Session 12: Tammie

1) Reflect on Shenk's statement (p. 6), "We must concede that political freedom is not a correlate of spiritual vigor." I discussed this issue at length with my daughter and wife. Persecution appears to be a stimulus for missional eccelesiology.
I don't think you are too far off the mark with the idea that persecution appears to be a stimulus for missional ecclesiolgy. It takes only a quick look at the stories and statistics coming out of closed countries to support the thesis. One cause may be the overall political atmosphere in the nation in question. In, say, China where all freedoms are restricted, it is not suprising to see people coming to a gospel that proclaims freedom, a hope for the future and a culminating event to history in which the evil that is so painfully visible around them is finally and utterly defeated. By contrast, in nations like ours, freedom breeds complacency. We have it better than most of the planet and we know it. It isn't a great leap of logic to see how we first start to see ourselves as the center of the universe and then begin to take everything we have for granted - from the easy availability of food to the myriad churches in a given locality. It's no wonder we start to sit back and ask what the church can offer us rather than what we can offer the church and, as a member of that body, the world. I find it interesting thar the church is one of the first places people turn when that national aura of complacency is shattered by a tragedy like 9/11 or the VT massacre. These types of events that garner national attention, as well as any number of personal crises, remind people that their spirituality may have been suffering as they enjoyed the relatively carefree freedom afforded us.

2) What do you think of Luther's 7 characteristics of an ideal church (p. 36)?
It seems to me that you see vestiges of these seven characteristics in most churches today. The question, then, is how far do they go with it? For example, it is no longer an issue for the churches to conduct their services in the vernacular - as opposed to Luther's time when Latin was the language of the church. However, is the form of English one that the congregation understands? I find this most often coming up in issues involving particular translations of the Bible used in services as KJV is increasingly difficult for current generations to understand, but older, more traditional congregations find it difficult to make the change to a more modern translation. Another issue is the "Christianese" language we so often use that makes it difficult for new believers or seekers to make sense of the worship service. Likewise, it seems the other six characteristics are practiced in varying degrees in the church.

3) Intriguing statement about transcendence by Berger, explain this phenomenon (p. 40).
This statement makes a lot of sense to me simply in terms of my own experience. In high school and college, it was not common to hear Christians speak out. Often, as Shenk explains, the atmosphere was antagonistic towards Christians so it was easier not to say anything. At the same time, the modern age's tendency toward science tended to squash the spiritual in many ways. Yet, at the same time, people were looking for something beyond the latest technological advances and the mechanistic nature of the modern world - as has been said there is a God-shaped hole in each of us and we strive constantly to fill it. So, as I was growing up, it was, for some reason, totally acceptable to talk about occult practices even if they weren't overtly identified as such. For example, in high school, we might have read the horoscope from the daily newspaper as we sat around the lunch table, but we didn't talk about praying for God to reveal his will. In the culture at the time, that would have set us apart as being kooks. I remember clearly how other students in my dorm at college would play around with Ouija boards frequently. Then and now, we live in a world in which the future seems uncertain. In these occult practices, people are trying to find the answer, In Christ, we know the answer.

4) One of my favorite maxims is noted, "The church exists by mission, just as a fire exists by burning" (Brunner, p. 87). How does one keep the fire going?
Take a step outside the walls of the church. Break out of the evangelical bubble. Extend your horizon beyond your local community. In some ways I can only speak for myself and for the people with whom I have worked whether it be the youth at my church or my brief interactions with college students at the Passion conference, yet I have noticed that when a believer makes a concerted effort to learn about the world out there, that believer has a tendency to focus more intently on mission. They seem to have an attitude that wants desperately to do something to correct what they see as wrongs in society and, often, want to do that in the name of the Almighty God whom they know holds the past, present and the future in the palm of His hand. We can also be energized by the realization that God has the capacity to fix the world's problems on his own and can, in an instant, turn the hearts of every creature back to him, but he asks us to go and to do and to be whatever it takes to bring others to him. No matter what external forces may drive us, the fire can't keep burning if we don't maintain a spark within ourselves by developing disciplines that help us to more clearly see the heart and mind of God such as prayer, Bible study, silence, fasting and the like.

5) Respond to the statement about the crowning achievement of the Enlightenment Movement being the "autonomous self" in modern cultural development (p. 95). How does this perspective influence the church and community of faith we are striving to form in 2007?
Part of the response to this question goes back to the theme of my answer to the first question in that the "autonomous self" manifests itself in our tendency to think of ourselves as the center of the universe. It breeds a "what's in it for me" attitude. For the church, it has lead to the phenomenon of church shopping as people move from church to church to find one that fits their needs. I believe it is also the motivation behind so many age-group related ministries within the church. I realize there is a bit of a contradictory nature in that statement as it is coming from someone involved in youth ministry, but, then again, I am a big proponent of intergenerational activities within the church. So, anyway, we have Sunday school classes for children, divvied up by grades. They graduate to middle school or junior high ministry. After that, specific ministry to high school ministry. And then, they disappear and we wonder why. Could it be that we haven't incorporated them into the life of the church all along and they now feel that they have no place in the community? On a larger scale, the idea of the autonomous self also limits the perception of what it means to be a follower of Christ. After all, if our own thoughts, preferences and, as the book mentions, self-esteem are at the heart of our decisions, what room is there for true humility and authentic service?