The Next-Wave

Following Jesus by Charlie Wear

publisher — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:16:57 +0000

If you know me, then you know that I am not much of a follower in any area of my life. I had a conversation with a young man last year in which he was going on and on about ranks, and authority, and submission, all allegedly important understandings of how the Kingdom of God works. He was proud of his credentials as a Bible teacher, but frankly, I had never read such a thing in the important parts of the Book that count.

However, to humor him I said something like, “Okay, I don’t agree that there are ranks in the Kingdom, but if there are ‘I’m a general,’ what rank are you?” You see, if I don’t have a sarcastic sense of humor, I hardly have any sense of humor at all. I guess I once again flunked the “speaking the truth IN LOVE” test, because he was stunned into silence.

So suffice it to say, being an arrogant, self-confident (also frequently self-righteous) know-it-all doesn’t make for much of a follower. Yet, I keep praying this dangerous prayer, “Thy will be done.” This prayer is dangerous because it means I have suspended my need for everything to work out all right, in MY opinion. You see, when it comes to God’s will there is only one opinion that counts, His. Wrestling with angels is not my idea of fun. However, if you are a conniving son of a gun like Jacob, you might not have any alternative but to wrestle and wrestle with all of your strength.

You see, sometimes the wrestling is God’s will! And so I wrestle on. Trying to understand. Trying to ease the pain of loneliness and hurt with the search for an antidote to the human condition. I must bear witness: Jesus Christ, and Him crucified is the antidote. A foolish answer to serious problems. Yet, He is the only answer.

As for me, if he says go, then I am going! If he says wait, I’m going to be very hard to move. If we are in a boat and He says, step out on the water, then out of my way, I’m going over the side! When things are good, I’ll say yes. When things are bad, I’ll say yes. When life has become a string of the same-old, same old, I will say yes. Yes to Jesus, Yes to pain, Yes to suffering and Yes to trials and temptations.

I have a good reason. He saw my condition and took pity on me and provided me a way out of my mess. So I will also say Yes to life, and life more abundant. And to peace, joy, love, kindness and all the rest of those things that are completely absent in me but only dwell within my soul because of the work of the Spirit. And so, I say, once again, “Here I am, Lord Jesus. Take me, spend me, use me, all to your glory and honor.” Amen.

Stages of Grief

publisher — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:55:58 +0000

The stages of grief: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kübler-Ross_model thinking about this morning…

Ian Peterson on Faith…

publisher — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:20:14 +0000

The Reality of U.S. Healthcare – “Freerider” by Charlie Wear

BillDahl — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:10:01 +0000

Photography by Bill Dahl

My friend Charlie Wear recently lost his wife Loretta to a fatal illness. In this link, Charlie provides a detailed account of how this current conundrum impacts his family…It’s like the U.S. needs a psychic or something…

Photo by Bill Dahl

Here’s Charlie’s post:

I’m a Free Rider

by Charles Wear

According to liberal and conservative pundits the people responsible for the need for an “individual mandate” in the government healthcare plan are the “free riders.” These are people who choose to be uninsured but make use of the emergency room. This practice causes all of health care to be more expensive. As I listened to several people explain this I found out that I have manipulated the system to my advantage. Without my manipulation the pure free market system would have worked.

You see I am uninsured. When I applied for insurance about 4 years ago, my wife and I were rejected by the insurer. We were too fat and I had high blood pressure. Our last health insurance coverage was through my wife’s employment, but she had suffered a work injury and our return to California left us with no ready source for employment-based health insurance. In 2008 I started my own business. I don’t have any employees, but have two independent contractors I work with.

By the way, if I had received the policy, the premium would have run about $1200 per month. This was for a policy with a $5,000 deductible. I can assure you that a requirement to pay that $17,000 would have put me out of business. Of course, then I would have been eligible for health care programs for the poor, such as Medi-Cal.

So, for the last four years we have been cash payers. When we could, we used generic drugs. We never used the emergency room. We had primary doctors and used the local medical clinic urgent care for matters that couldn’t wait. I didn’t want to take my wife to the emergency room the other night. I knew that I didn’t have any coverage. But she looked like she was going to die. And she did, twelve hours later. I don’t know how much the bill is going to be. I am hoping that it won’t bankrupt me. The medical worker has been calling to make an appoint to apply for Medi-Cal so they will pay the bill. I have my doubts about whether there will be any coverage. I think I might make too much money

If I had purchased the insurance which I was TURNED DOWN for in 2008, by now I would have paid out over $68,000 in premiums and deductibles. My cash payments have run about $550 per month, which totals approximately $26,000.

It looks as though the supreme court will overturn the health care law. Some pundits proclaim that the free market will take care of the system. I guess to have a true free market system the government would have to stop treating senior citizens through Medicare and Veterans though their health care system. They would have to discontinue Medicaid for the poor and disabled (Medi-Cal), and they would have to STOP providing EMERGENCY care to any who need it.

Then the rest would take care of itself, right? Either way, my wife would have died. That makes me sad, and angry at the stupid mess we have gotten into with uncontrollable medical costs.

Editor’s Note – April 2012 – Keeping The Fire Burning

BillDahl — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:56:17 +0000

As many of you know, Charlie lost his wife Loretta in March 2012.

Charlie and his son Ben are currently out getting some air…this is good.

