Sacramental Living

Theology is risky.

To engage in particularity dependent on authority derived outside one’s self is a task that truly requires an emptying of hubris when approaching the subject of God.

If there is significance in what is to be an ecclesiological endeavor, then the virtue of patience will enable what Robert Jenson calls “waiting . . . the most creative of activities.”

This waiting however is not static, but rather involves practicing the formation of developing the faith. Such practice–if we are to hold the scriptural tenor as worth its stuff–is predicated on a communal setting and participation.

Communal participation in the theological task constitutes disciplined reflection on the forms of life, while acknowledging that all life is contained within the life of the very God who gifts it and makes the theological task possible. To be participatory–to practice this risky work of theology–must necessarily be prayer.  All honest theology is an address to God at his invitation.

SO TELL ME SOMETHING:
Do you see theology as prayer?  Why or why not?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com
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This is the final part of an ongoing post. Part 5 is here. Part 4 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 1 is here.

What then are the responses to exile that speak into the church today? Where do appropriate responses begin?

The acknowledgement of exile must begin with local church leaders. The local church exists as a remnant as it were; the good figs that can be the conduits for the future of God’s will. The local church desperately needs to end denial and cover-up of the exilic situation. Stark awareness of the parallels between Biblical exile and the contemporary church must be accepted.

The local church, allowing for brokenness as reality, will find pain and hardship. Yet, out of this pain will flow grief. Local leaders must allow their congregations to grieve the loss of old ideologies and deluded notions of security. From grief grows the possibility for newness.

Hope in the midst of seeming hopelessness can be found again in God alone. The holiness of our holy God has proven time after time to be the wellspring of hope fulfilled. A true perspective of our heritage of faith in light of God’s holiness clearly shows that authentic faith is in direct opposition to the dominant values and perspectives of contemporary US American culture that by-pass grief, holiness, and memory in favor of the fleeting present.

The Christian community living in exile in US America must investigate the lessons from our past. Delving into the former traditions, retelling the working of a holy God in our community, leads to a new narration incorporating the memory of tradition and heritage in faith. Such a re-narration opens the way for new possibility.

What forms this new possibility will take, who can say? The Biblical perspective of exile teaches the contemporary Christian community that God alone works out something new.

With the prospect of such hope and possibility, the church can return to the business of simply being the church–being the people of God. The church is in the empire and cannot separate itself. Nor can it assimilate into the empire without losing theological identity. The community of faith must re-tradition itself to being the people of God while living in the empire. This learning process will evolve as the church moves through grief to hope and possibility.

The church can re-establish its own identity, its own culture, in the midst of an opposing system. The church, by simply being people of God, will become a social and spiritual voice. The voice may not be accepted by the world, nor even considered authoritative by the majority, but the voice must be heard. The leaders of the Us American church must speak the words of God into their communities of faith so that the church in turn can speak the words of God into the dominant cultural perspectives. Absolute devotion to God’s holiness as our only source of life becomes the method for re-narrating our present while remembering our past and looking creatively toward a future dreamed by God.

SO TELL ME SOMETHING:
What other possibilities do you see?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

This is the fifthPart of an ongoing post. Part 4 is here. Part 3 is here.  Part 2 is here. Part 1 is here.

In Part 4 of this post I considered the US American Church and its exilic condition.  Today, I’ll look at the second and third arenas of exile I’m considering: the Wesleyan-Holiness movement and the local church.

The Wesleyan-Holiness movement as a segment of the US American church also finds itself in exile today. The paradox of extremes–life by law and life by grace–continue to grow further from each other. Consequently, there exists a confused and muddled array of choices for responding to exile. From isolating the Christian community, to rubber-stamping every individual’s idea of spirituality as personal truth, the responses work against the acceptance of exile and only serve a further detriment to the faith community.

The local church is not exempt from exile. For a church (building and people) to be wanted in its particular neighborhood today is an exception and not the norm. Church members have dispersed to the suburbs and neighboring communities. They only find themselves assembled a couple of times a week, while the rest of their time is spent assimilating into the empire. In my tribe, there is no cogent form of worship, community, spiritual experience, ministry, or discipleship nationally. One can travel the country visiting one Nazarene church in each of the forty-eight continental states and find forty-eight widely varied church experiences that appear to have no common thread. So we see that the local church can even be in exile from its own doctrinal movement.

SO TELL ME SOMETHING:
How do you experience exile in your local faith community?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.