Spiritual Disciplines

One of the area’s I’m hoping to grow in in the coming year is the spirit of grace-ful dialogue. (I.e. speaking the truth with love, constructive conflict, etc.) One of the models I look to in this is Brian McLaren. As can be seen from my other posts, I’ve gained a lot from McLaren’s writings in the last year. But I believe perhaps his greatest contribution to the church will be remembered as the grace-full-ness in which he shared his ideas and engaged critics. One of my mentors who knows McLaren personally said that he is the “classic non-bridge-burner”. He does everything he can to maintain relationships and avoid burning bridges. Especially as I continue to be shaped in my theology by McLaren, Dallas Willard, and N.T. Wright and begin to be more vocal about this new worldview and understanding of what the Good News of Jesus is (which might be pushing the envelope for many in traditional evangelical circles), I hope to learn this spirit of grace-ful dialogue so that I might point to the Kingdom of God at all times. As this same mentor of mine says, its more important to be in right fellowship than to be right.

I just read this article on McLaren’s website. It is a “friendly note” to his critics sharing his desire for grace-ful dialogue between them that would represent the Kingdom of God well rather than the mean-spirited dialogue which often predominates in religious debate. I think it is a great summary of Christian ethics for grace-ful dialogue and useful for meditating on and putting into practice. I hope you are blessed by the article as I have been and will be.

Instead of being grateful, obedient and trusting, as a naive reading of the exodus story might have led us to imagine, Israel spends forty years in the wilderness wanting to go back to Egypt, fearful of entering the Promised Land because there are giants there, and generally displaying all the signs of the fallen humanity to whose plight they were supposed to be the answer. - from Evil and the Justice of God, p. 56, by N.T. Wright (emphasis mine)

Sometimes I lament at how difficult discipleship and leadership development is among the urban poor in Bangkok. When the believers in our house church and other neighbors continue to struggle with gambling, alcohol abuse, worry, fear, etc. I wish my neighbors would soak up the Word (not just intellectually, but heart-wise) like my friends back in college used to. I want to scream, “You’re supposed to be the answer to all this! Yes this world is messed up and there is much in your lives and our community’s life to worry over and reason to flee the problems and self-medicate with gambling and alcohol - but God wants to use you to change all this mess! There is so much more to life than what you’re living!” Read the rest of this entry »