Sessions 8/9: Tammie

1) Describe the benefit and pitfalls of intentional communities like the NM movement.
Living in an intentional community would bring with it the benefit of accountability, especially, for example, for singles who may not have the traditional family structure to help provide that accountability in everyday situations. Yet, this could have the potential flip side of people taking an unhealthy interest in each other's lives. Similarly, the communities as described in the book would have ample opportunity for service to both those inside the intentional community and those in the community outside the walls, a structured approach to worship and spiritual formation and fellowship in a more real sense than experienced in most churches today.

It seems the great danger for a community would be balancing the need for structure to keep such a community viable with the need for allowing its members a little space. It would be easy to fall into the trap of legalism in requiring the members to do certain things at certain times. Personally, I think just being around that many people would be problematic. There would be personality differences, food preferences, light sleepers or heavy sleepers, night owls and morning people, etc. that could arise into conflict at any given moment.

Another danger for the community could be that of pride. I sensed it just slightly in a few of the essays in the book, but not enough to be detrimental to their message as a whole. For example, I sensed it in the second essay which discussed sharing economic resources. It seemed the author disparaged such things as making donation to ministries already at work in the field or taking short-term mission trips to such ministries while proclaiming some of the activities his group had undertaken. An intentional community has to be careful that it doesn't begin to cultivate a sense of pride that its way is superior to that of Christians in other contexts who are trying to live out the mandates of Christ in a different way.


2) Reflect upon Miroslav Volf's (he is considered by some to be the brightest contemporary theological star in the cosmos) brief comment (p. 45) on his primary theological maxim ...
Hospitality isn't the first trait one thinks of when naming the characteristics of God, but, upon further thought, it makes perfect sense to name it alongside the others. God's relationship with man started on the footing of hospitality as he created the Garden and walked there with the first man and woman,. They soon rejected his hospitality, but that didn't stop God from continuing to offer the invitation to people in the thousands of years that followed, culminating not in the cross (though that was the moment at which the invitation was extended with nail-pierced hands) but in the coming marriage supper of the lamb. When we think of humanity and the crazy ways in which it has rejected God or taken advantage of his hospitality, it leaves us with no real excuse to not practice hospitality as his followers.Of course, we can't practice hospitality as perfectly as He did (and does), but that shouldn't stop us from trying as none of us can follow the example set by Christ perfectly. When I was thinking about this chapter, I kept wondering, "What about people like me?" You see, I seem to have a limit for the amount of time I can be around people before I need to get away on my own. As I thought about it, I realized that Jesus even modeled that as he interacted with the crowds but would withdraw on occasion for some time alone.


3) What does it mean to lament as God's people (p. 62)? Describe a lament experience in your church life.
As the people of God, to lament is to recognize the wrong (whether racially or otherwise) and to take the hard, but necessary steps, to reform the system that caused the wrong and to heal the wounds that have occurred as a result of the wrong. As far as the second part of the question, I have been trying to think of such a time, but am coming up blank. I wonder if that's because nothing churchwide has ever happened or because it is too quickly glossed over for the sake of stability and unity.

4) Consider the discrepancy between the novitiate in a NM and the local church. Discuss your insights regarding how you would design the formation of disciples in your church, contrast with what presently utilized.
First, I have to consider what our definition of forming disciples would be. If we are grooming young people for membership in a specific local church, that process may be as simple (and often is indeed as simple) as having classes that cover the basics of the faith and (to add a point that is often missing in our churches) a little bit about the history of the church. I add the latter because not understanding where the people of the church have come from makes it easier to inadvertently cause problems especially with the older members of the church. While I am not (as you may have gathered) a big fan of continuing to do things as they have always been done just for the sake of traditions, it is valuable to retain certain traditions, but only if the people have a clue why. For example, in our church, the youth who lead at the contemporary worship have been asked to not clap or raise their hands as they lead. Frankly, I don't see what problems that may cause, but our church has a history of being established as a non-charismatic church and there are those who believe that doing these things fly in the face of that tradition. Their reaction may blind them to the good that is being done in the service just as the younger generation not understanding certain traditions blinds them to the value of those traditions.

