Institutions and “Deep Church”

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people-networkI found this in my inbox today as a part of a daily email sent by Richard Rohr.  I found it quite powerful and as such I wanted to share it here in its entirety.   Rohr's roots as a Franciscan Roman Catholic make this all the more poignant to me and I appreciate the balance and the perspective in his thinking about institution and institution of church.

He also communicates so well, in my opinion, a healthy appreciation of how the institution of church serves the Kingdom.  I think this is an important message for many of my fellow pilgrims in search of healthy, relational, love centred ekklesia to realize that despite the challenges of the IC, we too have benefited from what she does well.  While the big box form of Christian community may not be for all us, we must not dismiss it out of hand as many faithful, thoughtful and genuine people experience life within her – and yes, some very, very deeply.  God can, does and is at work everywhere!

I do think however, even within the context of the IC, the "Deep Church" Rohr speaks of occurs in the twos and threes.  The IC, like the coffee shops, family rooms and deliberately unstructured gatherings can provide a good context for these two's and three's to connect and to be Church in deep ways.

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Jesus says that the Reign of God “is close at hand” (Mark 1:15, Matthew 4:17). So we should not project it onto a later or other world. The Kingdom of God breaks into this world whenever people act as God would act.

It is sad to say, but institutions as institutions can seldom operate at a Kingdom level—except in vision, philosophy, and mission statements, in corporate decisions they make now and then, and writings that stand over time. They can also raise up, educate, protect, and promote enlightened individuals, as many churches and organizations often do. There has to be a container to carry the message from age to age, or we all have to start at zero, so I am not so naïve as to think we do not need institutions.

When Big Truth can happen in terms of structures, organizations or groups, then you have a momentary taste of the true Kingdom descending to earth. This seldom happens with more than “two or three” rightly gathered (Matthew 18:20). It is the critical mass, or “leaven” and “salt” who can and will change the world and reform institutions. This is Jesus’ basic and first image of church. Nowhere is there found an institutional image of church as such. “Deep church” is invariably something shared between a small group of believers, which is probably why he speaks of “two or three gathered in my name” (Matthew 18:20).

Richard Rohr, Adapted from Jesus’ Plan for a New World: The Sermon on the Mount, p. 110

Send in the Clones

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clones- © Nomad_Soul - Fotolia.com(Originally posted on IamSignificant.ca)

Have you ever experienced a situation where someone, in the name of Jesus, tried to fashion you into their own image of Jesus? As well-meaning leaders we want to help others mature in faith, help them grow in Christ-likeness but unfortunately, we can sometimes have a narrow idea of what this Christ-likeness looks like, and often it looks a lot like us or how we wished we were.

Do you remember the story in 1 Samuel 17:38-40? How King Saul outfitted David in his armor? He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David told Saul, “I can’t even move with all this stuff on me. I’m not used to this.” And he took it all off.

Then David picked five smooth stones from the river, and with his sling in hand approached Goliath.  The rest is well known history.  David, being who God created David to be slew the Giant in his life by being authentically himself.  David recognized that fighting the giant Saul’s way was simply not going to work.  How often have we as well-intentioned leaders hung on others or allowed others to hang on us unrealistic expectations, models, style and personal preferences and “seal the deal” with a “thus says the Lord”? 

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Generous God

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An excerpt:

At the age of two I began to shake. I developed a physical tremor and I have lived with it for over forty years. Along with a Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000039_00005]constant shaking I sometimes spasm (especially in my hands). The doctors have determined it is a genetic issue I share with my mother, grandfather and aunt and there is nothing I can do about it, no drug or treatment. As such I have resigned myself to the fact I will never perform brain surgery or vasectomies, or anything else which requires precise, steady movements. This makes carrying hot coffee a little tricky, as I have to be careful not to spill. I fill cups well below the brim, and I ask the good folks at Starbucks to put the lid on my travel mug for me. I have learned to compensate but I have also grown used to being embarrassed by shaking coffee all over the floor, or spilling soup on my shirt. I find once people understand I am not a careless pig but really quite incapable of fine motor control, they afford me great grace and are compassionate even when one of my spasms creates more work for them. If people are this generous to me as a result of a condition, how much more generous is God who knows we are helpless on our own to “get our act together!”

Gifts,Talents and Community

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Give-share-loveCultivating community has been a wonderful journey for our Amadeo community.  We have let go of a number of things we think have been unhelpful to authentic community, and we have pick a few of those things back up again for a time and a purpose, and laid them aside again. While this has been helpful, we have found it is even more important to look within ourselves and lay down some ways of thinking and yes, some of the ways in which we actually relate to each other.   I have to admit it has been the hardest part.  Hard because at times I find myself approaching community / relationships on the basis of my strengths and gifts.   Strengths and gifting are not bad things in and of themselves but I have come to see how they can be twisted and smudged when offered as the basis of our belonging and establishing our rank in community.

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But without love… who cares?

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what-is-love1corinthians13I am amazed how the perfect love of God works in and through His good creation but have been surprised at the reaction of some folks.  These sincere people get concerned that when we talk about love, it must be at the expense of truth.   They suspect love is different than truth, as if the truth of God and the love of God are opposed.  Not at all!  The perfect love of God is inseparable from the truth of God.

I often hear folks talk about the need for a balance between love and truth, like 50-50.  I am not sure this dualism exists, rather I am more convinced, day by day, it is a matter of both / and.   It is love full of truth that makes love divine-love; potent enough to bring about authentic transformation; freedom, salvation, hope, joy, peace, etc.  It is love that carries truth into our hearts.

