Transformationally Informal: Submission and Reverence Not Required

I like turning nouns into adverbs even if there is no such word adverbially speaking. It can often create its own genre of debate, discussionally trying to define what is meant by the speciously new terminology. A new species can become terminal, only if it generates its own life. Like missionally, a word that never before existed until it began to be used. Creative adverbing might be the only proof of evolution, actually. In the case of transformationally, it is an adverb, actually. Culturally, relationally, informally expressing ourselves is not always legitimate. Then again, without some liberty to transform what exists, legitimately, life and language would be communally, impossible.We have, today, an interesting phenomena known as the emergent church. I would not be surprised to find out that emergent was adapted from evolutionally specific auditory utterances, terminologically. Like audial, no one ever observed the use of the noun form. Well then, see, obviously audios have evolved decendantly (ascendantly?) from some unidentified parental line. Where in the case of missionally we can observe its lineage parentally. Phenomenally, emergent churches have descended from the parent churches who were in the ages past, formally organzied according to the prevailing culture. Call it a mutation or a anti-gen(erational) corrective if you will, what the emergent represents is the rejection, not of formality per se, but the exclusivity of it. But informality breeds its own problems. One of those is the lack of definition.Transformationally informal churches go along with such deconstruction and reconstruction permeating, culturally, society, subversively reassigning meanings not germane to the subject. Inch by inch, step by step, slowly we have turned in to a grunge culture. Which I have to admit, being a product of the sixties, that I had a part in said transformation. As is the case with most things subject to the laws of nature, I eventually regressed toward the mean. I no longer grungeally approach society, nor do I maintain a flip attitude toward such formal entities as the organized church that I once, pre-emergentally, loathed and distrusted. Grunge, I have had to recognize, is not just a look, or slovenliness, it is a more generally, diffusely, distributed attitude, impacting demeanor, propriety, correct handling, and sober-mindedness.

Continuing from Mr.(note formal address) Machine Gun's post I offer this program from White Horse Inn. You see I agree to great extent to what Rhett was saying about the necessity of reverence and the otherness of the church, at least in corporate worship as a formal gathering to honor and learn of the Lord. And, I didn't mean to sidetrack the discussion. The Hortonites speak to the same issues. Reverence carries certain weight of authority over against the apparent irreverence of informality. There are some things by which we should be identified by the world and by which, we should identify ourselves with one another. Which is why I wear only clean t-shirts without holes, a fresh pair of pants and my best tennis-shoes ;)

To some this will still not make the grade and with others it will be all formally and stuff, by all means something to be avoided. Both those extremes are, however, one, in a self-richly sorta way.

Wisdom does teach us at least this:

He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

There are some requirements. Spiritually speaking, what is the key to reverence, is it not this last phrase?

walk humbly with your God.

James tells us, also, what can happen when reverence becomes showiness, then formalism and formalism a sacramental expression of spirituality. Let us then keep the focus upon what he then says: the poorly dressed may well be the more highly praised in God's estimation. On the other hand, we should be clothed in humility, no matter what state we find ourselves in, showing the proper deference to the King who has invited us into his banquet.

A Greek Hupogrammon and A Lesson in Integrity

If you've read my Rant blog for a while, you're probably already aware that the Kelley children are educated at home with a curriculum that is decidedly Christian and Reformed. Like children educated in government schools, the Kelley children generally have the Summer months off as well.

This year I decided to take on a Summer elective course with my 8 year old son. Just something to keep his mind stimulated during the off months and maybe help me learn something too. I gave him several options to choose from. He picked Greek as the subject he would like to learn about. I was pleased with this choice because some education in the Greek language couldn't hurt me either.

We decided to keep things very basic to start off with. I ordered a consumable workbook entitled A Greek Hupogrammon by Harvey Bluedorn. Because I wanted to do the workbook along with my son, I figured I could make copies of the consumable pages to save from having to purchase a second book.

This past Friday, we decided to do the first lesson and I ran off some copies of the pages. Right before I sat down with my son, I noticed something written inside the front cover that changed my plans.