I am stepping in for Charlie to help out with Next-Wave. I’m just keeping the fires burning for Charlie and Ben here…sorry about posting my most recent stuff all over Next-Wave – BUT – honestly - it’s the only stuff I’ve got.

If you have stuff you would like considered for Next-Wave…you know where to find me.

Please pray for Charlie, Ben and their family and friends.

Photography by Bill Dahl

Bless you,

Bill Dahl

Simply Jesus by N.T. Wright

BillDahl — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:27:04 +0000

I read this book during the time I was reading Bart Ehrman’s “Did Jesus Exist?” I finished it after I finished Ehrman’s work. I’m glad I did.

I was blessed by this book…truly blessed. My friend Ron Cole said this is the most important book he read in 2011. For Ron to say something like that…well…I had to devour it. It’s delicious.

If you are wondering what the oft used phrase “the kingdom of God” means; or if you’re certain you already understand it; or if you’re curious…READ THIS BOOK!!!

Trust me…my friend Ron Cole was spot on.

Did Jesus Exist? by Bart D. Ehrman

BillDahl — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:22:06 +0000

by Bill Dahl

This, I believe, is one of the MOST IMPORTANT books the vast majority of purported Christians will never read. Why?

Because most have a self-confessed understanding of Jesus wrapped up in a tidy little box that they can comfortably carry around – or discard when it becomes inconvenient. Try this: The next time you’re in conversation with someone who claims to “know Jesus” – ask them to provide you with the historical evidence derived by reputable historical scholars – who are NOT Christian! Trust me – They’ll be flabbergasted. You might be too.

As author Jim Palmer has recently written in his new book: Being Jesus in Nashville:

Through religion people have absorbed a bunch of ideas and beliefs about themselves, God, others and life that govern their identity, relationships and way of being in the world. It’s as if we’re trapped inside a story that is rigged to never lead to the freedom, fulfillment and abundance that people want and Jesus promised.

Enter Bart D. Ehrman – Distinguished author, scholar and historian – the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Ehrman is a self-professed agnostic. In this book, he takes on what are commonly referred to as the “Mythicists” – those who claim (in a rather passionate and voluminous set of writings (and rantings) that the existence of Jesus was a myth.

Here’s a YouTube video about the book:

This book is a journey with Ehrman to:

1. Illuminate the historical evidence that unequivocally demonstrates that Jesus, did in fact, exist.

2. A refutation of the major mythicist arguments to the contrary of #1 above.

3. An insightful examination of the question, Who was Jesus?

Sure, Ehrman jumps off the bus at the resurrection and the central Christian belief that Jesus is God (as any self-professed agnostic would). Yet, the treatment that Ehrman provides for #’s 1,2 & 3 above are absolutely mesmerizing. Of course, in terms of the question, “Who was Jesus? Ehrman’s conclusions differ tangibly from the Christian tribe.

I learned a tremendous amount about Jesus, the Gospels, first century Judea and the like — I had never learned in church, Sunday school, Bible studies, lectures, literature or otherwise by reading this book.

Again, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. No matter what you think you might know about Jesus, the history of the Christian faith, The Gospels, the Bible, and who Jesus thought he was…Bart Ehrman provides the historians evidence that will distinctly fill in the holes your understanding was filled with. Finally, his treatment of the mythicist arguments is comprehensive and convincing.

Jesus Did Exist! – from the skilled historians perspective. Read this book – you need to appreciate what Bart D. Ehrman reveals in this profoundly important work. It’s an incredible feat!!!

An Interview with Diana Butler-Bass

BillDahl — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:13:54 +0000

by Bill Dahl

Dancing with Diana ( Butler-Bass )

photography by Bill Dahl

The following is an interview I completed with Diana Butler-Bass regarding her new book: Christianity After Religion – The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening. My review of the book is here and on Amazon. In my view, her new book is both timely and prescient. It is convincing evidence defining Diana as a thought & practice leader in the faith & culture genre (if she wasn’t already).

About Diana Butler-Bass (excerpt below is from her site):

Diana Butler Bass is an author, speaker, and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture. She holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University and is the author of eight books including Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening, NOW AVAILABLE from HarperOne (on Amazon). Her other books include A People’s History of Christianity: the Other Side of the Story (HarperOne, 2009), nominated for a Library of Virginia literary award and the best-selling Christianity for the Rest of Us (2006) which was named as one of the best religion books of the year by Publishers Weekly and was featured in a cover story in USA TODAY.

Currently a Chabraja Fellow with the SeaburyNEXT project at Seabury Western Theological Seminary, Diana regularly consults with religious organizations, leads conferences for religious leaders, and teaches and preaches in a variety of venues. She blogs at The Huffington Post and Patheos and regularly comments on religion, politics, and culture in the media including USA TODAY, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post, CNN, FOX, PBS, and NPR. From 1995-2000, she wrote a weekly column on American religion for the New York Times Syndicate. She is a contributing editor for Sojourners Magazine has written widely in the religious press, including Christian Century, Clergy Journal, and Congregations.

From 2002 to 2006, she was the Project Director of a national Lilly Endowment funded study of mainline Protestant vitality—a project featured in Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from The General Theological Seminary in New York. Diana also serves on the boards of the Beatitudes Society and Public Religion Research.

