Every Sunday, we’ll be posting articles and links that are saying something important about church, culture, and mission. Here’s what resonated with us this week on the web:
Church & Theology
Dr. John Chandler is at Fresh Expressions with a video about the changing culture of our neighborhoods.
Scot McKnight takes a look at Peter Scazzero's new book on emotionally healthy leadership:
In Peter Scazzero’s new book, aptly titled The Emotionally Healthy Leader, is a set of questions that can be asked to see if you are an emotionally healthy leader.
Being an emotionally unhealthy leader is not an all-or-nothing condition; it operates on a continuum that ranges from mild to severe, and may change from one season of life and ministry to the next. Use the list of statements that follow to get an idea of where you’re at right now.
Hugh Halter writes and shares a video about what it means to let the law of love trump the law:
But with this one judgment, we see the church tragically thrust into a war with the world and itself. The world and the church alike are divided on the issue of judgment. Will fire and Brimstone win the day? Or, will a remnant of Jesus followers learn the He walked with both grace and truth? Will we continue to create Grand Canyon-sized relational barriers between “us and them”? Or, will we choose to have easy, comfortable, life-affirming conversations over a white tablecloth, just like I did with Mandy?
News & Views
David Fitch weighs in on the popular "wrong side of history" argument and offers a different way:
Usually by the time someone says something like this, the right side of history has already been determined. And, using this argument, I am being asked to make a decision between being on the right side and wrong side. The discussion is over. The whole discussion on being on the right side of history is a discussion ender. Who the hell wants to be on the wrong side of history? It’s another instance of Godwin’s law, that law that says when you bring up Hitler, all discussion ends.
Sarah Bessey is writing about being either Everywhere or Nowhere in the Internet age – and the need for Somewheres:
The Somewheres are my cure for the Everywhere and the Nowhere. Neither extreme is good for our souls. We can’t say everything to Everyone. It’s foolish and damaging to expose ourselves to every single person with an opinion, to let just anyone’s criticism or direction come to rest heavily on our stories.
And we can’t keep our contradictions, our multitude, all in either, we will be crushed eventually.
Shawn Smucker writes about leaving Facebook and Twitter – for good:
On the other side of the scale, measured up against all of those appealing, valuable, rational reasons for staying on Facebook, are the weightless, powerless, plain-vanilla-kind-of-reasons. These reasons comes to me in a still, small voice, the kind of voice that is not overpowering in the least, the kind of voice I have found easy to ignore in the past. The voice whispers, “Your life is too noisy, your mind is too cluttered. You need to trust that I will make you everything you need to be, that I will give you good gifts. You need to trust that I will not forget about you.”
Favorite Podcasts
Nadia Bolz-Weber on the Newsworthy With Norsworthy podcast.
Carolyn Custis-James on the Seminary Dropout podcast.
On The Missio Blog
Musings On The ‘One Guy’ Leadership Model, by Karina Kreminski.
The Courts Of Public Opinion And The School Of Denial, by Fred Liggin.
Engaging Controversial Ideas Like Jesus, by Matt Tebbe.
Missio Alliance Comment Policy
The Missio Alliance Writing Collectives exist as a ministry of writing to resource theological practitioners for mission. From our Leading Voices to our regular Writing Team and those invited to publish with us as Community Voices, we are creating a space for thoughtful engagement of critical issues and questions facing the North American Church in God’s mission. This sort of thoughtful engagement is something that we seek to engender not only in our publishing, but in conversations that unfold as a result in the comment section of our articles.
Unfortunately, because of the relational distance introduced by online communication, “thoughtful engagement” and “comment sections” seldom go hand in hand. At the same time, censorship of comments by those who disagree with points made by authors, whose anger or limited perspective taints their words, or who simply feel the need to express their own opinion on a topic without any meaningful engagement with the article or comment in question can mask an important window into the true state of Christian discourse. As such, Missio Alliance sets forth the following suggestions for those who wish to engage in conversation around our writing:
1. Seek to understand the author’s intent.
If you disagree with something the an author said, consider framing your response as, “I hear you as saying _________. Am I understanding you correctly? If so, here’s why I disagree. _____________.
2. Seek to make your own voice heard.
We deeply desire and value the voice and perspective of our readers. However you may react to an article we publish or a fellow commenter, we encourage you to set forth that reaction is the most constructive way possible. Use your voice and perspective to move conversation forward rather than shut it down.
3. Share your story.
One of our favorite tenants is that “an enemy is someone whose story we haven’t heard.” Very often disagreements and rants are the result of people talking past rather than to one another. Everyone’s perspective is intimately bound up with their own stories – their contexts and experiences. We encourage you to couch your comments in whatever aspect of your own story might help others understand where you are coming from.
In view of those suggestions for shaping conversation on our site and in an effort to curate a hospitable space of open conversation, Missio Alliance may delete comments and/or ban users who show no regard for constructive engagement, especially those whose comments are easily construed as trolling, threatening, or abusive.