All posts in Church

Power, Authority, Discipleship and Pants

As I understand it, power has to do with one’s ability and authority has to do with having permission to exercise that power. In other words, you might have knowledge, insight or wisdom to offer me that would I would benefit from but if I don’t heed your words, I have denied you the authority to exercise your power.

Andy Crouch’s presentation at the Q conference was born out of early efforts toward a book on the topic of Power and it landed squarely in an arena of thought I’m currently in myself: The exercise of authority involved in discipleship.

He suggested that there is a general reticence among Christians to assume or claim power; as if claiming power/influence is by nature arrogant and dangerous whereas the denial of power/influence is a sign of character. His suggestion called to mind the oft-quoted warning that “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” -Lord Acton (real name)

Now, count me among those who have a backlog of negative power-abuse examples in my mind, particularly related to religious history… but if women and men of character automatically compromise that character by assuming positions of power, isn’t the void left to be filled by those who lack character? That seams to be what many among us at least believe to be true about those in authority. In my experience, the very idea of authority is often met with red flags and suspicion.

And yet I wore pants today, as I do so most days.. Of course, I didn’t internally decide that it was good to wear pants. I was told, over years of course, that I ought to and believed that to be true. I find that to be the case in just about all my behavioral patterns: I do what I do because I’ve been taught that I ought to and believed that to be true. In other words, I’m submitted to some power or other. I’ve given authority to someone or something outside myself to determine at least part of how I live. Admittedly, this influence is often benign,.. but not always. The permissibility of slave-labor in order to ensure low prices for American consumers is also a product of the slow but pervasive influence of authoritative voices in the Marketplace.

The initial challenge of discipleship is entering the arena where power is already being wielded; where authority, leadership and life-shaping are already taking place… and risk association with a history of power-abuse. I don’t like the impact the Marketplace has had on people I love. I think I have a better idea of how to live and spend money. I don’t like the impact certain elements of the Political and Religious worlds have had on people I love. I think I have a better idea how to see and treat people. So, will I risk the appearance of arrogance and control in order to “put my two cents in?”

Or is the bigger risk to let whatever cultural forces are most powerful and pervasive do the instructing and shaping of those I love?

20 days ago / Tagged: Andy Crouch, Authority, Discipleship, Power, Q Conference 2

Across The Country To Do Some Listening

I’ll be in Washington DC for the next 3 days attending the Q conference. You can watch the first few sessions live. The Q Conference is a gathering of leaders and thinkers from key areas of culture to “consider how to advance the common good in a pluralistic society.” I’ll be using Facebook and Twitter while I’m there to highlight moments I am moved or challenged by. I’ll also be writing and hope to post something here at the blog…

..BUT..

Mostly, I know that this is a time to listen. I often talk too much and too soon. Among the women and men who are leading the discussion at Q are several whose wisdom is rooted in years of focused discipline, failure, trial and success. I will want to add to their conversation… but I will need to listen.

I don’t always have to add something. In fact, If I really do want to add something of substance, I need to be a man of substance and most of that comes by way of listening, watching and imitating women and men whose wisdom exceeds mine. A lot of that type of person is at QDC this week. So, I’m going to go listen.

Here are some of the folks I’m looking forward to listening to:

Andy Crouch
Gideon Strauss
Catherine Rohr
Janelle Paris
Miroslav Volf

If you use Twitter, follow the hashtag #QDC for updates.

38 days ago / Tagged: listening, Q Conference, QDC 1

Speaking about people and communities we have knowledge of comes with the possibility and responsibility of actually affecting change in the area we’re so willing to critique.. and I would suggest that’s where the rubber meets the road.

I’m becoming far less comfortable with making statements about “The Church.” I’m realizing that I just don’t have the capacity to hold together, in my mind, the enormity of the word. In fact, the smartest, wisest and most invested women and men I know delicately and humbly approach the term “The Church” and rarely to level some sweeping criticism.

Thoughts like “Christians think this” or “The Church needs to stop doing that” will always be true insofar as the sample it points at includes, because of its enormity, some Christians who do think that and perhaps whole Church communities of people who are doing something that ought not be done. But it also misses just as many.

