The Church: Parade or Carnival?

Recently NPR featured a segment on a man named Carlos Lezama, who was referred to as the man who brought the West Indies to Brooklyn. Lezama started the annual West Indian Carnival, which was technically a parade but was more like a carnival. There are not the corporate supporters like most large parades have, nor does it lend itself to the stop-and-watch-the-show attitude of most Americans. And although there are definitely some who are more "official" as dancers or entertainers, they mix in with the rest of the crowd. This is more like a grassroots parade, with nobody, including Lezama getting rich off of it. Instead, it's more like a call to participate; hundreds of thousands of people streaming into the streets to drum, dance, sing and laugh together. There is no "leader," no official destination. The crowd joins together, the people decide together where to go or not go. And in the middle of it all; Carribean music, which is ironically probably not part of most of the participants' past. But they are introduced into it and allowed to join into it and make it their own.

Compare this to the Macy's Parade, which occurs in nearby Manhattan. The name itself reminds you of a massive American corporation. The floats drive by advertising new games, cartoons and toys. Maybe a celebrity rolls by on a car to remind you to watch their show or movie. And all the while, Americans sit on the side of the road or at their TV screens, watching. They apparently have nothing to add. Their voice is never heard. And maybe they don't even want to be heard. They sit passively and are simply entertained. Maybe when a certain band goes by they sing along, or cheer when they really like a part of the show, but overall their presence/viewing matters very little to the whole show.

Now, which one of these two parades more resembles the local church you are a part of?

A while back, Ryan Bolger blogged about Mikhail Bakhtin and the "Carnivalistic Life." He wrote:

I wondered, as followers of Jesus, how we might create
these free zones, these spaces where the oppression of
the world does not reign. I was thinking not only in our
times of meeting together but separately as well, in our
workplaces, neighborhoods, schools, parks. How do we
create this alternative space where hierarchies are not
observed, where everyone has a voice, where people
experience liberation, where laughter is frequent, where
the terror is lifted, even for just a few moments? What if
our 'witness' is not a performance but the creation of an
alternative space, a space that does not yield to the powers
of this world but strives to point to the next?

Just because Luther tacked some paper on a door does not mean we have stopped being oppressive and repressive in the church and as the church. So how do we start erasing some of the lines we have drawn? How do we start to display a kingdom announcing church where everyone is participating, invited in, and has something to offer?

In her book Desire in Language, Julia Kristeva tackles some of Bakhtin's thought and adds her own. She says (and yes, it's a complicated quote, but stick with it), "Carnivalesque structure is like the residue of a cosmogony that ignored substance, causality, or identity outside of its link to the whole, which exists only in or through relationship" (p. 78). This is dialogical discourse, as opposed to monological discourse. According to Kristeva, society as a whole is moving in this direction, which she also claims "is anti-Christian and antirationalist" (p. 79). But I don't think it is anti-Christian.

Dialogical discourse is in opposition to the christianity of modernity, though this brand of faith has actually been going since Constantine's time. Before we can answer any of the questions from the paragraphs above, it seems that we have to first make a bigger decision; can we as the Church let go of power and choose to be a church of weakness? The hierarchies we create cause the people of God to remain infatuated with power, to worship a God of power, and to speak and live in ways that reflect that power struggle. Maybe it's time to start living the Jesus way, making ourselves last, putting the needs of others before our own, giving up our own lives. Maybe its time to realize that the idea of paid "ministers" rather than laymen is not the best idea. Maybe its time to realize that every person in the church has something to offer and that if we really believe this we can't preach at them for twenty to forty minutes a week and really believe that we are giving them a voice. Maybe it's time to listen to each other. This then forms us into a carnival people, a people who share together and can break bread together in such a way that there is unity and nothing lacking in anybody. But it starts in our realizing that we are complete only together, not as individuals, or as Francis Ponge is quoted in Kristeva, "I speak and you hear me, therefore we are."

Peace,

Matt

Conferences

I'm not a big confernce goer. I've been dragged multiple times to the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, which put a horrible taste in my mouth for all things conference-like. But even with that sad history, there are some that are worthwhile in this world. Here's a few upcoming that have caught my eye:

First, there is a conference coming in April called Praxis (sounds like a good one for me, considering the name of this blog), featuring presenters like Brian McLaren, Karen Ward, Eugene Cho, Randy Rowland and Dwight Friesen.

