Tuesday, July 27, 2010

thoughts on icons

Inscape Gallery is hosting an iconographer who sees herself as rebellious. Yet she is drawn to the rich traditions of the icons as a meeting place where faces speak and emotions are brought out to create a kind of encounter that shapes our story.

Icons are foreign to most Protestant Christians. Paul says in Colossians that Christ is the image (icon) of the invisible God. The Reformers took this to mean that no other image was allowed. Even in the Calvin reading group I attend, I hear strong resistance to manger scenes and other pictures, based on the Reformed idea of Christ as the only image.

But it seems that songs create images, stained glass windows are images, and basically anything we use to communicate uses some mode of images. Why resist Icons?

Icons are strangers to us. They have faces we do not understand. But if you live within an iconic tradition, they are the faces of the family. Walking into a church is like walking into a family room. The people are there; the stories are embedded in the depictions. This creates a depth of community that is unparalleled in most of our experience. It creates a remembering who we are and what it means to live in the Gospel narrative.

I use the Rublev icon of the Old Testament Trinity to depict God in hospitable community inviting us to join in. Somehow, the image says more than many books and definitions by portraying relationships and inviting us to sup.

Do you resist, rejoice, or remain undecided on the value of icons in your journey of faith?

Friday, July 16, 2010

reflections on white-water rafting

I donned clothes of protection against the icy, ravaging river and climbed into the raft. We were white-water rafting for the thrill, but I got more than just thrills as I thought about similarities to the church.

I quickly noticed that we had to work as a team. We had to stroke together sometimes; other times, it was backstrokes on our side and forward strokes on the other. We had to be unified in our intent to survive and go for the goal -- what a great picture of what a church could be! The mission is to be a community who goes into the rapids of the world, gathering to prepare to work together in our different ways.

The guide was clearly knowledgeable, but used that knowledge to serve us and find the path to the goal. We “obeyed” his commands, not because we had to, but because he knew where we were going and could coordinate our working together in a way that empowered us and required little of him other than to keep us directed.

The raft was designed to go somewhere. We could sit in it on the shore, but it is best fitted for the water. The church can be a retreat from the world, but is best served when we are loving each other and those we meet in the rocky places of our daily journey.

Fear of the cold water kept us in the boat. We were all watching the others and how they moved so we could align with them. Most people in churches are afraid to get in the boat because of the sacrifice that might be required. People show up for the safety videos but miss the trip, sitting on the shore decked out with all the paraphernalia.

We were not in control, but were riding an incredible power that moved us forward when we positioned ourselves to be moved by the surges. The church is often like a wading pool with synthetic waves that minimally replicate, but could never come close to approximating, the real work of the Holy Spirit to launch us forward.

We bumped against a lot of rocks. Life with God is not safe and comfortable. We may feel out of our zone in listening to our neighbors. But we are not stopped or thrown out by these exciting interactions.

We had fun because we took care for our own part and supported the rest of the crew with a helping hand or supportive words of encouragement and clarification. We all wanted to make it to the goal, and hence had to stay in the boat, taking care not to drink water if we fall in. “Together” was a proximal term as we each did our unique part in cooperation, not replication.

Sometimes we just stopped and enjoyed the ride. Other times, it was all-out energy invested on a very specific task. Maybe churches would do well to get out of the comfort zones and climb on board, ride the waves, and tell the stories afterward to invite others into the adventure.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

reflections on Princeton

Princeton is a town of academic brilliance. Princeton University is a jewel in an historic setting where people like Einstein have lived. The Karl Barth interest at Princeton Seminary is due to his prestige as the greatest theologian of the twentieth century. What qualifies one for this title?

Barth saw with clarity that theology had become a mere reflection of humans looking at human interests and questions, only to project these snapshots onto God. He insisted that God must speak for God, and that that is not a literary archeological dig, but is a fresh hearing of the Bible as enabling us to encounter the Living Lord, Jesus Christ.

The conference I attended in June was focused on Karl Barth’s critique that the church often becomes an institution that refers to God and worships as an inward-focused community. He proposed that God is a Missional God, witnessed in the Father sending the Son and the Spirit. If one reads with Missional eyes, one becomes aware that everything being communicated is intended to mobilize the community to be sent out. We think of Missions as an extra program of the church. For Barth, the church is Missional: hence it gathers, builds up, and sends EVERY WEEK. If churches miss being Missional, only the storm troopers will go out, and the norm for most will be to maintain and protect existing structures.

Is your church Missional or in Maintenance mode? What would it take to re-direct its course?