So, perhaps it is more accurate and responsible to talk about our church rather than talking about the monolithic, faceless thing called “The Church.” Perhaps it is more honoring and even effective to talk about men and women we actually know instead of the blob of nameless automatons we often men when we speak of “The Church.”

Speaking about the people and communities we have knowledge of comes with the possibility and responsibility of actually affecting change in the area we’re so willing to critique… and I would suggest that’s where the rubber meets the road. What if the filter through which we ran our critique of any people was whether or not we had not only knowledge of but influence among that people? Isn’t most of what happens outside of that mostly complaining?

Certainly there are exceptions, but I’m trying to apply this filter to more of the way I critique my world and particularly “The Church.”

42 days ago / Tagged: Church, Complaining, Religion 5

CMY(K): People Are Not Their Problems

In writing the letters that make up part of the CMY(K) project, I wanted to model an approach to pastoral practice that emphasized the Person rather than the Problem. Eugene Peterson makes a compelling argument in his most recent memoirThe Pastor that far too much ministry focuses on relieving people of their problems; constantly calling attention to some issue or another. I’m certainly guilty of this, myself.

But I am not defined by my problems and bristle at the thought of being primarily seen in the dark light of what is wrong with me.

The proper focus of Christian discipleship is the growth and shaping of a whole person who is loved by God as they are. Discipleship is not the resolution or eradication of an individual’s set of issues so that they can become acceptable to God and His people.

In other words; in answer to questions I’ve been asked such as..

“Do you deal with homosexuality in your church?”
“Do you deal with doubt among your congregates?”

I would have to answer “No.” Not because sexual identity is unimportant or difficult to address or because everyone in my congregation is unshakably confident in the things they believe. But because I don’t want to “deal with” issues. I want to “deal with” people. I want to do my best, according to what wisdom I’ve been granted, to help them hear, interpret and then act on what they are hearing from God; trusting that He, in His wisdom, will speak to them about what specific things He is working on, shaping, changing or removing.

—

You can pick up all three CMY(K) ep’s at iTunes
You can find more about the CMY(K) project at http://cmykproject.info/
You can dance if you want to. You can leave your friends behind here.

63 days ago / Tagged: CMY(K), Counseling, Discipleship, Therapy 1

You were part of this community when I first showed up. I left for a few years but when I came back you were still here. A lot else had changed and a lot of folks weren’t around anymore but you were. That made me feel like I had come back to the same place; to the same church. Like I had actually come home to something I could count on.

Several months ago, we bid farewell to a long-standing member our our church community. His departure was strictly geographical in nature; no ‘weird church drama’ involved. A small group of us (7 men or so) with whom this brother was particularly connected gathered to formally send him on the next part of his journey. Each of us shared some word of wisdom or encouragement (along with some legendary jabs) over the course of about 3 hours. Among them all, one comment stuck with me as most prominent.

While the wording might not be exact, the sentiment ran something like this:

“You were part of this community when I first showed up. I left for a few years but when I came back you were still here. A lot else had changed and a lot of folks weren’t around anymore but you were. That made me feel like I had come back to the same place; to the same church. Like I had actually come home to something I could count on.”

I can honestly say that our church community has been held together not so much by the most talented or even wisest among us but by those who have faithfully weathered the years and chosen to remain.

Perhaps this goes without saying but this is not just about church culture..

-It’s about being the teacher who, even after years the political and cultural devaluing of your job, simply won’t quit on kids or their education.

-It’s about being the politician who, despite the force of currents moving against you, continues to act with sincerity and integrity.

-Its about being the divorced husband or wife who, despite all the awkwardness and frustration, continues to make time with their children the highest priority.

-It’s about being the friend who is there for your friends 5, 7, 10, 20 years later.

There is simply no replacement for faithful presence; it is perhaps the greatest gift a person can offer another person.

67 days ago / Tagged: Community, Friendship, new iPad 3

After The Tornado

This piece was originally posted in Heretic Press and works as a kind of supplement to the CMY(K) artist statement.
–

I believe in the resurrection of Jesus. With that comes the belief that death is not simply a sad fact, but a necessary part of a full life. In Christian circles, this language is often used almost unceremoniously; “I must die to myself” “Less of me, more of Him” or “Taking up my cross” are not an uncommon things to hear on a Christian’s lips. But what happens to the idea that “death is necessary” when it is applied to the very religious system from which we learned the language of “death and life” and how to use it?

