Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Scripture: Replacing Authority

In Scott McKnights most recent post, he writes on his blog, "Jesus Creed", the following:

Click Here for Scott's Blog, there are plenty of comments that accompany this article.

Replacing Authority  by Scott McKnight
Some of you will remember a previous post when I suggested that a “purple” theology probably will not find the word “authority” as the appropriate word for Scripture. Now, I have no truck with the word “authority” apart from the fact that I do not believe it tells us enough about what our relationship to Scripture is and what it ought to be. So, I’m suggesting we find another.

I know that for many of us the doctrine of Scripture is presuppositional and prolegomena to all we do. I fear that such an approach will turn the Bible as God’s Word into bibliolatry and idolatry, where mastery of the Bible is equated with loving God and others. Scripture is God’s gracious gift to us, but that doesn’t mean that every extreme is justifiable. We are in need of a new set of categories for understanding Scripture.

I’m suggesting we use the term “identity.” The term “authority” is that of power — it tells us that we are “under” something. The term “identity” speaks of the Spirit who is at work — in the world in God’s redemptive work, in the Church as the community of faith, and in that community as it tells the story of God’s redemptive work. And I’m not suggesting that we understand “identity” as filling the same spot as “authority,” but that we learn to see Scripture (not so much as the Authority) but as what gives us our Identity because through it God’s Spirit speaks to and guides us.

Identity invites us to conceptualize our relationship differently than the term “authority,” which invites us to see ourselves in submission (which is not the worst thing in the world, to be sure). Identity, I am suggesting, gives us the opportunity to rethink our relationship to Scripture in terms of a pneuma-shaped identity.

And our relationship to that Scripture, that Theo-Drama (to use Vanhoozer’s term, The Drama of Doctrine), is that we listen to it as the script we are to live, as the script God has used with the community of faith, as the script to which the Church has always turned — and in so listening, our “identity” is formed, shaped, re-formed and re-shaped. It is our identity, and it gives us our identity.

We are invited in the term “identity” to find ourselves as God’s people in listening to God’s Word.

Let me also suggest that I am not surrendering “authority” so much as seeking for a term that does more justice to our relationship to Scripture.

They'll Know we are Christians

BY OUR LOVE.......by James Littell

"We will work with each other, we will work side by side.  We'll save each man's dignity and save each man's pride.....and they'll know we are christians by our love."

So are the lyrics to an old campfire song.  God has been teaching me much about Love, Grace, and Forgiveness lately.  I have certainly been forgiven much and I have experienced God's love and grace in my life.  Now I must give that love and grace away freely and generously.

When we think of ourselves as christians, do we think of ourselves in this way (guarding each man's dignity and saving each man's pride)? When we think of our western christian culture is this the picture that one sees in their mind?  I don't.

I see arguing, debate, taking a stand for your "right beliefs", and pompus attitudes.  I see this from myself sometimes. Jesus said there are no other commands that rank with these:

Mark 12:29-31
Jesus said, "The first in importance is, "Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.  And here is the second: "Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these."

I read a letter recently, it was written in 1st century A.D. about christians.  The letter was written by someone who would not describe themselves as a follower of Christ.  This writer described christains in a very different context than how I believe we represent ourselves today.  He described christians as people that were a joy to be around because they were full of love, grace, and compassion.  They lived in this world and enjoyed participating in the culturally social events of the day.  People recognized there was something different and it was contagious.  What happened?

A couple of verses struck me this week:

I Cor 10:23-24   Looking at it one way, you could say, "Anything goes. Because of God's immense generosity and grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster." But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.

Romans 8: 1-2  Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

John 15:5  "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 

Paul wrote that "Everything is permissable for me, not everything is beneficial."  In Romans, he suggests that there is no, absolutely no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

John in chapter 15 quotes Jesus as saying, "If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit.

• Don't you want to be the christian that people see Jesus in? 
• Don't you want the Love of God that flows through and out of your life to be contagious? 
• Don't you want people to see that you are different, not because of your own merit, or because you can brag about all the things you don't do that the world participates in, but because Jesus love is just oozing out of your pores like strong garlic from the Indian dinner you ate the night before?  You know how it is when you eat Indian food.....everyone can smell the garlic coming out of your pores except you.  Isn't that it?

