who cares about sunday morning?

seriously, if you ever attend a church service or mass do you ever look around and wonder if this is at all what god had in mind?

we watched a short film from the nooma series last night titled: sunday. [you can check out a preview by going to the 'videos' section of this page]

in the film rob bell sits in a restaurant [presumably after church on any given sunday] as christians, fresh from church, come in and sit down for a post-worship meal.

he asks questions and challenges the religious structures of the day. he quotes the prophet isaiah and he quotes jesus to back up critiques of the 'going through the motions' kind of church experience. he compares an unhappy church-goer to a husband bringing home flowers for his wife because 'it is my duty' or 'because there was a sale and they were cheap' he comments that no wife would want flowers out of duty; she would rather receive them as an expression of love. god is the same: he does not want worship from people trying to assuage guilt or doing it just because that is what we are supposed to do. god wants people's hearts...nothing less, nothing more.

so, after the film we discussed.

many in our community are frustrated with the state of the church today. there is little room for spiritual creativity, and some even feel that the church gets in the way of those who are genuinely seeking after god. imagine that: the church as a hindrance, not a help, to the spritually hungry! can you think of anything that would anger god more?

many people argued that the reason why they continue to come to immersion week after week is that they enjoy the community and the ability to dialogue with other people about matters of the faith. they think it is important to learn what other people think and feel. they want to be challenged and not be spectators to their own faith journey being told what to think by 'experts.'

church is such a strange thing. we gather together to learn about a jewish peasant who lived 2000 years ago and how he died and came back to life and we think he is god. that is weird.

truly weird.

but if it is true then shouldn't a church that holds to the teachings as radical as turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, forgive others, plead for the widow, defend the cause of the orphan, love the marginalized and forgotten members of society as if they were god in the flesh, treat each other with love, be so consumed by love that it becomes the defining trait of your community attract some attention?

should the church of jesus be in decline? i mean, look at the message that we have been given! it is like nothing else...it is otherworldly.

maybe that is the problem. maybe church has taken this message and made it suitable for mass consumption and maybe, just maybe, the church is now teaching the wrong thing. maybe, just maybe, we have become the religious leaders that jesus found so infuriating in his day.

maybe, just maybe, church needs to be re-tooled a bit. otherwise, if we are not preaching the gospel then why should anyone care about sunday morning, wednesday night, bible study or anything else to do with the faith?

can we get rid of christianity and just concentrate on being christian?

if you're interested...

so i have been asked by st john's to come and be the guest speaker at their alternative service this saturday [the 24th].

these services are pretty cool with a lot of drama, rockin' tunes and a good message [well, until this year!]

it would be cool to look out and see some familiar faces in the church when i talk. if you can/want to come meet at walt's house at 7pm...then we'll head over. their service starts at 730.

thanks....jamie

who am i? who are we?

the question of identity shapes our perception and our understanding of this world, our place in it and our relationship with god.

last night dallas shared with us the story of the nation of israel as they struggled with national identity and various crises of faith.

from abram's destined journey from ur to the overly-confident dream weaver joseph's trip to egypt to the wanderings of the people in the desert to the arrival in the promised land to the subsequent babylonian captivity to the return of the people of god to their land under the persian king, cyrus. all stages had their struggles and all parts contributed to the journey of israel's understanding of what it means to be the children of god.

dallas had us break into groups and talk about times when our own identity was shaken. here are some of the answers:

loss of job

media's influence over our body image

crisis of faith

death

illness

rumours

bullying

family dynamics

each one contributes to new questions about our identity. each one challenges the pre-conceived notions we have about ourselves. each one forces us to look at the box we put ourselves, and others, in and rebuild it.

as israel struggled with bondage and captivity and infidelity towards god and even whether or not to build a temple they were learning who god was [and is] as well as who they were called to be.

at the end of the night dallas held up the large poster board with all our situations and identity-influencing factors written on it, opened a can of paint, and covered them with a cross.

identity: it is not about those things, it is about seeing that god became flesh and blood and dwelt among us to show that we are not to build temples to god but we are to be temples to god.

identity: it is not about what others say about you but understanding what god has already said about you: 'while you were still screwed up and not even looking for god, in fact, while you were actively opposing him, god died for you so that you may come to know him. you did not choose him, he chose you.'

'nuff said? easier said than done!

thanks dallas for a good lesson that needed to be said.

David Suzuki Info

For those of you who were at the park clean-up in October we were talking about getting in contact with the David Suzuki foundation in order to learn as much as possible about environmental issues (hedonism vs edenism)

anyhoo, our li'l environmentalist, teija, fired off this email as a point of reference so, if you have the time, take a quick boo at it!

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/

thanks teija

do only christians go to heaven? part II

as children adorned themselves in costumes a gathering of people sang some songs, watched some videos and ate some candy together while discussing the fate of our eternal souls.

beth and iain led us in some beautiful music

there was a video about a man in a hole (see below)

we discussed john 14:6

"i am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me."

and asked...what does this mean? is jesus the only way to heaven? do you have to be a christian to go to heaven when you die?

well, that incited some interesting perspectives. people are not comfortable with the idea that something as simple as being a christian is the measuring stick of entrance into the pearly gates. it is hard to argue that saying a prayer and calling on a name can include you and exclude others. people argued that there are plenty of people out there who were not christian but who are great and noble people. what do we do with someone like ghandi? is ghandi in hell simply because he didn't use the name of jesus?

then the point was put forward that just because something makes us uncomfortable does not make it untrue. after all, god is not beholden to us, we are beholden to god.

we do not tell the bible what it says, it tells us. we do not interpret it, it interprets us. we do not clarify it, it clarifies us.

so, where are we left? who goes to heaven?

the problem i have always had with the whole idea that only christians go to heaven is simple: jesus was not a christian.

but we cannot throw this passage out, we cannot lose the theological baby in the bath water of our culture, so to speak. when we read this passage it points us to one and only one conclusion: jesus is the way to heaven...like it or lump it, that is what it says.

but is that the same as being a christian? i think not.

i think in order to be a follower you must be just that: a follower. we then read a story from c.s.lewis' chronicles of narnia the last battle. in this story a young soldier who has followed after another god and not aslan is confronted by the great and awesome lion. he falls to the ground knowing that his hour of death is at hand. still, he is thankful for being able to see the lion before he dies.

but aslan does not condemn the man for his service to another but affords him grace and welcomes him because the good service he had done could not be done to someone evil...evil and good are opposed. therefore, one cannot serve evil by doing good and one cannot serve good by doing evil.

christians can do the work of satan and still call themselves christian. when a christian kills an abortion doctor, or beats up (or discriminates against) a homosexual, or rejects a person based on religion it is quite possible that their 'christian duty' is actually service to the dark lord.

by that logic, can not a person who does not call on the name of jesus serve god? if a persons answers the call of the holy spirit deep within them can their service not be honourable to god, even if they do not know whom they serve (and it can be argued that none of us truly know)?

we left the conversation with this thought (it might seem like a bit of a cop out but i think it is a good place to start): we spend too much time worrying about who is 'in' when that was not the message of jesus. jesus came to this earth, and began his ministry, to show people not how to go to the kingdom of god but that the kingdom was present. what kind of a world would it be if we spent more time trying to bring the kingdom here instead of wondering about what will get us there?

so the answer to the question is simple: do only christians go to heaven? that's up to god.

but christians can also bring heaven here...that is much more profound.

we concluded by watching this video by author brian mclaren...hope you enjoy it. see ya next week.