Rachel Held Evans's Blog, page 24
March 23, 2014
Sunday Superlatives 3/23/14
Best Chart:
Bird and Moon with “If you find a baby songbird out of the nest”
Best Sermon:
Nadia Bolz-Weber with “Sermon on Earthly Things, Wombs, and the Resurrection of the Dead”
“I understand Nicodemis’s desire for this all to make sense. I do. But instead of a religion revealed through philosophical constructs – easily reasoned out and understood, instead we get a God inconveniently revealed in people, and food and wine and water and bodies and pies and oil and beer. When God chose to come and take on human flesh and walk the earth and break bread with friends it was as though God was baptizing the material. As though to say ‘stop looking for me in the heavens when you aren’t even close to understanding the majesty of a loaf of bread,’ or as Jesus puts it, if you can’t understand earthly things you’ll never understand heavenly things.”
Best Reflection:
Maria Konnikova at The New York Times with “Don’t Quote Me On This”
“Emerson didn’t hate quotation, not really. What he hated was our impulse to shortcut actual thought. The Internet didn’t create that impulse, but it has made it far more tempting and easier to satisfy.”
Best Imagery:
John Blase with “Just a Hunch”
“We live haunted by the remains
of a paradise half-seen in dreams,
half-heard in birdsong, half-felt
in the aftermath of love’s making.”
Best Reminder:
Kenneth Tanner with “How We Know God”
“We know what God looks like; God looks like Jesus. We know what God sounds like; God sounds like Jesus. We know how God acts; God acts like Jesus.”
Best Analysis:
Tim Krueger at Christians for Biblical Equality with “Reframing Biblical Masculinity”
“Several hallmarks of “biblical manhood” look suspiciously like modern, Western, middle-to-upper class rites of passage: employment outside the home, financial independence, marriage, and fatherhood, for instance. Jesus, on the other hand, never married or had children. He abandoned his family business in favor of ministry, becoming financially dependent on others—even women. He could be tough, but he also wept in public. Day after day, he soiled his reputation as a man of God by hanging around the wrong people. In short, Jesus fails spectacularly to live up to the ideals of “biblical manhood.” This, to me, suggests that we might be off track.”
Best Meditation:
Adam McHugh with "Praying with the Waves"
"The tide waxes. Inhale. Breathe in the love God.
The tide wanes. Exhale. Release the hurt.
Wax. Breathe in the Presence.
Wane. Breathe out the regret.
Crash. Inhale his tenderness.
Flee. Exhale the heartbreak and grief.
Approach. Take in the fresh air of grace and new creation.
Depart. Surrender the black cloud of sin and guilt."
Funniest:
“5 Reasons Your Partner Doesn’t Actually Want to Go to the Farmer’s Market With You”
“#2 Because dealing with the crowds and bad parking is not worth a tomato, heirloom or otherwise: I hate big, outdoor, weekend-long concerts. The crowds, parking lines and overpriced water aren't worth it; I'd rather listen to my favorite bands in the comfort of my living room. Not as vibrant or exciting, sure, but a lot less hellish. This is pretty much how your partner feels about tomatoes, corn and whatever else you are waxing rhapsodic about while you both stand uncomfortably sweating under the beating sun, waiting for the vendor to finish up his long, slow conversation with the woman in front of you. No vegetable is worth it, no matter how fresh.”
Wisest:
Brian McLaren with “Do Not Fix Others As You Would Not Want to Be Fixed”
“A lot of communication SNAFU’s can be avoided if we commit to this simple maxim: do not fix others as you would not want to be fixed.”
Bravest:
Osheta Moore with “Speaking Fear, Praying Shalom”
“This Mama is still afraid. I’m afraid that my sweet boy in a hoodie could be mistaken for a threatening hoodlum and that a fear-propelled bullet could be his tragic end. This Mama is still afraid, so I will try to stand my ground and pray shalom when I’m tempted to speak fear.”
Truest:
D.L. Mayfield with “Translators”
“But inside there are dreams of large trees, big enough to create safe havens for the birds of the air. I am writing, all day every day, in my head. The disasters, the miracles. The despair, the joy. The abuses, the sadness, the mental illness, the addictions, the disabilities; the perseverance, the community, the colors, the embraces. The erasers taped on to the end of a pencil. A box of free bananas in the hallway. The snow slowly melting to reveal a graveyard of vodka bottles, gray and blue and brown. The youth group roaming outside of my window, hungry and scared for that mysterious, inscrutable kingdom to come. I don’t even know it until I write it all down: I love them. I love everything about my life, even as it pulls me down, forces me to see inside myself in ways I never wished for.”
Craziest:
This Wheel-of-Fortune Moment
Most Fascinating (nominated by Dan Evans):
Frontline with “The Like Generation”
Most Relatable:
Rob Bell with “What is the Bible, Part 53: A Shout Out to the Lonely”
“This post is for all of you are are alive in ways you’ve never been before, learning and growing and making connections and seeing things you haven’t seen before but when you’ve shared this new faith and understanding with others you’ve been dismayed to discover that not everybody is so thrilled…”
[Rob’s whole series on the Bible has been fantastic. If you want to read the whole thing, start here.]
Most Challenging:
Christena Cleveland with “Urban Church Plantations”
“A few years ago, a large, multi-campus, predominantly white church on the West Coast decided to expand their ministry into a low-income, predominantly black neighborhood. On the first Sunday of the new urban campus, the white male pastor who had zero urban ministry experience, brashly declared to the mostly black audience, “This ain’t your grandmomma’s church.” Little did he know that grandmomma’s church has been and will continue to be the cornerstone of the community. If it weren’t for grandmomma’s church this community would have completely fallen apart in the face of ongoing racism and societal oppression.”
Most Thoughtful:
Rob McCoy with “Six Reasons I Share Communion with Kids”
“One of my favorite things to say during the course of any service is, “This is not my table. This is not a Methodist table. This is Christ’s table, and all are welcome. Come, for all is ready.” If it is Christ’s table, who am I to guess his guest list? If Christ wants to meet someone at his table, that’s his call, not mine. Jesus told a story about inviting guests to a banquet, and one of the most important lessons of that story is that we don’t make the guest list.”
Most Eye-Opening:
Ryan Herring with “From the Penthouse of Privilege”
“Too often are poor and oppressed people (especially people of color) regarded as threats here in America, while poor and oppressed people in other countries are viewed as victims. This type of perspective is dehumanizing to people here and to people abroad. To overlook the problems here and to focus on issues elsewhere sends the message that poor and oppressed American's problems are either insignificant, unimportant, or non urgent and at the same time it leads to the objectification of the ‘exotic other.’”
Most Encouraging:
Suzanne Burden with “When I Opposed Women in Ministry”
“She leaned in and said simply: ‘Jesus has already set women free.’ I’ll never forget it. Her timely words unlocked a doorway that had been bolted to me.”
Most Powerful:
Debbie Blue at TIME with “God’s Feminine Side is Plain to See”
“The writers of the Bible are well aware of the insufficiency of the words available to them to speak of the divine him/her/it, because they reach so wildly. God is a lily, a rose, dew, wind and fire. God is a mother bear and a lion. On the other hand God is not a lion, but a lamb. God is not in the fire or the wind, but in the still small voice. God is in the images of birthing and bird–these are especially fruitful.”