I am hardly the first to point out that western evangelical Christiantiy as we have known it is dying a relatively slow and public death. Author Mike Breen equates the current state of western religious culture to a tornado-struck town; what was previously familiar and comfortable terrain is uncomfortably strange and different because many, if not all of the landmarks we used to orient ourselves have been leveled. Calling oneself a “Christian” or even saying that one has “faith” means something different now than it used to. For many among us, we actually don’t want these things to mean what they used to and we are eager for new meaning to fill the space still possessed by these words.

While that may seem a bit dramatic, I’ve found this idea to be pervasively true with my circle of friends. I want to affirm the critique among my peers that very little about being a Christian looks like it used to (or soon won’t). I also want to put some marks on the blank slate in front of us so that we don’t feel like we have to draw new maps alone. I want to say that, regardless of the disorientation brought on by the absence of familiar structures, there is still a True North. I want to encourage those of us still standing amidst the rubble of once sacred buildings, that sometimes structures collapse because they were built poorly or cheaply… and that, in the future, we can build with more care. I want to proclaim that death is necessary for life and that believing in the resurrection doesn’t mean believing our faith (much less the structures we build around it) never dies. It means that death is not the end, even if it is our faith that has died.

This is why I’m doing the CMY(K) project.

—
You can pick up the EP’s at iTunes.
It is also available at my web store.
For more on the whole CMY(K) project, read the artist statement.

79 days ago / Tagged: Christianity, Church, CMY(K), Culture 7

Throw The Christians To The Lions

Upon my return from India with Compassion International, I was reeling a bit, wondering how to share what I had just experienced. It was truly the most overwhelming and life-changing span of days outside of the birth of my son. I didn’t need to find a way to sum it all up.. I needed a starting point.

On the drive home from SFO, after an almost 30hr travel day from Kolkata, we pulled up at a red light where I saw, stuck on the car in front of us, a bumper sticker reading “So many Christians, so few lions.”

I’d found my starting point.

The predicate of the bumper sticker was that Christians, as a group, ought to be fed to the lions. Unfortunately, there are just too many Christians to effectively do so. So I got to thinking: If we want to eradicate Christians, we would have to do it in a more organized manner; we’d have to line us up and toss us in a few at a time.

Which leads to the question “Who would go first?”

The easy target would be the Catholics, who are often the focus of severe cultural critique, even by their own Christian family. Of course, by throwing all the Catholics to the lions, we’d be eradicating members of the most charitable organization in human history… yet that wouldn’t be the major obstacle; the major obstacle remains the sheer number of Catholics. So, in the interests of expediency, perhaps we ought to begin by tossing in the small group of Catholic nuns I met in Kolkata who, as common practice, walk around the block upon which their convent is situated and pick up abandoned infants from the street and then nurse them back to health to the best of their ability. This would include the infant child I almost stepped on with my own feet, left covered in a pile of rags with only its tiny hand exposed. Perhaps we ought to begin with that group of Christians.

Or perhaps we move on to a different institution and begin by tossing in any of the Protestant pastors I met in India who, supported by Compassion’s Child Survival Project, facilitate programs for pregnant mothers and their children, regardless of the fact that neither those women nor their husbands attend those churches much less tithe to keep those churches running. You see, most of these women are from Hindu and Muslim families and have no interest in Christianity per se. They are also, in large part, members of India’s Untouchable caste; a people who are regarded as sub-human by the dominant forces in their culture. They are regarded as next-to-worthless beings whose only hope is to die and return on as a member of the higher castes. Yet, these Protestant pastors believe that all people are children of the Father and therefore worth helping. Particularly, they believe that motherhood is a sacred vocation and worth investing time, finances and resources.

We could begin with these pastors.

Or perhaps we could begin with any of the Christian men and women who, along with WIlliam Wilberforce, launched and sustained the first abolitionist movement. Or any of the Christians who have launched and are sustaining the second great abolitionist movement, happening right before our eyes.

