giving time and patience-as-respect, even though they are so very busy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being mindful that the cross is also a meeting of ways. (Thx to Chesterton also....)
If you have all wisdom and no youthful energy in the church, Christianity becomes a philosophical exercise with lots of rhetoric but no action. All energy and no wisdom leads to jumping on the latest Christian bandwagon that rolls into town.
ReplyDeleteThe church needs the exuberance of Peter and the wisdom of Paul to make it function well.
Isn't it interesting that the very few non-negotiables that God gives us, we spend so much time trying to justify negotiating. And where he gives us license we try to legalize into a singular path. Just part of the 'coexistence of opposites' that happens when a Holy God desires to dwell in an earthly man.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff Rob!