Most Instructive:
Gene Luen Yang with “Parental Expectations, Practical Majors, and Advice for Making Art”
“These days when aspiring cartoonists ask me for advice, I tell them to find a day job that they enjoy, one with flexible hours, one that will leave them with enough energy to do their own projects on the side. For most of us it takes years, even decades, for our art to begin making money. Art is a long haul, and you need to eat…Recently I realized, much to my chagrin, that I’m basically giving an Americanized version of my father’s talk.”
Most Convicting:
John Russell Stranger with "Fred Phelps and Our Offensive Gospel"
"But Jesus—and our encounters with those we can’t stand—remind us that our power is limited. Our power to love. Our power to show compassion. Our power to live graciously. We do not have the power to grant nor withhold the living water of eternal life that Jesus offers the Samaritan woman. The living water of Christ respects none of our human distinctions of identity. The living water is grace more powerful than any of our refusals.”
Most Interesting:
NPR with "What It Means to Be Catholic in 2014"
Most Relevant to Recent Conversations:
Alisa Harris at The Daily Beast with “Survivor Bloggers Join Forces to Reveal Christian Fundamentalist Abuses”
“Julie Ingersoll, a professor at the University of North Florida who studies evangelical communities, said mental isolation is key to abuse, and websites telling the stories of abuse survivors “completely undermine the power of abusers to convince their victims that it's their fault and that they're all alone. Collectively, the stories have power. It is often challenging to fully report on stories of sexual harassment or sexism in evangelical communities because records are sealed and because individual allegations are dismissed by people in power, Ingersoll says. But, she notes, if dozens of women tell the same story, the veracity is difficult to deny: 'If you have 100 stories that are really similar, the likelihood that they're all made up is really low.'”
Most Likely to Spark the Imagination:
Kathy Escobar with “The Kingdom of God is like…”
“The challenge to us was to consider a real-life story of what the kingdom of God is like, a moment where we tasted it, felt it, touched it, experienced it. A moment where on the outside it might have looked like not-that-much, just ordinary, but underneath there was this magical kingdom-y thing happening. A moment where our eyes were opened to the reality of God in the here & now. A moment where heaven broke through. A moment that didn’t make sense but somehow did. A moment, no matter how big or small or seemingly spiritual or unspiritual or complicated or simple, we got a glimpse of God in a special way.”
So, what caught your eye online this week? What's happening on your blog?
March 17, 2014
Your church stories…
As I’m putting the finishing touches on my next book (read: frantically writing the second half), I’ve realized I would like to include a few more stories about other people’s experiences with church.
The book, tentatively titled Sunday Morning, is ultimately a memoir—a series of essays about loving, leaving, and finding the church, loosely arranged around the seven sacraments. I’m thrilled with how it’s turning out, and think it’s some of my best writing so far. But as with Evolving in Monkey Town and A Year of Biblical Womanhood, it’s important for me to not only share my own story, but also the stories of friends, family, and readers, in an effort to broaden the scope of the project and introduce new perspectives. I’ve already included several people’s stories in the book, but I’d like to include just a few more.
So I’m hunting for church stories. I’m looking for the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the bizarre, and the redemptive. I’d love to hear from both pastors and laypeople, the churched and the un-churched. A few questions that especially interest me:
Why did you leave your church?
How did you find your church? When did you know it was where you belonged?
What did your journey look like?: Atheist to Catholic? Anglican to Pentecostal? Baptist to Orthodox? (I love hearing about unusual church journeys)
Tell me a story that encapsulates everything that is beautiful about your church.
Tell me a story the encapsulates everything that frustrates you about church.
[For pastors]: What makes you feel most removed from your congregation? What do you feel you have to keep from them?
Think 400-800 words, about the size of a normal blog post. (Not my normal, which is 1500 words, but normal people’s normal.) Specifics are key. Broad generalities won’t help me much. Since the book draws from the imagery of the seven sacraments—baptism, confession, communion, holy orders, marriage, healing, and confirmation—stories that center around those experiences are much more likely to strike a chord with where I’m at creatively with this project.
If you’re interested in contributing your story, you can send it to Katie@Rachelheldevans.com or leave it in the comment section. Please include your first name and hometown. Katie is my assistant and she will keep track of all the submissions and put them in a single folder in my inbox. Though I will read them all, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to respond to them all. Please send submissions by April 1, 2014.
Submissions may be used in one of two ways:
1) Inclusion in the book. I’ll be sure to contact you if I want to include your story in the book. If I do, I will likely paraphrase your story in my own words and include several quotes from your submission, so the piece will have a sort of journalistic feel. (I’ll let you read your section before it’s published, but I will retain the rights to the final product, as it appears in the book.) If you leave a short comment—three to five sentences—I may use your quote in a series of other quotes around a single topic. (For example: “I asked my readers why they left their churches, and this is what some of them said…”) In all cases, I will only use first names.
2) Guest post entry. You will remember that a few years back we hosted a series of guest posts here on the blog called “Church Stories” (you can find most them under the “church” category). In the lead up to the release of Sunday Morning, I’d love to bring that series back with some new submissions. So if you’re interested in contributing to that, please indicate that in your email or comment and write with my audience in mind. (If I use your submission only for a guest post, you will retain full rights to the final product.)
Hope all that makes sense. Let me know if you have questions.
One thing I love about blogging is that it has made the writing process so collaborative. I think about this little online community through every stage of the writing and publishing process, and I am so grateful for all the ways in which you have influenced how I think about the church. You’ve had a greater impact on me than you can know, and it’s a privilege to be on this journey with you.
Thank you!
Rach
March 16, 2014
Sunday Superlatives 3/16/14 & See you in Harrisonburg, VA
Most Mesmerizing:
This, done with music, clay, and a potter’s wheel
Most Relatable:
The Oatmeal with “The Weather Right Now”
Best Insight:
Heather Caliri at She Loves with “Brief Moments When I Did Not Hate the Bible”
“Over and over, I denigrated, discounted and explained away the ways that I did enjoy Scripture. I kept ignoring the approaches I liked in favor of the ones I thought ‘counted.’ That’s when I realized what my real attitude towards the Bible was: If I enjoyed it, if it was easy, or fun, or made my heart sing, it didn’t really count. And its corollary: I believed God wanted the Bible to be unpleasant.”
Best Story:
Katherine Willis Pershey at Deeper Story with “Footsteps in the Student Center”
“All the pepperoni pizza and praise choruses in the world couldn’t have given me what that low-budget Bible study did.”
Best Feature:
Jessica Testa at Buzzfeed with “Two years after Kony 2012, has Invisible Children grown up?”
“By mid-2012, Invisible Children had nearly $26.5 million in revenue and $17 million in net assets. By mid-2013, the organization had $4.9 million in revenue (their lowest since 2005) and less than $6.6 million in assets. Sixty-five employees in the San Diego office became 29. Two floors of a building became one. About 130 staffers in Africa — 95% of them from the region — became 108. And yet, KONY 2012 was objectively the organization’s most successful campaign ever, both in its mission — making Kony famous, even if on the other end of punch lines — and in policy.”
Best Question:
Kathryn Knight at Mail Online with “Why do babies laugh?”
Best Perspective:
Sarah Bessey with “In which I don’t mind if my tinies see me on the computer”
“…We have decided it is GOOD for the tinies to see me loving my job, loving my work, being good at something, and actually doing it. To let them see me being faithful to my calling, let them see their dad empowering me to do it with his enthusiastic blessing, let them see it as part of our family’s gift to the world. This is what we do in this family: we support each other in our work and in our callings and even in the things we just plain love to do."
