Wiksell's Hierarchy of Deeds

I was thinking this morning about what motivates us to do what we do. Why we make certain choices, and why we later stick them, or abandon them. As I thought about it, I realized that there is a spectrum of motivations behind our actions, from the very weak to the very strong. The very weak motivations produce no consistent pattern or reliability of behavior, and the very strong ones can define our very essence and identity.

Yes, the title of this post is a shameless pun, but (speaking of motives) the pun was not the motivation behind the post... it came after I'd already gotten the idea.

Following is my "Hierarchy of Deeds", from weak to strong: Chance - Whim - Habit - Preference - Phase - Commitment - Contract - Covenant. Let's presume that each of the deeds being evaluated here is a positive one, and "rewards" refers to the result of following through on the decision to act, and "consequences" refers to the result of failure to act according to the stated motivation.

A few things that I think are interesting about this hierarchy:

-Whim, Habit, Preference and Phase go together as factors of preference. Whim is fleeting preference, habit is past preference that affects the present, and phase is prolonged preference.

-Commitment, Contract and Covenant have similar consequences: social punishment, criminal punishment, divine punishment, respectively. A commitment is an arrangement between two relative equals, with no formal accountability. A contract is between to relative equals, under the accountability of a higher entity. And a covenant is between a higher entity and a lower one.

Chance

Motivation: arbitrary happenstance; involuntary action or re-action
Rewards: random luck
Consequences: random misfortune
Example: walking left or right around a pole in the sidewalk

Whim

Motivation: fleeting preference; mindless habit
Rewards: trivial or random
Consequences: a sense of inconsistency or inconvenience
Example: walking to avoid cracks on the sidewalk

Habit

Motivation: past preference or necessity extrapolated to the present
Rewards: ordered lifestyle
Consequences: unpredictability, loss of efficiency or pattern
Example: walking fast while at work, to appear busy

Preference

Motivation: personal taste; past experience
Rewards: pleasure; fun; satisfaction
Consequences: disappointment
Example: walking the dog on the quiet street instead of the busy one.

Phase

Motivation: prolonged preference; peer pressure
Rewards: belonging; personal identity; enjoyable lifestyle
Consequences: outsider reputation, dullness
Example: walking with a "gangsta" limp

Commitment

Motivation: conviction; belief in a cause or group
Rewards: community or relationship; making a difference
Consequences: social punishment; alienation or distrust
Example: walking a group of children to school every Monday

Contract

Motivation: business or employment; legal agreement or relationship
Rewards: profit; mutual benefit; legal mandate
Consequences: criminal punishment; civil litigation
Example: walking your rounds as a security guard

Covenant

Motivation: devotion; unconditional love; faith in a higher power
Rewards: temporal and eternal favor and blessings
Consequences: divine punishment and/or damnation (but God forgives)
Example: walking with God as a disciple of Jesus

Of course, Covenant is the most interesting to me, especially because of the way God establishes his covenant with Abram. Abram is scared to death to enter into this covenant, because he knows God is perfect, and as soon as he walks through the blood (another example of walking) he's a dead man. Covenants in the Old Testament were punishable by death. But instead, God himself passes through the blood, taking the entire weight of the covenant upon himself.

I've heard the marriage is a covenant, and also that marriage is more of a contract, because covenants are made only by unequal partners, i.e. man and God. It's true that in a legal sense a marriage really is a contract (and a commitment) but in a spiritual sense I believe it is a covenant, because it's an agreement between each spouse and God himself. That they make a covenant with God, together, in the presence of the community.

But it is not a covenant that is punishable by death, as in the Old Testament, since God took all the punishment upon himself in the form of his son, Jesus.

The ending to this post is going to seem abrupt, because I didn't really have a big finish in mind. Just wanted to express my highly analytical side for a change.

Thanks for humoring me.

If Socrates Were to Start a Band...

Before I forget, I want to list some of the band-name ideas that have arisen from our intense-yet-meandering discussions at Socrates Cafe the last two Wednesdays. (Explanations are in parentheses.)

