Envision...Part III of ???
Last week I had the opportunity to help out with Envision '08, a gathering diverse Christ followers (racially, geographically, educationally, theologically) for 3 days of dreaming about how to live out the call God has placed on our lives to be his justice-bearers in the world. Here's the document that was settled upon on our final day...
Envision the Future: A Declaration on the Common Good
I still have more thoughts from the time to process, but I'm the midst of a service trip in North Carolina, so it'll have to wait. I might have some time tomorrow...
Showing posts with label biblical justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biblical justice. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Envision 08
so for 4 days i'm at Princeton University hanging out with 400 some odd folks from an incredibly diverse Christian background that care deeply about social justice and our engagement in the public square. i'm getting to sit in on incredible teaching and conversations like john perkins, ron sider, brian mclaren, shane claiborne, brenda salter-mcneil, jim wallis, vincent bacote, richard cizik, randall balmer and many, many others. (i'm fairly sure you could make an incredible panel of folks who are just here and aren't even speaking).
part of the whole idea of Envision is to bring people together from the whole scope of faith (fundamental conservative evangelicals all the way to universalist unitarians...i've already met both). there's such a diversity of politics, gender, race, denomination, and approaches to envisioning what rich justice looks like in our world.
so...i have some really good friends here (and making new ones) that i'm getting to process all of this with, BUT i really wanted to get all of your thoughts as well. so i hope that you'll check in whenever you can over the next few days and participate and respond. i'm going to try and post ideas & quotes that i hear & leave it open for discussion...
that being said...here's some of my favorite quotes so far...feel free to respond to any or all...
the church should be about the earthing of heaven... (you can google that & find all sorts of interesting articles) - Richard Cizik quoting others
when we partner for God's purposes, we win no matter who we partner with...whether muslim, or homosexual, or a different vein of Christianity, or differing morality, etc. - Richard Cizik
"Jesus didn't go around pimpin' it out that he was the son of God..." - Shane Claiborne
"just as important as "making poverty history" is making poverty personal" - Shane Claiborne
"we (Christians) don't have to agree on everything but we should be known for disagreeing well and respectfully" - Shane Claiborne
teaching Intelligent Design according to a scientific understanding actually diminishes the faith... "I prefer to live in an enchanted universe where mystery reigns rather than denigrate God to the realm of science" - Randall Balmer
"I would suggest that those who care so much about the concept of Intelligent Design should care more about the creation of that Intelligent Designer." - Randall Balmer
part of the whole idea of Envision is to bring people together from the whole scope of faith (fundamental conservative evangelicals all the way to universalist unitarians...i've already met both). there's such a diversity of politics, gender, race, denomination, and approaches to envisioning what rich justice looks like in our world.
so...i have some really good friends here (and making new ones) that i'm getting to process all of this with, BUT i really wanted to get all of your thoughts as well. so i hope that you'll check in whenever you can over the next few days and participate and respond. i'm going to try and post ideas & quotes that i hear & leave it open for discussion...
that being said...here's some of my favorite quotes so far...feel free to respond to any or all...
the church should be about the earthing of heaven... (you can google that & find all sorts of interesting articles) - Richard Cizik quoting others
when we partner for God's purposes, we win no matter who we partner with...whether muslim, or homosexual, or a different vein of Christianity, or differing morality, etc. - Richard Cizik
"Jesus didn't go around pimpin' it out that he was the son of God..." - Shane Claiborne
"just as important as "making poverty history" is making poverty personal" - Shane Claiborne
"we (Christians) don't have to agree on everything but we should be known for disagreeing well and respectfully" - Shane Claiborne
teaching Intelligent Design according to a scientific understanding actually diminishes the faith... "I prefer to live in an enchanted universe where mystery reigns rather than denigrate God to the realm of science" - Randall Balmer
"I would suggest that those who care so much about the concept of Intelligent Design should care more about the creation of that Intelligent Designer." - Randall Balmer
Saturday, December 15, 2007
justice in real life
sorry about the delay in posts. i've been away with the guys from my house without my laptop the last several days.
i live in a house with 7 other guys. they're all undergrads at Malone College and i bought this house and invited them to move in with me for a year to think about what it means to live intentionally together. there's three main thrusts to the house in my mind: community, leadership, and justice.
one of the things that i've found as i've pursued this is that intentional living requires an awful lot of intentionality. this might seem somewhat obvious, but when you move in with a bunch of guys and you all agreed to intentional community as the precept behind why you joined forces, it's a bit of a surprise to find that it doesn't happen naturally. you have to work for it.
one of the things that we didn't really talk about beforehand with everyone was that justice was going to be a theme. however, justice has been a theme of my life in the past year and, as one giving leadership to the house, it sort of goes with the territory. my apologies to anyone who didn't want to learn about justice.
so we've spent time in Bible studies talking about AIDS and poverty and the environment. not your average Bible study topics, maybe.
they all finished they're exams on thursday and so we got away for a few days to a house up on Lake Erie and holed up and played video games and ate junk food and generally were lazy. it was great. but on Friday night i pulled us all together to talk for awhile...to take a gander at where we were, where we'd come, and where we wanted to go.
i won't go into all the details, because this isn't the time or place, but it was an intensely good conversation. challenging, thoughtful, provocative, encouraging. all of these things. we spent a lot of time talking about ways that we had failed each other and the house. and thinking about how we could lift each other up more effectively.
