Reading the Bible Relationally

Reading Robert Webber's, Ancient-Future Worship, is a inspiration and pleasure. I'm particularly enjoying how he is shaping my approach to the Scriptures. We have a strong emphasis on relationships here (being a community after all) and our theology and practices reflect this. Webber doesn't disappoint in this regard either:

“To stand within the Bible and under it, we must also read the Bible relationally. The Hebrew mind does not describe God intellectually in the abstract as though God is an object to be studied. Instead he is always pictured as the God who enters into a relationship with his creatures. Whether we are standing alongside Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, David and the kings, or Isaiah and the prophets, God is always visualized in relationship.”

I'm constantly seeing that dramatic changes will take place in our lives when we move from a legal understanding of the gospel to a relational one. Not the least will be how we read and understand the Bible.

Forming Community

The following is the answer to an email I received asking about us and how to take steps to form a mission community. I get this question on occasion and so I thought it would be good to post my answer here.

Our community began as a number of us were involved in missions. About half of us were involved in missionary work oversees and in urban settings, but based out of here in NJ. In the late 80s there was a renewal movement of God in our ranks that awakened us to our need for a deeper experience of Christ. We had always been big on commitment to Him and to His work, but through this time of revival He started to convict us about our commitment to His people. We were very involved in evangelism and ministry to the poor and needy, but we felt a lack when it came to living out the truths of the gospel among ourselves. That's when we felt God was leading us to "throw our hats in the ring" together and begin to share finances and truly take liability for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We now see the Christian life as a total commitment to Christ, His people, and His work.

Community is basically about being in love with God and each other. It can't be for something, just like a marriage can't be for something. Your marriage is its own justification. It's part of God's will and a good in and of itself. You're not committed to "marriage" you're committed to your wife. You love her. She is important in her own right. Your love together has meaning. So with community, the church is God's will and is a good in and of itself. We don't commit to "community" we commit to real, tangible, wonderful, and flawed people in the community. They are important enough for me to commit my entire life to them. And just like marriage, out of that love children are produced, namely, ministering to the lost and needy. The love for each other overflows to the world around you. It would be unhealthy to marry for the express purpose of having children. Children are a part of marriage, but not the reason for it. They are a natural consequence of a couple's love. So, reaching out to the world around us should be a natural consequence of the love of the brethren. Some think that ecclesiolgy is a subcategory of missiology. I think that is incorrect. Missiology is a natural consequence of ecclesiology.

I keep coming back to this thought: whenever I think of our work or the community in general I remember that it's really about the specific people in our community, not about some ideal. I must have a zeal for them, for their welfare, for their uniqueness, for them as my friends. If I don't have this, I truly believe I don't have a whole lot to offer in the way of spirituality. My experience has been as I've traveled quite extensively in the church is that the one thing that seems to be the hardest to do is radical commitment to other brothers and sisters. People will go to the end of the earth and live in crushing poverty, they'll give lots of money, they'll do almost anything than fully pour out their life for another brother or sister. Commitment in the church just doesn't seem that important. But the truth is, it is the key thing God is trying to do in the world and that's why it is so aggressively opposed by Satan.

Once that issue is clearly settled (and that's not an easy thing) then consideration of how to touch the world around us can be done with clarity. As we incarnate in the world we have something to point to, "Hey, this kingdom of love and healing...look this way (pointing to the community), it's kind of like this. See how we love one another, see the lack of competition, see the acceptance, see the care for one another...that's what we're talking about." The mustard seed of the gospel becomes a large tree that the birds of air (the poor and needy around you) take refuge in. Can this be done in the suburbs? Absolutely. Can it be done in an urban setting? Very much so. It can be done anywhere. It's all a matter of God's particular guidance for you as a group. But the focus isn't the field, it's the harvesters.

One last thought on this: In order for a community to thrive, the leadership must be the best of friends. They must really like each other, love each other, respect each other, and "throw away the key" commit to each other. I can't emphasize that enough.

Goodbye

Unlocking the door while juggling my laptop and thermos, I wrestled the keys out of the lock and entered our dimly lit office. The morning sun crept through the blinds giving the room a warm, tranquil feeling. Spring was in full bloom which normally would fill the day's labor with an energy that could mitigate any stress from our work. Soon my co-workers would arrive, but today I knew that one chair would be empty. Karen, my friend and assistant of twenty years, passed away at the end of the previous week. Even the beauty of spring could not wield its magic against my aching grief.

So began the torturous process of dealing with her absence. Besides being the best man at Tim and Karen's wedding, Karen and I worked so closely together over these last twenty years that she truly felt like the sister I never had. The challenges we faced together created a deep camaraderie. Now I had to face the loss of a key staff member without the help of the very person who normally I would rely on in a situation like this. Tackling it would be made worse by having to sort though the notes and work of my friend, each page and file reminding me of her absence. After a while, it seemed like the grief would never end.

It's very hard, however, to resist the beauty of spring. Each blossom, bird, and fragrance subverts the gloom that seeks to rule over me. Its magic has power after all. And more magic yet seduces me; the laughter of my friends, the innocent joys of my children, and the love of my wife. Each compels me to conclude that there is too much good to wallow in sorrow.

Raking over Karen's emails, notebooks, and files I'm reminded of my loss. But, unexpectedly, I also remember a myriad of wonderful things about her: that incredible smile, her tenacious faith, the attention to detail, and her warm spirit. I realize that the loss of the good should never overshadow the good that was. Life moves on and things change. Each season gives way to another. We shouldn't curse this inevitability and stubbornly cry about what is lost. Children grow up, leaves change colors, and people die. The wonder of what was should never be crushed by the change that will and must come.

So goodbye my dear friend. You made a difference.