Many Swirling Thoughts

There is so much zooming around my grey cells these past couple of days that I'm going to need to invest some "alone time" in creating some sort of synthesis out of them.

After about an hour of listening and asking me questions, Wendy finally had to say, "STOP! You've got a million ideas bouncing around and maybe they're connected somehow, but you're making me dizzy."

I'll blog more after I sort through these many mental synapse explosions. In the meantime, here's a quote from late December of last year. While it may seem a little self-indulgent to quote yourself on your own blog, the following statement (from Deecmber 13 2004's entry "Postmodern Missionaries") is something I feel far more strongly now than when I first wrote it:

"If we do not approach our ministry in a post-modern, post-Christian society with a missionary's eye to learning the culture, joining the tribe, and contextualizing the gospel, I fear we may find ourselves -- no matter how emergent or destructured we are or become -- increasingly isolated and ineffectual."

Stay tuned...

Quest for Respectability = Routinization of Charisma?

Between Brother Maynard's and Len Hjalmarsson's recent blog entries which touched on the Vineyard movement and the position papers they published in response to some of the criticisms, I've been thinking a lot about what Bill Jackson called "the routinization of charisma". Len called it "from movement to machine".

As Wendy and I bounced ideas around, it struck me suddenly that all of the heavy-duty criticisms of the Vineyard happened rapid-fire over a two-and-a-half year period (mid-1990 until late 1992), and then stopped -- with the notable exception of the reaction to the Toronto Blessing in 1994-95.

I have always found it interesting that there is a sixth Vineyard Position Paper -- "Renewal Apologetics" by Derek Morphew -- that is only available through the Vineyard Bible Institute in South Africa. My guess is that after giving the left foot of dis-fellowship to the Toronto Airport Vineyard, VineyardUSA didn't want to provide an apologetic in defence of what they were trying to distance themselves from.

I once had a conversation with a guy from Detroit who had been converted during the Jesus People Movement in the 1960's, and he warned me that respectability -- and the desire to be accepted/respected by other churches/movements -- was what he felt had blunted the radical edge of the Jesus People. They grew tired of being criticized, worked harder to be accepted by the religious norm, and were not only accepted, but absorbed -- losing their prophetic edge by merging with the mainstream.

I remember having coffee with Mark Woodley (one of the Canadians mentioned in the Jesus People website) when I was 20 -- he had planted a radical alternative church, and it was filled mostly with new converts, but within ten or twelve years (when he and I were talking), these same people were trying to "tame" Mark because he was too radical(!).

The Vineyard hasn't been attacked much in recent years. They're generally respectable. They aren't the centre of controversy anymore. Neither are the Jesus People (out of whom the Vineyard came, however indirectly). Then I read again Jesus' chilling warning: "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets." (Luke 6:26) If our goal becomes to not be attacked, to not be criticized, to be accepted and respected and welcome at the dinner table -- what of importance will we have to explain away, or downplay, or renounce?

What if the door to the routinization of charisma (or going from movement to machine, to quote Len), is the quest/desire for respectability?

Merry Christmas!!

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I'm still a big fan of Manitoba's premiere (provincial premiere = state governor in the USA) who, upon entering City Hall in Winnipeg last year, took one look at the "Happy Kwanzaa" and "Happy Hannukah" diplays, and then saw the politically-correct "Multicultural Tree", and publicly stated "It's not a 'Multicultural Tree', it's a CHRISTMAS tree, and that's what it's going to be called!"

Merry Christmas to all!

And then there were two...

This is Anakin, our thug-like cat who, as we settled into our new home in Ontario, somehow tied himself in knots with his own leash. Tonight, we took our three children to the animal hospital to see Anakin one last time before the vet "put him down". They all took turns just quietly stroking him, as they said their silent good-byes. It's really tough watching your kids part with a pet.

Vineyard Pastors Conference 1993

The first time I ever went to a Vineyard Pastors Conference, John Wimber gave the following fatherly analogy to us, which I think would be the words I would say -- if anyone were to ask -- to those who are beginning to deal with critiques (both fair and unfair) about the emerging church. (This isn't a transcription from anywhere, it's just my memory of the event, so any errors in communication are totally mine.)

Sitting in an armchair, as his recent health difficulties had made it difficult to stand while he spoke, John told us, "I feel like a father, sending my kids off to play football in the local schoolyard."