Best Conversation-Starter:
John Shore with “To secretly gay affirming pastors of conservative churches”
“All you have to do is ask your congregation if they’d like to have a conversation about homosexuality and the Bible. If none of them do—if they refuse to even talk about it—then shrug, say ‘Oh. Well, never mind,’ and then quietly start searching for another church….But I’ll bet that doesn’t happen. I’ll bet that people will want to engage in that conversation. As long as you’re not pushing them one way or another, they’ll feel safe.”
Best Sermon (shared by Marlena Graves):
Henri Nouwen with “The Life of the Beloved” (from 2011)
Best Tribute:
Shauna Niequist with “She’s not a magachurch. She’s my sister.”
“You learn all sorts of things growing up the way I did. And one of them is this: the labels never suffice. The articles and blogs and books and outside opinions never will capture the real thing. They’ll reduce it to policy, numbers, data. They fail to capture what a church actually is: real live actual humans, showing up day after day, year after year, building something durable and lovely over time, together, with prayer and forgiveness and love.”
Best Response:
Brandon Wallace at The Gay Christian with "Fred Phelps: Let's picket his funeral...with love"
Most Practical:
Brandon Gaide at The Presbyterian Outlook with “The future of the church: Reflections on the hopes of young Presbyterian leaders”
“As a way of thinking about creating change, an image was offered in which the church institution was described as a slab of concrete. Bringing a sledgehammer to a slab of concrete certainly breaks up the slab, but does not win many friends. However, few complain if a tree grows beneath the slab and eventually pushes through. Both produce the same result but use very different means. Efforts to reform the church should come from effective, fruitful ministry rather than aggressive insistence. Changing established institutions needs at least the appearance of growing organically. This is a critiquing-by-creating approach.”
Most Powerful:
Hope E. Ferguson at Her.Meneutics with “Our Brother’s Keepers: A Brokenhearted Black Woman Speaks Out”
“Every black mother lives in fear of deadly trouble befalling her young sons, whether she lives in the New York City governor's mansion or the Brooklyn projects. The other day on Facebook, I saw my brother-in-law counsel his 24-year-old son, who had overheard a white man reviling blacks and Mexicans in a bar, to ignore such talk for his own safety. My sister had the requisite talk with her three young sons about being polite and respectful to police officers when they are pulled over for traffic stops.”
Most Thoughtful:
Richard Beck with “Kenosis as Pouring Out and Vomiting”
“The point here is that the cross is great when preached at the abusers. If you're an abuser you need to go to the cross to stand with your victims. That is the prophetic power of the cross in a violent world full of oppression. But what is the message of the cross for the one being abused? Carry your cross of abuse? Passively and quietly endure your abuse to be like Jesus?”
Most Eye-Opening:
Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra at Christianity Today with “When Sexual Abuse Comes to Light”
“India Baker, who endured emotional and physical abuse at Ivory Coast Academy in the 1990s, said, ‘They told us, 'Don't tell your parents anything bad, because if you do, you're keeping them from doing what they're supposed to do on the mission field. You're keeping them from doing God's work.' I wanted to be the good Christian girl. I wanted God to love me.’"
Most Fun:
American Jesus Madness 2014!!!
My friend Elizabeth Esther’s book, Girl at the End of the World, releases this week. Fair warning: this book will totally suck you in. Such a quick, yet powerful, read. Here’s what I say on the back cover:
“What a story! Girl at the End of the World is witty, insightful, courageous, and compelling, the sort of book you plan to read in a week but finish in a day. Elizabeth Esther is a master storyteller who describes her journey out of fundamentalism with a powerful mix of tenderness and guts. With this debut, Esther sets herself apart as a remarkable writer and remarkable woman. This book is a gift, and I cannot commend it enough.” - Rachel Held Evans, author of A Year of Biblical Womanhood and Evolving in Monkey Town
Peter Enns gives us a preview of his upcoming book, The Bible Tells Me So:
“So here’s my not so radical thought: What if the Bible is just fine the way it is? What if it doesn’t need to be protected from itself? What if it doesn’t need to be bathed and perfumed before going out in public? And what if God is actually fine with the Bible just as it is? Not the well-behaved version we create, but the messy, troubling, weird, and ancient Bible that we actually have. Maybe this Bible has something to show us about our own sacred journey of faith, and that God wants us to wander off the beach blanket to discover what that is. A well-behaved Bible isn’t a sure foundation of faith, but a barrier to true faith and deep trust in God. The Bible, just as it is, isn’t a problem to be solved. It’s an invitation to a deeper faith and actually models that faith for us.”
On my last trip, I finished reading Khaled Hosseini’s latest book, And The Mountains Echoed, and I think it’s his best yet. So, so, soooooo good. I highly recommend it.
And I’m currently reading Death Before the Fall by Ronald E. Osborn and it’s fascinating.
On the blog…
Most Popular Post:
Patriarchy and Abusive Churches
Most Popular Comment:
In response to the post above, Ann wrote:
“As a practical matter the first and only valid step when an allegation of any type of abuse has been made is to contact the police. I am a licensed social worker who has consulted on a number of these cases in churches. Without exception, the all-male boards always take some type of "elder meeting" deacon meeting" "pastor meeting" "counseling meeting" as their first step, which is where everything goes awry and decisions to conceal alleged crimes are made. (I am using the word alleged as a legal term, not to devalue the stories of survivors) You don't need any type of meeting when an allegation is made. Would you call an "elder meeting" if a building was on fire or someone witnessed a murder? No, you'd dial 911, which is exactly what these men fail to do and why they can be prosecuted in many states as mandated reporters."
Such an important point on an important issue.
This Week’s Travels…
This week I’m headed to Harrisonburg, Virginia where I’ll be speaking at Eastern Mennonite University. You can catch me on Wednesday, March 19 during a 10 a.m. university chapel service and also at 8 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium. Both events are free and open to the public. Learn more here.
***
So what caught your eye online this week? What’s happening on your blog?
March 14, 2014
Patriarchy and Abusive Churches
"On the day that the intelligence and talents of women are fully honored and employed, the human community and the planet itself will benefit in ways we can only begin to imagine."
- Anita Diamant
One of the advantages of the Information Age is that the Internet has provided a platform from which those typically marginalized by the Church can speak and be heard. As a woman whose opportunities for Christian leadership were severely limited by the conservative evangelical culture in which I was raised, blogging has given me a voice and a reach I would not have otherwise had, and I am so grateful for that.
Sadly, when many of these marginalized people step up to the virtual mic to tell their stories, they recount harrowing encounters with abuse in a religious environment.
Over the past few months, the whistle-blowing website, Recovering Grace, has given voice to 34 women who say there were sexually harassed or molested by Bill Gothard or someone in his conservative, homeschool-based ministry. Gothard resigned from his ministry earlier this month.
While such abuse once thrived in the darkness of secrecy, silencing, and cover-ups, the Internet Age has helped shine a light on the problem of abuse not only in the Catholic Church but also among evangelical churches and ministries. Survivors have spoken out about pervasive abuse or sexual misconduct situations with Sovereign Grace Ministries, Vision Forum, Jesus People USA, the Bill Gothard Ministry, Bob Jones University, Patrick Henry College, Pensacola Christian College, and several missions organizations.
My evangelical brothers and sisters, we have an abuse problem and we need to talk about it. Talking about it does far less damage to Christ's reputation in the world than covering it up.
Now obviously, abuse is a result of sin and no denomination or community is immune to sin’s effects, but we do see a trend in which most of the organizations facing scrutiny over abuse and sexual misconduct charges of late are characterized by authoritarian, patriarchal leadership and by cultures that routinely silence the voices of women.
