One of the bessings of my year has been an opportunity to engage in conversation
with many of those I would consider to be leaders in the Emerging Church movement.
There is a lot of inaccurate information floating around about these men and
women and that is a shame because it means that some of the wisdom they have
to offer will never be heard because they are so often misrepresented by those
who think they know what they are talking about but do not.
I am a huge fan of Phyllis Tickle. Read anything of hers and you will be blessed.
And the same is true for Brian McLaren and for Tony Jones. There are others but
this will give you a place to start if you are interested.
Before responding to Fr. Richard's reflection for today I want to quote Tony Jones,
from his book The New Christians.
"When we took a break for dinner, I followed the group across the parking lot
and into Papacito's. I ended up sitting across from Brad Cecil, and the two of
us got talking. I can't remember the exact trajectory of the conversation but
I do remember saying at a somewhat inopportune time, and in far too loud a voice,
"The Bible is propaganda!" It came out even though I don't believe
I had ever thought it before. To be honest, I was a bit amazed that I had even
said it. Everyone else at the table looked at me, their faces betraying the thought
"Who's the new guy?"
As one does in these situations, I began to fervently defend my position even in
the face of Brad's stupefaction and his cries of "You've got to be kidding
me! That's crazy!"
"Propaganda has a point and a purpose," I retorted. "It doesn't claim
to be objective. It's trying to convince someone of something. It's trying to
get people to join a cause, to join a movement. Isn't that exactly what the Bible
is?"
" ............ It is a living, breathing document that makes a claim on its
readers' lives. It's like the pamphlets surreptitiously printed by Paul Revere
and his compatriots in 1776 ___ propaganda in that sense. It's God's manifesto,
Jesus' Little Red Book."
Father Richard gave homework today and it is a really good practice. Be sure to do
it. He begins by talking about the Bible and he says, "When the Scriptures
are used maturely, and they become a precursor to meeting the Christ, they proceed
in this order:
1. They confront us with a bigger picture than we are used to, "God's Kingdom" that has
the potential to "deconstruct" our false world views.
2. They then have the power to convert us to an alternative worldview by proclamation, grace and the sheer attraction of
the good, the true and the beautiful (not by shame, guilt or fear which are low-level
motivations). "Attraction and promotion," said Bill Wilson, co-founder
of Alcoholics Anonymous.
3. They then console us and bring deep healing as they "reconstruct" us in a new place with
a new mind and heart.
My teachers in 2009 were many and a constant theme among them was, in essence, Wake up to Scripture! God is trying to tell you something!
You know we kind of have it all lined out. We read a daily devotional, not unlike
this one or Fr. Richard's, where someone else has exposed themselves to something
that might shake them up a bit. And we let them pass it on to us. Or we attend
a classs where Scripture is explored or we attend worship and hear the readings
on Sunday morning.
But today we are approaching the birth of Christ anew in our hearts. That is an experience we need to have for ourselves. Fr. Richard closed
his thoughts today with these words ...... "We are always the "stable"
into which the Christ is born anew. All we can really do is keep our stable honest
and humble, and the Christ will surely be born. The response to that could be
"okay." But does that mean anything? What if the response was "how
do we do that?" I would guess Fr. Rohr hoped for the latter because he gave
us some homework. I did it and I so hope you will too.
Reflect: Find a Gospel passage that you look to for consolation and let it challenge
you.
I did and it did! I chose The Beatitudes in Matthew 5. In that reading of the words
of Jesus I experienced confrontation, conversion and consolation. This practice
was very powerful for me. I will be anxious to hear from those of you who accept
the challenge to hear whether or not other passages have the same potential for
confronting , converting and consoling.
Fr. Richard has said for a long time now, "Either you let the Bible change you
or you will change it." Which will it be for you?