Hear, O Israel

So, there's a lot going on in my head lately. Anyone who knows me knows that there's always a lot going on in my head, but this moment in my life is different. I've never experienced so much connectedness in the things that are going on in my head, in my life, and in my heart. I have to say, it's wonderful and scary and really peaceful all at the same time. Don't ask me how that's true.

Amidst all of this unification, there is an opt-in/opt-out dichotomy going on. There will be much much more about that later, but in the mean time, here are my notes, questions, and thoughts from listening to Michael Frost of Small Boat Big Sea faith collective near Sydney, Australia as he spoke to Missiongathering at my favorite restaurant that I've never eaten at, The Linkery on Wednesday, October 11.

Please feel free to respond and make comments to anything you see posted here. Also, please feel free not to assume that I necessarily agree or disagree with these ideas. This is just what I wrote down as I listened.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Michael told us a story about a woman, working, churching, and worshipping--existing in three different worlds and essentially recognizing three different gods. He suggested that many Christians actually function within this kind of polytheism.

How would our lives look different if we lived like God is the same on Sunday as he is on Monday and Friday? Do our lives need to change to recognize a monotheistic reality?

Why is worship separated from life? Why can't making sausages be an act of worship?

Christianity was originally about the death of religion--not the creation of it.

So there's this guy with a very abundant crop--the bible calls it the parable of the rich fool. He tears down his barns and builds bigger ones to store his wealth, but this is not what makes him a fool, as we may expect. What makes him a fool is that he made this decision on his own--without the wisdom of the elders of the village. Paul took the word used for the gathering of elders at the city gate--the ekklesia--and made it the word for church--a gathering of Christians.

Our calling is to bring value to the neighborhood where we live...salt and light...

If we really lived monotheistic faiths, we would see no wrong in eating pizza in the sanctuary or playing soccer through the church.

Small Boat Big Sea has a committment they have made--BELLS.

• Blessing: Each week, community members will bless three people (one christian, one non-christian, and a third from either category) in a specific, thoughtful, intentional way.
• Eating: Each week, community members will share a meal with three people (one christian, one non-christian, and a third from either category). Michael and his wife actually have at guests into their home at least once a week!
• Listening: Each week, community members commit to spending a "significant" amount of time (that's ONE big chunk of time, not lots of little chunks) listening to God.
• Learning: Each week, community members commit to spending a "significant" amount of time (that's ONE big chunk of time, not lots of little chunks) learning about Jesus.
• Sent: Community members are to record in a journal the ways that the work they have done that week is what God sent them to do--even if that is a bloody good sausage!

What if eating were the central religious practice of our faith? (I'd be the most religious person on the planet!!)

As a community, SBBS chooses one person to get up each week and describe their average week. The community then tells the individual the ways that they are doing God's work in their lives, and through them in the community. What a beautiful picture. Who wants to start doing this?

Make an effort to integrate all your worlds under the leadership of Jesus.

How do our actions differentiate between loving people to love them and loving people to recruit them?

DNA: Discipleship, Nurturing, Accountability--groups of 3 people who meet for breakfast weekly to help practice BELLS.

Best conversion experience ever: "Oh shit, I'm a Christian!"

Don't talk about values--talk about the practices that reflect your values.

What is there to say about a church like SBBS becoming a spectacle? If Missiongathering were to disappear, would North Park miss us?