"I tell my kids, Listen -- some of the kids you're going to play with are going to play by the rules, and respect you and watch out for you. And other kids -- well, they're NOT going to do that -- they'll cheat, lie, give you cheap shots, and then blame you. But no matter how they treat you, you play nice."

Leaning forward in his armchair, John admonished us, "Some pastors and churches will play by the rules. Some won't. Some pastors and churches will honour and respect you. Some won't. Some pastors will speak well of you and join you in ministry. Some won't. They'll misrepresent you, lie about you, talk about you behind your back, and falsely accuse you of all kinds of things."

"But YOU PLAY NICE."

Of all the things I've heard or read from John Wimber, this is the nugget that I remember the most.

Dealing With Pomergent Criticism

Brother Maynard mentioned, a few days ago, about lessons that can be learned from the Vineyard movement on dealing with criticism. Bro Maynard includes a link to the Vineyard's position papers which dealt with some of those attacks.

Of particular interest for critiques of the emerging church are Wimber's "Why I Respond To Criticism" and (to a lesser degree) the Vineyard's response to "Power Religion", because it includes a section refuting D.A. Carson (who has recently criticized the emerging church as unfairly and inaccurately as he criticized the Vineyard).

As someone who was a part of the Vineyard -- as a layperson and also an ordained pastor -- I was very much in the middle of some of the controversies that swirled around the Vineyard from time to time. Here's my two cent's worth on dealing with criticism, based on those experiences:

Dis-information is rampant, and is usually the cause of most peoples' negative reactions. We need to be able to answer these concerns with well-thought-out responses (I Peter 3:15), and not give in to either (a) criticizing them or their church(es) or (b) writing them off as people who "just don't get it".

A gentle answer turns away wrath (Proverbs 15:1). No matter how immaturely some people approach you, choose to walk the high road in how you speak.

Pick your battles. During my time in the Vineyard, I discovered that there are two kinds of questions that people will ask: one looks for "information" and the other looks for "ammunition". Depending on what it appears people are looking for, we may choose to engage them in dialogue or (as my dad says) "run screaming into the woods". The Holy Spirit will help us discern which option will be the most life-giving (Matthew 10:19-20 and James 1:15).

While keeping the avenues of dialogue open is the preferred approach, you'll never convince the willfully closed-minded. Stop trying. Let your good works and the fruit of the Spirit in your life plead your case for you (1 Peter 3:15-16, Matthew 7:16-20 & Galatians 5:22-23). Our goal is not to convince nay-sayers, it's to prevent the spread of dis-information and/or slander by speaking the truth. We may not win over the critics, but we can keep the record straight and set good examples for those observing the critiques and responses.

New Blog on the Digital Block

A good friend of mine back in Winnipeg has recently started blogging. "Brother Maynard" and I have known each other since the decadent 80's -- although he was but a wee freshman while I was an aging senior at college when we first met over the common bonding elements of theology, ecclesiastical anarchy, and heavy metal music (hey, it WAS the 80's, after all...).

Bro Maynard has always been a deep thinker, and a significant prophetic voice in my life. I used to phone him when I was living on Vancouver Island and jokingly say "Hi, dude, how am I doing?" -- and then he'd tell me(!). Check out his blog/journey.

Pets...

All of our pets have been rescued from the pound. Our black-lab-crossed-with-something-else dog is the best dog we'll probably ever have. Our two cats, Anakin & Nina, were similarly adopted because they were on death's door at the local pound. Anakin (the one inside the box) is a bit of a thug -- he shoves Nina aside to eat all their food, and even challenges Zorro (the dog) for her food. If there's a "dumb thing that cats do" event happening, 99% of the time, it's Anakin. We often joke about him becoming "Darth Vader" as he grows up.

Nina (on top of the box) came to us with open wounds on her neck where the pound had cut her collar off -- it had grown into her neck as a neglected kitten -- and therefore nobody would adopt her. Of course, that is the kind of kitten that Wendy will adopt. Nina isn't right in the head. Our theory is that the ingrown collar may have cut off the oxygen to her brain. She's lovable but wee bit mentally looped (and has never forgiven us for bringing Zorro into the family).

Anakin is in a local animal hospital tonight. No idea what's wrong, but he was stiff and appeared to be on death's door this morning, so Wendy took him in. The vet thinks he may have been poisoned. The kids are really upset.

How/why do we get so attached to animals? I only know that we do.