Unlike some consumable workbooks we have used in the past, the author of this particular book included this notice with his copyright information:

"A Greek Hupogrammon is the private property of Harvey Bluedorn. The right to reproduce or publish any portion of this material, in any manner, by any means, or for any purpose, is reserved as the sole right of the author. This prohibits making duplicate copies of individual pages in any form -on paper, electronic, or otherwise- for home, classroom, e-mail, internet or any other use."

Right after that, the author then invoked these Scriptures:

"You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing grain"

"The worker deserves his just compensation."

"You shall not steal."

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

This stopped me dead in my tracks. I knew I had a choice to make. Either ignore it and proceed, or do the right thing...

I knew what I had to do: I gathered the photocopies and destroyed them.

My son was a bit confused at first. I knew this was a chance to give him a lesson on integrity and how copyrights work. I explained to my son that by printing off pages from this book without the author's permission, we would be stealing from him. I explained that this gentleman's income and standard of living probably depends upon the sale of this book; by not buying a second copy for myself, I would be cheating him out of his income. I further explained these principles by giving him a series of illustrations.

I've shared all that with you to say this:

I've met a few professing Christian's who see nothing wrong with illegally downloading music files or buying pirated movies and computer software. The fact is, if we do these things, we are stealing. Though this matter of copying pages from a workbook may seem like a non-issue to some people, to copy these pages without the permission of the author was stealing from him and cheating him out of income.

Even though I'm going to have to cough up about $20.00 for another workbook for myself, this gave me an great opportunity to set an ethical example for my son to follow. As Christian parents, we must be sure to teach our children integrity by our deeds and not by our words only!

Did You Think You Would Walk Away Unscathed?

Postmodernism vs. Christ

Albert Mohler has aptly stated that postmodernism "allows for infinite forms of meaning." From an epistemological standpoint, defending the Christian faith against this type of thinking can seem impossible. Aside from the infiltration of postmodern thinking in others, those fighting for the faith must also battle postmodern tendencies within themselves. It's no wonder that some Christians find themselves frustrated as witnesses for the gospel of Christ.

This short article is a broad summary of continuing thoughts I have had concerning this struggle. There was a time when I sought to be a well-spoken apologist with an answer for any anti-Christian argument that faced me. Besides the fact that I have the memory of a goldfish born from the inter-breeding of thirteen generations, I realized afterwards that my particular goal to become a great apologist was objectively unreasonable.

By no means am I suggesting that apologetics are unnecessary. God often uses apologetics as a bridge to the gospel. The situation of Paul at the Areopogus is a classic example of this (Acts 17:16-34). Paul researched the belief system in Athens to understand the worldview held by the people. He did his homework first, and then he spoke. When he addressed the people, he did so in a way that was relevant to their expansive cultural context. From that point, he masterfully transitioned into a presentation of the gospel.

Pictured above: One suggested method for converting postmodernists.

The point I'm trying to make here is that Paul's objective was to present the gospel of Christ through Scripture. Paul's chief end was to arrive at a point where he could say, "Here is Christ, your Savior." Yes, he studied. Yes, he reasoned. Yes, he philosophized. But in the end, when he had finished reasoning with them, he says in verse 24, "this I proclaim to you." Paul had come to proclaim the gospel of Christ to these people, not to defeat their arguments or show them their deficiency of logic.

In light of these things, I am writing as a reminder to all of us who labor hard for the truth of the gospel that we must not forget our objective, who is Christ of the Scriptures. We must not compromise the power of God's Word for the eloquence of any argument of logic. No matter how impenetrable or beautiful a philosophical argument may seem, it will never bring someone to Christ. The gospel "is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." Peter wrote "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."

The Word is power. The Word reveals the hidden darkness as light. We must not be ashamed of the Word or be afraid that it is too weak to overcome the most brilliant arguments of intellect. When we feel overwhelmed by the many faces of postmodernism, we must not rely on philosophical reasoning. We must spiritually assault the confused reasoning of postmodernists with the penetrating power of Scripture. This will keep us centered. This will keep us humble. Most of all, this will bring God the most glory as we battle against the enemies of the gospel.