Evil Cheeses (Kraft Singles and their connection to Big Tobacco.)

Dr. Sudafed and the Beta Fish (two things you can't buy in large quantities without running all over town.)

and my personal favorite...

The Fugly Anglers (no idea.)




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Message - The Perpetrator [adam]

This is my message from Sunday, April 19, 2009. It was the first in the series called Profiles in Redemption.

http://www.thecoredowntown.com/audio/ThePerpetratorAdam.mp3

If the mp3 doesn't work yet, bear with me. I'm still trying to figure out this Podcast stuff.

Broken

Please pray for my dad.

He was on his bicycle yesterday, and was almost home when he hit a slick patch on a turn and wiped out. My mom tells me that he laid there for a minute, in shock, until a fellow pastor and his wife drove by and noticed him there. They were able to get out and help him, and he thought he was going to be ok, until he tried to stand up. That's when he realized something was broken.

Fortunately there was an emergency room literally across the street, and he was quickly diagnosed with a broken hip. So he is there this morning, waiting for hip surgery, where they will set the bones and put in a pin. If experience is any guide, it will be a long recovery. But of course, we're praying otherwise.

It's hard to accept this. My dad always seemed sort of invincible. Even though he's nearly 60, he's in some of the best shape of his middle-aged life. For at least the past 5 years, he's been committed to eating healthy and getting a lot of exercise. And of course it's painfully ironic that the latter would have been the instrument of this injury.

Once again, please pray for this surgery, and that his recovery will be nothing short of miraculous.

Soft-Sell Tacos

Note: This post is adapted from an e-mail about Socrates Cafe, that I wrote to a fellow leader at The Core.

Funny thing...

Somebody came into the print shop I work at yesterday afternoon talking about how he wanted to start an evangelistic hangout for youth, and he mentioned the Front Porch as a place kind of like what he wants to do, but without the FP's "soft sell". What's funny is, he was talking to me, but he didn't know I had anything to do with it. So I didn't tell him, because I enjoyed hearing his unguarded opinion.

The fact is, I don't think we have a "soft sell" because I don't think we have a "sell" at all. At least I don't want to have one. Should an outsider's experience with the church be more like getting invited to dinner with friends, or more like stepping onto a used car lot? Some of the things we do have a pointed spiritual emphasis, especially the worship gatherings, and also things like QAF, the Sisterhood and the Journeymen. And I actually miss the spiritual discussions I used to have with QAF.

But there also need to be non-spiritual things, to show people that that's not all "church" people care about, or know how to talk about. I think it makes a big impact on some people to be able to sit down with a group of Christians and talk about political or social issues without there having to be some underlying spiritual principle behind it, or an overwhelming conservative bias. I think an environment like that, one that welcomes them in and wants to hear their view, gives them a fuller picture of who Christ is. But Socrates Cafe could never stand alone... it needs the more spiritual activities around it to make sure we don't "de-spiritualize" Christianity altogether.

We've just started a series with Socrates called "pro-con", based on the website www.procon.org, where we can work through some hardcore social issues, and really hash them out together, but in a respectful and thoughtful way. Last night we talked about legalization of Marijuana, and it was a lively discussion to say the least. If you've got ideas for upcoming topics, make sure to let me know...



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And the Planets Align to Please Me...

If you genuinely like all your beliefs... if there's not a single one that you wish were untrue... then it's a virtual guarantee that many of them are untrue.

What are the odds that the whole of reality would arrange itself according to your preferences?



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Christianity and the Maps of War

I was thinking about Christianity as an institution; as an establishment, versus Christianity as a Spiritual Commitment, and I ran across this short video.



All that blue area... how did that happen? Was it a result of the Spirit-driven success of missionaries? At first, with splotches of blue throughout Israel, Asia Minor (Turkey) and Southern Europe, I would say definitely so. (You'll notice this is the only time in the video when any religion spreads in splotches, instead of smooth, thorough expansion. I think this is the difference between missions and conquest.) And although the modern-day spread of blue in Sub-Sarahan Africa is certainly exaggerated (Christianity is not nearly as predominant as that in this area,) I would concede that it's primarily a result of missionary activity.