Remember, we have been saved by grace, forgiven much, and commissioned to give it away freely and generously.  There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.  We are to live well, and when we screw up, reclaim the forgiveness that is already ours.  Finally, remain in Christ and let His love flow freely.

May you experience God's grace, love, and acceptance this week. Amen!

Download 1st_century_letter.doc

Rod VanSolkema & James Littell

Rod VanSolkema is coming to teach for us at Lighthouse on Sunday Sept 25, 2005!!
He is the pastor at Crossroads Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI

Aids Walk - Grand Rapids

Aids Walk Grand Rapids
Sat Oct 1, 2005

the Aids Walk raises money to fight and research cures for the HIV/Aids virus
We need to know how many of you will be able to Volunteer to help staff the event
Ruth Olsson will be heading up the volunteers for the day and we need to let her know how many we have

James Littell will be the deejay for the event.
Volunteers will have to be there at 9AM in the morning on Sat Oct 1, 2005
We should be wrapped up with activities by 2 or 3pm
E-mail jameslittell@lighthousevillage.org
if you can be a volunteer.

The Emerging Church Conversation

The Conversation....

"I think I am starting to see why getting labeled is not a good thing.....
Once something has become labeled, it inherently becomes a target as well."
- James Littell

The following was posted by Randy Buist on the West Michigan Emergent Blog:

I've heard and read a number of comments in recent weeks in regard to this emergent stuff just being a bunch of 'conversation.' Critics, and even some of us within the 'conversation,' have suggested that we need to get doing something. Until we have 'fruit,' we have done nothing but talked.

Every time that I hear these kind of comments I cringe. This so called 'conversation' is much more than just conversation. As John West recently said, it's code for 'discipleship.' My only addition is that we're not trying to talk in code. We're simply trying to talk like normal people who don't need a special church lingo to understand and learn from one another.

In the real world, conversation shapes people. Or at least it shapes us if we listen and respond according to the person(s) talking to us. In addition, learning theory people have found that younger generations are learning through conversation in ways that previous generations did not.
Back to the point -- I've learned a great deal through conversation over the past five years. I've listened, responded, been pushed against, and have grown in my understanding and expression of the gospel message --- and it is quite different from what it was ten years ago.

The people with whom I have had 'conversation' have been shapers of my understanding of God, and of his kingdom. While many of you would not have considered yourself people who have discipled me, you have.

So, to suggest this emergent thing is simply a 'conversation,' is inaccurate. In addition, it undermines the value of the Spirit in our midst. Each time that I agree to have lunch, to have a cup of coffee, to listen, or to give advice, I hope and believe that the presence of the Spirit and the kingdom accompanies me. I believe that God blesses these 'conversations,' and we don't need to add the label of 'discipleship' in order for them to have kingdom significance.

So what about the 'fruit?' While we need to recognize that a harvest needs a yield, is isn't only a matter of lots of fruit. It's a matter of quality as well. Lots of wormy apples don't make for a good harvest.

In the words of Dallas Willard, "Instead of counting Christians, we need to weigh them. We weigh them by focusing on the most important kind of growth - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, kindness, and so on - fruit in keeping with the gospel and the kingdom."

Robby replied:

I believe that anytime that we engage in conversation we should be careful......
What still is ringing loud in my mind is the words of my friend. He said, "We can talk all that we want, but until we feed the poor what good is it?" Perhaps, we should consider a balance........

To which I reply:

I believe Randy's point was clear.....and what I took from Randy's comments was that it is the conversation that helps to encourage and produce fruit in our lives and the lives of those around us.

I am not speaking about the conversation (The emergent church, the emerging church, the church emerging, Emergent, often times referred to the conversation), but I am speaking about what happens when those of us in West Michigan meet one Tuesday a month for conversation.