Of course, I am assuming that the maker of the sticker and the driver of the car it was stuck on would not want to begin with anyone on the above list. The work of the lives I’ve mentioned is far too good to throw away… or at least good enough to keep them from being thrown away first. Rather, I imagine they’d suggest beginning with someone more like me; someone whose life is more compromised. Someone who has injured people with his expression of faith or at least used his faith as an excuse and coverup for having injuring people; in a word: a hypocrite.

But, if we decided on throwing some lesser member of the Christian Family to the lions, I believe we would have a problem..

I believe firmly that, as we drug some lesser sister or brother to the pit to be consumed, one of our greater sisters or brothers would intercede and demand that they should be taken instead. They would do so for the very reason the do the great works of compassion and justice that would otherwise qualify them for exclusion from being thrown to the lions; they are Christians and are compelled by the Person of Jesus Christ both externally and internally.

You see, the Christians I know and have personally met who do these compelling and moving works do not do so simply because the work needs doing; they do so because they have followed Jesus into such work. They are compelled and inspired by the teachings and spirit of Jesus to care for those He called “the least.”

So, It strikes me that if we want to throw “the Christians” to the lions, we might as well begin with the best among us and, with them, the work of their lives. In my experience, why I do what I do makes what I do sustainable. When the thrill of doing a good work wears off (and it always does) my reason for doing it remains. I join my greater sisters and brothers in acknowledging that I do what I do because I am compelled by Jesus Christ.

87 days ago / Tagged: bumper stickers, Christianity, Church, Compassion International, Justice, lindsay lohan 5

CMY(K) – Resurrection (“Y”, Track 1): Letter To A Christian Friend

Most of the songs that make up the CMY(K) project are written for and about friends. I am posting the letters I’ve written to these friends letting them know about their song. Below is the letter I wrote to a friend for whom i wrote the song “Resurrection,” which appears on the EP entitled “Y.”

I wrote the song “Resurrection” with you in mind. Below is a letter explaining a bit more of why.

The christianity you grew up in almost killed you. In fact, it may well have at some point. You were given hoops to jump through and lists to memorize lest you be unprepared to meet the ills of this depraved world. Regardless, you were ill-prepared. In your christian training, favor was hard-earned and easily lost. You had the horrible misfortune of never having earned it to begin with so that when you floundered, it was only what was expected of you. You never measured up but for short seasons at a time, at the end of which you would inevitably be found lacking in either faith or character once again.In a culture that generally values getting it right, you’ve often gotten it quite wrong. You have lived long seasons of expecting the other boot to fall; never believing that, even when good fortune is granted you, it will last. Sadly, you’ve been right about many of these seasons and that has verified the idea that, at least in some way, you are cursed.

But I do not believe your christian training provides light enough by which to accurately read the story of your life. I do not believe that yours is the story of a man who “can’t hold it together,” though much has fallen apart in your hands. I do not believe that yours is the story of a man who is constantly sabotaging his own good fortune, though you have often done that as well. I do not believe you are a man whose past mistakes will forever haunt and corrupt the landscape of his future. I believe that yours is a testimony of boundless mercy; of inexhaustible grace; of getting second chances seventy times and then seven times that.

On one hand the sad reading of your life is accurate: How many times has your life nearly imploded? How many times have you shot yourself in the foot or jumped ship on something good because of some irrational fear? How many times have you schemed your way into some corner from which you believed the only escape was yet another scheme into another corner? How many corners have you found yourself in?

In fact, you have found yourself even recently in yet another corner. But this time you didn’t scheme your way out. You stopped. You waited. You got caught holding the bag that contained all your failures. In part you stopped because you were exhausted from the chase and had lost faith in your own plans. But more importantly, your exhaustion from running all these years allowed the better part of you to overpower the lesser part of you and move you past fear toward trust.

In the past, you believed being caught would have meant being exposed and that being exposed would mean shame, judgement and punishment. But that is not what you have found in being caught. Being caught in this corner has meant experiencing the firm grasp of God and those He’s given to you. That grasp can feel like a kind of violence at first. But that it has not harmed or restricted you: it has held you still and in place long enough to hear the voice of the Father and His Family saying “You are a son and a brother. With you we are well pleased.”

You see, what your christian training failed to teach you is that failure is not a dead end, it is a doorway. Through the doorway of failure you have found mercy and grace. And though your former religion may have in fact killed you, it is by mercy and grace that you are being made alive again.