But what about the rest? Europe began as a mixed bag of scattered enclaves of evangelism, but its religion was sealed by the conversion of Constantine in AD 313, which mandated Christianity in the Byzantine empire, and then by Charlemagne and the rise of the Holy Roman Empire in the 9th and 10th centuries. By that point, Europe was Christian by default, not by conviction.

And the rest is pretty obvious. Latin America was overrun by gold-hungry Spanish conquistadors, who made a mixed attempt at missions and conquest, both of which employed forms of coercion. A third method was intermarriage, resulting in the overwhelmingly Cathlic Latino ethnicity.

By contrast, the original inhabitants of modern-day English-speaking countries remain largely unconverted, but their lands became Christian as they were displaced by Christian pilgrims and colonists. These sojourners failed to establish new anthropological centers for Christianity, instead simply founding a "second Europe."

What's my point in all this? Look at the Christianity we have today. Can we honestly claim that this is the Spirit of Christ at work in the world? In many cases it is, but is the preponderance of our religious establishment a true representation of our Messiah? Or is it more accurately a result of power-mongering, influence-wielding, and gold-digging?

Even in the latter case, God produces good from evil, and many of the most sincere Christ-followers I know have been introduced to their Savior by cultural means. But shall we do evil that good may result? God forbid!

I have always had a feeling that world-wide Christianity is not what we have made it out to be. Jesus counts many among his own, but I honestly doubt that he is touting that 2 billion number that we see bandied about. To follow Christ is to subvert the natural order, and I don't believe it can ever gain establishment in society. It may, now and then, hold sway for a moment. But it always rubs too hard against the grain, until more worldly and pragmatic leaders regain power, dismissing the way of Christ back into the underground where it belongs.

There will always be a temptation to gain favor in the ways of mankind, to grow in influence, to produce a spiritual media-darling or a popular guru that brings comfort and popularity to our cause. We will always want to look for ways to be respected even by those who disagree with us. But Jesus warned us in Luke chapter 6, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat false prophets in the same way."

The true prophets are not so well-liked (don't think I'm necessarily referring to myself.) As the Spirit works in us, we will get the message through to some. But not all. And so long as we recognize this calling as the Missio Dei, a mission that belongs to God, not us, then we can thank him for that.

And press forward through the underground.



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Zadok and Zebulun

Note: This is a short story I wrote, which was published at jesusmanifesto.com in November 2007. I did so because that website's readership is largely unknown to me. For a long time I was hesitant to share this with those I am close to, but I feel like the time is right. Enjoy the story, and share your thoughts in the comments. (You should definitely have thoughts...)

Long ago there lived two Israelite men in the great city of Babylon. They were twins, named Zadok and Zebulun, although the Babylonians gave them strange, dishonorable names that we will not mention here.

Zadok and Zebulun were good men, righteous and blameless. And although they were not priests or rabbis, they wielded an impressive grasp of scriptural interpretation and application. Their natural hero was Daniel, who died hundreds of years ago, but left behind a legacy and respectability for the descendants of Abraham that continued firmly to the present day. In all their studies, and whenever they lied down and got up, whenever they worked or ate or walked from place to place, they struggled to follow the ways of God, in the footsteps of the prophet Daniel.

Occasionally they would hear news from Israel, where they longed to return within their lifetimes. It grieved them to learn that the priests and teachers of the law, and virtually the entire class of Pharisees, had become obsessed with legalities and judgment. Their very own tribe, it appeared, had lost their sense of direction… their sense of God’s heart, who desires mercy, not sacrifice.

And although mercy and humility were their highest aim, they knew that sacrifices must continue until their Messiah arrived.

They were also aware of the state of bondage in Israel–that Rome had overrun their homeland, and that many Israelites were desperate for a Messiah to come at last to free them. And though their hearts beat as one with the people of their own blood, Zadok and Zebulun knew deeply that a Messiah was to come, not to rescue their people from invasion, but from their sins. It was the prophet Isaiah who said of the coming Messiah, “He was pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities.” They could only pray that when the Messiah did come, the people would see him for who he was.

