dry bones

A few weeks ago, I was preparing to give a talk for the breakout session rotation on prayer day at work. I’m not sure if I mentioned the specifics or not, but I did blog some of the ideas as I was preparing the talk. The main point of my blogged rambles then was the definition of spiritual gifts as methodology, the interplay between the natural and supernatural gifts, and how that had come up as I had brought a question to a class that I was guest in a few weeks before. The original question was, “is the poet taking over the role of the preacher?” In the original class, I brought the question jokingly with a ridiculously alliterated stream of methodological titles, Poet/Prophet, Pastor/Preacher on which I eventually had a blast expanding when standing in front of a much larger group in the prayer day breakout sessions.
While most of the feedback I’ve received from those talks has been encouraging, as I had anticipated, I frightened a lot of people who have one-by-one, come to see me with offerings of their own teaching, electronic resources, or just to ask if I would be willing to sit down with them and discuss this further.
In my sphere, those three hours standing in front of 5 different large groups of students, peers, colleagues and superiors, required more guts and resolution than any single thing I’ve done since I started teaching. Sure I rant to my friends, defend an idea in a small group, and boldly speak my convictions in a class of my students, but these are relatively safe conditions and otherwise, I play the role of the apologetic prophet and try to muster the guts to toss out a conviction as if it is just a passing thought on which I’d like to get an opinion. Of that, I am ashamed.
The whole experience has resulted in affirmation in a couple of settings. A very well-respected apostle whose sermon provided much of the context for my remarks that day, stopped by after my talk and not only stamped what I’d said, but specifically affirmed that I was accurately working in my own gifting and that the context in which I was doing it was not only legitimate, but actually the context in which it is found in the Bible. He also spoke into my understanding of what level that needs to play in my own day-to-day. I left that day with probably the most encouraging words I’ve received concerning these things and a new confidence that what I was saying was not contrary to biblical teaching on the subject despite the methodological definitions that have been embraced by many of the scary well-learned theologians who were in the audience, and to whom I would have to defend my remarks in the weeks to come. The affirmation that was made to me that day served basically to tell me that I, in fact, could identify a blindspot, narrowed understanding among many who are much more learned and experienced than I am, and because I can identify it, I have a responsibility to say it – same as these others have a responsibility to show me my own blindspots.
More affirmation came today, but also with a dose of humility. The affirmation came as I read exactly what I’ve been preaching for years in the words of Eugene Peterson, in his The Contemplative Pastor- the humility, in that it was all contained on two pages and was written 16 years before I gave my talk. It also shed light on my one-sermon brain, by showing me how yesterday’s post is directly connected to all this other stuff I’ve been rambling about. He warns the pastor of carelessly or even cunningly using words and using the role of pastor to compensate for inane speech.
Peterson asks exactly the same question that I asked in front of all those people that day,“ is it not significant that the biblical prophets and psalmists were all poets?” He goes on to say, “it is a continuing curiosity that so many pastors, whose work integrates the prophetic and psalmic (preaching and praying), are indifferent to poets.” Do you remember my original question? Is the role of the preacher being taken over by the poet? Peterson was probably right 16 years ago when he used the word indifferent, but I think today, indignant would hit closer to home.
In my other post, I stated that culture will decide to whom they will listen. The poet is speaking to them. The problem inside is not only that the preacher is indifferent to poets, but that he has become indifferent to the poetic. The integrated, old testament man of God, has been dissected and parts of him have been cast aside. Those parts are rising up, acquiring flesh and dancing around, and the world is ready to listen...