Also, Kurt at Wonderlust Theology told me about a conference that our friendly neighbors to the North are hosting at Trinity Western University called Religion, Culture, and Conlict. The name of the conference alone is intriguing and worth the drive if my life will allow me to escape up there.

Lastly, I would love to make it all the way over to the East Coast for the Emergent Theological Discussion, but that seems highly unlikely. I e-mailed Tony Jones about doing more things on the West coast, but I think he thought I was joking.

Let me know if you hear of any other worthwhile conferences, especially if they are actually in the Pacific Northwest, since it's so rare!

Peace,
Matt

Graham Greene on Goodwill

Last night, with a complete inability to make myself sleep, I finished reading Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter. The following quote comes from the book. For the record I don't agree with the quote, but found it to be fascinating nonetheless. The book obviously has autobiographical components, in particular the protagonist who tries to reconcile his Catholic faith with his unrepentant adultery. The following comes after he sets himself the impossible aim of pleasing the wife he does not love:

"Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a sin the corrupt or evil man never practices. He always has hope. He never reaches the freezing-point of knowing absolute failure. Only the man of goodwill carries always in his heart this capacity for damnation." p.62

I won't go into great detail on the book, considering nobody has probably read it. All I will say is that Greene does a great job of demonstrating how futile it is for us to try to make everybody else "okay." It's ironic that a person can fully believe in a God who is capable of providing an afterlife, yet doesn't believe that same God is fully capable of looking out for his people. Apparantly he can only be trusted with the miraculous, but the mundane is too difficult... Sounds idiotic and yet, it sounds a lot like us, doesn't it?

Peace,
Matt

The Ultimate Blog Makeover

Today is my day off and since two different people cancelled on me for both breakfast and lunch (welcome to youth ministry), I decided to spend my morning constructing the ultimate blog makeover! So I have changed my template, added lots of pictures, and even fixed, changed, deleted and added some links! I gotta say, this is the most fun I've had on my blog in months and I'm starting to re-remember why I like blogging.

As a sidenote, let me just say this is probably one of my nerdiest blog posts yet.

As a second sidenote, I'd like to put in a plug to say that Colin and I are taking some initiative and restarting our Christian Books that Don't Suck blog. The hope is that this will take off and be a place where people can go who like good books but don't know how to find them.

Peace,
Matt

Hans Kung on the Institutional Church

"The crucial challenge to repudiate the ideology of our church office lies in Jesus' complete disinterest in the erection of an institutional Church and the creation of such offices. Jesus promises the Kingdom of God in his message, not the Church. He is interested in God's will and man's welfare. The Church is a post-Easter community of faith, and as such only something provisory, a help, a center - where it works - for brotherliness and forgiveness that apply to the whole world. The holders of church offices are to be servants in this service in a community that appeals to Jesus."
-From Hans Kung's Theology for the Third Millennium, p. 96.

A Prayer from Catherine of Siena

You, O Eternal Trinity, are a deep sea into which, the more I enter, the more I find, and the more I find, the more I seek.
O abyss,
O eternal Godhead,
O sea profound,
what more could you give me than yourself?
Amen.

Some Randoms

1. The governator, who seems to get far more press time than any other politician, just announced a plan for extending health care coverage for nearly every Californian. Although it is far from perfect, I'm glad to see more people getting on board and realizing there is no humane reason for denying another human being health care.
2. You can now watch The Office online. I don't have cable, so you have no idea how happy this makes me.
3. I wonder what the difference is between this archbishop's collaboration with a communist government and most American pastors' collaboration with the exploitive, militaristic, consumeristic society we live in. I guess ours is more subtle in the way it takes away lives and souls.
4. The New York Times just ran an article pointing out that George W.'s tax cuts are helping the rich more than anybody else. Doesn't everybody already know this?
5. I don't really like football, but I happened to see the end of the Seahawks game the other day. Surprisingly, I got really excited. Go Hawks, I guess.

Peace,

Matt

Currently Reading: Walter Brueggemann's The Prophetic Imagination. You should already know that he is brilliant and everything he touches turns to gold. You gotta love anybody who's willing to question all of the kings and their dynasties in Samuel and Kings...

