I am not a moral relativist; but I see the world differently

I was listening to a podcast where philosopher and moral relativist Simon Blackburn was being interviewed and to be honest, I’m a bit frustrated. I’m not frustrated at poor Simon who could probably care less. I’m frustrated because people outside the emerging church time and time again insist that those inside the emerging church are moral relativists.

Let me repeat what so many others have tried to say; we are not – let me say it once again – NOT moral relativists.

But as I have spent close to 15 years in the Evangelical Church (Emerging’s largest population of critics –– I’m not saying every evangelical is a critic of emerging… but a few are and they seem to be the most vocal), and maybe I can shed some light on the subject, although I’m sure many will simply disagree (and others agree) simply because I labeled myself emerging. But what the hell….

When I labeled myself as an Evangelical these are my observations of what was important to my culture:
That I didn’t listen to non-Christian music with the occasional exception of classical and jazz.
That church consisted of 4 pop songs and a 40 minute message.
That dissecting the Bible the absolute smallest denominator was essential to understanding – i.e., the first half of the root word in the original Greek…
That expanding the Kingdom meant praying in a living room and passing out tracts.
That to some varying degree we couldn’t cuss, watch rated “R” movies, get tattoos (other than Christian symbols) and piercings (other than the ears).
That we must defend the truth with debate, policy making, and voting Republican.
Someone who wants to follow Jesus says the sinner’s prayer.
That modifying behavior (so that it conforms) makes you more spiritual.
That you have to know all the answers.

Just to be clear; there are times in my life when I only listen to worship, when I pull out my Greek and Hebrew books to study, when I pray for hours (although I don’t pass out tracts), when I watch my mouth, and I am sensitive to any movie I may watch no matter the rating. I’ll never get a satanic chant tattooed on me, and I believe that there are times for debate, policy making, and I might even vote Republican. So these are not blanket criticisms (except for maybe the tract thing, but I’ll even concede that at times God can use it – which of course makes me a bit of a relativist, but not a moral one; which could beg the question, am I an amoral relativist? But I regress…).

Here’s what I have observed over the past couple years in within the culture of Emerging:

That justice is not a word but a way of daily life.
That living in dark places is better than hiding in the light.
That loving like Jesus is better than passing out a tract.
That reading the story of God as a whole story can so often bring more revelation than dissecting root words.
That church is not 4 pop songs and a lecture, but a gathering of people who are committed to love God, each other, and the world in sacrificial ways.
That God doesn’t want our best or our worst – He wants it all.
That action is more important that words.
That love is more important than policy.
That compassion is better than being right.
That trusting the Holy Spirit draws people more than a sales pitch.
That the sinner’s prayer is not in the Bible, but following Jesus is.
That Jesus didn’t die to modify behavior but save us from a list of rules.
That it’s okay to fall, stumble, not understand, be confused, and live in awe.

It’s not that we believe differently; it’s that we live it differently. There’s been much said from emerging talking heads (I mean that in love!) about the historical Christian orthodoxy of our beliefs, so there’s no point in going into that again; but I can say with full confidence that WHAT we believe is consistent with the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds - the foundations of our faith. This above list is obviously a generality of my own personal observations (I don’t need people commenting saying, “Well I’m an evangelical and I watch rated “R” movies!”). I would encourage people to look at the list as a whole and not as individual points – or my list could have been a hundred pages long. In any case this is my feeble attempt to explain the disconnect for what it’s worth. And I have Mr. Blackburn to thank for that.

Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood

This synchroblog is on money and the churh and Derek Webb can say it (and sing it) much better than I can. So here's the lyrics.

Derek Webb and "The Rich Young Ruler"

(vs. 1)
poverty is so hard to see
when it’s only on your tv and twenty miles across town
where we’re all living so good
that we moved out of Jesus’ neighborhood
where he’s hungry and not feeling so good
from going through our trash
he says, more than just your cash and coin
i want your time, i want your voice
i want the things you just can’t give me

(vs. 2)
so what must we do
here in the west we want to follow you
we speak the language and we keep all the rules
even a few we made up
come on and follow me
but sell your house, sell your suv
sell your stocks, sell your security
and give it to the poor
what is this, hey what’s the deal
i don’t sleep around and i don’t steal
i want the things you just can’t give me

(bridge)
because what you do to the least of these
my brother’s, you have done it to me
because i want the things you just can’t give me

Live NAKED

While your at it, I'm curious to know what your answer might be on the very short post just below this one. :-)

Updated Synchroblog list of wonderful people you should read!

The Check That Controls

Pushing The Camel: Why there might be more rich people in Heaven than in your local Church

Trusting God- A new perspective

Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz

[Johnny Beloved (title TBA)]

Walking with the Camels

Greed and Bitterness: Why Nobody's Got it Right About Money and The Church

[Theocity (title TBA)]

Money and the Church: A Fulltime Story

But I Gave at Church

Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood

Money and the Church: why the big fuss?

Coffee Hour Morality

Bling Bling in the Holy of Holies

Magazinial Outreach

Money's too tight to mention

Bullshit

The Bourgeois Elephant in the Missional/Emergent Living Room

When the Church Gives

Who, or What, Do You Worship

Greed

Silver and Gold Have We—Oops!