Diana has taught at Westmont College, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Macalester College, Rhodes College, and the Virginia Theological Seminary. She has taught church history, American religious history, history of Christian thought, religion and politics, and congregational studies.

She and her family live in Alexandria, Virginia. She can be contacted through her website at www.dianabutlerbass.com and can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

Here’s the interview with Diana: I call it, Dancing with Diana. Enjoy!

1. Dr. Ellen J. Langer of Harvard has written the following, which seemed to keep coming to mind as I read your book:

A mindful approach to any activity has three characteristics: the continuous creation of new categories; openness to new information; and an implicit awareness of more than one perspective. Mindlessness, in contrast, is characterized by an entrapment in old categories; by automatic behavior that precludes attending to new signals; and by action that operates from a single perspective. Being mindless, colloquially speaking, is like being on automatic pilot. (1)

Can you comment on the above as it relates to several of the arguments you share in Christianity After Religion – The End of the Church and The Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening?

I’ve not heard that distinction using the vocabulary of “mindfulness,” but I have used similar language about intentionality and being “reflexive.” All of these actions include creativity, reflection, engagement, and multi-perspectivalism as well as a willingness to move into unfamiliar territory. For Christianity to thrive in the 21st century, western Christianity must develop mindful, intentional and reflexive ways of being in community, acting out faith in the world, and living with conviction. A mindful Christian faith is the necessary opposite of received or inherited faith–and the world can no longer afford a sort of Christianity that rests solely of the patterns of the past. (emphasis is the Editor’s)

2. Neuroscientist Dr. Robert A. Burton has said in his book On Being Certain – Believing You Are Right Even When You’re Not: “We do not need and cannot afford the catastrophes born out of a belief in certainty.” He also says, “Certainty is not biologically possible. We must learn (and teach our children) to tolerate the unpleasantness of uncertainty.” (2)

How do these statements match up with what you have illuminated in Christianity After Religion – The End of the Church and The Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening?

In the new book, I talk about the necessity of experiential belief, what I also refer to as integrated belief. Belief that issues from experience and from human wholeness is almost in tension with ideological certainty. For life experience and the capacity to believe with our hearts always make room for the messiness of life and the exceptional cases. It is one thing, for example, to be certain that homosexuality is wrong; and it is a completely different thing to be the parent of a homosexual child. Being a good parent means mitigating certainty in favor of love. Belief is a necessary part of human life, every one believes many things. But belief that springs from experience and relationship is a healing sort of belief, rather than belief as intellectual certainty. We need to belief differently, not stop believing.

3. In Christianity After Religion – The End of the Church and The Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening you write:

“A new Light Form of faith, is led by those who wish to connect with people and ideas that are different, to explore the meaning of story and history, and to include as many as possible in God’s embrace.” – p.232.

What does this actually look like, practically speaking, using examples of such, that you’re aware of.

Although there are many such examples, one of the best is the Tri-Faith Initiative in Omaha, Nebraska. There, Jews, Christians, and Muslims have joined together and are building a synagogue, church, and mosque on a common piece of property, and all three sacred spaces will be joined by a common building for joint worship, education, and shared practices. They are building a sacred geography of connection with each other, exploring the meanings of their own stories and histories in relationship with the stories and histories of their neighbors. It is a big project, involving many thousands of people in Omaha, but it shows that we can think big in this Awakening. This isn’t just about micro-level connections, but together we really can create new macro-level structures that model and lead toward God’ dream of shalom.

4. Eugene Peterson has written:

“With God depersonalized and then repackaged as a principle or formula, people could shop at their convenience for whatever sounded or looked as if it would make their lives more interesting and satisfying on their own terms. Marketing research quickly developed to show us just what people wanted in terms of God and religion. As soon as we knew what it was, we gave it to them.” (3) p. 23

How does this statement match up with what you have written in Christianity After Religion – The End of the Church and The Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening?

There is line between being responsive to cultural change and the longings of human beings at any given moment in history, and turning those longings into a marketing strategy. All religions, indeed all forms of spirituality, relate intimately to new ideas about culture, science, human nature, and justice. None stand outside of the contours of human desire, even if that is desire for God. In that way, faith communities are always and must always adjust to different languages, tastes, song, ways of relating to one another, forms of leadership, practices of prayer. Yet, that must always be held in tension with the old quip of the 19th century Anglican Dean William Inge, “Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself a widower in the next.” To simply recreate faith on the basis of what is fashionable today is a mistake. But to sense, understand, and respond to the work of God’s spirit in and through the world in which we live–well, that is the primary vocation of Christians in every age.

5. George Barna has written regarding the spiritual transformation of Christians in the U.S.:

“the research indicates that only a handful of people make serious progress on the journey to wholeness.” (p.8) “Of all the adults who make a profession of faith in Christ – that is, they become “born again” – there is surprisingly little to show for the effort. On numerous occasions Jesus talked about the fact that you can tell Christians by the spiritual fruit they bear, but the data suggest that just one out of every ten adults who accept Jesus as their Savior make any substantial changes in their spiritual routines.” (4) pp.25-26.

What does this say about the success of religion in the U.S. – as evidenced in what you have written in Christianity After Religion – The End of the Church and The Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening?

