November 12, 2007
Our current message series is, I believe, an important one but a complex one. Thinking and choosing about how to be a part of working across cultures is never a simple process, wherever it is. In churches, it sometimes to be even more complex though. So, what are your thoughts about this topic? How important is this for churches in general, for Northbridge, and what thoughts do you have about how to take steps forward in this process since it can be so difficult?
November 14, 2007 at 3:47 am
Well….lemme think. (1) I’m white, (2) post-republican, (3) post-evangelical (whatever that may mean), and (4) awesome.
Okay, I added the awesome for kicks. I am enclosed in a world just like me. My neighbors look just like me. Most of the people I work with look just like me. Why should I even bother changing? What’s wrong with being surrounded by reflections of me?
Ever since reading this book, I have been thinking more along the lines of how the trinity informs us of the need for the “other” — this goes well beyond the traditional “other” metaphor that you find in christendom–the ‘body of christ’ from Paul, and sort of hooks that into the understanding of our own selves as only “whole” insofar as we defer into the “other” in some way. The more I find myself wholly enclosed, the more I think that my calling as a child of God is truncated by my insufficient exploration of the other. The deferment of power that spirals in the Godhead is the same kind of love and compassion that should spiral between us and each other. Why is God not one, but three in one? That used to make little sense to me, but lately, especially in the context of community, it makes all the difference.
November 15, 2007 at 4:13 am
I think it’s a hopeful sight that in our overly-individualistic society, discussions around what it means to be in a true or positive kind of community like the Trinity are going on in many circles. We are given so many messages about the individual being the ultimate priority in the West. And, while I don’t want to lose sight of the individual completely in our return to discussions of community, which can happen, I do want to somehow think about how we can hold the tension of valuing both individuals and communities simultaneously. I think in looking to and working with other cultures that are different than our own, we may develop insights that will be helpful as we think about this because we may not have had the information or resources without these ‘new’ voices.