Relinquishing Power

I just finished reading White Privilege by Paula Rothenberg for my American Church History class. My prof asked us to pick something that stood out to us and write a brief essay on it. This is what I came up with.

On page 123 Peggy McIntosh writes, "[Men] may say that they will work to improve women's status, in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they can't or won't support the idea of lessening men's." I thought about two books that have been very influential in my understanding of the church: Body Politics and The Dangerous Act of Worship. This quote and these books talk about the power struggle in humanity. We know that in Christ there is no male or female, Greek or Jew, slave or free (Gal. 3:28). The Christian baptism should create a new social reality where power is not used to abuse, manipulate, control or force. In this reality, power is used to empower. And the only way those in power can allow for those who do not have power to be empowered is for those without power to have the ability to empower themselves. This only can come with creating space by having those in power relinquish power. Relinquishing power is the ultimate act of selflessness.

An Original Song

One night a few weeks ago I started strumming on the guitar right before it was time for my son to go to bed. He walked in the room, sat down, and started reading. It was a sweet evening. This song came out of my time sitting there with my son. I wrote it to be simple enough for a 3 year old to understand yet profound enough for him to keep learning from it as he grows up. I plan to record it officially in a few months. For now, you have to deal with a computer microphone and a video where my lips do not match the words.

Love Your Neighbor (aka Egg Ministry)

When Hurricane Ike blew through Houston a few years ago my mom lost power for a little over a week. I remember talking to her a few days after her power returned. I asked her if she was happy to have AC and TV again. She said she was, but that she kind of missed the way things were during that week without power. Without AC she was forced to spend time outside with all of the neighbors who also did not have AC. People started sharing food and water because the stores were not fully functioning. As soon as the power came back on people moved on with their busy lives and stopped talking to one another. It's weird that a natural disaster had to happen to show people how their lives were intended to be lived. As soon as the natural disaster cleared people forgot and moved on.

I am always looking for ways to love my neighbors well just for the sake of loving them well. Tragically, I am often too tired from church ministry that I do not have energy to spend building relationships with my neighbors. However, raising chickens has given me an excuse to get out and talk to people. We get about 6 eggs a day from our chickens. If we eat eggs, we only eat about 3 a day. We end up with an extra dozen eggs ever few days. I love the community I am building with a simple gesture of giving away a dozen eggs to somebody I see daily but never talk to. I hope that I realign my priorities so that I can continue to build relationships with the people around me. I encourage you to look for ways you can get out and get to know and love your neighbors. Bake them cookies. Invite them over for dinner. Buy a bunch of chickens and give them eggs. Let's not wait for a natural disaster to occur to give us the motivation to love and to love well.

An Idea for a Worship Gathering

One of the requirements of my worship class is that I design a worship service that is meaningful for me. This is what I have so far.

1. Share a Meal – There is no more authentic way to get to know another person than to eat with him or her. Furthermore, this part of the service could help welcome those with little to no resources.

2. Interactive Celebration/Testimonies – I want to create space in the service where we celebrate things like birthdays and where people can talk about where they saw God at work during their week.

3. Guided Prayer Time – This would be a time to get centered. We would use this time to pray for one another as well.

4. Scripture Reading/Sermon – I believe God uses others to help proclaim his good news and to explain the Bible. This is an essential part of the service.

5. Song – I imagine this time to be prayerful and reflective. This may be a solo, a choral piece, or an “all sing” number.

6. Prayer of Confession – In order for us to live into the fullness of life we must be aware of our depravity. When we confess, we own up to our junk and we ask to be freed from it.

7. Eucharist – In John Yoder’s book, Body Politics, he writes that the Lord’s Supper was originally a natural part of the early Christians' shared life together. They would conclude regular meals by remembering Jesus through breaking bread and drinking wine. While some might think that this view of the Eucharist diminishes its holiness into something common like a meal, I think it elevates sharing a meal to something holy like worshipping.

8. Prayer of Thanksgiving – This prayer would be a response to the previous element of the service as well as a response to all that God is doing and has done.

9. Dessert Celebration – This element would be a continuation of the Prayer of Thanksgiving.

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Update: 4/28/11

Some people have emailed me some great feedback. I thought I would include one of my responses to a person who asked me my theological motivation for a couple of the elements.

First I need to let you know that I would not choose this service in all contexts. I have a pastoral motivation. I am called to help people recognize and follow the voice of God. I interpret that to mean that I need to help share the good news in a way that the people can understand it.

