Prophets and Losses

Who are the prophets among us?

My entire life I have been intrigued by the prophetic role. As a high schooler I remember listening to a homily during mass, reflecting on these words of Jeremiah:

But if I say, "I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,"
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot. [Jer 20:9]

It was like my ticket was drawn from a raffle - these words called me out of a crowd. The words knew this truth that I had yet to understand: God's word was in my heart like a fire, and I was growing weary, tired of holding it in. What was I supposed to do with that?

We'll return to that thought.

There are several different offices, or roles, in the Kingdom of God, including the following:

A pastor takes care of God's people.
Poets artistically translate revelation.
Philosophers think through the challenging truths of God.
Priests go on behalf of the people to God.
And prophets go on behalf of God to the people.*
These roles often intertwine. (See Moses, David, Bonhoeffer.)

I've found myself identifying mostly with the pastor, poet and prophet. But if I had a heart-paradigm, or a way I find myself to be wired more than the others, it's that of prophet.

Here's the catch: As far as I know, there isn't a school for prophets. No "prophetic seminary." Seminaries are geared toward bringing up pastors. So, what do the prophets do?

Oh, you're wondering what a prophet does? There are two main roles:

1) They call people and situations out on behalf of God.
2) They re-imagine the future, from what it is to the what could be.**

On the surface, that sounds pretty sweet. But the life of the prophets is always ridiculously hard, and sometimes just weird. Moses had it pretty bad, considering everyone pretty much hated him and he didn't get to enter the promised land. Hosea had to marry a prostitute, and Jeremiah wasn't allowed to marry at all. Ezekiel had to lay on his side in the town square every day for over a year. Jonah went in the exact opposite direction God called him to go, and ended up there anyway. Nathan had to call out King David, and that's scary stuff. We can go on and on, the point is that the prophetic life is a special calling, and a difficult one at that.

On my two-mile run today (still going strong!), I thought about Jesus' words, that whoever follows him will have to hate his mother, father, sister, brothers, and everyone else. I never understood that. But when I put the life of the prophet together with Jesus's words, it makes sense. No one supports prophets. They're extremists, they "hear from God," they're overly-spiritual, dreamers, out-of-the-box, and in the moment, their claims can't be verified. A mother says proudly, "My son's studying to be a pastor!" How would she feel saying, "My son's calling is to be a prophet"?

Those who challenge the current power arrangements, positions of status and privilege, and the status quo of the community will go without honor in their hometown. (Mt. 13:57) And it may be so extreme that they have to make a choice: Do I follow my parents' wishes for my life and keep the relationship, or do I do what I am called to do, even if it means walking away? These certainly aren't easy questions. But they need to be considered.

As if it weren't obvious, I am navigating what it means to be a prophet. (Though I will mention that I have a wonderful relationship with my parents!) I haven't yet found a prophetic mentor, but I will be praying for one. As much as school is raising me up to be a "pastor," the definition most people have in mind is far too narrow. In some ways, I will be a pastor.

But I must be a prophet.

What resonates with you? Any and all thoughts are both welcomed and sought after.

*Priests, prophets, poets and philosophers was an amazing series done by Status in 2007. I tried to find it, but it appears to be off the site. Sad day. :\
** One of the new classics in this are a is The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggeman.

Renewing Your Mind

What's with all the chapter/verse stuff?

One of the best parts of my seminary education is learning to look beyond chapter/verse markings in Scripture to try and make connections.

The crazy thing is that connecting the dots this morning is better attributed to the work of Andrew Peterson than my efforts at school.

I've been working at Romans 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." I love how these two work together. If you want to break from the patterns, from the formation that culture gives us, you have to actively seek counter-formation by renewing your mind.

This could be done through reading Scriptures, discussing what God's doing in your life, singing songs that seep into the earth of your soul, doing things that reflect Jesus' mission of justice in the world, and more - "offering your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." (12:1)

This morning, as I was looking over those two verses, I looked back at 11:33-36, which is a doxology, or statement of praise:

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Then I started singing an Andrew Peterson song from Appendix A that sings that doxology almost exactly. As I was singing (quietly... still not much of a voice) I kept reading over 12:1-2, and noticed the end of 2, "Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

And it hit me: These two sections go together. We see them in different chapters, but they're totally one piece. First, Paul tells the church in Rome how wise God is, how we have no idea what's going on in his mind, and we can't tell him what to do. "Therefore" (that should have been a clue), renew your mind by worshiping God, and you'll be able to test and approve God's will!

It all goes together.

It's encouraging right now. I'm trying to figure some stuff out, and the more I think about it, the more I find I have no clue what the future holds. Then I'm reminded to renew my mind, not by adding new information, or by thinking harder, or by talking to people over and over about it, but by offering myself as a living sacrifice.

That doesn't make any sense at all.

But, for those who have been following Jesus for a while, we know it makes perfect sense.

"God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise..." 1 Cor 1:27

Having a tough time figuring out life? Tired of talking it out?

Maybe it's time to worship.

Classy

I've begun the new quarter!

- He writes, with an exclamation point. -

Yes, that was intentional. And no, it wasn't sarcastic, though many would likely expect that after last quarter. Why? I'll tell you.

A few weeks ago, I was ready, so ready to be done. I wanted to be finished with school and never do it again. Just get me out of here. But now, I'm rather enjoying it. I think it's because I enjoy the classes I'm taking.

Monday - Missiology in Church and Culture (An anthropological view of missions and ministry.
I've never had an anthropology course, and this seems like it'll be interesting. My critique so far is that the first two weeks were a lot of repetition. I'm hoping we move on to more material soon. I've really enjoyed considering the implications of "form and meaning" in Christian worship, and how that can be a constraint or freeing agent in the local church.

