Nathan’s Nonsense

     So far, Voxtropolis has been a great experience for me.  I’m very new to the “missional” mindset and new mode of thinking, so reading the insight of people like Alex McManus, Sam Radford, Dean Sharp, Roy McClung and various others is very helpful and encouraging.  Especially with features like the Café, Voxtropolis facilitates the networking of Christ followers and Kingdom builders.  But I’ve started to notice something weird.  It’s probably not really even there, and my mind is playing tricks on me. 

     When you move into a neighborhood, it seems there’s often a competition between neighbors.  One neighbor gets a new car, then a few months later the jealous neighbor down the street drives home in a shiny, new(er) car.  One house receives a new paint job, then several other houses quickly put up new siding or apply a new coat of paint.  A flowerbed down the street looks like it could be featured in “Better Homes and Gardens,” and suddenly several other neighbors re-landscape, put in a pond, etc.  Maybe it’s not as drastic as I make it sound, but we all know it happens.  Living in a neighborhood, it seems competition is inevitable. 

      But what about the neighborhood in The City of Voices?  As followers of Christ, worshipers in Spirit and Truth with God himself as our reality, do we try to impress our “neighbors” with new ideas, fresh insights, hoping we’re the next blog featured on Into the Mystic?  I know, it all sounds very silly.  Many people posting their ideas and “insights” are simply wanting to encourage others by sharing their stories. 

      I just hope that as the community develops and more people move in, a competition doesn’t evolve of who can be the most missional, the most insightful, the most contemplative. 

For what it’s worth, that’s my thought for the day.

     I saw “End of the Spear” this evening with my wife.  The story centers around the slaying of five American missionaries speared to death by the Waodoni tribe in 1956 Ecuador. The victims’ families travel to Ecuador to meet the tribesmen. The picture centers around Mincayani, who becomes a grandfather figure to the family of one of his victims.

      I’m not going to attempt to be deep or philosophical about the movie’s impact.  But I will say, you need to go see this movie.  The raw depiction of abandon for the barbarian Gospel, the pain and forgiveness, and ultimately the redemption of a people, all are reasons to see this powerful film. 

     If the modern depiction of Christ’s love isn’t enough to get the $10 out of your wallet, maybe the fact that they’re donating 50% of the film’s profits to benefit Indigenous people’s like the Waodoni tribe.  The more money the film makes, the more medecine, food, and hope that will be sent. 

     At our weekly The Journey @… we talked about a very cool idea.  “The Journey @…” is our faith community’s once a week “discussion” in a public place.  We don’t get together to debate the fate of the world or anything like that, but we do share life, stories (funny and serious), and sometimes talk spiritual matters. 

      Jason, our lead pastor, discussed the possibility of having a monthly worship gathering at a barn or other very odd, somewhat secretive place.  For those of you in metropolitan areas, maybe the basement of a nightclub or the roof of a tall building.  Word of mouth would be the only publicity the gathering would receive.  It wouldn’t be the megachurch flash-and-trash method, but the relationally driven, interconnectedness(?) of friends and family.  The physical location as well as the “advertising” method would help lend a subversive feel to the event.  Maybe it starts small with only a handful of people.  Maybe people begin to talk about how the event impacted them and they spread the word to both believers and seekers, desiring others to experience the raw essence of the Gospel, the dangerous, two thousand year old, un-subdued rebellion. 

      Someone at the table said, “It (the secrecy) sounds kind of like a cult.”  Isn’t that the way Jesus and his followers were seen by many?  People debating about whether or not to crush the rebellion (Acts 5:35-39).  As Bibles have become coffee table books and the Cross a piece of jewlery, the American church as a whole has lost the origins of the Gospel.  We have forgotten (if we ever knew!) the historical and cultural danger surrounding the genesis of our message.  Religious freedom has hindered the cause in America, not helped.

      I know many will disagree, and that is certainly welcome.  But what of the idea of the gathering?  What if we could live our lives with the determination and intentionality of the early Church?  What if a movement began that no one could pinpoint, something under the surface causing restlessness and peace, tearing down the foundations yet building back with bedrock, lives devastated yet reborn. 

      What do you think?

Sweet!  My first post in the City of Voices!  I don’t have anything deep to say tonight.  I think the idea of Voxtropolix is very cool.  Here is a community of people sharing ideas, stories, and life.  The café also enables quick access to other people’s blogs for wanderers who happen upon a voxtropolis blog.  That “random” event might arouse someone to missional living, calling them from the mundane to the mystic.  So many possibilities!    

  I’m not a super savvy computer guy, so it may take me a while to find my way around.  Anyway, thanks for stopping by and sharing in my first post!