Strange Tastes

More from Leonard Sweet's Out of the Question...Into the Mystery:

"Jesus really did have strange tastes. He especially liked being around the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten...For Jesus, it was not 'Poor people and other outcasts, find yourself a church'; it was 'Church people, find yourself the poor and the outcasts."

"We are called to be--like Jesus--the friend of sinners. That means building relationships with people who reside outside the orbit of our moral universe. It means becoming their friend and loving them. It means accepting them and their differences and being willing to be enriched by those differences."

I was enriched yet again by the two repeat visitors to the "Spiritual Journey" class at City Rescue Mission. Two homeless men of color. So much separates us, but more unites us. One of them asked me, "So where do you go to church?"

"Uh...well...uh...I attend a Catholic Mass once a week...But I'm actually in church 'detox' right now." He knew all about detox. And he knew exactly what I was talkin' about.

It turns out he's a soon-not-to-be-homeless-anymore (he's getting his own place at the Pershing Center in two days--yeah!!!) person who's as "emergent" as Brian McLaren. He totally gets it. Well, maybe not totally, but darn close.

But like so many others, it feels weird to him to eschew the institution, even though most of the institutional churches this precious brother visits won't give him the time of day. The pained expression on his face told me this is so.

Yet despite this, he still talks in terms of wanting to "go" to church. We talked about the difference between "going" to church and "being" the church. I think it's going to be quite a feat to get people to transition from "going" to "being." But I want him and me to learn how to "be" the church together.

And you know what? I think this just might be starting to happen.

You Mean You Don't Own a TV!?!

With a co-worker today it happened to come up in conversation that I haven't owned a television since 1995. I could tell she thought I was a total freak! She said I was the ONLY person she knows who doesn't own a TV. She truly could hardly believe it.

Isn't it funny how something so simple can seem so counter-cultural, that because you don't tap into the drivel delivered by cathode rays, you're an oddity. Ha!

Tell Us Your Story

I've been reading Leonard Sweet's Out of the Question...Into the Mystery. He said some interesting things that went along with my previous entry regarding God grafting me into His story. His words, however, focus on the fact that we can encounter God through other people's stories.

"We are not called to fit someone else into our own story, but to encounter and experience the ways that God is in the other person's story...The critical test of any faith thus becomes 'does it make space for otherness?'...The key to evangelism is to be receivers of others--ushers to the Other, not users of others. In receiving others, we enter into their world of abundant otherness--their experiences, their thought patterns, their stories."

Then he pens this amazing sentence: "One can receive others and celebrate their stories without buying into their every perspective."

Wow! What a healthy, whole, balanced, right-on-the-money perspective!!!

One of my favorite Merle Haggard songs is "Yesterday's Wine." It's about strangers finding community with one another in a bar. After a stranger shares some initial pleasantries with some of the "regulars," the regulars invite the stranger to "come sit down here with us and tell us your story."

God, I LOVE that line. Why? Because I long for someone to invite me to sit down and listen interestedly to my story. I don't feel like anyone knows me until they hear my story, and I don't really know someone until I hear their story.

I'm so guilty of asking people questions, not to try to get to know them, but to "peg" them. Then, I can judge them. What a shitty way to treat people! I'm starting to believe that all any of us really want is to be heard, understood, and accepted. Like Sweet--and Haggard--says, we do this by sharing with one another our stories.

Are We One Body?

At Mass tonight, we sang one of my favorite songs. It's called "We Are One Body." The refrain is: "We are one body, one body in Christ; and we do not stand alone. We are one body, one body in Christ; and he came that we might have life."

What a beautiful image.

I just wish the image was more readily transformed into reality.

So often, the body of Christ seems like it was hit by a Mack truck, and pieces are scattered everywhere. As I read theology books, I get frustrated at how the church divides itself over and over again, based upon each particular "stand" on various issues.

A central question for me has arisen: Is my taking a firm stand on a particular belief more important that preserving unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ?

For me, the answer is almost always an emphatic "No!" There is ALWAYS a spectrum of belief on everything from the significance of the sacraments to church governance to yada, yada, yada. I'm not saying that these things have no importance, but I'm coming to believe that being "right" on any one of these things is just not that big a deal.

