Man bites dog...

"Be careful. People like to be told what they already know. Remember that. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. New things... well, new things aren't what they expect. They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don't want to know that man bites dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people think they want is news, but what they really crave is olds . . . Not news but olds, telling people that what they think they already know is true. "


—Terry Pratchett, through the character Lord Vetinari from his "The Truth" a Novel of Disworld.


This might help explain why so many people can become offended by alternate theologies.

Church as a statue

Came across this video and I could not help but wonder if there was a connection between the statue and the church in a couple of ways.




Among many church leaders and members we still operate under the impression that we have arrived.  That is to say, we have created something that is great and people will come to it because we have "good news" and the church provides for people something they could not get anywhere else.  Like this statue, many in the church feel that if you just build it people will come and look at it and admire it and interact with it in "an appropriate " way.

But the thing is the world has and is changing so much that now people are much more like this playful dog than casual observers of the statue.

That is to say, people are interacting with the church differently than expected and the church is still expecting people to interact with it in ways that no longer are viable.  People are wondering if the church will move and interact with the world, or if it will just sit there and continue to look pretty.

I disagree with the Church, which is why I stay.

If you have not picked up anything in the "New-Monastic" movement, then I want to encourage you to do so.


I have been given the gift of the Prayer Book called "Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals".  It has quickly become my favorite devotional each day.


Each month takes one of the 12 marks of New Monasticism and explains it just a bit.  The "mark" for April is "Submission to Christ's Body": the Church".


I will not post the entire entry, but I think this is one of the more profound essays related to the '12 marks' in the book.  This is the first paragraph of this wonderful essay, and I share it for all those who have left the Church, those who disagree with the Church, and those who do not understand why some of us stay in the Church to ponder.  I would love any responses to this opening paragraph:

"Discontentment is a gift to the church. If you are one of those people who has the ability to see the things that are wrong in the church and in the world, you should thank God for that perception. Not everyone has the eyes to see, or to notice, or to care. Bur we must also see that our discontentment is not a reason to disengage from the church bur a reason to engage with it. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Our invitation is to "be the change" we want to see in the church. There are things, worth protesting, but we also have to be people, who  "pro-testify," proclaiming the kingdom that we're for, not just the evils we're against."

We need to be considerate of other generations

There are things that happen in the life of a church in which the staff need to address.  Some of these things involve changes to the way things go or happen in the life of the church.  

Many times in these conversations I hear a voiced concern that we ought to be careful not to leave anyone out as we make changes.  If someone does not have a computer or email then we have to be careful to make sure that even those people keep getting notifications and publications by standard mail.  

I get it.  We do need to be considerate of generations. 

The problem I have with this "consideration" is that it is really care for one generation at the expense of others.

While we are slow to adopt new technologies and changes, for fear of leaving behind some in an older generation, we are also loosing the young generations who look at cumbersome changes as un-engaging and ill-relevant.  

It seems as though young generations are asked to tolerate the slow changes and status quo for the sake of others, but I do not see much reciprocation from other generations.  Not upsetting one generation becomes the expense of losing another generation.  

So yes, we do need to be considerate of ALL generations.