If only they had known that at that very time the Messiah was, indeed, present in Israel. He was born about the time Zadok and Zebulun were getting married… 18, 19 years old. And now the Messiah was 33 years old, at the height of his earthly ministry.

It was during this year, nearing the feast of Passover, that Zadok became deathly ill. He was in such great pain that the 22nd Psalm became his mantra–a Psalm of deep suffering, but earth-shattering hope. As the family gathered around in an attempt to include him in their Passover meal, he quoted it again, gathering strength at the climax, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.” And finally, with his last breath he whispered hoarsely, “Next year in Jerusalem.” And each member of his family echoed, “Next year in Jerusalem.” And Zadok went to the bosom of Abraham.

After a few days spent in utter grief, Zebulun became determined to fulfill his brother’s wish, to be in Jerusalem, on his behalf. He gathered his servants, camels, and supplies and set out for the City of David.

As he embarked from Babylon, unbelievable things were happening in Jerusalem. Those who once followed the Messiah had now turned on him, and demanded that he be crucified at the hand of Pontius Pilate. The greatest man ever to walk the earth became a humiliating spectacle, and died harshly and grimly in the full sight of passers-by. He was wrapped up and buried in a rich man’s tomb. But on the third day he conquered that grave, and rose to proclaim God’s victory and resurrection to all mankind. The Messiah, Jesus, had ushered in a new covenant where all who claim him would be saved.

Zebulun was on his way there–on his way, unkowingly, to take part in this celebration of new life. But then tragedy struck, as a band of thieves ambushed his traveling party, made off with his belongings, and killed him and all his servants in cold blood.

Zadok died under the old covenant, and went to be with his God. Zebulun died under the new covenant, not knowing or accepting the name of Jesus, and went instead to eternal punishment.

At least that's what Sunday School has taught me. Or am I missing something?

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The Weight of God

Last Sunday I spoke about Adam. It made a natural first installment to my new message series called "Profiles in Redemption". The idea is to take a journey through the lives of 10 of the most important characters in the Bible, and see how their stories weave into the great story of Redemption.

In the course of talking about Adam, somehow I landed on an unplanned metaphor. This happens from time to time, seeing how often I think in metaphors. (This may be my most godly trait, which is unfortunate, because it doesn't exactly show up on the list of Spiritual Gifts or Fruit of the Spirit.) And I'm not saying this metaphor is canon-worthy, exactly. But it's blog-worthy, anyway.

The plain fact is, God reveals his fullness to those who recognize their emptiness. Gladly, he doesn't wait until you've arrived and have completely sacrificed everything you have to enter into your life. But in general, I'd say that the more empty we become, the more fully he enters in. "May he increase, may I decrease," John the Baptist would say.

So I thought of a scale. Nobody steps on a scale when it already reads 10 lbs. And certainly not when it reads 30 or 40. You could step on it if you want, but nobody would take the reading seriously. It would not be an accurate description of your body. If we encounter a scale like this, we realize that we have to calibrate it first, so that it reads at zero, before it can be useful. In other words, a scale can have no recognition of weight on its own. It must be prepared only to receive the weight that comes to it.

If each of us is a scale, I don't know anybody who's fully calibrated, although I know some who are pretty close. And when I look at their weight, I see 100, 150 or 200,000 pounds, so to speak. Readings that are not humanly possible. This makes it obvious to me that God has become willing to put his "full" weight into them, and we can begin to see what God "really weighs".

The question we've got to ask ourselves is, do we really want to know God? Do we want to know what he's actually like, or do we just want bits and pieces of him to complement our own ego and self-esteem? Would we trade the inestimable weight of God's glory in our lives for the few dozen pounds that we can muster on our own?

I think most of us would.

LifeSpan

I hardly ever do endorsements on this blog, and even more rarely are they of a commercial nature.

