Exiles by Michael Frost

Over the past 4 or 5 months we have both been reading Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture by Michael Frost – another good book that we’d recommend. In a nutshell the book explores ways of being church, or communitas, in a post-Christendom western-culture dominated by consumerism, isolation and indifference, where the church too often harks back to the ‘good old days’.

Frost talks of ‘exiles’ that have left ‘the church’ out of frustration and boredom and are heading out into what he calls the third places of their communities instead (the 1st place being our home, the 2nd our work, and the 3rd, increasingly in the West, often being bars/cafes or I think they could be social/interest groups, yet for Christians the 3rd place is usually restricted to ‘church’):

“Exiles have figured out that churches don’t value people who won’t turn up for every meeting, attend every event, and locate all their significant friendships within the congregation. They have decided to slip away from the ever-spiralling vortex of so-called Christian fellowship. It sucks you in demanding everything of you, leaving you completely socially disconnected from your neighbours, your community. And it won’t be appeased by a half-hearted allegiance. It demands your all, always… Exiles, having read the dangerous stories of Jesus, have decided that the best way to do the Lord’s work is to follow him out into the third places in their community.”

The strongest theme of the book for us explored what it would mean for these exiles to live missionally in a host empire. Frost advocates the ideas of communitas – an intense community spirit, the feeling of great social equality, solidarity, and togetherness – and liminality as ways forward. Alan Hirsch (who co-wrote The Shaping of Things to Come with Micahel Frost, and whose book The Forgotten Ways apparently explores these ideas further) says:

“…the related ideas of liminality and communitas describe the dynamics of the Christian community inspired to overcome their instincts to “huddle and cuddle” and to instead form themselves around a common mission that calls them on a dangerous journey to unknown places – a mission that calls the church to shake off it’s collective securities and to plunge into the world of action, where its members will experience disorientation and marginalization but also where they encounter God and each other in a new way”

The first two sections of Exiles (Dangerous Memories and Dangerous Promises) are the strongest, but later, in the final part (Dangerous Songs), Frost also helpfully tackles the issues of ‘Exiles at the Altar’, speaking out against what can probably be best summed up by the ‘My Jesus, My Boyfriend’ phenomenon of modern worship, and questions the modern church service in a broader context.

Exiles is a book well worth exploring – especially for those wanting to journey into church at the edge and explore emerging ideas of being missional in a post-Christendom culture.

The hidden CMS

Last year we mentioned that we had written about why we chose to work through CMS for a new Lonely Planet book on volunteering. We explained that one of the main attractions to CMS for us was that ‘it is an organisation not afraid of change, open to experimenting with the new and drawing on the past’.

Recently while reading a summary of ways CMS is investing in new forms of mission and experimentation, it reminded me of a related thing we respect CMS for – the way they often work without anyone knowing about it and/or without heavy branding. Their approach refreshingly lacks a style of language that says ‘you must do mission our way’ or ‘support this particular programme we control’. Obviously this must cause tensions with the marketing guys, but to me it makes it much more authentic and effective than what a lot of organisations pump out.

However, one drawback of this style is that it is hard sometimes to know exactly what CMS is actually doing – so when I was reading recently Jonny Baker’s summary, in response to a separate discussion, where he talks about many of the things CMS are experimenting and investing in, and which indicate their style and approach, I wanted to highlight it – you can read it here.

By the way… it seems that the Lonely Planet book has now been published – I’ve no idea if we are now in print or not, but if next time you’re in a bookshop and you see a new Lonely Planet title called Volunteer: A Traveller’s Guide to Making a Difference Around the World have a look and let us know!

The Secret Message of Jesus

We mentioned The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren whilst in the UK but until now haven’t had the chance to actually explain much about it. Brian McLaren is a church leader who has written a number of books and is a significant voice in the EmergingChurch movement, particularly in the USA. In The Secret Message of Jesus he looks at Jesus’ message afresh – asking whether the church has misunderstood, or distorted, his message.

“what if Christians were (un)willing to consider the possibility that they have more to learn (and unlearn) about the message of Jesus?” – Brian McLaren

The book examines the historical Jesus, trying to understand his message in the culture of the time. It covers similar ground seen in N T Wright’s academic works, and also explores similar issues found in Colossians Remixed, which we’ve mentioned before. The Secret Message of Jesus probably doesn’t say much more than others have said, but it says it in a very accessible and easy to read way. McLaren takes in the political, subversive and secretive nature and language of Jesus, and explores what it means to be a member of the Kingdom of God (both at the time and here and now) that Jesus talks about. It is well worth a read.

