this is also an early post that i reverted to a draft status for a couple of years as being a bit lopsided. trimmed it a bit - hopefully sings better now
in part 1 of this little debrief i introduced the idea of lasers and rainbows to describe tight or more distributed faith cultures, and then in part 2 looked at how some of that played out in family and devotional issues
in part 1 of this little debrief i introduced the idea of lasers and rainbows to describe tight or more distributed faith cultures, and then in part 2 looked at how some of that played out in family and devotional issues
This post unpacks how some of this has been in workplace - which has been a very real issue for me. Indeed the mismatch and tension here - as experienced across several styles of church (and types of work) - probably generated much of the rainbow/laser reflection in the first place ... i guess you could call it an inadequate conception or theology of work, which led to the need to thrash out some working idea of how the more 'laser like' focus needed to be diffracted into this domain - moving away from a centre to the particular incarnate details of what one might be uncovering in the context of a life, even perhaps, a calling
So as well as rainbows and lasers, there are half a dozen other metaphors that i've found myself using to think of church and faith (in the workplace in particular) etc...
i'll start with two related ones
(i) church can be like an engine of faith and prayer - and i have at times said to myself I will drove that engine beyond the church culture, and empower whatever vehicle i'm called to drive down whatever unique road seems to be the path of life i've been placed in
(ii) i will tap into the slipstream of dynamic faith here, 'spiritually, but not culturally'"
This all sounds quite individualistic, but its in reaction to a tendency for church to imply, perhaps not intentionally, that the main sphere of activity is in its programs and official ministries
so the common theme here in possibly moving beyond 'God in a box'
That is, i value my ongoing church based experience of God as valid and real, but have needed to integrate into other dimensions of life; notably the workplace. Even though I see the deposit of faith and teaching as precious - priceless - and significant, as well as the faith and relationships that are inculcated, i have still needed to sketch out some thinking that released me from a restrictive assumption that easily develops. That is, "the more significant places and times and agendas must therefore be located in connection with church or in its orbit of its programs". Without diminishing them, they are not the whole story, or perhaps even the main story, for most of us.
Perhaps we need a way to change that orbiting metaphor - to see that all is truly in the orbit of the God who made all. Jesus at the centre of the ornate complexities of creation- not the gathered church and its activities - although He is there in a different and more present sense. Seeing the earth go around the sun, rather than being a fixed point at the center, made much sense of the heavenly data - and lead to a simpler and cleaner approach to what was already observed. Shifting that cultural center - away from Christendom with church at the center - might be like the Copernican revolution - the earth is still there, but we have re-thought what is actually happening at sunset and sunrise - or in this case, between those times. Similarly here we rethink the daily round of work - shifting some of the centrality out of the church. And find that while losing that fixed point of is less intuitive on one level, it explains a lot of other events much more effectively.
Perhaps we need a way to change that orbiting metaphor - to see that all is truly in the orbit of the God who made all. Jesus at the centre of the ornate complexities of creation- not the gathered church and its activities - although He is there in a different and more present sense. Seeing the earth go around the sun, rather than being a fixed point at the center, made much sense of the heavenly data - and lead to a simpler and cleaner approach to what was already observed. Shifting that cultural center - away from Christendom with church at the center - might be like the Copernican revolution - the earth is still there, but we have re-thought what is actually happening at sunset and sunrise - or in this case, between those times. Similarly here we rethink the daily round of work - shifting some of the centrality out of the church. And find that while losing that fixed point of is less intuitive on one level, it explains a lot of other events much more effectively.
Thus in my case, I will be a better teacher, for example, in Catholic or state schools, if i happen to be there. I will be more faithful in the execution of complex tasks, bring more vision and clarity here, have better endurance here; be better at the inevitable relational challenges, explore particular dimensions and complexities of educative thinking; be more effective in planning and strategy; tune into God's words and impression in more diverse and complex settings than the default church culture seemed to imagine.
These examples of the principle of empowering a vehicle that seems largely off the church radar; while nevertheless drawing on an engine of faith discovered there, could no doubt be multiplied endlessly in other lives and and settings, through other personalities and careers etc.
And perhaps something about this actually fullfills the Ephesians 1 mandate of the church to be 'all in all'
A related and similar image, "i will tap into the slipstream of dynamic faith here, 'spiritually, but not culturally'" - is simply giving oneself the necessary permission to follow the dimensions of God's calling away from the assumption that all is in church and its programs- to take the release of an empowered life, and run across cultural spaces.
That is, by tuning into the genuine faith of meetings etc, and dynamism of worship, the impartation of meaning in teaching, there is renewal and healing and vision; yet the outworking is well beyond the walls of the church and its religious markers, and expressed in entirely other cultural spaces. To take my education example again, the church might see the local school as a place to run an 'outreach program'; which is no doubt a good thing, but extension of church program, as good as it may be, might not really coincide with what other Christians might be doing at the school. So they might perhaps attend the little breakfast club as token of good will - and one certainly hopes it will reach some kids - but it is possible that the volunteers will not really understand the issues the full time teacher faces there; one is not necessarily a good lens for what the other is doing; for what the maths teacher is trying to do in rethinking the original constructivist heritage of educational IT, for example - similarly in every other subject area and cultural dimension of the school - and these explorations also reflect creation mandates - to explore and name the content under redemptive leaven, and work the garden. (In passing, a Christian pedagogy that just wants to teach known facts and content, and not invite some exploration, seems to me to misrepresent the original biblical - as in Genesis - mandates which are restored in Christ- even as we still wrestle with thorns).