I always find it interesting when George Barna and I agree–since we come from such different theological perspectives! Here, I mostly agree with him. Much of American religiosity can be thin, there’s a bad tendency, as there as with many religious traditions, among “born again” Christians to not practice what you preach. However, I’m actually glad that such a small percentage of those who Barna identifies as “born again” practice what they preach. Too much of “born again” religion in the United States is theologically narrow and politically right-wing. Should their spiritual routines involve excluding Jews and Muslims and Buddhists from civic engagement? Making women submit to their husbands? Recreating some sort of Christian America? Barna isn’t clear with his definitions of “born again,” or the sort of “spiritual routines” he thinks Christians should engage. Are those spiritual routines private or public? How do those people read the Bible? So, despite my general agreement with his assessment of shallowness of American religiosity, this statement makes me nervous as to what counts as being Christian. I’m more concerned with the vast numbers of Americans who say they believe in God yet continually support political policies that diminish the lives of their neighbors. That’s more important to me–and more important to America–than worrying about the fact that American evangelicals don’t change their spiritual practices.

6. David Kinnaman has written: “If outsiders stop listening, we cannot just turn up the volume.” (5)

If you agree, what do the new melody, lyrics, dancers and where we dance look like to you – as well as the impact this behavior may have on others and ourselves?

Ah! The Dance! One of the most beautiful mystical symbols for the reign of God! My teenage daughter would be mortified by the idea of her mom at a dance. My wonderful friend, Phyllis Tickle, has spoken of this age being not an age of orthodoxy or orthopraxy, of “right” belief or practice, but of ortho-nomy, that which she called “right” harmony, of the harmony of beauty being the fundamental test of human flourishing and truthfulness. I have meditated on that image for several years now, and I think that it is in harmonizing our voices, our loves, our experiences–and here I mean “our” as in the whole human family, not just Americans or Christians or people in a particular tradition–that we will find a path forward. But harmony does not eliminate voices that are dissonant. Indeed, those who cannot or refuse to harmonize sometimes make a music that the rest need to hear. It isn’t a matter of everyone in the world making harmony with the majority; it is often the case of the majority adjusting its music to the song of the marginalized.

As to the dance, it is most surely a circle dance, a communal one, not just the dance of individual partners. The days of the minuet are gone; these are the days of the dance around the campfire. (Editors Note: I love this characterization – don’t you?)

7. Diana, you’re a superb example of how a quality education can transform a person. The expense of higher education today is, unfortunately, precluding far too many from embracing this privilege. Do you have any thoughts on “new models” of higher education that readers might begin exploring? Also, how must seminary education change to maximize their contribution to “A New Spiritual Awakening?”

I’m still paying for that quality education myself! About two more years to go on what was an expensive but amazing adventure–one that created in me the disposition of a life of learning. I’m working with a number of groups trying to think about new models of higher education. At this point, there’s a lot of creative thinking, but not much has been put in practice. I think that much creativity is inhibited by what is still a hierarchical (and even patriarchal) model of expertise and leadership. When it comes to education, I always think that Parker Palmer‘s writings and his vision of circles of trust are a fantastic vision and resource–he has offered up in several of his books a model of integrated education. Seminary education possesses, in and of itself, the possibility of integration as theology must and should be based in and through an experience of God as understood by the heart. But, sadly, seminary education has too often mimicked secular expertise rather than the heart of wisdom upon which excellence theology is birthed. Right now, secular processes of accreditation and professionalism are holding the church back. What is really needed are theological learning communities, based in a mentor/friend/guild model, where people can engage in a range of practices from theological reflection to prayer to doing justice in the world. Seminary education, however, is a chicken-and-egg sort of thing. Seminaries can’t change until denominational policies do; denominational policies can’t change until seminaries nurture new vision; and nothing can change until grassroots churches demand change. And for churches to demand change, they must change themselves.

Thank you SO MUCH for such a tremendous book Diana!

You’re welcome! I’m so glad for your enthusiasm and support, Bill.
NOTES:

(3) Peterson, Eugene H. Practice Resurrection – a conversation on growing up in Christ, William B. Eerdsman Publishing Company Grand Rapids, MI and Cambridge, U.K. Copyright © 2010 by Eugene H. Peterson. P. 23

(5) UNchristan–What A New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity…And Why It Really Matters, by David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons, Copyright © 2007 by David Kinnaman and Fermi Project. Published by Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, MI. p. 84.

Christianity After Religion – The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening by Diana Butler-Bass

BillDahl — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:54:08 +0000

by Bill Dahl

Butler-Bass, Diana Christianity After Religion – The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening, Harper-One – An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Copyright © 2012 by Diana Butler-Bass.

David Brooks has written:

The human race is not impressive because towering geniuses produce individual masterpieces. The human race is impressive because groups of people create mental scaffolds that guide future thought. (1) (emphasis is mine)

Diana Butler-Bass would be the first to tell you that she did not write Christianity After Religion – The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening, alone in an ivory tower somewhere. Quite the contrary, this book is our story: The story of those who claim the name of Christ in North America. It is a story told by a talented historian, scholar, student, thinker, inquirer, advocate, friend, daughter, author, mother, teacher and wife. It is our story; the story of our past, the present, and the possibilities for our future. It is a story of our humanity, our struggles, our failures, our triumphs and our tragedies. It a the story of a woman who has spent countless years with us, listening intently, observing us, questioning, prodding us to think, probing the history and mystery of the practice of the human pursuit of the divine. It is the story of a people who diversely believe, belong and behave rather passionately (to say the least). It’s the story of how we have come together, agreed and disagreed, formed relationships, neighborhoods, tribes, congregations, communities and a nation. It’s our story. It’s personal. It’s prophetic. It’s real.

