Skip to main content

Colors of God...part 2

Yesterday I gave an overview of a book I recently read, Colors of God". Written by leaders of a church in Canada called neXus, it forced me to consider my beliefs yet again. I don't think this is a bad thing. Jeremiah, in the midst of all his whining..er...weeping, said, "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD (Lamentations 3:40).

So what the authors, Randall Peters, Dave Phillips & Quentin Steen, did was to write about the core beliefs that drove their actions. This first part was by far the largest section. But laying a foundation is the most important part of any building or project, right?

The part that forced me to pay attention was in their explaining what kind of church they wanted to be. They were at a National Pastors Convention (always a rowdy party) and were listening to an exchange between 'someone from the floor' and Doug Pagitt, an Emerging Church pastor and author and also a presenter at the convention.

Someone: You must have some non-negotiables. I mean, certainly, we must maintain the deity of Christ beyond all other things, right?
Pagitt: Or not.

The Colors of God authors loved this line. I paused.

This was clearly new ground for someone who had been raised, and continues to work in, admit-ably conservative corners of the Church. If nothing else, it made sure I paid attention for the rest of the book, for fear that something would just be slipped in.

As I continued in this book, it became clear that while they were not attempting to start a new fad or religion, they did think that questions were good. I'm not sure I can disagree. If questions lead us to truth, then questions are a very good thing. Why should we fear the process? Is God too small to reveal Himself to a new generation? The language may change a bit and the process may look more like a pre-school art contest than a C.S. Lewis essay.

As I said yesterday, I am not sure I agree with everything they said they believed, but the non-negotiables that we often tend to fret over were held firm. By clearly defining their terms and showing how it impacted how they lived, they perhaps opened up a path to freedom in Christ that many have not experienced.

Know what you believe. Live out that belief. Never be afraid to allow Truth stand up to a new challenge. Lies and deceit will always be told like God told the son of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 5:27, "You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d