That is, by tuning into the genuine faith of meetings etc, and dynamism of worship, the impartation of meaning in teaching, there is renewal and healing and vision; yet the outworking is well beyond the walls of the church and its religious markers, and expressed in entirely other cultural spaces. To take my education example again, the church might see the local school as a place to run an 'outreach program'; which is no doubt a good thing, but extension of church program, as good as it may be, might not really coincide with what other Christians might be doing at the school. So they might perhaps attend the little breakfast club as token of good will - and one certainly hopes it will reach some kids - but it is possible that the volunteers will not really understand the issues the full time teacher faces there; one is not necessarily a good lens for what the other is doing; for what the maths teacher is trying to do in rethinking the original constructivist heritage of educational IT, for example - similarly in every other subject area and cultural dimension of the school - and these explorations also reflect creation mandates - to explore and name the content under redemptive leaven, and work the garden. (In passing, a Christian pedagogy that just wants to teach known facts and content, and not invite some exploration, seems to me to misrepresent the original biblical - as in Genesis - mandates which are restored in Christ- even as we still wrestle with thorns).
Again the point of this is not my own story, but that we all are called to spheres like this, and its not always visible or celebrated in a gathered community. Does this matter? Well, can we celebrate the diversity of what the people of God are called to? As an example, which Christians will be upheld as having a ministry, supported in prayer meetings for evangelistic success etc?
In several churches, i've noticed that in addition to the pastoral staff, it is the volunteer group (eg the occasional RE teachers) who are cited- and i think its right that they are supported like this, as they try to get to the point of sharing their faith. But should the complexity and heavy demand of the other roles be invisible - seeing as they are also bringing the redemptive leaven of the kingdom in other ways? Or do they just have a job - a 'secular job' at that?
In several churches, i've noticed that in addition to the pastoral staff, it is the volunteer group (eg the occasional RE teachers) who are cited- and i think its right that they are supported like this, as they try to get to the point of sharing their faith. But should the complexity and heavy demand of the other roles be invisible - seeing as they are also bringing the redemptive leaven of the kingdom in other ways? Or do they just have a job - a 'secular job' at that?
If we have this problem with teaching - which must be one of the most obvious (and in Christian circles, still quite valued) roles in the community - what of other roles...
We're dimly aware that health professionals and doctors and parents and business people 'do good' : not really seeing the fullness of a call worked out there
We're dimly aware that health professionals and doctors and parents and business people 'do good' : not really seeing the fullness of a call worked out there
For more obscure examples, i have felt creative solutions come in technical areas ... in both software and science - have felt pieces drop into place in timely ways - one can sense at times the guidance over key pieces - even though many hours or days of precursor work or subsequent refinement is needed,- the slipstream of faith helps, although operating beyond the thinking of a church service where it might have been incubated.
Thus the instinctive rubric "i will tap into the slipstream of dynamic faith here, 'spiritually, but not culturally'" (formulated in a particularly intense church : but applicable in many)
Having said this, a clerical response might say, of course; faith is meant to be leaven in your life; bringing vision and integrity to whatever it is you do ....
agreed ... but perhaps more could be done to open up the stories of this in church communities; the models of what it means to follow God tend to be silent on such things ... to default either to silence, or more linear ideas of evangelism. Perhaps something more of the diversity and glory of what God has called us all to would be celebrated and empowered. Silence does tend to privilege entire realms and model the 'ministry' as the fulltime church worker. Dubious theology i think, inheriting a dualism that struggles to include the fullness of what God has made, the very good spoken over creation, the redemptive agenda that reaches to it all.
It might seem churlish or selfish to expand all this - but the risk is we can limit significant roles and ideas of calling and God's activity to a small subset of people or a small subset of activity
I'm not anti church, anti institution - quite the contrary really - i like the laser events - just have needed to question the assumption that easily sets in - 'what happens here (church based activity) is of most significance' ; when perhaps its just the clearest encoding of a message that needs to live in wider spheres.
Lastly, these are homespun reflections and intuitions, not necessarily well formed statements of philosophy, let alone theology. But if they are an inadequate or impressionistic method for mapping the territory, i should perhaps plead that 20 years of regular church attendance has rarely strayed into discussing how the connections should be conceived. We sat in leadership in a church once, one of four lay couples, meeting regularly, and even then we never managed to table the stories and challenges and callings of our full time work, much less model that integration to others; such is the gravitational pull of that centre. A small group is somewhat more agile perhaps. One wants the laser of focussed worship and teaching when together, of course... yet the rainbow also beckons over wider realms.
Lastly, these are homespun reflections and intuitions, not necessarily well formed statements of philosophy, let alone theology. But if they are an inadequate or impressionistic method for mapping the territory, i should perhaps plead that 20 years of regular church attendance has rarely strayed into discussing how the connections should be conceived. We sat in leadership in a church once, one of four lay couples, meeting regularly, and even then we never managed to table the stories and challenges and callings of our full time work, much less model that integration to others; such is the gravitational pull of that centre. A small group is somewhat more agile perhaps. One wants the laser of focussed worship and teaching when together, of course... yet the rainbow also beckons over wider realms.
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