a quick thought on art and faith

Why we need art in the Church:

For all of art's value, its greatest value in community is that it can become a memory tool that expresses and codifies what we believe in a way that words & reason could never capture. Our faith experience must exceed words alone; it must be nuanced with color and shadow, punctuated with movement and rhythm, guided by line and melody.

It Runs Deep

I mowed the lawn this Saturday. In my household this is remarkable, because I hate yard work of any kind. This is a relatively new discovery for me because up until last summer, I have never really had a yard to work. Growing up, I was lucky enough to have a brother that actually liked mowing. And in the 9 years that followed my high school graduation I have never lived in a place that required me to maintain the property.

So when we bought our own house last year, we didn't even have a lawn mower. Luckily, the previous owner had two and threw one in with the house. We moved in February, so when spring rolled around I realized a couple of things. First, I didn't really have a lawn. What I had was vast a assortment of weeds with a couple patches of grass mixed in. Secondly, our idyllic dreams of lovingly tending the land and creating beautiful gardens and lush landscapes for family and neighbor alike to enjoy were crushed when I realized: a)it was hard, time consuming work that hurt my back and made me sweat, b)it was going to be very expensive to turn our weedfest into even a modest lawn, and c)our throw-in mower was a rusty old Snapper held together by duct tape and wire, with a broken powerdrive and a quirky motor that would die in any grass slightly longer than the fairways at your local golf course.

From then on yard work became a chore, and chores are mostly for avoiding. But this particular Saturday I worked up the gumption to go out and sweet talk the Snapper into a walk through the back yard. As I walked back and forth from my driveway to our neighbors, stopping every ten feet or so to give the motor a chance to catch its breath, I thought to myself, "If I had one of those really cool mowers, I would enjoy yard work so much more. Heck, I'd probably get that garden put in the front yard and lay that sod we have been talking about putting down."

It was subtle, but before I had put the Snapper back in the garage I realized what was going on. One of the signature idolatries of our culture had crept into my subconscious and surfaced in my self talk. The materialism that says if I had only this one thing I would be happy--or at least happier. If I had this tool I would really become a fixer-upper. If I had this toy I would stick with this hobby. If I buy this exercise bike or gym membership, I will finally have what I need to get in shape. If I had this SUV or minivan or time-share we would take vacations in which we could actually relax . . .

My friends know that I am first in line to talk about how Christians should live simply and reduce consumption and refuse to chase the "American Dream." Yet, here I am convincing myself that a new lawn mower will make me really happy about doing my chores.

Two weeks prior to this I found myself bristling when my neighbor (an amazingly thoughtful Christian guy) and I were talking about the imminent death of my Snapper. He suggested, "Don't buy a new one, just use mine. It's silly for both of us to own perfectly good lawn mowers." The pride in me just welled up as I thought "I am good enough to own my own lawn mower, I shouldn't need to borrow yours."

All of this has reminded me of how deep the way of the World runs in me and how prevalent it is in the way I think and feel. It made me repent and recognize my dependence on the Spirit. When I am not intent on Him, my fallen-ness shows up, slowly and subtly like the rising tide, until I look up and realize that instead of the Kingdom Way I am neck deep in idolatry and pride. And I never even saw it coming because I overestimated my own ability to discern the way of the World in my own life.

This Kingdom way, I am discovering, is more and more about slowly following the direction of the Holy Spirit, listening hard and trusting His guidance, and less and less about what I think I know and what claims of "truth" I can make. It is a humbling walk, like pushing a rusted out, duct-taped lawn mower back and forth from driveway to driveway . . . Maybe I can get a few more cuts out of the Snapper before I start borrowing my neighbors.

Tagged

A buddy of mine has "tagged" me (jerk) to make a book list answering the following questions. So, here it is . . . Maybe I will tag some folks, too. . . Mwah, ha, ha, ha!

1. One book that changed your life:
Brennan Manning's The Ragamuffin Gospel

2. One book you've read more than once:
C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce

3. One book you'd want on a deserted island:
Dosteyvksy's The Brothers Karamozov

4. One book that made you laugh:
G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy

5. One book that made you cry (or feel really sad):
Jonothan Kozol's Amazing Grace

6. One book that you wish had been written:
Theodore Geisel's The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss

7. One book that you wish had never been written:
The Prayer of Jabez

8. One book you're currently reading:
Peter Scazzero's Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

9. One book you've been meaning to read:
Frost & Hirsch's The Shaping of Things to Come

And now, people whom I am about to tag (by the way, I chose these people because they are some of the most thoughtful and diverse people I know, people who love books, and people who I would pick up a book on their recommendation alone):

Jenn Swift

Michael Harrington

Shane Tucker

Brandy Campbell

Dave Ward

a working definition

Alright, here is a big ole BP fastball for everyone to tee off on:

I am constantly working on what I call my LCD ecclesiology (not LSD ecclesiology--that is where the pastor is a dancing panda), paring down my expression of church to the essentials. So how would you define the church in a way that it is complete, but if you took anything away it would cease to be the church? Or maybe this is a better way to ask the same thing: what must be present for your community to look like the Body of Jesus?

Here is my working definition:

The Church is:
A missional community (1) guided by faith in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, (2) inspired by hope for his coming Kingdom on this earth, and (3) driven by love for God, all people, and creation.

The Signature of Jesus

In addition, there are certain traits that, when practiced by the Church, act as an authentication of Jesus' mysterious presence through the Holy Spirit in that community. In light of Jesus' life and ministry, his teaching and the example he set, I believe that the Signature of Jesus on our community must include:

* Radical Hospitality
* Humble Service
* Thoughtful Disciple-Making
* A Subversive Prophetic Presence
* The Regular Practice of Sabbath


Can the whole of the church start with this basic definition and these five traits/values/characteristics? Can everything else that the church is be extrapolated from these signatures of Jesus? For instance, Sabbath implies the practice of prayer, reflection, rest, meditation, etc. These things are all wrapped up in what it means to practice Sabbath. And the entire disciple-making process here is implied including outreach, evangelism, discipleship, assimilation, leadership development, etc. All of this is what it means to make disciples. Other practices, like worship, find themselves in multiple areas because I hold a broad Rom 12:1-2 view of worship. (Essentially, everything we do that is consecrated to God is worship.)

So . . . what is missing? What would you add? What would you take away?


**Note, I understand we are talking about what we are called to be, not what we always are. Firstly we assume that because the church is made up of broken and imperfect people, we are a church that is perpetually in a state of both growth and disrepair. Also, I am not asking "what we believe." There are others schools of theology for that question. I want to know what makes the church "the church."