The End of the Beginning ?

Noted anarchist Tony Jones posts on the evolution of that entity in the U.S. currently called emergent.   A couple of years studying dead white guys at Princeton and - BOOM - the guy can actually write commentary in a way that actually makes sense.  Given the state of theology and ordained ministry, Tony may want to throw his hat into the ring for Dan Rather's gig.

On a neighborhood walk last week, I walked by a house I had passed by thousands of times and saw an image that captured in my mind's eye so much of the conversation in this North American diaspora from churchianity.  I scrambled back to get my trusty digital camera, then played around with the image in Picasa and here 'tis.

A safe little gated community, playpen away from the traffic, with dwarves who no doubt have their Powerbooks, their blogs, their soul patches, their tats and their edgy lingo.   They are all surrounding mother church, portrayed here as Snow White, having eaten the apple of efficiency and purpose and program and pledges and tax breaks, awakened by the kiss of a young prince who represents the millions of young people who grew up never having gone to the castle that is church.  Notice the weeds growing all through a garden once tended and now left for greener pastures of unmet needs and evangelism kits.  Even more unlikely, notice the cheesy St. Francis statue (no Photoshop tricks, promise), a rich person who threw it all away, stripped naked of privilege and blaze a trail of social justice and contemplation.

The main thing that strikes me about all these U.S. emerging/oozing/alternating doings, from attacks incoming from the established church and their mouthpieces to bumps in the organizational road to angry voices arguing for inclusion is.....we are near the end of the beginning of whatever this thing actually is.

...a series of conversations in hallways and meetings rooms and chat rooms all across this great land around paradigm shifts and generational trends
.....a generation of youth pastors integrating in the new mainline world and finding themselves some kind of freak Frankenstein with their ministries a rejected organ transplant
....a shiny series of magazines and books & conferences that harnessed our sense of voice and monetized it to our hearts' content. 

It all comes down to this - what we thought was a destination, an end point of doctrines & methods & programs, was in fact more likely simply a bus terminal.

So where does the bus go now ?  Well, in true blogger fashion, let me start with where I hope it does not go first, then end with my nomination for where to next.

My first hope is that the usual suspects of names and topics gets expanded so wide that it serves as model for what the Kingdom of God actually looks like - that emergence actually emerges, from the grassroots up and out, engaging the Catholic nuns who have been fighting this battle since before Doug Pagitt knew how to even pronounce yoga; engaging all of North America, recognizing that Canada is not a bunch of pot-smoking hockey lovers and that Mexico is a life force (from church to culture to economics) that must infuse all that we do; engaging women of all backgrounds,  men of all theological stripes, people of all generations and choices in partners or Bible translation or operating system or vocational pursuit.  The beginning of the middle can not be the usual suspects.

My second hope is that we stop all the buzzword bingo and the respectful wording and actually engage all our senses in unearthing what the hell God is doing in this world that is spinning literally off it axis.  One of the many reasons I love the Brits who are struggling down much the same path is that they are such hooligans (OK, Maggi is no hooligan) - they brawl and spit and screw up and push each other in a way that we "nice" Americans seem to work awfully hard to avoid.  Don't get me wrong - I am not looking for the Crossfire pretend debate culture that Jon Stewart skewered so masterfully.  I am hopeful that whether we long for revival or reformation or reboot, that the beginning of the middle is filled with the type of friction that sparks the creativity and imagination within all of us.

My third hope is that we can call off the parade for a little while - that instead of aping the modern mindset of performance and simply wrapping it in authenticity, we can use stop lining up in single file and marching out like circus animals in front of the crowds of gawkers.  Don't get me wrong - I love shows and flashy things and Crowder (not so much the fog machine).  But it seems like it is awfully hard to listen - really listen - to the still small voices, the blowing of ruach, the stirring of the soul - it's hard to listen when you are marching in a parade which is supposed to help everyone simulate an experience of being in a gathering.  I hope we postpone the parade for a while in the beginning of the middle.

So what does my heart hope for ?  As is so often the case, Hugh draws it better than I can say it:

A confederation is agroup of people who have united for unlawful practices; a conspiracy under the radar screen intended on upsetting the norm, subvertising the establishment and blazing trail through restricted areas.

The name skunkworks came from the popular comic strip Li'l Abner by cartoonist Al Capp. In the comic, the Skonk Works was a small factory whose business used skunks (the exact nature of this enterprise was never explained). The Skonk Works was located far from other human habitation due to the terrible odor, and people who worked at the Skonk Works could only communicate with people of the outside world by yelling at them from a great distance while downwind.

In popular culture, someone may be deemed insane if they have likes and dislikes outside those common for average people, especially if their actions are seen as frantic. While usually taking on negative connotations, this may sometimes include positive connotations, as with some incarnations of the stereotype of a mad scientist (notably those along the lines of Albert Einstein).

Comments

[jimmy]

in this post you've said (better than i could) the things i've been feeling.

thanks

[Benjy (groovythpstr)]

Wow, your post has left me speechless, at least for now. Looking forward to hanging out with you this week!

[Moya]

Great to see such fire. I am reminded of the accoutrements wind up spitting sparks nun I own.
UK Hooligans. Yes.
I am not so sure we are stuggling down much the same path though. More stuggling down less the same path.

[Tammy Jo]

Oh my! YOU said it so well! I love this post Bob! and am sorry i wont see you in SD this year. Blog on my brother!

[Mike]

I'll thank you to ask the next time before you take a picture of my front yard...

Nice one.

[geoff]

thanks bob. i found this a helpful survey....and i too am ready for some 'gloves-off' conversations. if you think the brits are hooligans, you should see the aussies in action :) peace.

[Erica]

thanks for this-- it was the parade and the sacrifices being made for it that I had reservations about but I couldn't articulate it. Great Dwarf-SW-SFA garden pic. that'll stick in my head i think!

[ron cole]

Great thoughts...you've hit the nail dead center...and love your hope for the bus ride. Let's all get on board for that ride.

[tony]

can I be Grumpy?

[jonny]

nice post bob... what makes you so sure maggi isn't a hooligan like the rest of us brits :-) ?