The Practice of the Better

Any new structures of emerging Christianity cannot be in opposition to any existing church structures or anybody at all. Any antagonistic action merely creates an “equal and opposite reaction.” “The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better” is one of our core principles at the CAC. Just do it better yourself, and don’t waste any time criticizing others or the past! This, in fact, purifies your own commitment and motivation. 

Don’t bother being against anybody, anything, any group, or any institution. That will only keep you at a low level of ego, while falsely feeling superior. It is a most common mistake. You can, however, practice simple avoidance or quiet noncooperation with immature organizations, but don’t waste time or energy being oppositional to anything. We need positive energy now over negative criticism of anything. It is almost as if consciousness has now grown up to see this—and do this!" 

- Richard Rohr

Gimme a break!

"For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). But, often, with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course, that's Moses, not Jesus. I haven't heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. 'Blessed are the merciful' in courtroom? 'Blessed are the peacemakers' in the Pentagon? Give me a break!" 

- Kurt Vonnegut, A Man without a Country.

Creative Heretics

“The church desperately needs creative heretics. A “creative heretic,” an independent thinker, is an example of the “unbalanced” force to which Newton refers in his first law of motion. Only the person who breaks with tradition can change the direction of an institution. A heretic is not an enemy of God but one who is more interested in truth than in tradition.” 

- John Sloat, A Handbook for Heretics.

Groupthink

Read this post - Monkey See, Monkey Do, by Steve McVey, on a study done on monkeys, on indoctrination.

In any system that is enslaved to groupthink, people who begin to question the unquestioned answers, will be viewed through the lens of suspicion, and labeled.

And since we hate the idea of being ostracized, often times, we resort to sticking our heads in the sand. 

It's a bit hard initially, but in the process of being true to ourselves, it is important that we stop expecting that everyone around us will nod in agreement with us. 

I thoroughly enjoy the company of people who are not afraid of questions (whether we agree with our answers we have at the moment, or not), than pretend-friendships that are based solely on social, political and/or doctrinal agreements.

Ambassadors of Darkness

Like it or not, we inadvertently become the ambassadors of darkness, when we push sincere seekers away. 

But on the bright side, fortunate are those who have met Christ, without the interference of organized Christianity.

Read this post, by Frank Viola, about John Lennon.

One Of The Criticisms That Grace Faces...

One of the criticisms leveled against the message of Grace is, that it is lax on "sin". The assumption is, "it's all Grace now, so you can do whatever you want, without any consequences." 

Not one Grace preacher I know of, says that. 

Regardless of whether anyone says that or not, I think, this criticism stems from the belief that people can be controlled by the Law; sadly, without realizing the fact that the Law actually empowers one to sin (see 1 Cor 15:56). 

A lifestyle of destruction destroys us, but it does not affect God's love for us. There isn't a big enough boulder that can separate us from His love for us (see Rom 8:38-39). 

Despite what we feel about the man, God unconditionally loves Ariel Castro, the man who, for a decade, imprisoned and used three young women as sex slaves, in his basement. While God's love is offensive to most people, it does not negate the law of sowing and reaping - which is why Castro is in a jail right now. 

God's love towards the human race has nothing to do with one's good or bad actions. He loved us from before the foundations of the world. Unlike most of us do with each other, we don't earn God's acceptance with our actions. We are already accepted and reconciled in God (see 2 Cor 5:18-19), whether we have the experiential reality of it, or not. It's a gift - it is called Grace (see Eph 2:8-9). 

Regardless, I love all the heat that the message of Grace is getting now. It simply means that nerves are being struck left and right, for the better. You can't make a good chicken curry without stirring the pot. : )

Grace nullifies...

“The gospel of grace nullifies our adulation of televangelists, charismatic superstars, and local church heroes. It obliterates the two-class citizenship theory operative in many American churches. For grace proclaims the awesome truth that all is gift. All that is good is ours, not by right, but by the sheer bounty of a gracious God.” 

- Brennan Manning

Everyone’s a Biblical Literalist Until You Bring Up Gluttony - by Rachel Held Evans

"In short, we like to gang up. We like to fashion weapons out of the verses that affect us the least and then “clobber” the minority with them. Or better yet, conjure up some saccharine language about speaking the truth in love before breaking out our spec-removing tweezers to help get our minds off of these uncomfortable logs in our own eyes."

Read the rest of the article here, by Rachel Held Evans.

Imagine That!

"If Evangelical Christianity spent 1/4 as much time focusing on changing hearts through manifesting the unconditional love of God as it does trying to change laws, and infiltrate Government, we might just have a revolution on our hands! 

If we spent even 1% of the energy that we spend debating evolution and trying to defend young earth science on healing wounded hearts, and repenting to the world for treating them like garbage, we might just have a revolution on our hands! 

If we would focus even a fraction of the energy that we spend on fighting the "culture war", on simply preaching Jesus Christ, the earth would shake! 

For far too long we've been propping up this patriotic "gospel" or moralism mated with Americanism. I'm all for morals and godliness, but Christianity is not about fighting culture wars, picketing certain establishments, or seeking to set a man in an oval office. It is about filling the earth with the knowledge of God's glory by selflessly manifesting His love to all we come in contact with! It's time that we saw people instead of political issues again! It's time that we saw human beings with feelings, emotions, and histories, instead of just opponents in a moral showdown. It's time to get the crud out of our eyes so that we can once more see that the Kingdom of God is not about imposing human rules on an unbelieving society, but showing the earth a King who loves them unconditionally, and welcomes them into His arms. 

The Kingdom of God is not about cold, sterile courtrooms, but a warm, and welcoming family room."

- Jeff Turner