So the point I want to make today is not that all who subscribe to patriarchy are abusive, but that patriarchy in a religious environment, just as in any environment, has a negative effect on the whole community and creates a cultural climate more susceptible to abuse than one characterized by mutuality and shared leadership between men and women.
Christian PatriarchyChristian patriarchy (a variation of which is called complementarianism) relies on the strange contradiction that God created gender complementarity for His glory and for the good of the world, but that such complementarity must be dispensed of when it comes to the life of the church, where men hold exclusive and total authority over the congregation. In this scheme, the Church is said to have a necessary “masculine feel,” and church leaders are warned to avoid the “effeminizing of the church” at all costs. Men alone are hold pastoral offices or leadership positions, and in the most strict patriarchal communities, fathers are given unilateral authority over their families.
Christian patriarchy is often illustrated as a series of umbrellas in which the male leadership of the church holds authority over the male leaders of their homes who hold authority of the women and children at the bottom of the hierarchy.
This authority structure is typically described as a series of “coverings” or “protections” but unfortunately, the effect is often the opposite, as abused women and children find they have no recourse or power, as every decision in their lives must be made by a series of men, many of whom are more invested in protecting the reputation of the ministry than the people in it.
Having talked at length with survivors of abuse in a Christian environment, I hear similar themes repeated over and over again. They speak of church cultures that treated women’s bodies as inherently problematic and seductive, that assigned a woman’s worth to her sexual purity or procreative prowess, that questioned women’s ability to think rationally or make decisions without the leadership of men, that blamed victims of sexual abuse for inviting the abuse or tempting the abuser, that shamed women who did not “joyfully submit” to their husband and find contentment in their roles as helpers and homemakers, and that effectively silenced victims of abuse by telling women and children that reporting the crime would reflect poorly on the church and thus damage the reputation of Christ. These women describe an environment of fear in which they learned to distrust their own instincts and desires, which made it hard to report, or even acknowledge, the abuse.
“There were rumors going around about Bill and me,” recalls Charlotte, a woman who was allegedly molested by Bill Gothard. “My brother started hearing things and asked me about it. Of course I denied everything. Bill had sworn me to silence with both guilt and fear. I was the one who was at fault because I was tempting him. If I told anyone, the future of the entire ministry could be compromised. Why would I want to hinder God’s work? He told me that this was our little secret, just between us. If I told anyone, he said he would kick my family out of ATI.”
Young women in Gothard’s ministry underwent in-house counseling for abuse in which they were asked to identify the cause of their “defrauding,” with the options of “immodest dress,” “indecent exposure,” “being out from protection of parents,” and “being with evil friends.”
Similarly, several leaders of Sovereign Grace Ministries were named in a class-action lawsuit alleging they failed to report multiple cases of child sex abuse within the ministry, urging the children who had been abused to “reconcile” with their abusers and counseling the abusers on how to avoid investigation and arrest. Survivors say they were forced to meet and forgive the accused, and pastors failed to notify other families-- so the perpetrators went on to prey on other children. Despite multiple reports of abuse, and repeated efforts to dodge investigation by appealing to “religious freedom,” Sovereign Grace ministries has enjoyed the unwavering support of John Piper, Al Mohler and the Southern Baptist Convention, Tim Challies, and other Reformed leaders.
Those who subscribe to Christian patriarchy often argue that the examples cited above represent a corruption of patriarchy, which is an inherently good system. But I would like to argue today that the best way forward is not to simply improve patriarchy within our churches but to get rid of it entirely because 1) patriarchy doesn’t work and 2) the Kingdom functions best when men and women work together as equal partners.
Patriarchy doesn’t workThe author of Genesis tells a story of creation that presents the first man and woman as true partners. Both are created in the image of God, and both are charged with tending to the earth God has made. As J.R. Daniel Kirk puts it so wisely in his article, “Imaging the Biblical God”:
“To bear the image of God is to be the person whom God has entrusted to rule the world on God’s behalf. The purpose of humanity, ‘Let them rule the world on our behalf,; is inseparable from the categorization of these creatures as those made ‘in the image of God.’ In other words: it is not merely as humans that we reflect God together as male and female, but as those who rule over the world as male and female we bear the image of God. The kind of rule God has in mind is not a ‘masculine’ rule, but a masculine plus feminine, male plus female, rule. Only this kind of shared participation in representing God’s reign to the world is capable of doing justice to the God whose image we bear.”
(Note: Patriarchalists often argue that the reference to woman being created as man’s “helper” in Genesis reflects her subordinate status. But the compound word for “helper” here— ezer kenegdo –suggests a sort of military ally, or a partner in a difficult task, and is most often used in Scripture to describe God, who is not generally regarded by patriarchalists as a subordinate.)
It is within the context of judgment, not creation, that hierarchy and subjugation enter the Bible’s story of man and woman.
“Your desire will be for your husband, but he will rule over you.”
Where there was once mutuality, sin brought subjugation. Where there was once harmony, sin initiated a power-struggle. The writer of the Genesis, who undoubtedly had observed this power-struggle in his own world, calls it for what it is: a tragedy, an example of our collective brokenness and our desperate need for redemption.
We can observe the effects of this sin in our world today.
Study after study shows that societies characterized by the subjugation of women are more violent, more impoverished, and more unjust than societies that empower women.
In their excellent book Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn argue that “in this century the paramount moral challenge will be the struggle for gender equality in the developing world.” Empowering women increases economic productivity, reduces infant mortality, contributes to overall improved health and nutrition, and increases the chances of education for the next generation. Several studies from UNICEF suggest that when women are given control over the family spending, more of the money gets devoted to education, medical care, and small business endeavors than when men control the purse strings. Similarly, when women vote and hold political office, public spending on health increases and child mortality rate declines. Furthermore, surveys show that couples who describe their marriage as “egalitarian” are more likely to classify it as a happy one than those who describe their marriage as “traditional.”
So why wouldn’t the same hold true for the Church?
I f more patriarchal cultures tend to suffer and more egalitarian cultures tend to thrive, might that indicate that shared rule—like that of Eden—is preferable to male rule? Might that suggest that the Church isn’t meant to be exclusively masculine, but reflective of all of its participants?
Might that suggest that men need women not as subordinates but as partners?
Those who subscribe to Christian patriarchy insist that patriarchy is counter-cultural, and that advocates of mutuality are simply capitulating to culture. But patriarchy itself is a cultural system. And systems that reflect the values and dreams of only half of God's human creation, (only half of God's image!) are broken. They don’t work. And as such, they create environments more susceptible to abuse and exploitation.
Equal PartnershipIt was no accident that the first person charged with spreading the good news of Christ’s resurrection was a woman. Despite the fact that, by virtue of being a woman she would have been considered an unreliable witness whose testimony wouldn’t hold up in court, Mary Magdalene is charged with telling the world that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Talk about counter-cultural!
That’s because Jesus changes everything. With the resurrection of Jesus, and the inauguration of his Kingdom, the entire world is being made over. The curse has been reversed. The old things have passed away, and “behold, new things have come"!
To participate in the Kingdom of Jesus is to participate in a whole new “system,” a whole new mode of being, in which the last is first and the first is last. Is it any wonder, then, that the early church included female apostles, deacons, teachers, and church planters and that the women are described as teaching, leading, prophesying, serving, and financing? (The specific instructions in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 to women in the Ephesian church are an exception to the rule.) Is it any wonder that the early Church was ridiculed by pagan outsiders for being too effeminate? Is it any wonder that Peter and Paul’s version of the Household Codes broke with tradition by instructing men and women, slaves and masters to “submit one to another.” Even in a patriarchal culture, the early Christians were doing things differently.