The Church and money

Revolution Question #4: I want my Big Mac, my mocha, my i-Phone, my soft porn, and my church to make me happy

Alan Hirsch has talked about in his book "The Forgotten Ways".
Michael Frost preaches against it. And if Michael had a blog I'd link it! :-)
Jason Clark is studying it.

We are all trying to figure out how to live in it but not of it.

Consumerism.

We do what makes us happy in an economic system that thrives on convincing us that 'stuff' makes us happy.

And we are all victims of it. Every single one of us. Even pastors and church leaders. We cannot escape it.
But we can live differently. But how?

How are you all living in a world driven by consumerism, while not being driven by it yourself? How do you relate to a culture where what you have is more important than who you are? How do you live backwards from that, and be relevant? What is the key to tearing down the god of consumerism and not living in a cave?

Revolution Question #1: Make the mountains low and raise the valleys.

Rather than blog for pages and pages on my experiences of this past week, I think I'm just going to pose a question every couple days for people to think about (and hopefully) respond too regarding post-modernity, and missiology.

Question #1:
To paraphrase Alan Hirsch - If the people can't understand the revolution, we can't have a people revolution.

So, why is there an overall standard that decrees that clergy must attend 4+ years of schooling in order to 'lead the people'? Can't anyone start a church?

I'm all for higher education (and will go for my Masters I'm sure someday), but why is it necessary for a movement that should be eliminating hierarchy actually place importance on elevating it?

The Short Answer To Why We Need A Revolution

Revealing study that was reported on in the USA Today here

Why it's okay to call Christians whores, but not everyone else.

This is in response to "Fred's" comment in the previous post. My response comment was getting to long...
:-)

"Fred",
It is absolutely true that we should be sensitive to other members of the body of Christ. We (and I'm one of the worst) do a great job of shooting our own wounded and fighting amongst ourselves rather than fighting for a thing truly worthwhile like social justice and the reduction of poverty. If we could work together, how much more could the world change!?

However, there's another side of the coin here, and although we should always be respectful and loving, there is time for confronting. Peter says that the church will be judged first. Therefore we must 'judge' ourselves. There are two reasons for this:

One, is that we are 'in the light'. We have the greatest revelation given to us in the person of Jesus. And to whom much is given, much is required. I don't expect the self driven agnostic to give income to help the poor, but I expect the middle class surbanite with the Jesus fish on the family mini-van to not only give to the poor but to spend time with them (or whoever God lays on their hearts). The practical end result of this is that I may show mercy and love to the agnostic, while giving correction in love to the surbanite who claims to follow Christ.

We have a great example of this in the person of Jesus. He was accused of being a drunk and glutton and he was condemned for being friends and partying with sinners and rebels (tax collectors). Yet Jesus spent time with them, associated with them, laughed with them, loved them, and in that context, taught them and showed them God. At the same time, he rebuked the religious leaders, called them a brood of vipers, and proclaimed them white-washed tombs (insults of the worst kind in the day).
And yet, he still loved them, and for those who responded to Him, we dwelt with them and ate at their houses as well.

Revelation is very clear that Jesus not only encouraged the church, but at times had harsh words. We too, in love, can have harsh words. One can argue that God's judgement of Israel doesn't apply to the church because that was the Old Testament. I would argue that although we are under a new covenant, the same principle applies and you can read it in the Gospels, and throughout the New Testament (Annanias and Saphira for example).

The second reason flows from the first. We have within us the Holy Spirit, a supernatural phenomenon that should draw those in darkness into the light. We are Jesus on the earth, and people are looking for him. And yet in many cases, they see no difference. What they see, is a church spending millions on a new buildings and special effects for the stage. They see a Jesus fish on a Mercedes driving by a homeless person without stopping to give. They see a political giant fighting for rights in schools and denying others the rights that they desire. They see shallow, two faced hypocrites, who proclaim that rated R movies and cussing is bad, while millions die from AIDS on the other side of the world.

Now one can argue that I'm using a Strawman here, but I'm not saying that this is how all Christians act, I'm saying that this is how Christians are perceived because a significant number do indeed act that way. As a result we must heeds Paul's words as an entire body; that we should hold ourselves above reproach and act in a manner worthy of Christ.

And when we don't, we need to say so. We need to say that something is wrong. I believe that as we live honestly with ourselves, and we love those in darkness, while at the same time calling our own lives and the lives of other Christians into accountability we can see Jesus touch the dark places of our world.

People have seen us put on the perfect face long enough. But the whore still shows. Let us expose the whore, wipe our tears on Jesus feet, and allow Him to raise us up and call us His bride. The pharisees may wonder why Jesus is allowing a whore in the house, but world will then see Jesus as the lover of our souls, and us, as people who simply need a relationship with our creator, without all the whorish make-up.

We all desire something real. The world has had enough of "Jesus is my boyfriend, bobble-head doll, fake it till you make it Christianity." Let's get back to the raw, messy, Jesus. The one who drank with tax collectors, and pulled out the whip in the temple.