Who am I?
That's a good question...
I am a third year student at Fuller Seminary from West Palm Beach, Fl. in the process of being ordained by the PCUSA. After graduating from college in a small Southern town, I moved to Berkeley, CA where I worked with the mission outreach department of a Presbyterian church. Before I moved west of the Mississippi, one of my professors told my brothers that I would come home with long hair and tie dye pants, to which one of them responded, "Yeah, either that, or California will be wearing flannel!" Hence the name "California in Flannel."
My goal in life is to help the global church identify its role as a missional community and equp them to understand the culture around them and engage it with the good news of Jesus Christ. Going into MP520:Transforming Contemporary Cultures, my biggest questions are: How does the church need to change structurally in order to become more relevant to local culture? How do we spiritually lead the church to a point where people are able to let go of structural and methodological traditions and embrace new ones?
If I weren't going into the ministry I would be: a football coach, a master BBQ chef, a Nascar driver, or a dental hygenist. If I had free time: I would like to learn how to play golf and the banjo.
...aside from that, I'm' still trying to figure out who I am.
posted by astepp @ 5:10 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
wow you sound like a really cool guy... i'm so inspired.
When you go to church, do you wear a tie w/ that flannel shirt?
Heard you just got back from the Gulf Coast....How'd it go?
Wouldn't finding out how to get people to let go of "out of date" traditions in order to take on new "en vogue" ones defeat the purpose of helping them let go of traditions since you would be teaching them to fill the vacuum of the old tradition with new ones, which would then, at some point in time, become "out of date?" Oh, those dang traditions, I love mine!
How do you need to change in order to become more relevant to your culture?
Do you have people in your life that you are reaching out to?
Sean
Sean,
That's a good point and slightly humorous too. My church background is in a large denomination: Presbyterian Church, and I am currently en route to becoming a pastor in the denomination. Many of the divisive issues in many of the churches are meaningless cultural differences. For instance, contemporary music vs. traditional vs. alternative; Sunday morning church vs. Saturday evening vs. Sunday evening etc. I think there are some major paradigm shifts that need to happen in many of the churches. For a long time people attending church have been in the mindset that the church is here to serve them. I call it Christian animism--the purpose of animism is to manipulate the spiritual world for one's own good. I think many people go to church so that they can stay on God's good side. Consciously or not, they think that if they go to church on Sunday, tithe regularly, and maybe even go on a mission trip than God's balances will remain tipped in their favor and their health, family, business, and retirement fund will remain secure. After all, the goal of life is to live the American dream, so won't God just come alongside us and help make that happen? I don't think most believers realize that there is a greater purpose to this life: for the world, for the church, and for each of us as individuals. Another important paradigm shift that I see a need for is towards a renewed understanding of "the mission field." Too many people still understand "the mission field" to be a far away place in hostile territory. I have spent most of my professional life organizing and leading mission teams, and it's frustrating to see person after person go on trips to other countries and neglect their own neighborhoods, businesses and families. In many places, the church needs to change it's focus from being a "gathering place" to a "launching pad," sending believers out into their communities to be agents of hope and transformation. As the title of the title of your blog implies, the church needs to become more active and mission minded. It needs to become more praxis-oriented.
So, when I refer to "traditions" I'm thinking about the divisive squabbles within the church over trivial issues. The vast majority of denominational churches are made up of older people, and the majority are asking for young pastors to come in and bring in "young people" so the church doesn't die. However, many of them aren't willing to change forms of worship in order to draw different people in, nor are they willing to get involved with leadership. As a leader, I want to better understand how to help people think and act like a missionary, looking for opportunities to share the Good News and thinking about how to do so in the most appropriate manner for the situation, and how do we change the church from a knowledge-based organization to a praxis-based community.
Let me know your thoughts on that.
Well said, you must be in Seminary! So am I, so the jokes on us both. I'm getting my MA in Inter-Cultural studies ie. Missiology @ Simpson University.
I'm a Christian therefore I go to church; no. I'm a Christian therefore I bring the fragrance of Christ to those around me; My mission field; My life.
Yeah, missionaries. You must mean those dusty photos on the map in the hallway going to the bathroom at my church. Christian=Missionary.
I read something powerful last night in a Catholic Anthology I'm reading for a class "The word of salvation is carried out to all nations by the church, for the church is by its very nature missionary and universal. It is missionary because it is 'the church of the Trinity,' taking its origin in the sending forth of the Son and the Holy Spirit." (The Spirit in the Church and the World pg. 105). God proclaims His mission in Gen 3:9. God shows us His mission in sending of Himself to us. The NT was written in mission, for mission, to a people on mission! If Paul's words are read outside of mission than your exegetical practice is flawed.
We tell people "Come" and rightly so, we want people to know Christ, but this invitation to life should be followed with an emphatic "GO...make disciples." We say "God bless my neighbor she's having a hard time right now." God answers, "That's what I put you there for dummy. GO...bless."
Who are you reaching out to right now?
Practice Praxis.
Sean
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