The Slippery Slope

My friend and colleague, Bill Wenger (who just joined the team -- welcome!), likes to joke about the slippery slope into the depths of heresy that people find themselves on if they follow my theological lead. I don't know if that's completely accurate, but I do admit that I find a straight and narrow orthodoxy rather boring. In fact, we'd have to pretend that such a thing actually exists, which many people attempt. I, on the other hand, am willing to push the envelope a bit.

So if you are visiting this blog and vacillating whether to join the team -- you've been warned. Join at your own risk. To those already on the team: welcome to the slippery slope.

I have this crazy idea that the enterprise of theology was arrested by the Constantinian and Kantian arrangement of the church. These crusty dead guys and some of their cohorts then locked theology away, marginalizing it to the corners of academia. Now we often find a cynical superiority complex of the academy toward congregations, which is met by an equally strong suspicion of the academy by the church. It's time we get over it. Constantine is dead. Kant is dead. And out from the ashes of the old church arrangement, a new reality arises -- an authentic church driven by the mission to witness God's Reigning in our world.

How do churches participate in God's mission? By Holy Spirit calling, gathering, and empowering us to discern the ever present and constantly in-breaking reign of God. If you have joined the team, then you have heard this call, found yourself in this strange new kind of community, and are being empowered with the spiritual gift of discernment through mutual encouragement.

We as church leaders articulate this gift to others by casting a vision. Consider this blog and your comments as a forum for articulating vision. A vision for your own path of discipleship. A vision to coach others as they grow in their discipleship. The visions we articulate will differ according to our own unique contexts, as well they should. But these various visions that have the same purpose will blend in perfect harmony to further God's mission for the Messiah's church.

In in future postings, I will articulate the vision toward which I've discerned Holy Spirit calling me, a vision of ministry that unites congregational leadership with the theological enterprise. Imagine congregations equipped with the theological prowess to discern more faithfully the constant in-breaking of God's Reigning. It will require us to relinquish our tendency to control our patterned systems of thought and our reflex to protect antiquated structures. Holy Spirit will toss us about in the winds of inspiration and recreation. What a wild ride it will be, a slippery slope we can joyfully embrace.