Losing Tillie Olsen

A few days ago the brilliant poet, author, and activist Tillie Olsen died. I had never heard of Olsen until my junior year of college, when we had to read a few of her works for an English class. Although not even graduating from high school has the potential to make an academic career difficult, Olsen did wonderfully in life. The hardships she faced made her writing real; she did not write about people she did not understand. She was part of the lower class. She worked, fought for workers rights, and specifically for the right to organize and be in a union. NPR did a nice little segment for her that you can listen to here, and you can read her Wikipedia bio here. I'd also recommend finding some of her writings and checking them out if you never have before.

Peace,
Matt

Books: I just read Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. As somebody who understands next to nothing when it comes to science, there were many parts that were difficult for me to understand. At the same time, it was a fascinating text, as his insights into paradigm shifts were very thoughtful and thought-provoking. Right now I'm reading Chronicles Volume 1 by Bob Dylan. I had heard mixed reviews, but honestly think it is an absolutely amazing book for anybody who is interested in Dylan, folk music, or the 60's. What he chooses to focus on, and not even mention, is actually kinda fun, and overall there are some things he says that really makes you feel like he is a true artist, and furthermore that there is a true vocational status to artists, like a calling from God. Lastly, I just read this month's issue of Harp magazine. I had never heard of it before, but my little brother bought me a subscription for Christmas. It was great; I'm finally catching up to the music scene a little bit! Also, there is a great article on Tom Waits, whose new albums are really, really good.

Recent Books

I have no excuses, nor any witty statements to make about it; I just really like books and want to share about the books I read/began while I was away during the holidays.

1. I read John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which was enlightening and annoying at the same time. It was enlightening to listen to somebody who was actually doing this dirty work and saying "Yes, this really is the way things work." It was frustrating because it was always apparent that he wasn't telling the whole story; he was holding back, and I'm guessing it was for self-preservation. The way he explains how an economic hit man works in the book goes like this: The U.S. learned a valuable lesson in contrasting the overthrow of the Shah in Iran with the failure to win in Vietnam. We need to use more subtle techniques in order to get our way in other countries. So the government began working closely with big businesses. So a bunch of ECM's show up in a poor country and tell them that if they take out huge loans, they can advance their country with power grids, dams, oil reserves, etc, and become rich and modernized. So companies like Haliburton then come in and get richer off the deal. Meanwhile, the country can't pay off its debt, but the ruler doesn't care because he has been bribed and is now a billionaire. At this point the country makes some big deals with the U.S. because it can't pay off its loans; we get to oil prospect, elimination of trade tarrifs, etc. If the leader of the country doesn't cooperate, we (the CIA) either stage a coup, execute the leader, or as a last resort, invade the country militarily. So it was a good book, and one that I would recommend to any American wishing to actually know why the world really hates us.
2. On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt. Yes, yes, it is a funny title. But it also a good discussion starter (as I discovered when I carried it around my church building), since we do live in a society where bullshit is widely accepted and fills the air whereever you go.
3. I also read George Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying. This was a painful mirror for me, telling the story of a man who is obsessed with not being controlled by money, yet that is exactly what his problem is the entire time. How could you not love Orwell?
4. Right now I'm a couple of pages short of finishing Barak Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope. Although I still claim to not be loyal to any political party, a friend bought this for me and the title sounded promising; I like the idea of a politician running on hope rather than fear and hate. There are times where I resonate with what he is saying, but overall he still seems like a politician to me. Sad but true.
5. Yesterday I finished James K. A. Smith's Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? It is a fabulous book! First of all, anybody who writes about Foucault makes me happy. But beyond that, he did a great job of showing how Lyotard, Foucault and Derrida are not the little antichrists that many in the church paints them as. Instead, he shows us what these men have to offer the church, without buying into every last word they say. In other words, it was great, great, great, and I highly recommend it, especially to anybody who is part of a "postmodern church," but has no idea what that means (which is anybody who would call their chuch postmodern).
6. I also read VanderKam and Flint's book The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was a great introduction, which is exactly what I needed.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. But I'm back, and will hopefully be back on a more regular blogging schedule for a while.

Peace,

Matt