However, I need to take one post here to brag on my friend Charles Whitehead. Back in 2007, when the Front Porch was under construction, Charles donated many hours of his time and effort to construct our coffee bar at no charge whatsoever. Since we had to use mostly very simple and affordable materials, the result is not a true representation of the extent of his craftsmanship. Nevertheless, he did a marvelous job, and I feel like the least I could do for him is to promote his newly formed company, called LifeSpan. Take the link and check out his website, especially if you need any tile or carpentry work done in the near future.

The Soma Center (part 2)

Continued from Part 1

This network would be the heartbeat behind the Soma Centers. And the Centers would be a tangible manifestation of a unified network of believers. Here are some potential details for the network, apart from what I wrote in the post I just linked to.

1a) Members - Individuals who feel a solidarity with the Network, and feel like they can both benefit from it, and serve through it. Membership with any particular church is not necessary, although intentional fellowship with other believers is strongly encouraged. The payment of minimal yearly dues would be required, except in the case of financial hardship, in which case volunteer effort may be substituted. Members would have privileged and discounted access to Soma Centers.

1b) Sponsors - A Member can choose to be a sponsor by increasing his or her commitment to contribute to the Soma Network and/or Centers through extra financial donations, or volunteer efforts. A Sponsor would have priority access to Soma Centers, in many cases free of charge. This is not special treatment for the rich (especially since volunteer effort is an option,) rather it is an incentive to encourage an extra level of commitment, which will be necessary to make the whole operation possible. Nevertheless, Sponsors will never be considered a higher class of individual, or be given any kind of public praise.

2) Member Churches - Denominational or Non-denominational churches who wish to identify with the call for unity in the body, and participate in the "body life" made possible by the Soma Network and the Soma Centers. The payment of a small percentage of the church's budget would be required, except in the case of financial hardship (in which case volunteer effort could be substituted,) or a decision not to make use of the Soma Center's facilities. A Member Church would have privileged and discounted access to Soma Centers.

2a) Sponsor Churches - You get the picture by now. Sponsoring would involve a higher level of giving and/or volunteer effort from the church itself, and priority/free use of Soma Centers.

3) The Public - Anyone desiring to use the Soma Center for a purpose that fits within the general scope and guidelines of the facility will be welcome to do so, at full price, and after full consideration is given to the needs of Members and Sponsors. Ideally, though, "full price" would still amount to a lower rate than one would encounter at the average community rental facility.

I know a lot of this sounds like just another megalomaniacal ordeal; a victim of the Edifice Complex; a mammoth project worthy of the Bible Belt. And it would be a large undertaking, without a doubt. But in the end, the purpose is not just to throw money at one more program or building fund. Ultimately it is to allow each church to do more with less, to be who God has called them to be, and avoid the pressure to meet every need and run every program.

It's ok for each church to be quirky and unique and gappy. In fact, it's perfect. But when those gaps start to become obvious to those with real unmet needs, that's where the larger body has got to be able to step in. Why should a loyal member of a house church with a unique need have to choose between defecting to the local megachurch, or seeking secular gatherings in order to find what they need? The Church needs to be there for them, and it needs Unity and Intentionality in order to do so. Those are two characteristics I imagine for the Soma Network.

With something like this in place, eventually more and more gatherings of believers would become satisfied with simplicity, with meaningful fellowship and organic worship, not having to wonder if they're missing out on the diversity and complexity of the larger body, but knowing that a vibrant, dynamic connection exists at all times to truly flesh out the body of Christ.

Here is my silly little dream sketch. Enjoy!




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A Tulip of Reconciliation

Good news.

I've found a way to bring Calvinists and Arminians together in only 5 steps. (Sorry Calvinists, no mnemonic flower acrostic for you, this time.)

If Calvinists can agree with #1 (and I know they will,) then they should be able to follow me to #5.

1. Christians are the Collection of the Elect.

2. Another word for Collection is Body, and another word for Elect is Chosen.

3. So Christians are the Body of the Chosen.

4. Another word for Chosen is Anointed, and the Greek word for Anointed is Christos.

5. So Christians are the Body of Christ.

Now, Arminians can simply read this list backwards.