At times, this story hurts, makes one angry, confused, perplexed, disgusted and embarrassed. That’s not the story-tellers intention. It’s simply part of our story…an important part of presenting an authentic depiction of where institutional religion came from in this hemisphere, what it has become, a characterization of the current challenges, and a look ahead – down the hallways of hope.

It’s a profoundly challenging story to tell, particularly if the story-teller cares deeply about the individuals and organizations involved, as Diana Butler-Bass clearly does. The task is even more daunting for the story-teller when many of the subjects of this tale are asleep in the comfort of their smug self-righteousness; whose primary desire is to remain undisturbed. Yet, provocation inhabits the purview of the imaginative leader – the story-teller. Diana Butler-Bass does not cower at the prospect nor play patty-cake with the imperative to awaken the slumbering herd to see both the obvious and obscure threats around us, and the nascent opportunities before us. As one author says:

“What if you’re trapped in the wrong space and don’t know it? Blindness is always hard to deal with. After all, how can you discover what you don’t even realize you don’t know? As an imaginative leader, your basic stance should be that there is always something you are blind to that is both a threat and an opportunity.”(2)

Many will be threatened by certain passages in this story. This reaction is predictable, as the history of human civilization confirms the same, particularly when what we thought we knew is being challenged by the outcomes resulting from the thinking we have adopted, and the franchises of faith we have empowered to dispense our truth to the masses. As George Barna has written:

“It’s time to acknowledge that the institutional, programmatic approach to facilitating true faith is as broken as it can get – much more broken than the people being numbered as God’s chosen ones.” (3)

To exacerbate the difficulty of the story-tellers dilemma even further, Diana Butler-Bass is required to provide us with details we would rather not hear: that Christians now comprise a declining percentage of the American populous (p.12), people have aptly demonstrated an increasing willingness regarding their anger toward religion in general, and Christianity in particular (p.17), that the past ten years might be termed The Great Religious Recession (p.20), “unaffiliated” or “none” have become the third largest religious group in the country (p.46), that 44% of residents have departed the faith of their childhood (p.59), that “old church institutions are unsustainable and failing (p.71), that outsiders view Christians as homophobes, judgmental, hypocritical, and out of touch with reality (p.86). etc. etc. etc.

The story-teller must also ask questions; the type of questions that are penetrating, practical and poignant. Questions, frankly, that many would rather avoid than confront; are currently unanswered and buried deep within others; or whose answers were assumed to be a certainty by still others – a certainty shaken by the boldness and characterization of context the story-teller places them within. Examples of these questions are: What Do I Believe (p.111), How Do I Believe? (p.113), Who Do I Believe? (p.114), How Do I Do That (p.142), What Do I Do? (p.145), Why Do I Do That? (p.153).. Having asked disturbing questions, she slays the reader with another possibility: Perhaps Christianity was never intended to be primarily a structured belief system. (p.119).

The story crafted here by Diana Butler-Bass explores the realm of the unspoken what-ifs that inhabit the mind and hearts of Christians everywhere: What if it’s our behavior that matters versus the group to which we belong and the belief systems that reign therein? What if the essence of faith is a divine encounter in daily life? (p. 123). What if we’re wrong about the way we are currently practicing the Christian faith? What if we’ve become captives to our creeds, deceived by our dogma, and prisoners to current practice? Harvey Cox, )former Hollis Professor of Divinity emeritus at Harvard) suggests the following in his book, The Future of Faith; “Christianity is the story of a people of faith who sometimes cobbled together creeds out of beliefs. It is also the history of equally faithful people who questioned, altered and discarded those same creeds.”(3) What if we’re currently enmeshed in a struggle of building walls vs. bridges, of protection vs. the prospects of connection, or the penchant to compete vs. the desire to complete? Consider the merits of the following:

“If there is a single maxim that runs through this book’s arguments, it is that we are often better served by connecting ideas than we are by protecting them. Like the free market itself, the case for restricting the flow of innovation has long been buttressed by appeals to the “natural” order of things. But the truth is, when one looks at innovation in nature and in culture, environments that build walls around good ideas tend to be less innovative in the long run than more open-ended environments. Good ideas may not want to be free, but they do want to connect, fuse, and recombine. They want to reinvent themselves by crossing conceptual borders. They want to complete each other as much as they want to compete.” (emphasis is mine) (4).

If all the above were not befuddling enough, the author confronts us with the incredibly sensitive issue of our own identity. She unties us from the mooring to the the dock – within the safe harbor of certainty when she asks: Who Am I? (p.173), Where Am I? (p.175), Whose Am I? (p.182), Where Am I Going? (p.196), and With Whom? (p.196). Yet, the story-teller is duty bound to encourage. Diana Butler-Bass does not disappoint us. Listen to the following from her heart: “Belonging is the risk to move beyond the world we know, to venture out on pilgrimage, to accept exile. And it is the risk of being with companions on that journey, God, a spouse, friends, children, mentors, teachers, people who came from the same place we did, people who came from entirely different places, saints and sinners of all sorts, those known to us and unknown, our secret longings, questions and fears. Whose am I? O God, I am thine!” (pp.197-198).