If we are talking about forming disciples in a more general sense for service in the church where ever they may find themselves someday, the program, as I would design it, would be less formal and more relational. It would make great use of mentors who would guide either individual students or very small groups of students through hardcore Bible studies and discussion on issues facing individuals and the church as a whole. I would want the youth to gain knowledge, skills and understanding that will serve them and the church in the future. This approach comes a bit closer to the novitiate in the NM than the pattern that we have in the local church which more closely resembles the description in the paragraph above. Either way, I think both scenarios need to involve something that churches and individuals have been more reluctant to do ... that is, to invest greater amounts of time in the training of the disciple.

5) Reflect upon the concept of church covenant with annual membership renewal.
Personally, I like the idea of a church covenant versus an annual membership renewal (which is something my church actually doesn't do - membership is something you formalize just once). Covenant carries with it a certain weight not just in the word itself but also in the responsibilities assigned to both the member and to the church. It strikes me that the churches would be strengthened by members who voluntarily enter into such a covenant as opposed to simple memberships that can be held loosely and at arm's length. Maybe it's just the optimist in me, but I believe people would take a covenant more seriously before and after it is entered into whereas a membership is something that is as simple to dissolve as quitting your gym membership. We want to have people in the churches who will take an active role and perhaps a covenant is the way to do that.

6) How can we work for peace and justice to be signposts of the kingdom of God-->prophets in our context?
OK, everything I am reading is running together these days so it may be that I am repeating what was said in this book or it may be that I am echoing the words I heard somewhere else, but one very simple way to work for peace and justice is to carefully consider what we consume on a daily basis. I once told a couple of the girls in the youth group to whom I am particularly close that if some man ever comes around talking about marrying me, they should question him on what sort of ring he would give me because I said long ago that I would never own a diamond unless it could be absolutely guaranteed that the mining and manufacture of the gem didn't finance one of the wars that seem to constantly ravage Africa. That's not a big, earth-shaking deal, but it is one decision that, when shared with others, results in a raised consciousness about one issue affecting peace and justice in one area of the world. Likewise, the youth in the youth group know that I am an absolute coffee addict and that the coffee I drink is fair-trade coffee which assures that the farmers are paid a fair wage for their labor. Making decisions such as these fly in the face of a culture that wants to save a buck all the time, but, again, it is a small measure that sends a signal to others as it is put into practice.

In many other ways, being an advocate for peace and justice - or taking on the role of prophet in our context - can be, and maybe should be, an unpopular and difficult undertaking. Some of that difficulty comes from the timing of the prophet's message. Thinking of Iraq, it was highly unpopular to be a prophet for peace in its initial stages when the Christian Peacemaking teams were acting as human shields. At the time, the mission as expressed to the public was clear as Saddam Hussein posed a clear and present danger. The Christian Peacemaking teams were prophets, of sorts, speaking out against the war before it became a good thing for your political campaign as we are now seeing with some of the candidates for president. We limit the role of the peacemaker and those who seek justice, however, if we see it simply in terms of anti-war activism. Prophets will also point to suburbia and call into question a set of priorities that puts three cars in the driveway, children in every imaginable activity, televisions with cable in every room of the house and laptops on the desk of every person in the family. Prophets will also question a culture of death that approves of abortion and of euthanasia for terminally ill. These positions won't be popular in our politically correct culture, but no one ever said being a prophet was a guarantee to win a popularity contest.

7) How does any of the NM 12 Markers connect with your experience and church life as a community of the kingdom of God?
Though, as I mentioned in the answer to question 1, I had a slight issue with the tone of what he said, I felt most connected to chapter two which talked about sharing economic resources with the poor. I like the idea of a theology of enough. I remember hearing the story once (and I forget who told the story anymore) in which someone was praying and asked God what he was going to do about the poor. This person heard a clear response from God, saying, "What are you going to do about the poor?"

God created us to be his hands and feet and to shine a light in the broken world. Part of the brokenness lies in the unequal distribution of resources. I have found over the years that I have felt closest to God and to his mission on earth when I have been involved in some activity that assists people in need whether it be repairing the house of an elderly resident of Pittsburgh, painting a church in New Mexico, playing with children in Tijuana or rebuilding a home destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. I find in such activities another of the marks - that of hospitality and fellowship in the truest sense. When people are stripped of their normal surroundings, hospitality and fellowship come more easily as you are united in a common purpose experiencing the same conditions.