“In your relationships with one another,” Paul wrote, “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5–8).
This doesn’t sound like patriarchy to me. This doesn’t sound like hierarchy, and power, and “he will rule over you.” It sounds like dignity, grace, peace, and love. It sounds like mutual respect, mutual leadership, mutual support, and mutual grace. It sounds like Eden.
Why on earth would we choose to live according to the curse when we have been invited to participate in a brand new kingdom?
ConclusionAll men and all women are different, (and, as we’re becoming increasingly aware, gender and sexuality can be expressed in a variety of ways), so it would be irresponsible to try and explain in great detail exactly why the Church needs both feminine and masculine influences.
But Scripture, experience, and a variety of data suggest that communities in which leadership and influence are shared by men and women are safer, happier, and more productive. They are less prone to abuse and safer for children. They are better at reflecting God’s image to the world.
We’ve tried patriarchy, and as this slew of abuse reports reinforces, it doesn’t work. The alternative is not, (as the patriarchalists warn), matriarchy. The alternative is partnership, mutuality, harmony. The alternative is the Kingdom.
In conclusion...
If you or your children are being abused, get help. If your church or school discourages you from reporting abuse to the police, do it anyway. There is nothing to be ashamed of. (For much, much more on abuse in a church setting, as well as multiple resources for getting help and counseling, see our "Into the Light" series on this topic.)
If you recognize some of your own experience in the stories of abuse above, or if the culture of your church is highly authoritarian and patriarchal, get out. Find a faith community that respects the dignity and voice of women.
If you are a church leader or a church member who wants to ensure that your church is doing everything possible to prevent and respond to abuse in your community, consider enlisting the amazing organization, G.R.A.C.E. for help.
See also:
Into the Light: A Series on Abuse in the Church
"Is patriarchy really God's dream for the world?"
"The abusive theology of deserved tragedy"
March 12, 2014
The woman who changed how I pray….
Photo, (used with permission), by the amazingly talented Courtney Perry
Today we celebrate the 80th birthday of a true woman of valor—Phyllis Tickle.
So much could be said about the impact this woman has had on American Christianity. From her work as a religion editor at Publishers Weekly, to her expansive writing and lecturing career, to her The Divine Hours series, Phyllis has a remarkable ability to speak wisely and prophetically about the future of Christianity while remaining joyfully rooted in its past. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with Phyllis, and she is truly one of the most encouraging people I’ve ever met, always quick to offer a kind word or compliment, always eager to cheer fellow writers on.
But when I think about the biggest impact Phyllis has had on my life, it must certainly be through her prayer books.
The Divine Hours came to me at a time in life when I was wrestling with such unrelenting and severe doubts that I struggled to pray. The discipline of fixed-hour prayer gave me the words I just couldn’t conjure on my own, words that connected me to the ancient, worldwide church. Phyllis’ contemporary breviary was perfect for a newbie like me, and I continue to use The Divine Hours, especially during Lent.
Phyllis Tickle changed how I pray, and I am so grateful for that.
So here’s to Phyllis! – a true woman of valor. Happy 80th birthday! We wish you many more.
(Note: In honor of her 50 year career, a group of notable Christian figures put together a series of essays in honor of Phyllis, which you can check out here. Also, be sure to check out the rest of Phyllis’ work, especially The Divine Hours, The Great Emergence, and Age of the Spirit.)
***
So, how has the work of Phyllis Tickle impacted you?
March 10, 2014
Book Review: Disunity in Christ by Christena Cleveland
It’s a busy travel season for me, so I read Christena Cleveland’s book, Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart, over a period of several months and mostly on airplanes, where I suspect my frantic underlining and audible “amens” may have made a few of my seatmates uncomfortable.
My engagement with this book unfolded in a telling series of responses:
About a third of the way through I concluded, “those Calvinists really need to read this.”
Then, about two-thirds of the way through, I was like, “Oh crap. I really need to read this.”
By the end, I was all, “EVERY CHRISTIAN EVERYWHERE NEEDS TO READ THIS!!!”
Disunity in Christ is that convicting, that informative, and that good.
As a sociologist, Cleveland is able to apply the latest research on social psychology and communication to unpack the ways that common social dynamics affect they way Christians relate to one another.
For example, group polarization. Group polarization happens when, in the absence of diverse influences, homogenous group members tend to adopt more extreme and narrow-minded thinking as time passes.
Example: CPAC
And then there’s outgroup homogeneity. Outgroup homogeneity is the tendency to think that all of the people who are not like us are the same.
Example: What I just did there with CPAC.
Though Disunity in Christ is packed with information, Cleveland’s writings style is lively, conversational, practical, and often quite humorous. (You will love how her deadpan wit surprises you in unexpected places, even in informational charts and graphs!) Cleveland draws from all sorts of sources— from Scot McKnight’s A Community Called Atonement, to college football, to multiple scientific studies and surveys, many of which are quite colorful and fascinating. A quick glance at her sources reveals just how well-read and smart the author is, though her prose is not for a moment stilted or heavy-handed. Best of all, when explaining common blind spots in communication, Cleveland often includes herself in critiques, citing specific examples of how she’s made the same mistakes.
The book includes some super-practical advice for both church leaders and laypeople. Cleveland even shares the self-affirmation exercises she used to help her listen with an open heart and mind to a sermon from a pastor whose views on gender she generally found troublesome.
And just when you think this is just a nice book with some nice suggestions for Christian unity, Cleveland comes along and drops a truth bomb reminding you of the importance of the topic at hand:
It was scary…convicting, really …how often I saw myself in Cleveland’s analysis. The chapter entitled “Waging Identity Wars” forced me to confront some of the reasons why I can be cruel and dismissive toward conservative evangelicals (“…when we’re suffering an identity crisis, we take cheap shots at other groups in order to feel better about ourselves”) and how to move forward (“…we must affirm who we really are as the people of God before we can begin to interact with each other as the people of God.”)
But perhaps the most important chapter was the one on cross-cultural interactions, particularly Cleveland’s perspective on the importance of confronting power differentials, which she wisely inserts near the end of the book, after she has long gained the respect and trust of the reader.
“This is a tall order that requires a real and fierce conversation on the elephant in the church: privilege and power differentials” she writes. “For some reasons, high status people (in my experience, particularly white men) have a hard time seeing and admitting that they are in fact high-status people. Even more troubling, I’ve found that many white male pastors and seminary students have an even harder time admitting that these privilege and power issues exist in the church and are even perpetuated by the church.” (p. 166)
My only critique is that Cleveland didn’t spend more time on this particular topic, which I believe is a pressing one in the Church today. Maybe she'll devote her next book to it.
Disunity in Christ is an excellent read for all Christians, but especially church leaders who are serious about engaging in healthier dialog with Christians of other traditions, perspectives, and cultures and working toward reconciliation. I recommend buying two copies: one for yourself and one for your pastor.
Best of all, something tells me we’ll be hearing a lot more from Christena Cleveland in the years to come…and that makes me really, really hopeful.
March 9, 2014
Superlatives (Sort of) + Speaking in Michigan this week
No official superlatives today. I’ve been on the road too much this week to check the internet, and it would be wrong to simply steal links from the awesome weekly roundups of Sarah Bessey, On Pop Theology, Christena Cleveland, and Scot McKnight, which I confess I was tempted to do. (Add these folks to your blog reader if you haven’t already. They really do curate some of the best link-ups out there.)