The way ahead always seems counter-intuitive to those plastered in place in the present. The story-teller strips the old wallpaper away, revealing the possibilities inherent within a new approach; one in which: “Behavior opens the door for believing. Doing what once seemed difficult or impossible empowers courage to envision a different world and believe we can make a difference. Without practices, faith is but an empty promise.” (p.208).

In conclusion, the story-teller guides us through what she envisions as The Great Awakening; a movement that has no name (p.247). Yet, it is one that is inhabited by “a generative spirit, a creative and innovative openness, a sense of hope-filled realism, of pragmatic idealism, of an interconnectedness of all things, of urgency and wonder, and of experiencing the divine in the here and now.” (p.247). She adds, “Awakening is not a miracle we receive; it is actually something we can do.” (p.251)….I can make a difference. You can make a difference. We can make a difference…God makes a difference…We must prepare, practice, play and participate (p.259). Yet, it’s up to us:

“It’s our awakening. It is up to us to move with the Spirit instead of against it, to participate in making our world more humane, just and loving.” (p.269).

This book, this story, our story is about life; life with God, self, one another, the other and world we are privileged to inhabit. It encompasses past, present and future. Diana Butler-Bass is a savant. She is the teller of a desperately important, timely, meaningful, sensitive, tragic and prescient story. We are so very fortunate to be present to receive this gift, her gift, to us; Christianity After Religion – The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening.

This book should be embraced as an awakening to the prospects for celebration. In honor of the author’s history of florists in the family, a poignant quote is in order; a quote that captures the essence of the beauty of hope that this book represents. This book is one in which we are awakened to see, to nurture, and to celebrate what theologian, thought leader, author and activist Brian McLaren refers to as: “the green tips growing out on many of the fragile branches of the ancient tree of faith and spirituality that has been growing throughout history.”(6)

Yet, one must pause and then ponder the green tips of new growth budding on the ancient tree of faith and spirituality. Diana Butler-Bass has done just that – for us. I urge you to buy this book and do just that. I read in excess of a hundred books a year. Books like Christianity After Religion – The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening come along about once every five years. You’ll be blessed by this book. Trust me. I was. If you feel a torque in your torso while reading this book, don’t fret. It’s just your heart being rearranged in your chest. Expect it. Embrace it. This book was birthed to blossom and bear fruit…

Don’t wait.

Then again, it’s up to you.

Thanks is insufficient for a magnificent story like this.

In any event, thank you Diana!!!

NOTES:

(1) Brooks, David THE SOCIAL ANIMAL – The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement, Random House – an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, a Division of Random House, Inc. New York, NY Copyright © 2011 by David Brooks. p. 149.

(6) McLaren, Brian – A New Kind of Christianity – Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith, HarperOne – An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, San Francisco, CA USA Copyright © 2010 by Brian D. McLaren. pp. 228 & 229

An Interview with Jim Palmer – Being Jesus in Nashville

BillDahl — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:40:51 +0000

Photography by Bill Dahl

There are few…VERY…few…authors today that I enjoy more than Jim Palmer. Honestly, Jim is in my top 5. Based upon the upcoming release of his new book, Being Jesus in Nashville, Jim agreed to the following interview.

1. In 2006, I wrote the following in my book, The Porpoise Diving Life: There are millions of people, a species if you will, who are terribly confused, wounded, angry and fearful about life and God. No matter how deeply these folks feel about their faith in God, their lives don’t seem to match up with all the promises that are being sold in the name of Christ in this world. Deep within every human being is a voice that whispers within each of us (some more frequently and intensely than others)…”What have I done wrong? I never expected this to happen? Life is not turning out as I had hoped or had been led to believe. What did I do to deserve this? Where’s God? Am I some sort of exception?

How does the above have any application to your life and your new book, Being Jesus in Nashville?

We all have these moments of inspired clarity when we see the goodness, beauty, and power of who we are and can be, and the life we desire to live. And then real life starts happening again! But what if those satisfying and empowering visions we see about ourselves and our lives could be real?

Who are the people with the capacity to create, be and express the person and life that resonate with their deepest self and desires? You! If it’s true that we all have this potential within ourselves, why aren’t we being who we know ourselves to be and living the life we see in those epiphanies? It’s because our lives are being held hostage to a conversation inside our head that will never let you or me be that person or have that life.

I devoted a year of my life to being Jesus in Nashville, where I live. What I thought that would mean and what actually happened were two totally different things. That year flipped the religious script in my head, and gave me a new courage to be a fully expressed human being in ways I never imagined possible. I started the year convinced I needed to live the life of Jesus and then discovered that the life I needed to live was my own. Free at last! My story almost never made it to print. Despite two near-death experiences and being branded a heretic by my Christian publisher, the book came to fruition as a result of the encouragement and support of my divine nobody friends.

2. In 2006, I wrote the following in my book, The Porpoise Diving Life: “Those who claimed to have religion down pat consistently annoyed Jesus. His focus and compassion were always primarily directed toward those who were excluded and marginalized by the mainstream religious establishment…the people who live The Porpoise Diving Life.”

How might the statement above resonate with what you have written in Being Jesus in Nashville?

