let freedom ring!

This weekend was Memorial Day weekend, officially designated as a time to reflect upon and honor those who died while serving in the Armed Forces. I am a veteran, as are my father, our son, our son-in-law (currently stationed in Guantanomo Bay and...

no, not everything you read in news is true, and

no, there is no massive government conspiracy to which all military personnel subscribe, and

no, the government does not conduct psychological testing on all military personnel with the intent of building a military of mindless drones capable of being manipulated into gross atrocities and

no, the military is not in control of the u.s. goverment

Meanwhile,

yes, terrible things have and will continue to occur. The military, being comprised of men, women, husbands, sisters, wives, brothers, sons, daughters, cousins and in-laws, is comprised of human beings exercising their legal and moral right to free will. Depending upon your view of human nature, the military is either filled people seething with evil and ill-will towards their fellow humans or filled with average, run-of-the mill people at all stages of emotional and spiritual development.

yes, the government has short-changed society by promoting the military as a career option rather than as a service opportunity)

now that i'm completely off-track from my orignal thought...

I did not attend a worship service on Sunday. I'm not an official member of this group (thank you, if I don't need a secret de-coder ring to validate my presence here, I'll pass). Nonetheless, we've been developing a relationship with those who meet there on Sunday.

And there's the freedom: Here I was, stressing out on Sunday morning. I didn't want to attend. Busy doing my own thing. Feeling guilty over the part where you are *supposed* to develop relationships so that you have a *community* of believers. Back and forth, forth and back. Go and do the duty? Stay home and relax?

I finally realized that if I was stressing out that much about it, then for cyring out loud, stay home! And then I realized, that's a good bit of what I like about this group. I can stay home on Sunday. Free pass, no condemnation, no close questioning, no concern about backsliding or unhappiness with the group, etc.

This group is willing to trust its members to work out their own salvation. It is willing to respect boundaries and limits. It doesn't view itself as the gatekeeper of its members' souls.

Would that more congregations be willing to extend a hand of fellowship to their fellow humans—valiant, scared, searching, sincere, clueless though we may be—and leave that hand extended so that we can indeed walk together, worship together, join together as a true community of believers.

What Does It Mean To Be The Body of Christ?

from another conversation about getting away from doctrinally-driven faith:

The question is harder than it might sound: afterall, how many people seriously consider the difference between "the body of Christ" and what it is that we do on Sundays? What is the difference between God's call for humanity to join his body and the call of today's Chrisitianity to join its churches?

That's what this quest to find a place of no doctrine is about. It's about taking time to breathe, to turn inward for a while, breathe in God, retreat from the clanging gongs of church obligations and listen,

listen

and then find ways to respond to that still quiet voice of God.

This quest is not about the cliched "stand for nothing fall for anything" silliness so often preached as justification for the hide-bound rigidity we so often subsitute for God's love.

It's a big scary thing, to sincerely seek the simplicity that Jesus claims as his message.

Christians Only

a preacher from another church of the same denomination called the office today (i work at a church) looking for recommendations for an office administrator. he talked for a few minutes describing his request, then summarized his statement with "I want a Christian, of course."

as if, by specifying a "Christian" he's going to get the best possible employee—a godly woman (no, he didn't specify the gender—i'm guilty of imagining the assumption) who doesn't drink, smoke, swear, sleep around, dress like a sleaze, and is always pleasant.

in reality, the best he can hope for is that she's well-versed in the art of putting up a good front, and that if she dresses like a sleaze, she limits it to long floral skirts, a slightly tight top, overly frosted big hair and too much make-up.

he won't know until it's too late if she's dishonest with money, and he'll probably never find out that she regularly sees (and touches and feels and is intimate with) a man not her husband, drinks herself stupid every Friday night, and smokes cigarettes when she goes out with friends.

what the preacher really hopes to hire is a pleasant, personable, competent person whose personal moral code dictates that he or she give her best effort to the task at hand, an emotionally stable and mature person who has the necessary people skills to gently navigate through sensitve issues, a person who is able to respect the church's mission and consider that mission when acting on behalf of church administration.

the title "Christian" does not necessitate any of the above.

what would happen if modern Christianity stopped equating external behavior with salvation? would the words "authentic," "relational," and "relevant" begin to mean something beyond buzz-words in po-mo and emergent circles?

Capitalism and the Da Vinci Code

for about a year now christian media groups have been churning out all kinds of anti-Da Vinci code propaganda, sunday school lessons, sermon-aids for preachers, etc. speaking from the pov of a person who works in a church office, i have to wonder, why the fear?

i had no interest in reading the book... having read other stuff by Dan Brown, figured it was just another novel for sleepless nights. now, though, i'm curious. so i'll read the book. how many people are reading the book or seeing the movie simply because the christians got so wound up about it?

my questions: does the christian power structure really believe that the book is compelling enough to have a significant negative impact?

or is the profit motive the real driver behind the anti-Da Vinci publicity?

is anyone who truly cares about God's Christianity saying "where there's smoke, there's fire; let us not be the smoke?"