Is it possible that we're all really saying the same thing?



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The Soma Center (part 1)

"If God is with you, make your plans big." -D.L. Moody

Ever since God steered me away from the path of professional music ministry, and toward the ideals of The Core, I have been steadily losing my far-sightedness. In other words, I'm still not sure I know what I want to be when I grow up. Graphic design makes a good day job, and I enjoy it. It can even pay well if you're lucky. Pastoring The Core feels like a good fit for me, too, but I don't really know what The Core will look like in 5 or 10 years, and I don't think I'm cut out to leave it and plant more churches, and many, many other churches already in existence that I could pastor would probably want me to be something I'm not.

But today, I feel like I got a glimpse.

Even from early on in the operation of the Front Porch, I've had a "wandering eye" of sorts. I tend to leer at these big, old buildings in broken down industrial areas that are obviously longing to be gutted and remodeled. Springfield has no shortage of them. God has got to have something in mind for these monsters... but when I start the infill in mind, I run out of dreams before I run out square footage, and it just starts to seem like a project for a project's sake.

Meanwhile, in another sector of my mind, I look at all the wasted space inside church walls. Basketball courts that get used twice a week, if that, and probably less than once a week for basketball. Auditoriums that sit empty 85% of the time; Classrooms that get more attention from a housekeeper than a class; Dining areas and fellowship halls and multi-purpose rooms that just seem to be twiddling their thumbs, dying for a little action.

Don't get me wrong. In the context of our current faith culture, most of these churches are doing a fine job maintaining and using their facilities. But isn't it possible that there's a better solution? Large churches nearly always have more space than they need (even if the surplus is on weekdays) and small churches lack the amenities and ministries and facilities that draw so many to "Six Flags Over Jesus."

I am not against megachurches. However, there is a special place in my heart for those smaller bodies who truly believe in holistic fellowship, and relational discipleship, yet always struggle to gain a foothold in our society due to a lack of resources, connections, or both.

You may love the prayerful atmosphere at the House Church, but they can't remedy the constant distractions your children create.

You may love the spiritual growth at the Simple Church, but you feel isolated as the only single person over age 25.

You may love the sense of community at the Coffeehouse Church, but you can't get past the memories of support groups, mission trips, book studies, youth events, and basketball clubs at your old megachurch.

My question: Why should these two problems continue to exist? Why should resources go wasted at large churches, and go lacking at small churches?

My answer: A large, urban Church Co-Op Center. For now, let's imagine it would be called the Soma Center (Soma being the Greek word for "body".)

Before I go into any detail, let me paint a few pictures for you:

Imagine a small network of House Churches. Each one functions well on its own, but they love to get together once a month to stay on the same page, and broaden their circles of fellowship. They can reserve an auditorium at the Center for just such an occasion. Or even for other occasions, such as a wedding, baptism, funeral, or just a big party for no good reason. And if one of the House Churches in this network doesn't have a suitable home to meet in, they can take advantage of one of the Center's several cozy meeting rooms.

Imagine a small traditional church nearby, which has recently gained a few youth members, and an energetic youth leader, but has no money for a youth facility. They could reserve a space at the Center, and run a shuttle back and forth. Or maybe all they need is a basketball court once a month, or a venue to have occasional concerts. Perhaps the church doesn't need space for youth so much as for children, and a teacher can chaperone the children as they board the shuttle for the ride to and from their church building.

Imagine a small group of divorcees who all go to small or medium-sized churches without a DivorceCare ministry. This group can organize itself, and rent out a space at the Center. Perhaps one or more of their churches would even choose to help cover such a minimal expense. Or it could be a child-rearing club, or a discussion group, or a prayer gathering.

Imagine a church plant just barely off the ground, meeting in a high school. They've got their worship space, but they can't run the office out of the pastor's house anymore. They can rent one or two rooms of furnished office space at the Soma Center, much more affordably than anywhere else. And they may even decide to move their Sunday morning service to the Center's Auditorium while they're at it.