All of us who meet together come from and represent many different communities around West Michigan. It is by joining together once a month and participating in "the conversation" that we continue to connect ourselves to one another as part of the body of Christ and continue to get closer to living Christ's teachings the way He did.

Robby made the point, "We can talk all that we want, but until we feed the poor what good is it?"

To think that any of us who connect through "the conversation" would be satisfied to say, "We sit in a room once a month with coffee and we talk, we e-mail, we blog, therefore we are living Christ's teachings", would be to completely miss the point.

We all join together in this way because we are passionate about seeing the risen Christ change our lives, and then use us to change the lives of those around us. (i.e. "feed the poor")

Many of us are tired of the formula of witnessing, getting someone to say the "sinner's prayer", and than telling them "enjoy your crappy life, we'll pray for you, God bless you, and hope to see you in heaven someday!"

The "conversation" exists because it is in community that the Holy Spirit and Jesus can change us, and it is in community that we can be used to freely put the love of Christ on display for anyone in need.

James 2:14-17

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup--where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

James 1:27

Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

Who are the people in our neighborhood?

Who is Lighthouse Village?

We have been meeting every Wednesday at someone's house for dinner lately.

Last night was at Sara's and the week before we had "Ribs for our Pleasure" at Jodi and Christian's. We have thoroughly enjoyed watching our community come together and grow closer.

If you would like to see all of the pictures from our Rib night, just look at the photo album entitled "Wed night Ribs" in the left hand column of this blog.

The Breakfast

Well, Hello again,

I am back and hope to be continually posting.  The last month has been extremely busy and stress filled.  I can't say that I find that beneficial.  Most people I know report that they are busy and we applaud them. Somehow we view busy as a good thing.   I don't. 

For the first time in quite a while, I went out with many people from our community.  It was a wonderful time.  We have some who are just getting involved with Lighthouse and some who have been with us for quite a while.

We hung with a couple who are looking to get engaged and then married soon, our intern, Christian, Rob, myself, our favorite character Matt "Red Flag" Brown, Chris, Katie, Lee, JB, and Ashlee.

Katie is a very generous person, always willing to share and take good care of her friends. Her almost fiance, Lee is very kind, and pleasant.  I really enjoy talking with him, and I am glad he is interested in hanging with us.  I really believe he has a lot to contribute.  Of course, JB and Ashlee always put a smile on my face, and Christian loves to push my buttons.  I love him for that.

Our community meeting was so good tonight.  We had communion together, we sang, LOUDLY, and we continued our study through I Corinthians.

I am thankful and excited with the way in which our community is growing together. I am thankful for the new people that God is bringing.

We watched a band called the "Breakfast" at the Intersection tonight.  They were kind of a psychedelic jam band.  Interesting, and they held my attention for about a half hour or so.  Not bad, since I was completely unfamiliar with them.

Emerging from Your Religious Ghetto

Emerging from Your Religious Ghetto
- James Littell, Lighthouse Village

I spend time reading many interesting writers. I happen to be very fond of Brian McClaren.  I appreciate his genuine heart and sense of compassion. His emphasis on entering into the continuing community of followers of Jesus is captivating to me.

There is this idea of the"Kingdom of God" that is upside down when contrasted with the kingdom of this world.  The Kingdom of God is seen when God's spirit opens us up to it.  One may participate in the Kingdom of God by entering into community, the body, which has been ongoing.
The community is not a building where one attends a classroom style lecture on a Sunday morning, but an active body of people who aim to follow Jesus by sharing in each other's lives and stories, as well as the lives and stories of our world.

The church has succeeded in creating what McLaren refers to as a "religious ghetto", a safe haven cut off from the world.  We have created camps, fortresses, bubbles, whatever name we give it, christian colleges, institutions, universities, clubs, bands, bookstores, radio stations, tv stations, Religious Ghettos.  No longer are we in the world and not of it, we are out of the world and sure as hell not in it!

Read the excerpt below from Brian McLaren's article: Broadened Gospel

Church is not a place one attends but a community to which one belongs, he said. The community shares in mission and spiritual practice. It is rooted in a common story whose emphasis is on the continuing work here and now, always drawing from our past.