Tuesday - Pastoral Counseling
This should be okay, I think. Again, there's some repetition, which is a little annoying, but makes the reading that much easier. I've gleaned a couple tiny bits of wisdom so far, and drawn some pretty fun comics, "Adventures of Pastor Jim!" modeled after a friend in class and his terrible skillz.

Thursday - Developing Emergent Leaders
This has been the most enjoyable so far, and challenging. It's asking what an emergent leader is, what shared leadership looks like vs. traditional hierarchy, and whether business model leadership is applicable to church leadership because they both aim for a very different end. The conversations in an out of class really add to the discussion.

So, there you have it. It's not groundbreaking, but it's life.

Anybody learn anything lately?

Sermonatin'

48 hours and it'll be over.

Or I'll be right in the midst of it, I'm not sure. I should be over by then.

Of course I'm talking about my sermon. My first preaching experience in a public forum, happening this Sunday. Crazy! I'm not entirely ready, but I'm usually not entirely ready for most things.

Yesterday, while hanging with some friends of a friend's sister, I was brought to one of those good places. We shared conversation over some drinks, this aspiring pastor and those who rarely if ever would darken a church door. And we talked about whatever. And I had to think.

What makes the gospel "good news" to them? What's so important about this story? Is it really relevant? Or is it just a devotional, spiritual, feel-good story?

Those are the sobering questions that take me out of church-mode and more into Jesus-mode. He really had a way about him that had traction. Like, his life was life-relevant.

Anyhow, small bits of thought. Lately I've been confused at if I posted each day or not. I've been a little paranoid about it. It'd be easier if I did this at the same time each day, but that'll never happen.

Salud.

The Question Game

If ever you are extremely bored with at least one more person, try playing the question game.

The Question Game is played like this: One person asks a question, to which another person responds... with a question. And the response they get? Another question. And so it goes until one person says something that's not a question.

I feel like trying to learn the Christian faith in seminary is a lot like the question game. Every time I ask a question about something I'm hit with another question. Sometimes it's related, but often it's just another question. Then I'm playing the question game with 6 different people and it's a lot like spinning plates in the air - I'm anxious because I know they're up there, but I'm having trouble keeping them all going. And worst of all, when I get one down someone starts another one for me.

I found comfort in an unlikely place today: a theology book. Here's an excerpt from Migliore's Faith Seeking Understanding (italics mine):

Christian faith is at the bottom trust in and obedience to the free and gracious God made known in Jesus Christ. Christian theology is this same faith in the mode of asking questions and struggling to find at least provisional answers to these questions. Authentic faith is no sedative for world-weary souls, no satchel full of ready answers to the deepest questions of life. Instead, faith in God revealed in Jesus Christ sets an inquiry in motion, fights the inclination to accept things as they are, and continually calls in question unexamined assumptions about God, our world, and ourselves.

Consequently, Christian faith has nothing in common with indifference to the search for truth, or fear of it, or the arrogant claim to possess it fully. True faith must be distinguished from fideism. Fideism says there comes a point where we must stop asking questions and must simply believe; faith keeps on seeking and asking.

There's a lot to unpack in all that. I love that it says "faith keeps on seeking and asking," because that's all I've been doing for 4 months. I've run into question after question, and usually I encounter not an answer, but a response. There really aren't too many answers. I love the same theologian's comment, "Christ is indeed the answer, but what was the question? And who is Christ?" This reflects the necessary seeking and asking that needs to be done in theology.

I'm also a huge fan of provisional answers. These are answers that will do for the time being, but with more learning will probably need to be rethought. That's a comfort in itself because in the past 5 years I've had to reprocess many systems in my theological framework.

All that to say, I'm glad it's okay to have as many questions as I do. And I'm glad I'm not going through it all alone. (Though sometimes it feels like it.)

Diological Learning

I may be making up a new word. Or not. Either way, I'm too disinterested to look it up.

I had this realization last semester while trying to get into my seminary learning:

I'm not a huge fan of reading.

Well, that's not entirely true. I love the idea of reading. I even enjoy getting the information. But really, if I could get it another way, I would. And I think my favorite way would be through discussion. And this is where we come to today's word(s): dialogical learning.

I am drained by sitting down reading books for hours. I found that out the hard way during the first month of last quarter. However, I am energized to learn when I can discuss what I've been learning and when others tell me what they're learning. This dialogue isn't the way western learning normally happens, but I think it is a great way for some of us who really aren't into just reading.

Therefore, I'm looking forward to dialoguing (sp?) about different topics, ideas and subjects in the quarters to come in order that we might all benefit from each other in a diaological learning experience.

Any education folks out there able to give some sort of creedance to any of this?

DL

Seminarian... On Seminary

There are 3 types of seminarians:

1. Those who go for an M.Div so that they can pastor a church.
2. Those who simply want to further their theological education.
3. Those who want to go on to get Ph.D's so that they can teach. Or at least have the right to remind others that their name is Dr. So-and-so.

I still can't understand why after a doctorate degree, one gets to be called "doctor". I mean, that's fine and all, but shouldn't those of us with master's degrees get to be called "master"?

I digress.

I am of the third type from the list above. I would like to teach. (I would also like to have people call me "master", but that's another blog for another day.)

So, here's my question: what is the best educational path for those of us who wish to pursue a doctoral degree? What is the best seminary? And how important is my choice of grad school?

I am currently doing some research. I want to see what's out there, what school would best meet my needs, and what I can do to get myself into the best position for the future. It's a lot of confusing work, because I'm not sure what path to take.

So, there it is. Just because one has made it to seminary doesn't mean all the hard decisions are over.

Any suggestions?

DL