Robby & Wendy Mac

Taken at Niagara Falls last month, during our annual Youth Workers Conference. I marvel to this day that such a beautiful & intelligent woman would be seen in public with a boogerhead like me.

Hired Guns

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep." (John 10:11-13)

Recently, I've come across a couple of large churches who, because they say they "value excellence", hire worship leaders from other churches (or who aren't part of a faith community anywhere) to come and lead the congregational worship.

Not surprisingly, these worship-leaders-for-hire don't become part of the community of the church, even on a home group level; they only come to services when they're paid to, and remain aloof or absent from all aspects of the church's life the rest of the time. They are simply hired guns.

They do nothing to develop younger worship leaders or musicians, they simply get the best musicians they can find, and exclusively use them. Nothing is ever done to train, encourage, and develop younger or less skilled players -- they are either of no use to the church, or they have to hone their skills somewhere else and come back "when they're excellent".

The ethos that this must set for the congregations at these churches is staggering in its implications. It also reveals a lot about the church leaders who hired these mercenary musicians.

I don't think it's too far of a stretch to apply John 10:11-13 to these hired guns. They don't care for the flock. They have nothing invested in community. They leave when they get a better offer, when hard times hit, or when they get bored.

At the same time, I also value excellence -- excellence in character, excellence in humility, excellence in relationships, excellence in honesty and integrity, and excellence in broken-ness.

That's the kind of worship leader that can be safely trusted with the flock.

A Generous Orthodoxy

I've been reading Brian McLaren's latest book, A Generous Orthodoxy and thought I'd offer two cents' worth here on it.

First of all, I know some people are all up in arms about whether Brian has finally crossed the line in terms of whether or not he's "orthodox" or -- what? a heretic? That might be just a wee bit of an extreme reaction, methinks.

Basically, the book seems to be a thoughtful look at many different traditions and streams within Christendom, seeking to find things that are praise-worthy, and therefore important for all of us, in each of these traditions. Brian asks, through the way he's written this book, if we're humble enough, and teachable enough, to find something that "the others" are doing that might round out our own understanding of, approach to, and application of our faith.

What makes such an approach "generous", I think, is that many of these traditions have traditionally defined themselves in opposition to each other. "We're not charismatic" or "we're not cessationist", etc. These binary oppositions always create an "us vs. them" mindset, or a "orthodox vs. heretical" approach that finds no common ground and therefore sees nothing worthwhile or redeemable in the other. What Brian is attempting to do here, as I read it, is to get us out of our knee-jerk ecclesial reactions, which are often heavily coloured by whatever tradition we were raised in or came to faith in.

Many of the chapters were easy to assimilate, but others -- where my own personal history with various groups occurred -- were more difficult. This makes me pause to reflect that our personal histories (read: bad past experiences) really DO cloud our judgment, and our emotions can overtake even the staunchest of our philosophical and theological paradigms.

One thing I wish Brian had added to his list right after his "why I am emergent" chapter, which would have addressed an interesting binary opposition of our own, would have been "why I am modern/seeker". That seems to be the only ecclesial group that isn't included in the generous orthodoxy.

Yes, I know that some of the nice folks in the modern/seeker group don't have much, if any, use for pomergent types like yours truly, but if we're going to be truly consistent in seeking to learn from all streams...

Bottom line: I recommend this book. It'll make you think, and it will likely reveal some of your own prejudices towards certain streams or denominations (pay attention to your own emotional reactions to certain chapters for that one), which will provide opportunities for reflection, study, and further thought.

Touching Base...

Thanks again for those who have inquired about my health recently. The Nuclear Medicine tests showed no blockage in my heart, and the doctor has ordered more bloodwork (DANG -- those needles are big!) to test cholesteral etc. Results from those tests should be available in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I'm still taking the beta-blockers to slow my heart-rate down, although I'm hopeful that the next set of test results will allow me to stop taking them. Life otherwise looks pretty normal: I work, enjoy my family and friends, lead worship at Church on the Rock, preach/teach at different churches (and once at Tyndale Seminary), and fold the laundry in my spare time.

On a completely unrelated note, here's two bemusing comments that that were recently directed to me:

"I don't have time for the pomo and emerging thing -- I'm too busy reaching the lost."

and...

"Robby, you surprised me -- I've never heard a postmodern speaker base things on Scripture before."

Gonna have to think about those two comments. I THINK the second one was intended as a compliment, but...