"Rather than measuring the church by its attendance, we will measure it by its deployment," McLaren said. "One of the greatest enemies of evangelism is the church as fortress or social club; it sucks Christians out of their neighborhoods, clubs, workplaces, schools, and other social networks and isolates them in a religious ghetto. There it must entertain them (through various means, many of them masquerading as education) and hold them (through various means, many of them epitomized by the words guilt and fear). Thus Christians are warehoused as merchandise for heaven, kept safe in a protected space to prevent spillage, leakage, damage, or loss until their delivery."

Rather, he said, the church should be an open community, welcoming strangers as Jesus welcomed sinners.

Download brian_mclaren_broadened_gospel.doc

Shane Claiborne: To Iraq

Here is something I just read, written by Shane Claibourne, founder of the "Simple Way' ....

TO IRAQ by Shane Claiborne

I am going to Iraq because I believe in a god of scandalous grace. If I believed terrorists were beyond redemption, I would need to rip out half of my New Testament Scriptures, for they were written my a converted terrorist. I have pledged Allegiance to a King that loved evildoers so much He died for them (and of course the people of Iraq are no more evil or more holy than the people of the US) teaching us that there is something worth dying for but nothing worth killing for. While the terrorists were nailing Him to the cross, my Jesus pleaded that they be shown mercy for they know what they were doing. We are all wretched, and we are all beautiful. No one is beyond redemption and no one is beyond repute. May we see in the hands of the oppressors our own hands, and in the faces of the oppressed our own faces. We are made of the same dust, and we cry the same salty tears.

I am going to Iraq in the footsteps of an executed and risen God. I follow a Jesus who rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey at Passover, knowing full well what He was walking into. This Jesus of the margins suffered an imperial execution by an oppressive regime of wealthy and pious elites. And now He dares me and woos me, come and follow, take my cross, lose my life to find it…with a promise that life is more powerful than heath, and that it is more courageous to love our enemies than to kill them.

I am going to Iraq to stop terrorism. There are Muslim extremists who kill in the name of their gods. Their leaders are millionaires who live in comfort while their citizens die neglected in the streets. I believe in another Kingdom that belongs to the poor and to the peacemakers. I believe in a safe world, and I know this world will never be safe as long as the masses live in poverty so that handful of people can live as they wish. Nor will the world be safe as long as we try to use violence to drive out violence. Violence only begets the very thing it seeks to destroy. My King warned His followers, "If we pick up the sword we will die by the sword." How true this has proved to be throughout history. We armed Saddam in the conflict against Iran, and we armed Bin Ladin in the struggle against the Soviet Union. Timothy McVeigh, the most terrifying domestic terrorist in US history, was trained in the Gulf Was where he said he turned into "an animal."

I am going to Iraq to stand in the way of war. Thousands of soldiers have gone to Iraq, willing to kill people they do not know because of a political allegiance. I go willing to die for people I do not know because of a spiritual allegiance. The soldiers have incredible courage, courage enough to die for something they believe in. I pray that Christians would have that same courage. The command of the soldiers is handed down, rank after rank, from a human commander in chief clinging to the myth of redemptive violence. My mandate is straight from the mouth of my heavenly King, through the lips of the Prince of Peace - to love my enemy, and yet I still falter. May we cling to the Truth that every human is created in the image of God. Do we believe the children of Iraq are just as precious as the children of New York? A love for our own people is not a bad thing, but why should love stop at the border? We, the people of Rebirth, have an allegiance that runs much deeper that nationalism.

I am going to Iraq as a missionary. In an age of omnipresent war, it is my hope that Christian Peacemaking becomes the new face of global missions. May we stand by those who face the impending wrath of Empire and whisper: "God loves you, I love you, and if my country bombs your country, I will be right here with you." Otherwise, our gospel has little integrity. As on of the saints said, "If they come for the innocent and do not pass over our bodies , then cursed be our religion." May our lives interrupt terrorism and war, in small ways, in large ways, in moments of crisis and in everyday rhythms. These are extreme times. And I go to Iraq as an extremist for Love.