Imagine a church that's got everything they need except for storage space for some of their seasonal or cumbersome items. The Center can provide that to them, as well.

I think we've concluded as Americans that the only way to get all the "amenities" of the Christian Life is to grow churches that are large enough to pull them all off. But is there any reason that people from two (or more) different denominations can't share a building, especially when it is owned and run by an ecumenical and benevolent third party? I don't see why not.

Here is a list of a few features I envision for this Center:

• Auditorium for 200-400 people
• Chapel for 80-120 people
• Gymnasium
• Concert Venue
• Coffeehouse
• Office Space
• Classrooms / Meeting rooms
• Youth and Children's Education space
• Daycare
• Storage Space

This is not to say that the church has been necessarily been going the wrong direction... in fact, it has done many things right. But it has done these right things separately, individually, rather than corporately. And each church winds up feeling like jam spread over too much toast. Why not re-introduce the terms of first century church, when there was a "Church in Smyrna" and a "Church in Sardis" and a "Church in Corinth". Likewise there could be a Soma Center in Cleveland, and one in St. Louis, and one in Minneapolis, each representing the geographic and cultural unities that were present in the time of the first apostles.

And yet, a facility alone (or 100 facilities alone) would not amount to a very big dream. Because ultimately the vision is to unify. To repent for our divisiveness, and return to the unity Jesus called us to exhibit. And I believe a beautiful expression of such a historic turning point would be an ecumenical network (I wrote about this idea in a past post called "One-ity".) Let's call it, for our purposes here, the Soma Network.

Read part 2.



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Ctrl-Alt-Del

Ctrl-Alt-Del is the new message series at The Core Worship Gathering. It will run from March 8 - 29.

"Paradigm". It's one of those pretentious words you hear in coffeehouses. And since the Front Porch is like a coffeehouse, let's have at it, shall we?

Paradigms are to human thought what water is to a fish. We rarely take notice of them, and yet they influence everything we think, say and do.

Western society has operated under a single mega-paradigm for the past several centuries: Modernism. Modernism says "prove it." "I want evidence." "Quantify everything." and "The end justifies the means." Science is the god of Modernism.

And yet, for one reason or another, the church eventually found a comfortable corner within Modernism. And although she never literally set up an altar to a god named "Reason", she might as well have. Christianity became supremely reasonable, at the expense of emotion, mystery, beauty, unity and spirit.

And if Modernism had a second god, it would be newness; novelty; progress. Anything new is given the benefit of the doubt. Anything old is quickly dismissed as outmoded or obsolete. And although the church did not worship this god as fully as the rest of the world, it certainly held its place in the pantheon. Many of the riches of our faith were abandoned and forgotten, in exchange for the "up-and-coming"

But, like it or not, Modernism is now in its final throes, and something new (and old) has come to take its place. Western culture is rebooting, and so is Cultural Christianity. When the paradigms of the past cease to satisfy searching minds, fresh modes emerge. And similarly, when you computer freezes up, you hit Ctrl... Alt... Del.

March 8 - Boomers Are Clueless (Post-Modern Epistemology)

March 15 - Vintage Faith (The Future by Way of the Past)

March 22 - Pretty/Confusing (Beauty & Mystery)

March 29 - Text Me You Love Me (Community & Communication)

Thanks to Gary Seevers for the Title Image.

San Francisco

OK... I know this trip was almost 2 months ago. But I really wanted to share some photos and thoughts with you about our day in San Francisco.

I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking for a change. Here goes...

We stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge on our way to meet my parents and brother for lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. A word to the wise: always carry lots of quarters when you drive around San Francisco, because the only places to park are often metered, and only take coins. This was the case with the spot we found at the Bridge. Fortunately, there was 11 minutes left on the meter (and we had to rush anyway in order to meet my family,) so we grabbed the camera and ran up the hill to take a few snapshots. As you can see, I could use a bit more practice with my self-portrait skills.

This may be the coolest candy shop in the world. It's one of the places we stopped at Fisherman's Wharf, after lunch.