Only because you have failed as a friend have you come to know who your true friends are and that the foundation of those relationships cannot be shaken by your performance.

Only because you have failed as a son have you come to know that the love of a Father is unmoved by performanceand that you, in fact, do have a true Father. (This also means that you can BE a true father).Only because you have failed as a christian have you come to know that God never asked you to be a ‘christian’ to begin with. He has pursued you. He has caught you. He has held you together. He has kept you. None of this because you have done well and have therefore pleased the Father with your performance. All of it because you are His. And that is all he has asked you to be.. to be His and to know that He is pleased with you.

—

You can pick up the EP at iTunes.
It is also available at my web store.
For more on the whole CMY(K) project, read the artist statement.

Resurrection from Justin McRoberts on Vimeo.

LYRICS:

It’s not about the drinking
It’s all about being drunk
It’s not with whom you’re sleeping
It’s with whom you wake up

It’s not about the wars you fight
It’s whether or not you win
Not so much about being right
As not letting all the wrong ones in

We all wan’t that resurrection
But we don’t want to die
We all wan’t that sweet salvation
Without the bitterness of sacrifice

It’s not about forgiveness
But making sure they know
You’re the one they’ve injured
But you’re too strong to let it show

It’s not about believing
It’s about making it look good
So when you loose your reason
You just keep doing what you should

90 days ago / Tagged: CMY(K), Failure, Grace, justin mcroberts, Religion 0

Sunday Reflection: Why I Don’t Hate Religion

I am a Christian. I am a religious person. In fact, wish I were more so. I wish I more religiously cared for my own mind and body; more religiously cared for my family and more religiously served my neighbors. I wish I more religiously acted on the decisions I make when I have the eyes to see and the ears to hear clearly. I wish I more religiously practiced and acted on what I believe to be True and Good and Beautiful. I am a religious man because I practice what I believe and only wish I were more faithful to my religion.

Perhaps obviously, I’m responding to the viral video entitled “Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus.” Even side from the generally false and far-too-easy accusations leveled against “churches,” the young brother’s poem is an example of what I find worst in religious practice: reactive emotionalism. I believe I understand what he’s reacting to. The cross-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-generational, communal practice of Christianity is often messy and sometimes downright ugly. Yet I would suggest that the thing to do in response to poorly practiced religion is to work at practicing it well and helping others to do the same.

Serve the poor.
Support single mothers.
Visit and encourage the imprisoned.
Pray.
Study.
Sing.
Heal.

All of which are outward evidences and practices of inward convictions and beliefs

Religion is exactly that; the outward practice of my inward conviction and belief. It is the pattern created by regularly and consistently (and communally) acting on what I believe. Without the outward work of my life (my religion), the inward conviction I have regarding the Goodness, Truth and Beauty of God in Christ is meaningless (James 2:14-26). I practice my faith regularly and consistently instead of allowing it to be an emotionally-rooted and nearly thoughtless sequence of reactions, each with a life-span roughly equivalent to that of a YouTube video’s popularity.

123 days ago / Tagged: "Why I Hate Religion", Jesus, Katy Perry, Religion, YouTube 24

I had hiked to the top of the hill to catch the sunset and found a very tall, wooden cross planted at the summit. In the wood, folks had etched their names, scripture verses, words like “Christ 4 Life!” or “I love Jesus!.” Others had etched crosses into the cross, which seems.. well, like quite a redundancy. And while I didn’t actually scoff at anything on the cross, I might as well have. I often don’t notice until after I’ve done so, but I have a natural propensity for filing certain expressions of faith under categories of “unhelpful” or “juvenile.”

Earlier in the day, I had written about the grace upon which the christian community is founded. During the piece, I wrote that “if God is planning on judging His children according to the rightness of our theology, we ought to all be very concerned.” The line was bouncing around my head and on my walk down the hill, it came collided with the list of judgements I’d made about those etchings.

I was reminded that I belong to a tradition in which even the most juvenile expression is, on some level, accepted; that it is by the same grace that my expression is accepted. After all, what is more juvenile than being judgmental?

162 days ago / Tagged: Community, judgement 0