What I learned in my year of being Jesus is that Jesus was special, not because he was more divine then the rest of us, but because he was courageously more human than most. I wish I could convince people that they are born into this world as complete and whole human beings with equal worth to God as Jesus of Nazareth. In the eyes of the religious establishment we might be nobodies but we are divine nobodies, as much a child of God as that nobody Nazarene carpenter. This is the message I would like to get through to fellow survivors of childhood abuse. It’s the message I would have wanted to express to the 10-year-old girl sex slaves I encountered in brothels in Southeast Asia in my work as a human rights activist. As an ordained minister, it’s the message I wanted to deliver to a Christian friend who said, “I am a piece of shit to God, which is why I need Jesus.” It is very difficult to convince people that they are good and beautiful human beings when religion has sufficiently convinced them that they are “sinners” and despicable to God. It’s also difficult to deliver this message when institutional Christianity has convinced us that acknowledging the divine in every human is a betrayal of God.

People have Jesus so wrapped up in layers of religion that he and his truth are virtually unrecognizable. The prostitutes and notoriously irreligious people of Jesus’ day got Jesus better than anyone else, and were the people Jesus preferred to associate with. I think I’m going to go into the streets of Nashville today and beg the tattoo artists, single moms, waitresses, artists, and all the nobodies who wouldn’t be caught dead inside a church and beg them to share with the world who they know and have experienced God and Jesus to be.

3.You have said publicly that Being Jesus in Nashville may be your last book for a Christian audience. As one of your readers, I find this statement from you VERY exciting!!! Do you have any desire to do a fiction series? It seems as if your story-telling abilities are custom made to be a great writer of fiction. Can you respond?

In that statement I put “Christian” in quotes. The tribe of divine nobodies who have shared this journey with me the last several years are ordinary people, mostly from a Christian background, who have been shedding religion and no longer support the view of Jesus promoted by the institutional church – one that often leads to condemning people of other faiths, requiring people to adopt beliefs and practices they often cannot live up to or support in good conscience, and expecting them to promote a message that divides human beings in the name of God.

4. If you have two distinct hopes that people will take away from “Being Jesus in Nashville” what are they?

I’m hoping that each person who reads the book will be empowered to disappear from their lives those ways of thinking and being that have separated them from God, themselves, others and life. Shedding religion peels back more and more layers of self-awareness, which essentially feels like dismantling your entire life and starting over. The process of deconstructing and rebuilding one’s life can be a messy, complex and volatile process, impacting every area of life, including our purpose and path, core values and relationships. I hope people who read my story will see that discovering and recovering their true selves, and being fully expressed human beings is a sacred path that leads to the wholeness we seek deep within… and the way we can most be like Jesus.

5. The life of a writer is challenging – many have said it’s an involuntary burden. The nature of publishing is changing dramatically. Readers must understand that there are new forms of supporting the voices of their favorite writers. How might people do just that for Jim Palmer?

So, I published two successful books with traditional publishing house. I signed a 2-book contract with another publishing house, and then had the contract cancelled because the manuscript I submitted was rejected as being outside the bounds of Orthodox Christianity.

Rather than taking the book to another publisher (several publishers made offers on the book originally), I decided to go the route of self-publishing. I chose self-publishing because I was weary of my voice and writing being filtered and censored. As a recovering co-dependent/people-pleaser, my default was to cave to others expectations to keep the peace and make people happy. Self-publishing is a huge step in my transformation.

So far I’ve learned that I don’t know jack about self-publishing. How hard can this be??? (I said to myself). Well, IT IS! It’s been a steep learning curve and I’m still climbing it. I’m also scared as hell of failing. What if my decision to self-publish bombs?! I HATE “marketing” myself or my books and the publisher mostly did this stuff before. So, it’s uncomfortable. Plus, I worry about letting people down. I don’t like disappointing people.

I’m making mistakes. I thought the self-publishing route meant that I could get everything I wanted instantaneously when I wanted it just the way I wanted it. I think they call that delusional! The freedom isn’t so easy. With no filter or censorship, I am free to fully express myself. Just what I wanted! Right? It’s not so easy. It’s challenging that part of me that wants people to like me, that losses sleep over a negative Amazon review, that worries about offending people, that fears rejection.

One practical benefit of institutional structures is how it provides a financial framework to support the message and ministry of leaders inside organized church. Those of us outside organized religion have a more difficult time addressing this. There are ways that if people outside of institutional church structures worked together, it would make a huge difference for this entire tribe as a whole. I get tons of emails from people who feel disconnected and alone on their journey. If Divine Nobodies or Wide Open Spaces were meaningful to you and your journey, if my presence online through my blog, Facebook and Twitter has added something to your life, if you believe in what this book and message is about, share the book with your friends, social network and tribe. I want to do a “Being Jesus” tour/campaign but don’t have the funds to pull it off without people’s help. Anyone who wants to be part of creating this with me can shoot me an email at: nobody.jimpalmer@gmail.com

I’m not the first “heretic”/author of late to be sent packing by a Christian publishing house. Fellow pastor-author Rob Bell gets the credit for that one. My publisher at the time claimed that my book, similar to the firestorm of heresy charges leveled against Bell, did not “lie within the bounds of biblical, orthodox Christianity.” I’ll let my reading audience be the judge.