One of the things that really stood out for me was exploring the language of Jesus and why he spoke in parables – Why did Jesus speak in parables, why was he subtle, indirect and secretive?…..

“Because his message wasn’t merely aimed at conveying information. It sought to precipitate something more important: the spiritual transformation of the hearers. The form of a parable helps to help to shape a heart that is willing to enter an ongoing interactive; persistent relationship of trust in the teacher. It beckons the hearer to explore new territory. It helps form a heart that is humble enough to admit it doesn’t already understand and is thirsty enough to ask questions. In other words, a parable renders its hearers not as experts, not as know-it-alls, not as scholars… but as children.” – Brian McLaren

GodSpace by Christine Sine

I was pleased to see that Sacred Rhythms (which we’ve mentioned before) has been updated and revised, now reprinted as GodSpace: Time for Peace in the Rhythms of Life – and Christine Sine has started a blog called GodSpace.

GodSpace… looks at the natural rhythms God built into our world and how paying attention to them can strengthen every part of your life. God’s rhythm makes time for all the good things life offers… as well as the creative activity of work, the joy of relationships, and the soothing relaxation of rest. Follow the sacred rhythms and… discover a peaceful, Christlike pace that liberates you from the frenzy of a culture enslaved by time.

Stand up… sit back?

We are currently in the UK, preparing to return to Zambia next week. Whilst in the UK we have been doing lots of talks about our work with Jubilee Centre and CMS. As we’ve been doing our talks it has been great to meet lots of new people and catch-up with old friends – and we’d love to carry on the conversations started on our visits through our blog. In our talks we’ve used a number of resources and mentioned a number of responses we can all make to fighting poverty. I have promised a few people that I’d put links to those resources and responses on our blog – so here are those links:

Supporting Jubilee Centre: If you would like to support the work of Jubilee Centre in Zambia financially or through prayer the following two leaflets explain how to do this – Jubilee Centre Leaflet and Jubilee Centre UK Giving Form.

Supporting Matt & Polly: We produce a regular newsletter and prayer letter which you can sign up to by contacting us – you can also subscribe to receive updates from this blog website by email. If you would like to support us financially in our work with CMS for Jubilee Centre click here.

Micah Challenge campaign and video: We have been using a video in our talks by Micah Challenge in the UK – you can get a copy of this video here or find out more about the Micah Challenge campaign in the UK at www.micahchallenge.org.uk

CMS: For further information on the work of CMS visit: www.cms-uk.org

We have also mentioned two books in our talks – both of which are really useful resources for exploring the kingdom of God and our role as part of it. We have blogged about Colossians Re:mixed by Brian J Walsh & Sylvia C Keesmaat before and will try to blog about The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren in the coming weeks.

Streams of Living Water

Another book plug of something I’ve been reading of late – this time for Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith by Richard Foster. The book examines the unique contributions of six major dimensions of the spiritual life of Christ and seen through church history – providing a balanced and deep basis for Christian spiritual development. The six traditions are:

• The Contemplative tradition – Prayer
• The Holiness tradition – Virtuous life
• The Charismatic tradition – Spirit empowered
• The Socail Justice tradition – Compassionate
• The Evangelical tradition – Word-centred
• The Incarnational tradition – Sacramental

The book goes through each tradition giving both Biblical and contemporary examples of those who practiced each tradition – drawing on what we can learn from it and how we can practice the tradition, as well as warning about the potential pitfalls of each.

It is a great book and introduces many of the themes that the organisation Renvoare , which Foster helped set-up, promotes. There is also a workbook that provides the basis for studying and practicing the traditions as a group available called A Spiritual Formation Workbook by James Bryan Smith with Lynda Graybeal.

When the time was Right

Despite the fact that we couldn’t feel any less like Christmas with the current heat of Zambia, Polly and I keep humming Christmas carols – must be inbuilt in us I guess? As advent approaches I thought I’d mention that Stephen Rand – my former boss when I worked for Tearfund – has just written a new book, When the Time Was Right: Bible Readings for the Advent Season – the blurb says…

“In this book of daily readings and reflections, we meet the kind of people God used to unfold his plan at just the right time: the failures, the reluctant, the ordinary, the humble, the faithful, the persevering – and he can use us too”

You can find out more at the publishers website or amazon.co.uk.

