Clearpath.Life
  • Home
  • Prayers & Psalms
    • Prayers & Psalms

      All Singing – A Movement Meditation

      November 15, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      Prayer and Meditation

      November 1, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      A Prayer for the Vulnerable

      May 7, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      5 Weekly Prayers to Practice During Lent

      March 14, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      12 HAIKU Meditations For the Delicately Deliberate

      June 7, 2018

  • Stories
    • Stories

      Servant Series: LARA LANPHIER, DANCING MISSIONARY

      May 30, 2019

      Stories

      Servant Series: SUZANNE WALLACE, DIRECTOR OF LOVING PEOPLE

      May 24, 2019

      Stories

      Servant Stories: THE THOMPSON’S FOSTER-TO-ADOPT JOURNEY

      May 7, 2019

      Stories

      Intrusions of Grace: LESSONS FROM AN UBER DRIVER

      February 7, 2019

      Stories

      Artist Spotlight: BRIAN HALL, ARTIST & SONGWRITER

      November 14, 2018

  • Text
    • Text

      The First “Friendsgiving”?

      November 28, 2019

      Text

      Taking it for Granted

      April 11, 2019

      Text

      Jesus, Royal Servant: THE PARADOX OF SERVANTHOOD

      April 4, 2019

      Text

      Film Analysis: THE REVENANT and the Redemption of…

      March 28, 2019

      Text

      Transactional vs. Relational Repentance: ASH WEDNESDAY

      March 6, 2019

  • Art
    • Art

      The First “Friendsgiving”?

      November 28, 2019

      Art

      All Singing – A Movement Meditation

      November 15, 2019

      Art

      Good Friday – Christ’s Passion on Display: A…

      April 19, 2019

      Art

      Thursday of Mysteries – Jesus, the Passover Punching…

      April 18, 2019

      Art

      Film Review: UP, A Discovery of Grief

      November 7, 2019

  • About
    • The Why
    • The Team
    • Clearpath Dallas
  • Store

Clearpath.Life

  • Home
  • Prayers & Psalms
    • Prayers & Psalms

      All Singing – A Movement Meditation

      November 15, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      Prayer and Meditation

      November 1, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      A Prayer for the Vulnerable

      May 7, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      5 Weekly Prayers to Practice During Lent

      March 14, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      12 HAIKU Meditations For the Delicately Deliberate

      June 7, 2018

  • Stories
    • Stories

      Servant Series: LARA LANPHIER, DANCING MISSIONARY

      May 30, 2019

      Stories

      Servant Series: SUZANNE WALLACE, DIRECTOR OF LOVING PEOPLE

      May 24, 2019

      Stories

      Servant Stories: THE THOMPSON’S FOSTER-TO-ADOPT JOURNEY

      May 7, 2019

      Stories

      Intrusions of Grace: LESSONS FROM AN UBER DRIVER

      February 7, 2019

      Stories

      Artist Spotlight: BRIAN HALL, ARTIST & SONGWRITER

      November 14, 2018

  • Text
    • Text

      The First “Friendsgiving”?

      November 28, 2019

      Text

      Taking it for Granted

      April 11, 2019

      Text

      Jesus, Royal Servant: THE PARADOX OF SERVANTHOOD

      April 4, 2019

      Text

      Film Analysis: THE REVENANT and the Redemption of…

      March 28, 2019

      Text

      Transactional vs. Relational Repentance: ASH WEDNESDAY

      March 6, 2019

  • Art
    • Art

      The First “Friendsgiving”?

      November 28, 2019

      Art

      All Singing – A Movement Meditation

      November 15, 2019

      Art

      Good Friday – Christ’s Passion on Display: A…

      April 19, 2019

      Art

      Thursday of Mysteries – Jesus, the Passover Punching…

      April 18, 2019

      Art

      Film Review: UP, A Discovery of Grief

      November 7, 2019

  • About
    • The Why
    • The Team
    • Clearpath Dallas
  • Store
0
Text

Madness in Our Method: AN UNSETTLING TREND IN MODERN CHRISTIANITY

written by Jeremy Pace November 30, 2018
Madness in Our Method: AN UNSETTLING TREND IN MODERN CHRISTIANITY

One striking feature of the story of our faith in scripture is that there is never lacking a redeeming presence. I am not just speaking of the Spirit that hovers over the waters of creation, but the flesh and blood remnants of salvation, at times beleaguered, at times scattered, but always there by the persevering of the Father. So, in that way, I am not worried about “the church.” She will continue to play her part in the reconciliation of all things as long as Christ rules, and until he does so without conflict.

However, as one deeply enmeshed in the church here and now, I have noticed, and been a willful contributor to, an unsettling trend. Some years ago Christians in my part of the world, a region that had for several centuries been built upon the ideals and principles of a Judeo-Christian ideals, began to notice that the foundational vision of a good world remained but the explicit nature of that vision’s connection to the One who “saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” was dissipating. The “West” was then, and now, a “mission field” for the first time in nearly 1,500 years.

Rightly so, the church, albeit in a piecemeal and sputtering fashion, began to adopt a missional approach to our neighbors and to our culture. We would strategize and evangelize as if the story of scripture and the person of Jesus were foreign ideas entering into a rather 1st century-like society marked by pluralistic, or varied, belief systems. How does one approach such a culture? Well, like Paul in the book of Acts and among the Corinthians, finding parallels to build bridges, using language of the locals, becoming to “those under the law…as one under the law…and those outside the law…as one outside the law…that by all means [we] might save some.”