After FW, we made the short walk over to Pier 39. There were a lot of neat stores and restaurants there, although it was a little too manufactured for my tastes (think Silver Dollar City meets San Francisco Bay.)






Here's a classic San Francisco shot. That's Coit Tower at the top-right, and the famous Lombard Street running just left of center. We were driving a rented minivan (which was not part of the plan until the wedding party asked me to drive the one they rented the day before,) which isn't necessarily the type of vehicle you'd want when traveling up and down these hills. At least it was an automatic.

I knew San Francisco was hilly, but when you pull up to a stop sign before a street like this, and you pretty much have to look straight up to see where you're going... there's really no preparation for that. I just waited to make sure no other cars were in the street in front of me at the time (thank God it was Sunday,) and gunned it, Christina putting fingernail marks in my forearm the entire way up.

Caption: "I don't really need to use the toilet, but when will I ever see another one this cool?"

This is on the grounds of Coit Tower, pictured in the previous photo. Neat place, but once your car is in the hour-long line to get to the tiny parking lot at the top of this hill, you're going to Coit Tower whether you like it or not. I liked it.





While looking down at the city from Coit Tower, we saw this cathedral, called Saints Peter and Paul Church. Must have been a merger at some point. But we were absolutely stunned by the elegance of this building, and on top of that, we found a (free!) parking space just off the park square in front of it, so we stopped and headed in to see if they give tours.

To our surprise, we walked in and were greeted and handed a song sheet. OK... this is not a tour. This is mass. We were now unwitting attendees to Saints Peter and Paul's 5 pm Sunday Mass. So we sat down to take in the experience.

As you can see, the interior is just as striking as the exterior. It was easy to ignore everything going on and just stare at the walls. And it was a little funny that, despite the glory of our surroundings, the music and the mass in general were pretty anticlimactic. Acoustic guitar instead of organ, priest with a small, throaty voice instead of a soaring or booming one, and only a smattering of parishioners.

Nevertheless, I gleaned something from my moments under this vaulted ceiling: God was big. Everything in this space pointed upward toward his exalted nature, his omnipotent wonder, his eternal existence. God is tremendously big and we are painfully small.

And yet, the genius of an edifice such as this, is that there's more to the story. It's not just that we are sitting beneath a soul-crushing mega-force. Rather, the architecture lifts us up, it raises our souls to mingle with the divine among the stained glass and mosaics and telltale marble inlays. Although we are seated in pews some 90 feet below the ceiling, that distance gives our hearts room to reckon with a God who has lowered himself to be reckoned by us. The Creator of all, who deserves the bend of every knee, has bowed within our reach. And there's something about this space that reminds me once again of the dumbfounding reality of incarnation.

I began to wonder if I, and most of the people I knew, were missing something important in our worship experiences. Even the loudest and most fervent song services can't convey God's power in this way. And certainly not our humble little community venue, with our sorry chandelier, our little prayer groups, and stumblingly conversational sermons.

But maybe that really is part of the wonder. Not every gathering of believers must convey every facet of the body. In other words, maybe we need to get out more; that every time we meet a new group of Christ-followers, we discover a new facet of the face of God. And never, ever should we doubt that God has made us peculiar for a reason; to be ourselves, and not envy the unique divinities that he has impressed upon those who gather elsewhere.

When the service was over, Christina and I got up to look around some more, and came upon the candle room (although I'm sure there's a better name for it.) At the time we were worried about our Dwarf Rabbit, Steamer, whom we'd owned for 6 years, and had to put through surgery recently. We weren't sure if he would recover, so we lit a candle and prayed for his healing. Whether or not the candle made any difference, you'll be glad to know that Steamer recovered beautifully, and is chomping away at his kibble as I write these words.

As we left the church, we walked up the street, past dozens of colorful restaurants, bars, coffee shops, boutiques and the like. We found one that looked worthwhile, and stopped in for a cappuccino. We drank it as we sat out on the sidewalk, listening to an impromptu accordion performance.

That was our day in San Francisco. I'd say it was a good one.




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