Seminary Life

This tiny ten-letter-mustard-seed-phrase

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There are certain word-strings that stick a pin in me.  A very real “ouch” word-string.  And then I have to find out why.  GSHJ does that from time to time.  I can be reading something and “ouch” followed by “What was that for?”

It happened with this:  “Have We Made Bible Study Too Simple?”   The first “ouch” was the word ”study” followed closely by another with “we”.

It was Don Merritt who made me aware of me using a “straw-man” in some of my writing: A fictional “they” in order for me to tear down this fictional “they” as evidence for the point I was making.  And the use of “we” is the most-used straw-man.  Because “we” is (almost) the same as “they” – with a twist.  “We” is me being right and you (who should be one of “we”) having to agree with me – because “we” are correct and “they” (who say – incorrectly – that they are “we”) are not.

Ouch.

Then the word “study” in front of “bible”.  Bible Study.   A phrase used so often it is now its own “evidence”: bible study.  This tiny ten-letter-mustard-seed-phrase packed full of institutional religious baggage like this (from the “About Page”): “Missio Alliance began as an initiative of Ecclesia, a relational network of missionally-minded churches and leaders that takes a primary interest in encouraging and equipping church planters.”  Which screams: “We are God Qualified” – unlike like me.  Unless “me” is God Qualified – and then I might be “we”.

Ouch.

Then this from the post: “At the moment I was a bit taken back.  This shut down the conversation.  It was before my days in seminary and honestly, I wasn’t equipped with a good answer.”

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I get a lot of this Paul – I got a lot of this from you in your “early days”.  This dependence on you and your own cleverness – to fit-in – to be seen to have a “good answer”.  To be able to win the argument – to successfully argue me out of the bible and into another (allegedly).  See the infamous Pharisees and Sadducees – all the “sees and cees” (now reborn as “ologies and isms”).  It’s all about cleverness – being seen to have the right answer – to win hearts and minds for me.   And in the process to split and divide – to maintain the God Qualified as gatekeepers for me – to maintain “them” relying on “we” to explain me.

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And I have just created my own straw-man.  The God Qualified (of seminary and theological college).  My direct conversation with God Soft Hands Jesus – my “baggage” of “dividing” those who believe in the same God Soft Hands Jesus as I do – but not “exactly” the same as mine.  My appealing to those who have a similar train of thought – and in the process dismissing those who don’t.

Because if any of us (or they) really lived this “All Are Welcome” fiction – none of this would matter.  It wouldn’t matter what I (or you) believed if we really lived being capable of love without condition – really lived that love can only be love without condition.  Really believed that “love” split into four (God Qualified) Greek words … is putting cleverness in the way of God … causing another to stumble … perhaps a child who loves without condition because love IS without condition.

And that makes us all false teachers – makes us all use and abuse the bible – because we all look at “sinners” and “sin” as some external force to be beaten – we all look to God to save us.

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And there you go again.  Who is “we and us” – and what were you saying about using “we and they”?

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And he is right.  As is the (possible) rebuttal that “Church folk have to talk to church folk – so using a common language saves time.”

Except that I bumped into this “common language” and the language is not “common”.  It is institutional and God Qualified – it is the language of “seminary Church”.

And that keeps me from you – and keeps us ALL from God Soft Hands Jesus and living love that IS love without condition.

Him, you and me.

“All” without condition.

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Takes me back to the good old days when it was just the “sees and cees”!

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Getting the job done

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Facebook post by “Clergy Coaching Network”
“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state,
but rather the conscience of the state.  It must be the guide and the critic
of the state, and never its tool.  If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal
it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

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And a selection of comments …
I have problems interpreting what was intended for a theocracy to be for a non-theocratic state like America.
Jesus was very political.
But that prophetic zeal must always be tempered with discernment to assure that the Holy Spirit is behind the message.
What does he mean by prophetic zeal?
Read Amos or Micah or Hosea.

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And “theocracy” … ?
“Theocracy, government by divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided. In many theocracies, government leaders are members of the clergy, and the state’s legal system is based on religious law. Theocratic rule was typical of early civilizations.”
And “prophetic” … ?
“The adjective prophetic traces all the way back to the Greek word prophētikos, meaning “predicting.”  You know who’s really good at predicting stuff?  Prophets.  Usually, prophetic is used to describe a thing — like a warning, a feeling, or a complaint — rather than a person.”
And “zeal” … ?
“Zealous is the adjective for the noun zeal “eager partisanship”; the latter has a long e, but zealous has a short one: ZEL-uhs.  It can have a slightly negative connotation, and people are sometimes described as “overzealous,” meaning they try too hard.”

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More and more I see the clergy “qualified (in God)” having this consequence.

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All the theological-and-seminary-production-line-consequence of a bible “authorised” by scholars (themselves previously qualified in God).  Just seems too familiar – a constant throwback to the good old (biblical) days when Jesus kept saying:

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“You have seen it written but I say … “

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All the theological-and-seminary-production-line-consequence of … “Let’s get back to the original Greek” … “Scholars are agreed that this definition – “ … “If only you would actually study your bible (like I do) – “ …  Just like the good old (biblical) days when Jesus kept saying:

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“All of that don’t get you close to God … “

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I have a job.

When something goes wrong we go forensic:  “What happened, why did it happen, how can we stop it happening again?”  And I find myself suggesting that instead of yet another “process change” – we just care a little more and a little better.  That we remember why we are doing “this” and who we are doing “this”for. 

In my job it is a bunch of wonderful human beings we call a “temp team”.  A bunch of “temps” who are our company out there in all these different Client’s premises.  A bunch of human beings just like us – with lives to live, bills to pay, people they love, frustrations and hope and dreams and comfort zones.

And we can “process map” the hell out of “caring for them” …  But just “caring for them” – loving them for who they are, what they are and where they are … always!

That gets the job done.   

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The qualified in God clergy have a job.

And it isn’t “working for the church”.   It isn’t about running a slick operation called the church.   It isn’t about being qualified in God.   It isn’t even about NOT being a “false teacher” (more deja vu … “You have seen it written but I say … “)

And I find myself suggesting that instead of yet another debate about “going back to the original” for yet more “spiritual discernment” …

We just care a little more, a little better.  That we remember why we are doing “this” and who we are doing “this”for … for a bunch of wonderful human beings who are neither “our flock” nor “the lost” … but a bunch of humans just like us with lives to live, bills to pay, people they love, frustrations and hope and dreams and comfort zones.

And we can “correctly interpret” the hell out of the bible “caring for them correctly” …  But just “caring for them” – loving them for who they are, what they are and where they are … always!

That gets the job done.   

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