I agree with your definition of worship. There are plenty of passages of scripture that support that definition (her definition of worship is giving praise to a holy God). However, I think worship goes beyond that as well. Romans 12:1 seems to imply that true worship is sacrificial living. In Amos 5 God rejects the Israelites' precise worship because they are not living lives of justice and righteousness. These passages (along with ones like Matthew 5:23-24 and more indirect passages like 1 Corinthians 13 and Matthew 25:39-41) lead me to believe that the purity of our worship of the living God is very much tied to how well we are loving each other.

A more anecdotal response:
Has any of the following happened to you?
- Walked away from a conversation thinking, "Wow, I just experienced God while talking with that person."
- Climbed to the top of a peak and thought, "I am experiencing the fullness of God in this very moment."
If you have, then you at least recognize that worship goes much further beyond songs, organized prayer, and a sermon.

To My Coffee Bean Angel

Sometimes I just need a reminder. Well, let's just say I often need a reminder. I need encouragement that one day we will overcome this gargantuan mound of student loan debt and rise triumphantly to live life debt free. With debt free living comes more generous living. In an effort to be even more efficient we have recently moved to the "cash envelope system" made famous by Dave Ramsey. We ran out of our grocery cash on day one of the week. We have more than enough food. However, we also ran out of coffee...and I need coffee almost as much as I need oxygen. So I did what comes natural to me...I began to internally whine and wonder if we'd ever make it. In spite of all of the ways God has provided for us the past two years through generous people I was still uneasy about the future.

To give you an idea of how ridiculous my uneasiness is/was, the cheapest thing somebody did for us was pay $300 to get our car fixed...that is the CHEAPEST. One might think that I would actually trust that God will provide by now...

Today when I walked into the office there was a glorious pound of whole coffee beans waiting to greet me at my door. I just needed a subtle reminder that I am being too dramatic and that things are going to be ok. I am seriously blown away by the timeliness of this generous act. So, thanks for the beans whoever you are. God sent you to me today.

On Worship

(I wrote this for a class blog. We were given the task of reading 100 pages of any book on worship.)

I chose to begin reading The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice by Mark Labberton. Initially, I was simply looking for a book on Kindle because I do not have any of my books on worship with me at home. Most of the books I saw had to do with things we have already covered in class. This book’s title stood out from the others. This book takes Best’s concept unceasing worship to the next level. Not only do we worship constantly but worship causes us to go out and seek to end injustice.

Labberton dives in deep right away. He defines worship as human beings reflecting God’s glory by embodying God’s character in life and seeking righteousness and justice.[1] Notice that he said nothing about Sunday mornings, sermons, or music. He continues by saying that worship does happen on Sunday mornings but that it also includes how we treat others, how we use our money, and how we love the lost and oppressed.[2]

He devotes much time in the introductory chapters attempting to gracefully point out problematic aspects of things that occur when churches gather on Sunday mornings. For example, he boldly points out that sermons that “play to culture” without “critiquing and engaging it” are a part of the problem.[3] Other times he calls out “worship directors” who are egocentric worshipers as well as flashy worship programs that entertain rather than challenge people to be transformed. He believes that true worship is dangerous because it “is meant to produce lives fully attentive to the reality as God sees it, and that’s more than most of us want to deal with.”[4]

This book is confirming some of the things about which I have already been thinking. Worship is not egocentric. Worship transforms us into people who live justly, walk humbly, and love mercy. As I consider church planting in the Bible belt in the distant future, I am seriously considering only having one Sunday a month that includes music. Music has become the focal point in many churches in western evangelical churches. It has started to overshadow Jesus and his call to be people who love him and love others.

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[1] Mark Labberton, The Dangerous Act of Worship, (Downers Grove: InerVarsity Press, 2007), Kindle Electronic Edition: Chapter 1, Location 104.

[2] Ibid. Chapter 1, Location 108.

[3] Ibid. Chapter 2, Location 175.

[4] Ibid. Chapter 3, Location 184.

Reflecting on Solitude

I’m reading The Way of the Heart by Nouwen. In it he talks about a desert father named Anthony who spent a long time in solitude. I tend to not have a high opinion of hermits. Though living in community is tough, the friction makes us into better people when it is handled well. Moreover, as a follower of Jesus I believe I am called to live in the midst of all that comes with humanity (the good, the bad, and the ugly). Anthony was a different kind of hermit. He emerged from his season of solitude and immersed himself in society. His time in solitude enabled him to exist with a heart of peace in the midst of a broken and hurting community. His time in solitude allowed him to live in the brokenness and not be overwhelmed by it.

What does this solitude look like in the midst of community?