Subverting the empire in a post-modern world

I have just read Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire, which is a fantastic book looking at the first century New Testament letter to the Colossian church/community for anyone who today identifies with a post-modern world. How do you read a biblical text that to post-modern ears can seem to talk of rigid absolutes that punch you in the face? This book attempts to help us hear the radical challenges that this letter would have originally sounded. Refreshingly creative it uses targums (extended modern para-phrases of the text) to bring the text to life and reveal that just as the first century community was under an empire (Roman), so too is our world (global consumerism). Rather than “flying the flag of empire”, the church is to be a, “community in refusal of the empire that bears the image of another Lord in its daily life.” It is to be a community that subverts the empire and provides an imagination alternative. This isn’t an anarchistic rant against consumerism or globalisation – it is much more, it is a call for the church to be a community made up of, “citizens of the kingdom rather than subjects of the empire.” Perhaps we’ll share a few more quotes and thoughts in the future, but for now if it strikes a cord with you get hold of a copy (it isn’t the easiest read, but is well worth the effort) and perhaps join us as we ask how our lives are ‘subverting the empire’.

“Paul’s ethic in the third chapter of Colossians is rooted in the narrative of Christ – died, buried, risen, ascended and coming again. This is not a narrative that imposes a series of absolutes to oppress us; it is a story of liberation from an empire that would take captive our imagination while it rapes and plunders the earth… This is a story of restored relationships, a love story that calls forth an alternative community characterised by compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, gratitude and wisdom. This is a story of creational restoration, a renewal to full humanness, in the image of the Creator. This is a community in which the word of Christ dwells richly. This is a community that is shaped as a countercultural force through the subversive worship of a subversive Lord.”

‘Colossians Re:mixed – subverting the empire’ by Brian J Walsh & Sylvia C Keesmaat

Daily Prayers

I have already blogged about our mission statement in ‘Getting to this point’. Since trying to put our statement into action through our lives, we have produced Daily Prayers that embody our statement. For some time now we have been exploring Celtic Christian traditions – using Morning, Midday and Evening prayer from, amongst other sources, The Rhythm of Life by David Adams. So we decided to produce some daily prayers based on our mission statement, which we can use a few times a day to create a rhythm of prayer and help us to put our statement into action. You can have a look at what we came up with by downloading our Daily Prayers PDF.

Some of you may find it too ritualistic, ordered or descriptive – or even frankly find us quite mad for praying in the first place – but we have found it extremely helpful in finding peace and calm in a busy individualistic world often full of stress. In making these times for prayer we hope to create a daily rhythm to live life.

“We have replaced the holy fast of Lent with our spring diet obsessions prior to bathing suit weather. We shy away precipitously from community and the pain associated with carrying one another’s burdens but exchange it for individualism and the agony of isolation and loneliness. Our days are no longer interrupted by times of nourishing spiritual reflections but by coffee breaks, aerobic workouts, and our favourite sitcom shows. We think we have escaped from the dead rituals of the past, but are caught up instead in the compulsions of fashion fads, shopping sprees, and the allure of a new vitamin pill that promises healthy longer life.”

From the book Sacred Rhythms: Finding a Peaceful Pace in a Hectic World by Christine Sine

Getting to this point

Some of you may be interested to know how we got to this point – well leaving the practicalities to one side… Over the last year or so we have been on a journey to discover what we believe as Christians God wants us to be doing with our lives. We wanted to see Gods Kingdom purposes leading and guiding our lives.

So, with the help of a book called Living on Purpose by Tom and Christine Sine, we entered upon a process to write a mission statement – or a summary of what we felt called to do with our lives. We soon rediscovered the words of Isaiah 61 – which summarised for us Gods Kingdom purposes – the practical and the spiritual.

Jesus sets out in his work through these prophectic words – reading them at his first sermon (recorded in Luke 4). The words call into being the Kingdom or Reign of God. They shape Jesus’ ministry, giving it expression as he proclaims God’s liberating love for all.

From this first sermon to the rest of Jesus’ life he challenged his hearers to live a life that trusted his Kingdom-agenda, and it is that which has helped lead and guide us as we have prepared to return to Africa.

We’ve ended up with a sentence that summarises for us what we believe God wants us to do with our lives – “To be trees of justice… in community, with the poor, speaking out and caring for the environment.” It was a hard process to go through, but it has been a really valuable process – and that is why we share it here.