However, I do want to draw your attention to two amazing posts written about women in ministry this week:
April Fiet with “When God Calls a Complementarian Woman into Ministry”
“Calling. Somehow in the midst of a worldview that told me I couldn’t be called, in the middle of a class that was being taught by someone who probably never thought I could be called, God spoke to me and confirmed to me that I was called to ministry. And, then I immediately excused the thought of pastoral ministry, and decided it must be music ministry, or something more “appropriate” for a woman to do.”
Jackie Roese with “I Said It”
“What we have going on is not a women’s issue; it’s a human issue. And I don’t believe the issue is about equality. I don’t think Jesus died so we could be equal. Jesus died for something bigger than that. Equality means I’ve got my rights, and you’ve got yours, and so we’re good with each other. Do you hear how we can simply tolerate rather than integrate? God created man and woman (community) to live in Shalom. That’s bigger than equality. It may include equality, but it doesn’t rest there. Interdependent. Intertwined. In need of otherness. Oneness. It’s bigger than equality.”
Powerful and encouraging stuff.
Oh, and this post on loving our LGBT neighbors is just too good not to also share:
Justin Lee with "You love gay people? That's great. Prove it."
“…Anything you could say, all that “speaking the truth in love,” I’ve heard it all before. So if you’re really serious when you say you love me, you’re going to have to prove it. Show me. Not sure how? Here are some ideas.”
In other news, on Tuesday evening, March 11, I’ll be speaking at Siena Heights University about my year of biblical womanhood. The event is at 7:30 p.m. in Francoeur Theater on the Adrian campus and is open to the public. I’ll have lots of time to hang out afterwards if you want to chat or have me sign a book. You can learn more here.
The next stop is Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where I’ll be speaking in chapel about millennials and the church on Wednesday, March 19 at 10 a.m. and about my year of biblical womanhood in Lehman Auditorium at 8:30 p.m. Learn more here.
What a strange gift it’s been to speak to so many different groups—from a Catholic university to a Mennonite university and everything in between! Still, I’ll be cutting back on travel big time this summer, fall, and in 2015, which should get me back to regular blogging and hopefully give me the chance to finish this next book. As much as I love meeting readers in person and connecting with all these cool universities, churches, and conferences, I’m exhausted. And I hate airplanes. And my introverted self is running on empty. So it’s time for a break.
Finally, Faith Unraveled (the April re-release of Evolving in Monkey Town) is still available for pre-order on Kindle/Nook for just $3.79. That’s a good deal! We've been discussing the release on my Facebook Page, which I should probably remind people exists more often.
Tomorrow on the blog look for a review of Christena Cleveland’s book, Disunity in Christ. Spoiler Alert: It’s fantastic!
In the meantime, what caught your eye online this week? What’s happening on your blog?
March 5, 2014
40 Ideas for Lent 2014
As has become a tradition here on the blog, I’ve compiled a list of 40 ideas that I hope will help you make the most of this season of reflection, penitence, and preparation. This year I’ve tried to focus on disciplines that engage the whole body, not just the mind. Some ideas are repeats from pervious years, while others are new. I’ve also included ideas from readers in years past. Please feel free to add your own ideas and recommendations in the comment section.
5 Questions to Ask Yourself:
1. When I wake up on Resurrection Sunday morning, how will I be different? What am I preparing for?
2. Is there a habit or sin in my life that repeatedly gets in the way of loving God with my whole heart or loving my neighbor as myself? How do I address that issue over the next 40 days?
3. What are some things in my life that I tell myself I need but I don’t? Can I give one or two of them up for 40 days?
4. Is there a spiritual discipline—praying the hours, lectio divina, stations of the cross, etc.—that I’ve always wanted to try? How might I alter my daily routine to include one of these disciplines? And how can I engage all my senses—sight, sound, taste, smell, touch—as I practice them?
5. How do I want Lent 2014 to affect not only the next 40 days but also the next 40 years?
10 Online Resources:
1. I love that our friend Preston Yancey has created a super-simple blog providing daily lectionary readings from the two-year cycle found in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. This is an excellent way to start the discipline of daily Scripture readings during the season of Lent. You can subscribe by email or RSS feed. Also, be sure to check out Preston’s ideas for reading Scripture, including Lectio Divina and Visio Lectio. These are fantastic resources. Thank you, Preston!
2. “The Lent Project,” Biola University: This is a wonderful series of daily reflections available online that include Scripture, devotional texts, works of art, poetry, videos, and music, all layered together to create some beautiful moments of meditation and reflection.
3. “Introduction to the Christian Year” by Mark Dr. Roberts
4. “A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent” by Rev. Thomas L. Weitzel, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
5. “Why You May Really Need Lent this Year [and a Free Family Lent & Easter Devotional]" by Ann Voskamp
6. “Resources for Celebrating Lent with Kids” - Godspace
7. “Songs for Lent,” Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
8. Bread for the World’s Lenten Resources
9. “Pray as You Go”: a daily prayer session, designed for use on portable MP3 players, to help you pray whenever you find time, but particularly whilst travelling to and from work, study, etc.
10. “40 Ideas for Keeping a Holy Lent,” House for All Sinners and Saints
10 Book & Music Recommendations:
1. Wondrous Encounters: Scriptures for Lent by Richard Rohr
2. Lent for Everyone (Year A) by N.T. Wright
3. Lent at Ephesus, music from the Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles
4. Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Enuma Okoro
5. 40 Days of Living the Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight (only $2.99 on Kindle/Nook!)
6. The Slavery of Death by Richard Beck (not exactly a devotional, but this book has some great reflections and ideas on sin and death, which are important topics during Lent.)
7. City of God: Faith in the Streets by Sara Miles
8. Eastertide: Prayers for Lent Through Easter by Phyllis Tickle
9. Show Me The Way: Daily Lenten Readings by Henri Nouwen
10 Fasts/ Disciplines/ Rituals:
1. Traditionally, Christians abstained from eating meat during Lent, so consider joining millions of Christians around the world in this fast. It’s a great way to feel connected to the historical, worldwide church, and to become more mindful about the food you eat. Also, if your fast includes a change in diet or spending habits, consider donating money you saved to an organization that helps care for the poor.
2. Pray the offices for 40 days. The Daily Office, or the Divine Hours, consists of four times of prayer each day: morning prayers (Matins/Laudes), midday prayers (Sext), evening prayers (Vespers), nighttime prayers (Compline). If it’s your first time praying the hours, I recommend using Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours, Pocket Edition.
3. Make or purchase Anglican Prayer Beads and devote yourself to praying through them three times a day. (Or if you’re Catholic, pray through the rosary.) Richard Beck turned me on to this practice and it's been a lifesaver during this busy season of travel.
4. For families with children: Make a thorn wreath with your family. (submitted by Julie Ball). Or Institute a Way of Light wreath or an Easter Tree (via Ann Voskamp) You may also want to check out this fantastic list of Lent ideas for families, which includes eating fish sticks on Fridays, making paper chains, donating, and keeping a gratitude jar.
