Keep Cool My Babies, or… At, To, Bruté

Ok, once again I started this response in the comment box and then decided it needed to appear on the blog page. I’m afraid the discussion could be too hard to follow and could be misunderstood.
So here goes…
There is one thing that terrifies me about my previous post, so I’ll bring it to the top. I never thought, and therefore never meant to imply that Greg was stepping away from Student Ministry. There is a huge difference in stepping away from something and stepping toward something else. I am so sorry if I seemed to make an implication with my statements. I am not sure if that is a strong enough denial of intended implications, but I hope everyone can believe me. Its just that a discussion of relevance was warranted here, and Greg and I had that conversation back in the day, in the context of student ministry. So having said that I could probably just let you read and I’d already feel better. But I might feel better still if I clear up a few other things from my late night ramblings. All our posts in this exchange, should be read with the tone of voice of the deck dialogue (at times, trialogue and quatralogue). Its just iron sharpening iron, very good friends trying to figure it out, ya know? I apologize to anyone who hasn’t been on the deck and therefore can’t hear the seeker banter.
Ok, secondly, I didn’t mean to imply that I thought there were “real” Christians and some other kind of Christians involved here. Just two world views. I worry that the one runs the risk of making or having made the kingdom a thing. The Kingdom is a way of being, not a way of doing. It is not something that we have but something that we are. It just seems to me that pomo within Christianity is reacting to the Kingdom becoming a doing and having thing. That is where I see friction.
As for the relevance part, at this point in my journey, I see it as the ability to make evident that the answer for your perceived needs is the same as the answer for my perceived needs, however different we may be. The root of our problem is the same and therefore has the same solution.
It occurs to me that when Jesus came, everyone needed to be saved from a law that they couldn’t possibly keep. But Jesus said that He didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. The religious leaders needed to be saved because they had come to believe that their doings were making them righteous. The common man needed to be saved because it was obvious that he couldn’t obey the law. Both groups needed Jesus. The one held down by the pharisaical self-righteousness needed rescued by the real fulfillment of God’s requirement. The early 16th century saw much of the same atmosphere. Within Christendom, perhaps we could name the periods, Christianity, Modern Christianity, and Post-modern Christianity. It seems that the advent of each occurred at a time when there were at least similar situations. It is really difficult to say these things for fear of offending, hurting, alienating our friends. But some are given a dream of how much greater, deeper, purer, higher it can be. As Caleb Pellor might say, I would give you more Jesus than we’ve been given, more Jesus than we’ve been given, I would give to you. Of course Jesus gave us all of himself. But it seems that at points along history, we somehow begin to fail pass all of Him along to the next generation. We are entrusted with this task. Fortunately, at some point , a generation notices that some of Him is missing and desperately seeks find the rest. Rich Mullins said, “as the old world started dying and the new world started coming on, I’ll sing His song in the land of my sojourn.”
That’s what we all want isn’t it, the leaf ripening to become the aroma of Christ, the contented nomad, the gypsy traveler, the dappled margrave; to sing His song in the land of our sojourn. Its what I want.