Ray Charles asks: Would Jesus wear a Rolex?

This was just too darn funny not to post.

The Rooster-Prince

So Peter Rollins’ retellings of ancient Jewish parables (Which can be found here and here) inspired me to talk about another parable.

There’s an ancient Jewish parable that’s called The Rooster Prince. In it, there’s a prince who loses his mind and comes to believe that he is a rooster. The rooster-prince is so crazy, and so convinced of his own rooster-hood that he decides to take off his clothes and sit under the table and make clucking noises. The King and Queen are obviously very upset about this turn of events, and so they call on all kinds of healers and teachers and wise men and sages to come in to try and convince the prince that he is a human, all without any success. And so finally, a new kind of wise man arrives to try and help. This wise man takes off all of his clothes and gets under the table with the prince and starts making clucking noises. And slowly, the prince comes to believe that the wise man is his friend. And slowly, the wise man leads the prince back to believing that he is a human, until he is able to get back up and return to normal life.

I loved this story immediately when I read it, because it really gets to the heart of what talking to people about faith really means. In one interpretation of the parable, the rooster-prince is a secular Jew, and the wise man is a rabbi who knew the key to showing the rooster-prince how to heal his soul. And the answer that the rabbi has is to become like the rooster-prince. He gets down under the table with him, which is where all of the other healers and sages have failed: They tried to reason him out of something that reason doesn’t apply to – A basic belief, which he accepts for itself, without reason.

The parable reminds me a lot of a passage in chapter nine of First Corinthians, where the apostle Paul talks about how he has made himself a servant of all for the sake of Christ and how to the Gentiles he became like a Gentile, and to those under the law he became like those under the law. There’s this idea that I really like about that – That Paul recognized the value of the beliefs these people already held, and saw that any sort of a discussion about faith has to start on a common ground.

This idea, in itself, sounds a lot like the life of Christ. To me, at least, this is what the practical aspect of the incarnation looks like.

Why I’m a little tired of the attractional/missional conversation, too

For starters, both “Missional” and “Attractional” have both been overused so much that they’re starting to lose their meanings. When people start talking about how their church is “Missional” I usually do a little research and find out that it’s actually just doing the same thing that everybody else is doing… Trying to get more butts in their pews. And (Not that there are that many who actually talk about being “Attractional”) the “Attractional” types are really just doing it, too (Though at least they’ll admit it).

So maybe it’s time to admit the truth: The function of a religious organization is to draw people in. On the other hand, though, the function of a person who follows Jesus is to try to be like Jesus. And usually that doesn’t involve inviting other people to come to a religious gathering and get converted. It means meeting people on their level and loving them. Or at least that’s part of it.

So maybe the key to the whole thing is this: There’s no such thing as a missional church. Just missional Christians. The question, then, is whether or not your church is one that teaches people how to lead missional lives or if it just teaches you to invite people to church.

Missional Tribe launches

Missional Tribe is a new networking site that just launched… Not sure where it’s headed yet but it looks pretty cool so far. You can check out my page and the God Outside the Box (Missional Tribe Version) on the site.

Why Mark Driscoll Isn’t all bad…

Just found this awesome quote from Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. While I have some deep problems with his theology, he’s not a bad guy. Case in point:

“I want to prepare like an evangelical; preach like a Pentecostal; pray like a mystic; do the spiritual disciplines like a Desert Father; art like a Catholic; and social justice like a liberal.”
– Mark Driscoll

Yeah. that is what I’m talking about. Well, except maybe the “Preach like a Pentecostal” bit.

Jesus, the Bible, Christianity, and (Wait for it…) Homosexuality

Tony Jones is doing it, Adam Walker-Cleaveland is doing it… Yeah, that’s right: Blogging about what they think about Christianity and homosexuality. So I think it’s time for me to join the conversation, too…

By not talking about it.

I realize that people on both sides of the issue are going to be unhappy with me for saying that I don’t want to talk about it. I’m sure conservatives won’t like it because they’ll be convinced I’ve abandoned the Bible (I haven’t abandoned anything), and I’m sure liberals won’t like it because I’m not being open or affirming enough (I think I am…).

I think I should also say, though, that what I’m refusing to discuss is the “Sin/not sin” issue. I’m very willing to talk about being open and being inclusive.

But I think that just shutting up about it is probably the right thing to do. I don’t find in the Gospels anything that resembles a Jesus who moralistically or legalistically defines any sort of code of behavior which others are required to follow. I do find, however, a Jesus who commands us to love God and to love our neighbors. I also find a Jesus who acts based on what I perceive to be a kind of radical acceptance of people who have been marginalized by the religious authorities.

So, in that, I’m going to follow Jesus by just getting out there and loving people – Especially the people who have been ignored, put down, or even threatened by the religious elites. Certainly God convicts people of sin (whatever that can mean…), but I’ll let God worry about that.

Favorite things of ‘08

My favorite songs of ’08: (In no particular order, and not necessarily released in ’08)
“Revelry” by Kings of Leon
“Thrash Unreal” by Against Me
“Kill the Poor” by the Dead Kennedys
“All These Things That I’ve Done” by the Killers
“I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor” by the Arctic Monkeys
“Sorrow” by Bad Religion
“American Jesus” by Bad Religion
“Pancho and Lefty” by Emmylou Harris
“On Fire” by Swtchfoot
“Evil is Alive and Well” by Jakob Dylan

My favorite books that I read in ‘08
“The Irresistible Revolution” by Shane Claiborne
“Myths to Live By” by Joseph Campbell
“No Country for Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy
“Blue Like Jazz” by Donald Miller
“Searching for God Knows What” by Donald Miller
“Jesus Wants to Save Christians” by Rob Bell
“Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell
“Peace is Every Step” by Thich Nhat Hanh
“The Miracle of Mindfulness” by Thich Nhat Hanh
“Pagan Christianity” by Frank Viola and George Barna

Favorite movies I saw in ‘08
The Dark Knight
Death at a Funeral
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Matrix Trilogy
Jesus Camp
The Exorcist
The Science of Sleep

Myths to Live By

I got Joseph Campbell’s book Myths to Live By for Christmas (From someone who knows my interests better than they thought, apparently) and I’m loving it. Joseph Campbell paints a picture that explains why, exactly, faith is necessary to thrive in the world.

Campbell suggests that there is something about myths that shows a common need in the human subconscious that mere rational thought cannot deal with and cannot explain; and that to become truly human one must enter into a myth, or a belief, or a religion which will allow one to fully actualize ones’ self.

While written from a decidedly humanistic perspective, which means that I disagree with Campbell’s starting point and with a lot of his main points, Campbell points the way toward a general trend in culture toward recognizing the value of faith as a part of life, and not merely as preparation for death.

Lectio Devina rules… And Rob Bell agrees.

Rob Bell posted a page about Lectio Devina at the Mars Hill Bible Church website. I tried Lectio Devina (The practice of reading scripture slowly and contemplatively) a few months back in a group setting, and it’s pretty awesome.

McDonalds, Burger King, or Wendy’s?

In any case, there’s a pretty cool punk/ska band you guys should check out… Yeah, I’m shamelessly promoting a local band because I know the bandmembers… But head over to Myspace.com and check out the Fast Food Kings!