I just received my complimentary copies of a new book from Authentic Media / Paternoster entitled, A New Kind of Conversation: Blogging Toward a Postmodern Faith, edited by Myron Bradley Penner and Hunter Barnes with contributions from Brian McLaren, Mabiala Kenzo, Bruce Ellis Benson, and Ellen Haroutunian.
I was hoping to contribute more to this book, but my health stuff got in the way.
(I just realized that I'm in this book twice: on page 20, commenting about postmodern philosopher Jean-François Lyotard’s understanding of the metanarrative, and on pages 144-146, commenting on an approach to postmodern apologetics.)
Pretty exciting to see your name in print!
To read the on-line version of the book, go to the original blog:
A New Kind of Conversation.
technorati tags: emerging church; missional; postmodernity
I read Brian Mclaren's post and i get an understanding of the aversion people have towards disciplined discipleship. However in my opinion i see what he said can only apply towards the individual disciple maker. The disciplines he mentions as Prayer, quite time, Church, and evangelism is not necessarily means to information getting as much as it was to start identifying as a Christian. For sure they are divisive towards info getting but the blame should not be put on the discipline as much as the disciple maker. If they demand results than immediately they are putting the tools before the house. You use tools to build the house not build the tools for the tools sake.
ReplyDeleteI blame the Modernist thinker who is so married to forms and systems that cant perceive growth outside of them. The Modernist has a lot to teach the PO MO how ever they are to busy being angry at us. All of this to say i dont disagree with McLaren in this as much as he might lean towards demonizing these methods instead of seeing them for what they are. The poor disciplemaker actually makes the case for him to be bent that way. But no one who reads the Bible can say quite times are detrimental to the faith. Only if it is for the purpose of being good at your quite times.
Dan,
ReplyDeleteI agree.
The spiritual disciplines are not Modern, they are pre-modern. They are ancient, tried-and-true, spiritual access points.
I think McLaren's beef is with modernistic educational methodology as the foundation for spiritual formation. He seeks to move us away from a "the-more-information-the-deeper-we -are-as-Christians" bent we've seen in our discipleship methods over the past 100 years.
Right? Or am I missing the point too?
I love your humble approach. You have no reason to be but you are and I really appreciate that.
ReplyDeleteNo i think you are right, i think however of the spiritual giants like Wesley, Edwards, Luther, Hus, Aquinas, Augustine, St. Cyril, Julian of Norwich, Anthony... So on and so forth. They were passionate and intelligence. My aversion is for mindlessness, shoot from the hip egalitarian individualism. I lends its self to "I, Me, My feel" Language that has no place in the very absolute world of the God we don't know. I can see both sides and agree with both at times. However in this case i see that feeling and personal belief has wormed its way into truth telling. Part of wants to tell people to be quite and listen for years before they should speak. When you have people making kingdom decisions from their feelings and experience without any severe personal anguish, testing of your beliefs, and intentional discipline of your worldly habits, I believe puts someone on a shaky ground. These disciplines and info getting automatically put you in a place that quites you to listen. I see this in circles way to often. People are put into places of power that constantly shoot from the hip. One decision is not linked to anything absolute and neither is the next. We look at spiritual disciplines as something to engage in season as apposed to everyday. As if that is too legalistic. Your right Brian is fighting the intellectualism of Christianity but i think that does stem from a older paradigm not a younger one. We are no were near, in my opinion, close to "the-more-information-the-deeper-we -are-as-Christians"
Mentality. Actually look at what students strive for. It is a high emotional worship music set, an attention getting sermon writer that uses illustrations, we are no were close to anything that looks like solid worship in the form of liturgy, and these are the worship services that have the audacity to suggest they are going to start a new revival or even reformation. The lyrics of the songs only perpetuate a white middle class individualism that does not sing to the the true and living God but the "high emotional your faith is for you" Idol. We are no where close to truth with this. Forget getting them to bring the kingdom they cant stop looking in the mirror long enough to actually read what God's word actually says.
Brian is fighting a fight that shouldn't necessarily be attached to the college area. He is fighting the powers that write and publish books. I get upset when we adapt his causes to a non-existent fight in our areas.
I was thinking about starting my own Blog?
ReplyDeleteAny advice.
How about a name?