and in some ways, this was the most effective "justice" conversation we've had all semester. because justice in theory isn't really justice at all. to sit around and talk about justice is fine, but it's not full. it's interesting that micah 6:8, the ultimate justice verse in the Bible, says "act justly," right? and so in this conversation we had, we enacted justice toward each other. we righted wrongs and we established (or began to establish) paths that will lead us in walking in righteousness with each other. only time will tell the fullness of this just living we began a conversation about. but it at least is a trailhead to the path.
what are the ways that you pursue justice in your life in untraditional paths?
i live in a house with 7 other guys. they're all undergrads at Malone College and i bought this house and invited them to move in with me for a year to think about what it means to live intentionally together. there's three main thrusts to the house in my mind: community, leadership, and justice.
one of the things that i've found as i've pursued this is that intentional living requires an awful lot of intentionality. this might seem somewhat obvious, but when you move in with a bunch of guys and you all agreed to intentional community as the precept behind why you joined forces, it's a bit of a surprise to find that it doesn't happen naturally. you have to work for it.
one of the things that we didn't really talk about beforehand with everyone was that justice was going to be a theme. however, justice has been a theme of my life in the past year and, as one giving leadership to the house, it sort of goes with the territory. my apologies to anyone who didn't want to learn about justice.
so we've spent time in Bible studies talking about AIDS and poverty and the environment. not your average Bible study topics, maybe.
they all finished they're exams on thursday and so we got away for a few days to a house up on Lake Erie and holed up and played video games and ate junk food and generally were lazy. it was great. but on Friday night i pulled us all together to talk for awhile...to take a gander at where we were, where we'd come, and where we wanted to go.
i won't go into all the details, because this isn't the time or place, but it was an intensely good conversation. challenging, thoughtful, provocative, encouraging. all of these things. we spent a lot of time talking about ways that we had failed each other and the house. and thinking about how we could lift each other up more effectively.
and in some ways, this was the most effective "justice" conversation we've had all semester. because justice in theory isn't really justice at all. to sit around and talk about justice is fine, but it's not full. it's interesting that micah 6:8, the ultimate justice verse in the Bible, says "act justly," right? and so in this conversation we had, we enacted justice toward each other. we righted wrongs and we established (or began to establish) paths that will lead us in walking in righteousness with each other. only time will tell the fullness of this just living we began a conversation about. but it at least is a trailhead to the path.
what are the ways that you pursue justice in your life in untraditional paths?
Sunday, November 18, 2007
just living
thanks to a little shout out from marko, i've had a few extra visitors for the last couple days. for those of you who are new, i thought i'd give you a bit of an idea about what this blog is all about.
primarily, this blog is about justice issues. you'll find all sorts of resources that i've come across in the last few years, organized by topic, listed on your right. for a little bit of an explanation, check out my first post from this summer, where i talk about my inspiration for starting this blog.
starting November 1, i began a month-long blog fest in preparation for World AIDS Day, which is every December 1st. i haven't posted every day, as was my goal, but i have posted a lot more than i did last year, when i attempted a similar feat on my xanga.
but this weekend, i've been thinking about justice from a bit of a different angle. normally i use this space to focus on "social justice" issues...poverty, slavery, AIDS, homelessness, etc. but as i've been sitting in the general sessions at the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, i feel as if God is challenging me to consider if i live justly in the rest of my life. Shane challenged me to consider if i find the passion for justice rooted in the Scriptures. Phyllis challenged me to not be so quick to stare down my nose at those who don't share my passions. Louie prodded me to consider if it's just, if it's acceptable to really be angry at God. and this morning Doug reminded me that envy is ennacting an injustice on others in its own way, by tearing them down instead of celebrating them.
i hope that God will continue to ignite my passions for justice...socially, personally, theologically, holistically. he sets such a profound example. i have hope of enacting justice in life only because of the unbelievable combo of mercy and justice he has indwelled this world with.
primarily, this blog is about justice issues. you'll find all sorts of resources that i've come across in the last few years, organized by topic, listed on your right. for a little bit of an explanation, check out my first post from this summer, where i talk about my inspiration for starting this blog.
starting November 1, i began a month-long blog fest in preparation for World AIDS Day, which is every December 1st. i haven't posted every day, as was my goal, but i have posted a lot more than i did last year, when i attempted a similar feat on my xanga.
but this weekend, i've been thinking about justice from a bit of a different angle. normally i use this space to focus on "social justice" issues...poverty, slavery, AIDS, homelessness, etc. but as i've been sitting in the general sessions at the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, i feel as if God is challenging me to consider if i live justly in the rest of my life. Shane challenged me to consider if i find the passion for justice rooted in the Scriptures. Phyllis challenged me to not be so quick to stare down my nose at those who don't share my passions. Louie prodded me to consider if it's just, if it's acceptable to really be angry at God. and this morning Doug reminded me that envy is ennacting an injustice on others in its own way, by tearing them down instead of celebrating them.
i hope that God will continue to ignite my passions for justice...socially, personally, theologically, holistically. he sets such a profound example. i have hope of enacting justice in life only because of the unbelievable combo of mercy and justice he has indwelled this world with.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
