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First Presbyterian Church of Honeoye Falls 27 North Main Street, P.O. Box 568, Honeoye Falls, New York 14472 (585) 624-2160 |
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First Presbyterian Church of Honeoye Falls
September 2010
Dear friends in Christ,
Part One …
Is a follow up to last month's letter regarding "obedience."
Over the past month, I have been prodded to reflect on the core of our faith and our witness in light of our faith. One particular prod was a blog written by one of my stated clerk colleagues, in which he lifts up what I've been saying often over the past few years: as Christians, we are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ. What we do in faith, we do in response to his call. Our responsibility is to nurture one another to be disciples.
In his reflection he mentions what one Kenda Dean (writing in The Christian Century) calls "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism." Dean suggests that the core principles of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism would be something like these:
- » A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over life on earth.
- » This god wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other—as taught by the Bible and by most world religions.
- » The central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about yourself.
- » God is not involved in my life except when I need God to solve a problem.
- » Good people go to heaven when they die.
Dear friends, this is not what Christianity is about, and it is certainly not what ministry is about. Ministry is about following the Jesus Christ as disciples. Ministry is about nurturing disciples. We serve and love others because Jesus calls us to serve and love others. We offer forgiveness because Jesus calls us to offer forgiveness. According to Jesus, the way that other people will know that we are Jesus' disciples is by the way that we love one another (the main images of which are Jesus washing disciples' feet and Jesus going to the cross). Our calling is NOT to be "nice" or "good" or "fair." Our calling is to live our lives in light of Jesus Christ. Certainly goodness and fairness and even niceness are part of that, but we must remember that Jesus himself was not always particularly "nice."
Over the years, in various contexts, I've asked Christians of varying ages to write on cards their response or responses to the question, "What makes a person a Christian?" Never … not once … ever have I received back a card which said, "Jesus Christ."
Our world wants Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. What we are called to offer is Jesus Christ.
Part Two …
During the past two months I have read several books, and I commend them to you. They are awesome. Get on Amazon
and order one of them (or better, all of them) and read them:
Alan J. Roxburgh, Missional Mapmaking: Skills for Leading in Times of Transition (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010)Burg is a former speaker of the Knesset. His perspective is one we do not often hear voiced. It is worth reading and worth pondering and praying. I heard Burg speak at the General Assembly; he is very compelling.
William P. Brown, The Seven Pillars of Creation: The Bible, Science, and the Ecology of Wonder (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010) ISBN: 978-0-19-973079-7This book offers challenging insights into the kind of thinking that our time demands of church leaders. I am considering asking our session to read and digest it.
Brown is professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta. He brings the seven major Old Testament motifs of Creation (Genesis 1 / Genesis 2 & 3 / Job 38-41 / Psalm 104 / Proverbs 8 / Ecclesiastes / Second Isaiah) into conversation with scientific discovery. Many of the conversations are tours de force! This book is accessible to all Christian readers, and was interesting enough that I had a hard time putting it down.
If any church members or church friends had interest in obtaining and reading one or more of these books, I’d certainly be interested in having a conversation about them.
Yours in faith, reflection, thought, prayer (and obedience),
Reverend Val