Government and religion seem to share the similar dynamic of 1% having inordinate influence over how things work for everyone else. In religion’s case, the 1% are institutional Christian leaders and the 99% are the rest of us, many of whom practice our faith but seem to have very little say on how that faith is expressed in the world. Were Jesus to reappear today, he would be a dangerous threat to the institution of the Church originally established in his name. Organized Christianity has probably done more to distort the spirit and message of its founder’s than any other agency in the world.

I don’t think I’m such a great writer. My first drafts are normally a train wreck, and I do a ton of re-write. I think people probably like my books because they can relate to my kooky humanity. I seem to embolden people to press deeper and permission to be who they are, however messy that might seem to some. I would like to try my hand at fiction. I have a few different ideas along those lines.

6. I have written following in my book, The Porpoise Diving Life:

“Yes, Jesus Christ, The God of More, is at work in the lives of those outside the aquariums post-modern man has come to define and confine Him to. It is in the lives of divine nobodies like us, that the precious evidence of an undeserved, unearned grace, mercy and love, utterly incomprehensible, evidences itself each and everyday…Perhaps, for far too many, it’s the place where purpose-driven peters out.”

Can you respond to this in terms of Being Jesus in Nashville?

If we…let go of the labels and boxes we put people in; gave up the “us and them” mentality of religion; set aside our insistence on being right; refuse to believe that the differences of others are a threat; approached people like we know nothing at all about them; believed that love satisfies the intent of all religion; were open to seeing every person as a son or daughter of God… then perhaps we would find that ever person we come across on the everyday paths of our lives is Jesus, including ourselves. 2000 years ago there was Jesus of Nazareth. Today, I am Jim of Nashville. You are Sonya of San Francisco, Marky of Minnesota, Byron of Brooklyn, Tawanda of Trenton.

7. Jim Henderson has said: “Jesus could side with the religious outsider because faith is not the property of religion; it’s the core of God’s reality. God begins trying to connect with outsiders through us. We need to dump the religion business and get back into a business we can excel at: the business of God’s reality.”(1) Can you react to this in terms of Being Jim in Nashville?

The hallmark of Christianity seems to have become who is excluded, which can include anything from a theological litmus test to what you wear to church on Sunday mornings. Since leaving institutional church and writing about my journey of shedding religion to find God, I have received hundreds of emails from other nobodies who feel judged and marginalized by Christendom.

The last few years off the grid and under the radar of institutional Christendom, I have been unpacking Jesus’ divine nobody message in my own life. I began thinking of myself as Jim of Nashville, and set out to “be Jesus” for the world where I live. Time and time again I saw how the greatest need among people was to simply know of their inherent goodness and worth as human beings and feel the stamp of God’s approval.

So, I became the stamper! Whether it was my next-door neighbor, my car mechanic, Facebook friends, or the homeless in Nashville, I began relating to everyone as if they were Jesus just like me, complete and whole in God’s eyes just as they are and who can be instruments of love and peace in the world.

8. As I read Being Jesus in Nashville, the following from Rabbi Harold Kushner kept entering my head: “But when religion teaches us that God loves the wounded soul, the chastised soul that has learned something of its own fallibility and its own limitations, when religion teaches us that being human is such a complicated challenge that all of us will make mistakes in the process of learning how to do it right, then we can come to see our mistakes not as emblems of our unworthiness but as experiences we can learn from. We will be brave enough to try something new without being afraid of getting it wrong. Our sense of shame will be the result of our humility, of learning our limits, rather than our wanting to hide from scrutiny because we have done badly.”(2) Can you react to this in terms of your personal life experience and Being Jim in Nashville?

I’m not fond of controversy or conflict and I’ve had a whole lot of both around this book. There are some days when it wears on me and I ponder resurrecting my original dream, which was to be a starting guard for the Chicago Bulls. It wouldn’t work now anyway, I had my chance when MJ retired and didn’t take it.

I get discouraged. Some days it feels like I’m just banging my head against a wall. I’m not selling crack or peddling porn; I’m standing for the inherent, equal and divine worth of every human being, and wanting to enroll people in the idea of building a world that works for everyone. But for this, people want me crucified. What keeps me going are those divine nobodies who contact me to share their story and the ways I’ve contributed to their journey.

I’m self-publishing this book because I realized I had to disentangle myself from the Christian publishing machine in order for my voice and message to be heard. Membership in an institutional church is not a prerequisite for being a fully expressed and devoted follower of Christ. A book contract with a major Christian publisher is not necessary to share my story and message with my tribe and beyond.

9. Baseball season is upon us. Who are you rooting for? Any predictions as to the 2012 W.S.?

Milwaukee and Atlanta in the NLCS, and Texas and Tampa Bay in the ALCS. The Braves pull it out in 7 games! Editors/Interviewers Note: That, my friends, is wishful thinking…Palmer’s made the same prediction in each of the last 6 years!!!

10. Finally, give us four words that describe your experience as a father to your daughter.

I Love Jessica with all my heart. There’s not one thing I would change about her. I am so amazed at who she is and is becoming. She is beautiful inside and out. Being her father has been the greatest joy of my life.

Jim, thank you so very much. Please let us all know what we might do to continue to support gifted writers, story-tellers, cultural observers, antagonists like you….

Love, amazing, beautiful, joy — Enjoy Being Jesus in —- wherever you are….!!!

Notes: