Skip to main content

Colors of God...part 3 (of 3)

If you've fallen asleep to my previous 2 posts, you know that I read and reviewed Colors of God by Randall peters, Dave Phillips and Quentin Steen. It's subtitle is Conversations about Being the Church.

It is that topic which they spend the last 3 sections (out of 4) discussing. I appreciated that because while theology and philosophy can be intriguing, it will not make a difference what you say you believe unless it transfers to your daily life. I can talk machismo all I want about being able to stop an oncoming car, but you won't actually find me in the middle of street during rush hour.

Likewise, what we believe about God has implications in how we live out our faith. For instance, they talk a lot about authenticity being a highly valued commodity at their church, so confession is a daily part of church life. In another section they discuss how they feel the word 'sin' no longer does what we as Christians wish it did. This alone will have extreme fundamentalists racing to their favorite pew and hugging their hymnal while crouched in a fetal position. While I don't agree that 'sin' has lost its power as a word, I do like their style of searching for language that will connect us. As God surely knows, we already have too much disconnect.

This is where their chapters on frequently asked questions come in handy. While I would wish for there to be more questions answered, at least they have thought out what they believe.

So, let's get interactive. Do you consider how your faith affects your daily life? What is one area you see us as a Church missing this connection between what we say we believe and what we actually live out?
Labels:

Comments

Jo said…
I think spirituality really comes into play when we stop thinking about how faith affects our lives and start thinking about how spirituality can become our lives. In the first instance, although we want to incorporate more faith into daily living, we still see it as something "other" and maybe in some instances, optional. But when we think about spirituality in conjunction with our lives, that the two should be one and the same, that things like loving God and loving our neighbors aren't optional things to try to do, but instead, that's the only way to really live.
September 6, 2010 at 9:01 PM
Rick Nier said…
Jo, I agree. I think the 'other' you talk about, some people see as a tedious to-do list. Perhaps if we really experienced true change with Christ we would become more incarnational with our actions.
September 7, 2010 at 9:25 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Studies on the Go...Genesis

To be honest, I had not heard of Studies On The Go before being offered a review copy by my god friends at Youth Worker. But since I’m always looking out for study ideas, I said yes to this opportunity. Studies On The Go by Laurie Polich-Short has 30 studies. This particular edition is on the book of Genesis. Any book of the Bible can be daunting when you’re trying to interest and impact teenagers. But Genesis increases that difficulty due to the many questions that arise on the topic of creation. On top of that, you have the many stories of questionable characters that we often call heroes of the faith. Each study comes with great questions, not mindless Sunday School questions where every answer is Jesus. They also come with an optional activity to take the lesson a step further and create true impact. Add to that a weekly plan for students to go deeper and you have a winner of a study in one little book. If all the book studies are as well done as this one, I’d ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Capable Of?

I fancy myself to be just like Batman...without the money, the cave, the vendetta, the car and the cool belt. Other than that, we're pretty much the same guy. Does it help my case that I have a boy wonder? It's my son, but I'd take him over a dude in green tights any day. I've also imagined myself to be similar to Superman...you know, but without the super strength, speed, or that thing he can do with his eyes. Oh, and I'm also not from another planet. But he was a reporter and I like to write, though that hasn't been proven much by my blog. At least, not compared to what I used to write. The first time I write this post, it sounded like an apology. But that's not really the message I want to convey. Yes, I wish I were posting more. I also wish I had super strength or a cool utility belt, but those things aren't happening right now either. Maybe some day . The truth is I have been keeping busy. I'm not sitting back, sipping lemonade. I've never c...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...
5 comments
Read more