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Life Beyond the Detox

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chainDetoxing from institutional church is an important first step for many. To identify the many issues and then to have the courage to step out from under this can very difficult, frightening and at first, very lonely. It is great to find others who find themselves in similar situations and to encourage one another. Please remember, this is not the end of the journey. Do not set up little "cottage" ministries and build identity around your hurt, disillusionment or worse, self-righteousness. It is not enough to set up our ministry to lead people out unless we have a healthy vision of what we will help lead others into. Anyone can be critical and throw stones and gather a following to help you do so. 

There is more. There is new life on the other side of this legitimate hurt and pain. It is a life where we no longer identify ourselves and others by our wounds and victimization but by Jesus. We must not become people who form community and identity on what we are against, rather people who are for something bigger, something life changing and truly freeing. Unfortunately, as much as we genuinely want to be about Jesus, this often gets hi-jacked and less about Jesus and more about what we believe has hurt us. Can you see that the victimization only continues?

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The Love Paradigm

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new_paradigm_signCame across this new review of Becoming Love the other day.  I'm encouraged with the feedback I am receiving and I am excited that folks are getting the idea of the Love Paradigm.  The idea that divine love runs through, enlivens, renovates and transforms us in ways that are truly a sign and a wonder!   I love that people are beginning to see love not just as Christianity 101 and "okay for basic children's Sunday school" but as the primary value of the Kingdom that when truly embraced is not just for children but very much for adult consumption too!  As we become love we soon discover living this way is not as "milk-toast" as we may have thought.  It is not a simple way to live really, which only serves to underline our need for the Father in it all – the source of dive love – it is however a very beautiful, healing and whole way to live.

In a system of church-ianity that seems to have made a whole industry of making the simple things complex - that takes a free gift and back-loads it with all sort of religious obligation with all its hoops to jump through manipulated by guilt, shame and greed - people are genuinely enjoying the breath of fresh air of the perfect love of God.  A love that is given freely and indiscriminately, and one that inspires and enables us to respond in kind!  We can love God, others and ourselves because God first loves us!

 

Reading This book was like enjoying a deep massage and a tall, cold glass of water after eight hours of hiking through a barren desert on a hot day. Some authors come from the heart, others lean heavily on research while still others write from personal experience. Becoming love embraces all three sources, but it's the nuggets of wisdom forged in the fires Rose has walked through on his quest for spiritual reality that lend depth and authority to what he articulates so well in these pages.

Written as a series of letters to his sons, Becoming Love explores what the author calls the Love Paradigm. He begins by using his personal spiritual journey to illustrate how misconceptions of God can take root in our thinking at an early age. Relating his memories of Sunday School, Michael writes:

"Their upshot of the message was simple: God was good and loving, but he was mad as hell at me; He couldn't love me because I was so bad and I had to smarten up, behave better and get to know Jesus because He will take the punishment I should get from a loving God. As you can understand through my grid, this god was not good news at all, just someone else who rejects me. I couldn't please him either, all I could do was try harder but it wouldn't really do any good because that god was bound and determined to smack somebody, and it was me or Jesus."

If you've been involved with the Christian form of doing the same things over and over again while expecting different results you'll love this read. But this book moves the reader past religious futility into a deeper understanding of how God's love is worked into our lives and worked out in practical application.

FAQ Becoming Love – Interview with Michael Rose

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Michael talks about his latest book "Becoming Love. Avoiding Common Forms of Christian Insanity" and shares a great deal of the heart that permeates the book and inspires his ministry and life.

In Becoming Love, Michael Rose leads us to the very foundation of our Christian faith and helps us step off the treadmill of religious obligation, revealing the gospel as you may never have known it: REALLY GOOD NEWS. Challenging and inspiring us towards a deeply personal encounter with the unfailing love of God, it introduces us to a Father who untangles us from the snare of shame and fear-based religion – releasing us into the wide-open fields of grace and freedom, safe in His expansive love.

Failure isn’t Fatal

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uphill-© olly - Fotolia.comThere is a classic line in one of my favorite Batman movies (yes… I like super hero movies).  It comes from the Dark Knight and it is a question that is asked several times throughout the movie and often in the aftermath of failure or in the face of fear of a great challenge.  The question is "Why do we fall?  The answer consistently given was "So we can learn to pick ourselves up".   This has been a great question that I have used often working with folks and particularly my sons.  I want to help them understand that in most cases in life, failing, making a mistake is not terminal.  That in the face of failure or in the shadow of a daunting task we have a choice; we can choose to get back up and starting walking again or we can stay down, give up and make excuses as to why our life is so … well… life-less.  Yes, when we choose to get up, sometimes barely, we may walk with a limp.  We may walk with that limp for a lifetime but those limps and scars are badges of a life lived well.

What is foundational in all of this is the reality that in Christ our mistakes and failures are not terminal.  That we are growing in the understanding that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ – no trial, no circumstance and yes… not even death itself because love has over come sin, failure and death.  The eternal promise of life after death assures us that even in the face of death, even the "big stick" threat of death no longer has a sting!

I am more and more convinced that when we fail (and we will) that we fall into the safety, the security burnout250x250of the generous, all-consuming love of God. It is in the safety of this place that we can be healed, encouraged and find the grace and strength to learn from it and get back up.  It is here that we begin to see the successful life is one that is lived deeply and fully – not hiding our talents but sharing them liberally.  It is being faithful with a little or a lot – not the amount at all.  That to risk all for love's sake and fail is not failing at all because love never fails. This is the mark of a life lived in God. The journey of surrender, to be immersed, overcome, saturated and permeated through and through with the transforming love of God.

If you are feeling the crushing weight under what feels like catastrophic failure, or you are frozen by fear and intimidation of failure, I would invite you to fall into the safety, the security of the generous, all-consuming love of God and there be picked up, dusted off, kissed and sent onward into deeper living knowing that you are never alone, and like death and sin, failure has been conquered by the Fathers perfect love!