In its most simple form, it seems to me that the church is supposed to be a community of people centered around Jesus, with the intent of being formed to be like him and of serving the poor and the outcast of society.

You can baptize infants or not baptize infants. You can believe the bread and wine are the body and blood of Christ or represent the body and blood of Christ or signify that Christ is our spiritual sanctification or are just a memorial meal.

But for Christ's sake, why can't we hold these things loosely enough to maintain fellowship with one another?

Where are the people of God who get this?

Calvin Klein's a Sell-out

You know Calvin Klein has sold out when he makes jeans for butts as big as mine!

Grafted Into His Story

Today's devotion in The Word Among Us referenced Paul's belief that, "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). I asked myself, "Do I believe this is true for me? If so, why?"

As I pondered these questions, I reflected over the last couple of days of my life with Christ. One of the answers that came to mind is this: I know that Christ lives in me because His story is merging with the story of my life. My story is caught up in and intertwined with His story.

In the past, if someone would've asked me how I know that Jesus is really alive and living in me, I would point them to "what the Bible says"--the facts in the Bible. But in that situation, it's like the events of the Bible are a movie, and I'm a disconnected observer of the story playing out on the screen. But now, I'm realizing that Christ has somehow come out into the theater and grafted me into His movie. He's most certainly the star of the show, but He's acting with and through me! In doing so, He has blended my story into His story. This intertwining of our stories becomes the basis of our very real relationship. And this very real relationship is how I know He lives in me.

Blogging Under the Influence (BUI)

Tonight, I'm blogging under the influence and well deserving of a (BUI). Which can mean only one thing: I've been to an emergent church gathering. Tonight was my first connection with the emergent scene in OKC--and I LOVED it!!! Being good Okies, we were a very balanced group, and I liked that. Felt very at home. Of course, the fireplace, leather chairs--not to mention the Belgium beer--helped very much in that respect. But most of all, it was the people. People who love Jesus AND are honest about the constricting confines of the "institutional church." The bias of the people tonight seemed to be to stay within your respective institution; change it from within. I, however, am rather thankful that I'm still in "institutional church" detox--a rather permanent place for me, I'm starting to believe. I feel free of the need--or perhaps it's a call--to be an "agent of change" in any institution. I feel free 2 b in okc.

Christ Is With Us

Tonight's City Rescue Mission group consisted of a couple with five kids and two single men (including me). We talked about events we experienced as kids that produced woundedness in us that we're still recovering from today. The married man shared how his mom severely abused him physically and how, as a result, he has problems disciplining his kids. Disciplining his kids feels, to him, like he's abusing them.

This led us to talk about how our tendency is to try and "control" a situation like this by doing the opposite of what we encountered as kids. But, this seems to make us wind up in yet another "bad" place. I shared how I saw this playing out in my own life and how I discovered that moving to an opposite extreme--or even finding a "happy medium"--is not the solution. The solution is to discover the Third Way.

The Third Way is the solution Jesus provides as we accept our brokenness and take it to Him. Sometimes we feel like we're in a small room, without any doors or windows--there's no way in and no way out; we're trapped. But if we open up to Jesus in that place, we enter into Him and He into us. And He becomes the way--the Third Way.

As my friends and I shared tonight about how Christ is filling in and patching up the broken places of our hearts, I realized that He was really and truly present, right there with us. The single man I've known for only three weeks, and the couple I just met tonight. But it felt like we shared a deep, rich family bond. The single man was aware of this, too, and expressed as much.

We were sitting in a tight little circle. The center looked empty. But Christ was there with us, healing us, uniting us. And everyone of us in that room knew it, deep in our bones.

My Debut

About a year and a half ago, I moved back to OKC after living in Chicago for about 5 years. I snooped around for an "emergent church" scene locally, but could find almost none.

I have been in church "detox" since that time, but I'm feeling challenged to find community. I've recently come across some bloggers with whom I feel a connection. So, this is my attempt to enter the scene.