While the intention was and is honorable, we missed something in our re-evangelizing of the West. The fact is, that our culture did not revert to a 1st-century pluralism marked by a myriad of gods and cults and superstitions in clear contrast to the monotheistic vision of the Jewish God; rather we retained our monotheism, but “self” became our singular deity. While a multiplicity of “selves” appears as diverse systems of belief, in practice, there is but one god that exercises sovereignty: me.

And, here is perhaps where we have missed it the most. The kingdom that the modern god reigns over is built on the vision of the kingdom of heaven our faith has espoused for centuries…a good world, a better world in which what divides is healed, what destroys is overcome, and in which humanity flourishes. The prayer we were taught to pray, “Let your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is still the prayer of our day, only it is not voiced vertically but horizontally. Social commentator and pastor, Mark Sayers, points that our society desires the kingdom but without its King[1].

The problem the church is facing, to which, again, I am an offender, is that in our method for contextualizing our faith, making it relevant to the ears and eyes, tastes and appetites of our culture, we have been unwittingly nurturing the supremacy of the god of our age.

Ironically, our message of the kingdom has resonated, but our missional acculturation has seldom required submission of our allegiance to the slain and risen King. “Worship Jesus as you want, in the way that best fits you,” “Participate in this thing called ‘church’ and ‘faith’ in whatever manner works for your convictions,” or “Join in where and when you feel best,” we have said, explicitly or pragmatically; all for the sake of saving some, yet unintentionally losing many.

When we look at the story of God through Jesus, the person and ministry of Jesus, his teachings, his death and his resurrection; do we hear the same invitation that we extend our neighbors? Where do Jesus’ own invitations fit into our practices of faith when He says, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” or “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself [a blasphemous statement today] and take up his cross and follow me.”?

The amazing thing about the gospel stories we have of Jesus is that they, like our scriptures as a whole, tell the story of patient persistence, of a persevering salvation. Three years of daily misunderstandings, fumbled aspirations, unfulfilled commitments, misguided actions, and even departures and betrayals; and yet Jesus remains steadfast in the proclamation of the kingdom he was sent to inaugurate while never dismissing those looking for him. He corrects, rebukes, reshapes, models, confronts and invites them into a vision of the kingdom that is not merely parallel in some way but realized and, eventually, into a vision of him as their long-awaited King.

Perhaps we, now more than at any time in recent history, need a reclamation of the patient persistence of Jesus. Not only a persistent patience in relation to our neighbors and culture, but a persistent patience in the very stories of Jesus himself, allowing our visions to be corrected, rebuked, reshaped, confronted and enlivened to his now and forever reign.

 

[1] Mark Sayer, “What is Postmodern Culture?” from the podcast This Cultural Moment podcast, accessed here.

Photo by Jason Betz

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Email
Jeremy Pacemodern christianityseeker sensitive
0 comment
0
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Jeremy Pace
Jeremy Pace

Husband to Deedra, Dad to Cohen & Lily. Senior Leader of Christ City Church in Dallas.

previous post
A How-To Guide for Celebrating Advent with Your Kids
next post
Julian Adams Talks Advent and the New Year (VIDEO)

You may also like

The First “Friendsgiving”?

November 28, 2019

Taking it for Granted

April 11, 2019

Jesus, Royal Servant: THE PARADOX OF SERVANTHOOD

April 4, 2019

Film Analysis: THE REVENANT and the Redemption of...

March 28, 2019

Transactional vs. Relational Repentance: ASH WEDNESDAY

March 6, 2019

Intrusions of Grace: LESSONS FROM AN UBER DRIVER

February 7, 2019

8 Meditative Prayer Postures to Experience Presence

January 24, 2019

On Waiting…

January 17, 2019

Everyday Monasticism: A CALL TO THE ABIDING LIFE

January 10, 2019

Film Analysis: Hope in SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

March 1, 2019

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Connect

Facebook Twitter Instagram Spotify

Instagram

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Tweets

The First “Friendsgiving”? https://t.co/iSvbUpvwHZ https://t.co/YlrEQt5XHS

28-Nov-2019

Reply Retweet Favorite
All Singing – A Movement Meditation https://t.co/uCkDHXHdoD https://t.co/f2eAbsh7Cj

15-Nov-2019

Reply Retweet Favorite
Film Review: UP, A Discovery of Grief https://t.co/xMz7ezq4nv https://t.co/tNex8xFLIP

07-Nov-2019

Reply Retweet Favorite
Prayer and Meditation https://t.co/UwUOmQ2IgM https://t.co/IMOuuQf1gt

01-Nov-2019

Reply Retweet Favorite
Servant Series: LARA LANPHIER, DANCING MISSIONARY https://t.co/IoLgusS53o https://t.co/zdgWQ6jRgS

30-May-2019

Reply Retweet Favorite

Popular Posts

  • Rethinking Hell: MY JOURNEY THROUGH DOUBT AND FAITH

  • Artist Spotlight: YA’KE DISCUSSES FILM AND FAITH

  • ClearPath.Life in 50 Seconds

  • I Am Repenting: A PASTOR’S INDIFFERENCE TO THE OPPRESSED

Join Our Newsletter

Subscribe for our Newsletter for new articles, stories & media. Join our table of conversation!

Categories

  • Art (42)
  • Featured (9)
  • Popular (4)
  • Prayers & Psalms (9)
  • Stories (11)
  • Text (62)

Stay in the Know!

Subscribe for our Newsletter for new articles, stories & media. Join our table of conversation!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Spotify
Footer Logo

Developed by Runway Advisors

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.