5. Go on a mini pilgrimage. Set aside a day (or even a weekend) during Lent to visit a nearby monastery. A couple years ago, I spent a weekend at St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama, and it was a really powerful and enriching time for me. I especially enjoyed walking through their outdoor stations of the cross. Many monasteries welcome overnight guests and allow them to participate in prayers and meals. Just be sure to call ahead to make a reservation and learn about the community’s policies. Or, visit a church that has a labyrinth and walk the labyrinth, or a church that has a unique work of art you have always wanted to see. Choose a destination that has meaning to you in your spiritual journey and make a day or a weekend of it, and focus on an experience that will engage all of your senses.
6. From Aric Clark: Last year I tried to give away 40 things I don't need for Lent. Each day I went through my closet, through my book & DVD collections etc and picked something I don't need and found someone to give it to. I found it meaningful.
7. From Leea Price: Fully observe the Sabbath for Lent, from sundown on Friday through Saturday.
8. From Beth: I fasted from using my debit card last year. It allowed me to become painfully aware of how easily I swipe & waste; and, allowed me to meditate on & act with better stewardship.
9. Commit to memorizing a significant portion of Scripture, like the Sermon on the Mount, or Isaiah 58, or (one of my favorites) 1 John 4. One reader also suggested The Magnificat.
10. Commit yourself to learning from a Christian tradition with which you are less familiar. Ask around about good “primers” on the tradition that interests you, and consider visiting a church in that tradition. Get to know some people who worship in that tradition. Invite them over for a meal. This is an especially good practice for folks who are not currently plugged into a church and it helps build bridges between various Christian traditions.
5 Prayers/ Meditations
1. Psalm 51
2. Isaiah 58
5. This one, from Thomas Merton:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always,
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
See also:
40 Ideas for Lent 2013
40 Ideas for Lent 2012
40 Ideas for Lent 2011
40 Ideas for
Lent 2010
What would you add? What Lenten practices have you found particularly meaningful?
Wishing you all a blessed Lenten season.
March 2, 2014
Sunday Superlatives 3/2/14
Best Speech:
Lupita Nyong’o on beauty at the Essence’s Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon
Best Reporting:
Eric Marrapodi at CNN with “Stepping-stones to safety: A family flees Syria's war - and finds refuge in Italy's islands”
“Just down the road from the café, on one side of the street, docks are lined with boats waiting to take tourists snorkeling and fishing. On the other side, a boat cemetery is filled with junked vessels that brought refugees and migrants to the island over the past few years. The names of the dilapidated boats are hand-lettered on the sides in Arabic.”
Best Photo Series:
The Atlantic with “The Murmurations of Starlings”
Best List:
Amy Rayson with “Ten Things Your Pastor Wishes You Knew About Her”
“She has argued, wrestled, cried, lamented, and railed against her call. She has been to Tarshish many times on her way to Nineveh. She does not exist to make a point, to make waves, or to make you mad. She is (and should be) obedient to her God, not to her critics.”
Best Headline:
The Onion with “American Airlines to Phase Out Complimentary Cabin Pressurization”
Best Series:
Richard Beck with “The Theology of Johnny Cash”
“…What I think most interesting about the song ‘The Man Comes Around’ is how, as I mentioned above, it is so steeped in the biblical imagination. And the biblical imagination, I'd argue, is always going to explode the boxes of conservative and liberal theology. The biblical imagination, like the God it is trying to describe, is like that whirlwind in a thorn tree. The biblical imagination cannot be codified or systematized. The biblical imagination is going to be wild and untamed. And because the theology of Johnny Cash was so shaped by the Scriptures, due to Cash's daily and lifelong reading of the bible, I think it's fitting to note here at the end that Johnny Cash's theology, being a biblical theology, will also be difficult to pin down and put into a box.”
and Leigh Kramer with “The Enneagram and Blogging”
“Besides building a platform or working toward publication, Threes feel their blogs are a great way to publicize themselves and their endeavors. The flipside of their goal-orientedness is Threes can struggle with their blog's purpose. If they're not working toward something, do they still post? What are they trying to achieve by blogging? Some Threes expressed feeling it wasn't enough to just publish a post for the sake of publishing something or even posting for themselves. They want their work to affect others, to reach an audience, to matter.”
[I’m sharing this quote because I’m a 3!]
Best Perspective:
“The Other Side of the Donald Miller Post: Church PTSD”
“Honestly, I have something akin to a PTSD…when it comes to church. When I hear people talking in Christian catch phrases I want to run away. This is the language of the culture of people who persecuted and bullied my family and me. If you speak their language, you must be one of them, too. So I stay away.”
Best Idea:
Osheta Moore with “Standing Our Ground…In Prayer”
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood but powers and principalities in heavenly places. We wield not guns in shaky, terrified hands but the doubled-edged Sword the Spirit. We’re going stand our ground…in prayer.”
Best Writing:
Christie Purifoy with “How Desire Led You Home”
“You were a child, and they wanted only the best for you. So they told you your heart was deceitful. They told you that every desire was only a misplaced desire for Him. They spoke the (partial) truth in love, and you took their words to heart. Those words kept you safe. They kept you on a narrow way, and you will always be grateful for that. But Jesus never promised safety; He promised abundance. The abundant life is a wide-awake life, and it is anything but safe.”
Best Response:
Brian McLaren with “Q & R: You, Rob Bell, Don Miller, and Christianity Today”
“Several years ago, a respected older Evangelical theologian confided to me that if he had it to do over again, he wouldn't have let the fear of critique by Evangelical gatekeepers have such control over him. He encouraged me to follow my conscience and not trim my sails for fear of being singled out. I have tried to follow that advice, and am glad I did.”
Wisest:
Morgan Guyton with “When Bible Study Becomes Your Personal Bug Collection”
“I think the greatest crisis in evangelical Biblical interpretation today is not that evangelicals have stopped respecting the Bible’s authority; it’s that evangelicals have turned the Bible into a set of “truths” to be stabbed with a needle and put into a display case like dead bees and dragonflies and beetles.”
Funniest:
David Attenborough Narrates Curling
Sweetest:
Nish Weiseth with “A Thank You Note to Mumford & Sons”
“Your music brings more joy to Rowan than anything we've managed to do in our four years as his parents. When he listens to your music, it's as if all of his struggles, anxieties and obstacles are pushed out of the way and he can just be the happy little boy that we so deeply desire him to be. I firmly believe that Rowan is his true, happiest self when he is listening to you play, and I'll forever be grateful to you for that. Thank you for being faithful to your craft. Thank you for your commitment to your passion and talent for music. It's not just entertainment, or fun to listen to. It's healing and powerful, and it's worked a small miracle for my boy.”
Smartest:
Kristen Rosser with “The ‘Feminization’ of the Church”
“The church is not a product like a soda or a moisturizer, that you can market to men by claiming that it's not for women. Nor is it helpful to bifurcate church experience so that the women get all the comfort and love while men get all the challenging calls to discipleship. Men and women are real people, not stereotypes. Men often need comfort and love, and women have no less need for challenge. Jesus wasn't speaking only to men when He said ‘Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me (Luke 9:23)." Nor was He talking only to women when He said, "Come to Me. . . and you find rest for your souls; for My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:30).’
Bravest:
Perry Noble with “Should Christians take medication for mental illness?”
“It was quite humbling for me to begin to do something I once considered to be a sign of weakness. However, as a Christian and as a pastor I can honestly say that making the decision to swallow my pride and accept the common grace God has provided through medicine has made me a better husband, father and friend.”
Saddest:
Bryan College takes stand on creation that has professors worried for their jobs
[This sudden shift to fundamentalism has been difficult to watch from here in Dayton. The faculty is really demoralized, and this comes after several waves of layoffs due to financial difficulties. The college will lose some of its most beloved professors over this change, and it's just heartbreaking. The mark of a good education is presenting and discussing a wide range of views and teaching students to value pursuit of truth. I'm sorry my alma mater has abandoned this commitment in favor of teaching a single view and that so many lives have been disrupted as a result. ]
Most Powerful:
Christena Cleveland at Missio Alliance with “Everything I know about racism I learned in the church”
“As a millenial, I’ve lived most of my years in our so-called “post-racial” American church. Yet my earliest and most painful experiences of racism have all occurred in the church – at the hands of sincere Christians. And unfortunately, my stories are consistent with the stories of many other people my age and younger. The ongoing racism in the church exposes an explosive hypocrisy. If we do not consistently and courageously confront it, the church will continue to instruct people that being different is a curse, demonstrate to them that God doesn’t love them, eviscerate their identities and compel them to seek refuge from the church outside the church. Those of us who are aware of individual and structural racism in the church must continue to point it out, facilitate discussions, speak the truth in love, challenge our pastors and leaders, pray for healing and work for justice.”
Most Convicting:
D.L. Mayfield at Deeper Story with “Lord, Lord”
“Live as if you were God, as if you knew what lay around the next bend, the next corner of your life, as if you had control of any little thing that happens on this planet. Lean into your justifiable hate, against those oppressors and tyrants and abusers; hate them into the ground from whence they came, hate them as long and as hard as it takes, crushing their bones into powder in your mind. Hate them as if this will change anything, as if you could wring the very sorrow out of your soul, as if this will set the world right again.”
Most Eye-Opening:
Micah Murray with “On Growing Up in Bill Gothard’s Homeschool Cult”
“When I tell my story, people say ''You should hate God by now. It’s a miracle you’re a Christian at all. 'They’re right. It’s a miracle.”
Most Informative:
Jessica Parks with “Frauen Fridays: Mercy Amba Oduyoye”
“Since the Bible depicts other peoples’ cultures, and we know from African culture that not everything in culture is liberating, we come to the Bible with the same cautious approach we have to culture… Any interpretation of the Bible is unacceptable if it does harm to women, the vulnerable and the voiceless.” - Oduyoye in Introducing African Women’s Theology
[Love this idea for a series]
Most Thoughtful:
Peter Enns with “Creationists Talking About Creation…(Or, on Theological Mass Re-Education)”
“So, it struck me early on that for the conversation truly to go forward, what is needed is nothing short of a “theological mass re-education”–and in some cases I would even say “de-programming”–not to take the Bible away from anyone, but to give it back without the tons of freight that literalism shackles to it.”
Most Valorous:
Minerva G. Carcaño with “A Letter to the Active and Retired United Methodist Bishops of Africa”
Best Reminder:
Benjamin Moberg with “Two Ways to Maybe Not Write About Gay People”
“I cannot count the number of times I have been likened to Jesus drunk friends, or the adulteress woman, or the tax collectors. I am the pre- “go and sin no more” gospel character- the shabby fellow who’s luck is about to turn when I meet the Light of the World…But wait a sec… I am a Christian. There are thousands, maybe millions, of others out there like me.”
Best Questions:
Sara Barton at Jesus Creed with “Christian Identity and the Church as Family”
“So, if people are leaving the church, perhaps we need to avoid defensiveness and ask some hard questions about family. Sometimes individuals leave families of origin because of abuse, because of dysfunction that threatens to overtake the entire family system. Could it be that many of our friends and neighbors are leaving church because of dysfunction that needs deep introspection? We can easily cite stories of people for whom the church is functioning. We should celebrate those stories. But, the church is not functioning for others, to such an extent that they are leaving. Instead of being defensive, maybe what we should do for a while is merely listen.What would it look like for the church at large to stop and listen to the all Donald Millers we know?”
Best Sermon Series:
Jonathan Martin at Renovatus Church with "The Peaceable Kingdom"
On the Blog…
Most Popular Post:
Walking the Second Mile: Jesus, Discrimination, and ‘Religious Freedom’
Most Popular Comment (Maybe Ever!):
In response to “Walking the Second Mile,” Jesus Benyosef wrote:
“There was once a gay man who went looking for a place to eat in Arizona. Several restaurant owners refused to serve him on account of their sincerely-held religious beliefs. Then an atheist noticed that he was hungry and invited him to his home to have dinner with his family. Which of these was a neighbor to the gay man?
Elsewhere…
I shared one of my biggest struggles—my compulsive need for approval and awards—over at Glennon Melton’s place last week as part of her Sacred/Scared series. Be sure to check out the other installments, which include stories from Sarah Bessey & Shauna Niequist, Tara Livesay & Jamie Ivey, Nate Pyle & Jamie Wright, Jen Hatmaker & Kristen Howerton.
So here’s some exciting news: Zondervan has decided to re-release Evolving in Monkey Town this spring with a new title, fresh cover, and a few updates.
The book is called Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions, and I’m really excited about this release. (I realize some of you are very attached to the first title. It's okay! I promise!) Right now, you can pre-order the e-version for Kindle and Nook for just $3.99. The official release date is April 8, 2014.
Now, this is an updated version of “Monkey Town,” not the new book…which I’m still slaving away on in hopes of finishing before summer.
The new book will be memoir about church, arranged around seven sacraments, with the working title “Sunday Morning.” I'm pretty pumped about it.
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So, what caught your eye online this week? What’s happening on your blog?
February 28, 2014
Spring Conferences!
It’s conference season! I’ll be speaking at four very cool events this year. Hope to see you there:
C3 ConferenceThursday, March 6 – Saturday, March 8
St. George's Episcopal Church, Nashville, TN
“C3 is an event and an ongoing resource that teaches Christians of all denominations and the unchurched how to create courageous conversations that do not ruin relationships. We hope to reclaim our calling to be ministers of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:18) within the Christian community and beyond it.”
Other speakers include Glennon Melton, Melvin Bray, William P. Young, and Phil Keaggy. I’ll be speaking on the hot topic of millennials and the church.
Change the World Conference
Thursday, April 3 – Friday, April 4
Ginghamsburg Church, Tipp City, OH
“A conference for all church leaders who are ready to stop playing church and start being the Church.”
Other speakers include Diana Butler-Bass, Rev. Adam Hamilton, and Mike Slaughter.
Calvin College Festival of Faith and Writing
Thursday, April 10, 2014 - Saturday, April 12, 2014
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
“The Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College is a biennial conference that brings together writers, editors, publishers, musicians, artists, and readers for three days of discussing and celebrating insightful writing that explores, in some significant way, issues of faith.”
Other speakers this year include Anne Lamott, James McBride, Gene Luen Yang, Luci Shaw, Miroslav Volf, and dozens more. I’m honored to be giving the closing plenary address on Saturday afternoon. This is really one of my favorite conferences to attend; I hope you can make it!
Q Nashville
Wednesday, April 23 – Friday, April 25
War Memorial Auditorium, Nashville, TN
“Join 1,000 remarkable leaders from all channels of culture as we gather in Nashville to consider how to advance the common good in a pluralistic society. Our method of learning is simple: exposure, conversation and collaboration. Over the course of three days, speakers will present their big idea in concise 18, 9, or 3-minute formats.”
Other speakers include Christine Caine, Shauna Niequist, Russell Moore, Nicole Baker Fulgham, Andy Crouch, and many more. I’ll be speaking on millennials and the church…I think.
So, are you planning to attend any of these conferences? I would love to hang out in person!
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