A few thoughts on Presbymergent
Saturday, March 29th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under
I gave up blogging for Lent. Easter was my first post in sometime. I have been chewing on what Presbymergent means to me and to the denomination. I wrote a post over at my blog about it.
I do hope that this gathering grows and blesses the denomination with new energy and opens the understanding of ministry to many. We have the ability to go to the margins offering a gospel message that sheds the BS of checklists and shame.
I ask y’all this…
How can we be loyal radicals in the context we find ourselves today?
What does this look like in the future?
Can radical loyalty exist with the demand of orthodoxy?
Comment by John Vest on 29 March 2008:
I appreciate your post, Ryan, because even though I am a relatively latecomer to the Presbyterian Church I still feel called to remain in this fold. At the same time, I’m totally energized by the emergent movement. In many ways, I don’t see these two as mutually exclusive at all. On the other hand, I work in one of the most un-emergent churches there is and I too wonder how this is going to work for me and the ministry God has called me to in this place. I trust, though, that the convergence of the two is no coincidence.
As for radicals, there is plenty of room for radicals in the Presbyterian Church.
As for the future, God only knows.
As for orthodoxy, the “demand” for orthodoxy in the Presbyterian Church is a whole other conversation…
Comment by Drew on 30 March 2008:
How can we be loyal radicals in the context we find ourselves today?
Tradition includes conflict and not all conflict is bad when one relates to it in the frame of positive reconstruction. I am not interested in “being” something like a radical or even “being” a loyalist to anything. I am interested in pressing the assumptions of our traditional moorings to find the kernel of the Gospel that often gets buried under our own aspirations to “be” something.
What does this look like in the future?
No one knows and that’s why we resist change. If it mitigates the effects of a radical love of neighbor and God as Jesus would have it, it is not something worth doing.
Can radical loyalty exist with the demand of orthodoxy?
I have eschewed the demands of orthodoxy and orthopraxis a long time ago. They need to be consistently reformed which is a part of the BOO that we have done a horrible job of actually doing. Orthodoxy needs to achieve a precarious balance between the Gospel and the ongoing flux of our social conditions. They need to be in constant tension and there should be a certain acceptance of discomfort there. Fundamentalists do away with that discomfort with propositional dogmatics that are immutable. Leftists tend to mitigate and doctrinal commitments in favor of the whim of aesthetic satiation. Those who seek the truth seek the tension that comes with relating the Gospel the world as it presents itself and refuse to be satisfied in a stasis of social demands that mask themselves as “the gospel”.
Comment by Jason Ballard on 31 March 2008:
How can we be loyal radicals in the context we find ourselves today?
If by context you mean post-modern, capitalistic, individualistic, econo-imperialism, and increasingly post-Christian, then over and against post-modern epistimologies, we must insist on the existence of truth and “Truth.” Over and against capitalism, we must insist that our King, our neighbors, and creation must take presidence over the bottom line and the market. Over and against individualism, we must reaffirm the value and worth of community and the wisdom of those who have come before. Over and against imperialism, we must insist that Jesus is the world’s true Lord who will ultimately hold all in power to account. Over and against the post-Christian society we must humbly but boldly maintain the Christian metanarrative of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration (so beautiful is historical presbyterian theolgy) and Jesus as the world’s true savior.
Can radical loyalty exist with the demand of orthodoxy?
I think it is possible, indeed necessary, as we move into the future to be both radically loyal to our Lord and Savior and to be “orthodox.” I think, also, the banner of “semper reformada” could bring some much needed humility and chastisement in many reformed circles.
Comment by David Williams on 31 March 2008:
How can we be loyal radicals in the context we find ourselves today?
To be a radical, you need to be one who focuses on what is truly foundational. The word radical, after all, derives from the Latin root “radix,” meaning, um, “root.” Radicals are those who focus on what is truly essential in a tradition…and as such, we’re kinda inherently loyal to the things that count. In our contemporary context,that means being critical of both culture and the elements of our own tradition that subvert the heart of the Gospel message.
What does this look like in the future?
It looks like many things. How far into the future are we talkin’ here? Is this before or after the failed global robotocracy of 2312?
Can radical loyalty exist with the demand of orthodoxy?
I’m of the perspective that radical loyalty is inherently orthodox. But then again, I understand orthodoxy a bit differently:
http://weblog.xanga.com/Beloved_Spear/648064232/reclaiming-biblical-orthodoxy.html
I’d also suggest that as a people grounded in a future hope in Christ’s coming Kingdom…we are that, aren’t we…what is foundational and most essential in our faith is not just behind us. It is also ahead of us. Being radically loyal to Christ’s Kingdom proclamation requires that we articulate and live out of reformation as an ongoing process. Further up and further in, as they say.
Comment by Drew Ludwig on 31 March 2008:
I guess I am coming at this from a different angle. I am not a loyal radical. I did not grow up as part of the PC(USA) right now, and I expect to outlive it and finish my ministry outside of it.
My loyalty is to Christ and the mission of God that he embodies. For as messed up as this is, right now, I find this denomination to be the most amenable to me and other Christians living this mission. Not that I am a big fan. It’s a pretty lousy denomination, except for everything else out there.
Anyway, this is my long way of saying that being a loyal radical isn’t really a worthwhile goal to me. I just want to follow Jesus with the other people that he has called. In this world, that makes me a radical, but I don’t really think that it makes me particularly loyal to any institution.
What will presbymergent look like in the future?
Honestly, I anticipate it will go away. Not because it is bad. I think it is good. Someday, however, we won’t have to identify ourselves as “emergent” or “Presbyterian.” I see us as a reform movement, and as a reform movement, I don’t think we should seek to be permanent. This is a movement for a time and a place.
Finally, I don’t see orthodoxy as a “demand,” but a goal. I like orthodoxy. I think a lot of people (ok, most) don’t get it. But I see orthodoxy as a great thing.
Comment by Dannah on 2 April 2008:
When you’re dealing with the fringe you’ve got to keep it simple. Most of them don’t have nearly the education it would take to understand all of this. Lead by example, be kind, tell them you believe in God, pray with them, and do what you can to help meet their basic needs. Their understanding of God will always be different, as is everyone’s. I have some posts on the subject on my blog. I invite you all over! Come visit!
Comment by Dannah on 2 April 2008:
the above comment was in response to this part…
“We have the ability to go to the margins offering a gospel message that sheds the BS of checklists and shame.”