tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6655521.post8348424487987235428..comments2024-02-23T17:09:12.957-05:00Comments on bethquick.com: Following Jesus and Being United MethodistBeth Quickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14171030571583683180noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6655521.post-81167414932066822122007-09-26T17:22:00.000-05:002007-09-26T17:22:00.000-05:00Careful what you ask for, Beth, you may get it! :)...Careful what you ask for, Beth, you may get it! :)<BR/><BR/>Rather than project my personal experience with the UMC onto your question I'll instead say what I do respect of those who disagree with where they are at in life. I respect someone who not only adopts a new faith perspective but who also adapts themselves to it without dragging everyone else with them. Live your faith on your own two feet first. The respect I have for one who does that rings true even when I cannot in good conscience agree with them. I try to remember that we are both likely wrong.<BR/><BR/>I have been both liberal and conservative about the faith of my circumstances. I've variously stepped out on my own or stayed the course. Needless to say I've also been wrong in both situations. The Truth has a way of expressing itself so that neither the conservative view or the liberal view of any disputable matter is troubled when the right direction becomes obvious for both. Whether we be right or wrong the only thing that impedes us from a Truth larger than ourself is a need to market our understanding of it. If we do that we deceive ourself first.<BR/><BR/>"To thy own self be true" means following your conscience where you are at, all the while remembering you may discover you are wrong. Don't be afraid of that, even if it means standing your ground to a friend, or leaving the ground you have shared with them for so long.Jody Leavellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10843478562464653819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6655521.post-38539526552695127192007-09-25T13:05:00.000-05:002007-09-25T13:05:00.000-05:00Let me try this comment again!Bethquick, I sympath...Let me try this comment again!<BR/><BR/>Bethquick, I sympathize with your wish to lead your congregation into deeper discipleship and for someone to ask you to go deeper as well. Quite often, I think that our churches set us up to be mediocre, lukewarm Christians- passive, timid, and unwilling to take risks.<BR/><BR/>With this in mind, Melissa, myself, and a couple of seminary friends will possibly start a new church in the Boston area in the next couple years. One of the essential components of this new church start will be a neo-monastic community, where we will be sharing a living space, hold many of our possessions in common, engage in communal daily prayer, and be Jesus as best we can to those who are on the margins in our neighborhood.<BR/><BR/>While I think that part of the “round peg in a square problem” is a postmodern/modern issue, I think there’s also a discipleship issue as well. Namely, why is it that I feel normal when I confine church to Sunday morning and crazy when I want to follow Jesus 24/7? That’s a question that all United Methodists, regardless of worldview, need to address.Ben Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03039261071080062734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6655521.post-30989577286939454002007-09-25T13:04:00.000-05:002007-09-25T13:04:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Ben Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03039261071080062734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6655521.post-76611840434976186452007-09-24T10:31:00.000-05:002007-09-24T10:31:00.000-05:00Brickballoon - That's one area where postmodern Ch...Brickballoon - <BR/><BR/>That's one area where postmodern Christians do depart with their postmodern counterparts (although in reality, postmodernism is not a hyped-up version of relativism, as your definition seems to suggest). Postmodern Christians *do* have an understanding that Christ is the over-arching meta-narrative that communicates Truth...*is* Truth, in fact. Postmoderns are more apt to say that you can't reduce Truth (i.e., faith in Jesus) to a set of propositions, and that's one of the key components in a more postmodern understanding of Christianity. It's still *very much* about Jesus.Melissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17846903277153079586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6655521.post-27051991111978097392007-09-23T20:17:00.000-05:002007-09-23T20:17:00.000-05:00I ran across your post and just had to comment. Y...I ran across your post and just had to comment. You quoted Ben as saying he wanted to "explore what it means to be both Christian and postmodern at the same time". That's an oxymoron... Christianity and postmodern are mutually exclusive.<BR/><BR/>A postmodern is someone who believes that what is true for you, is true for you, but I can have a different truth that is equally true. We each have our own truth and no one is wrong.<BR/><BR/>Christianity says this about Jesus, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)<BR/><BR/>Christianity says there is one truth, Jesus Christ is truth (John 14:16), and all others are wrong.<BR/><BR/>A postmodern in a Christian church should feel like a square peg in a round hole, because a postmodern does not fit in a Christian church. If Ben felt like he fit, then he is not in a Christian church.<BR/><BR/>I would hope the United Methodist church is not looking for gifted ministers, although my experience is that many United Methodist Churches are pastored by pagan ministers (See my blog posts on the <A HREF="http://www.missiontoamerica.org/blog/2007/09/umc-progressive-christianity-article.html" REL="nofollow">United Methodist Church</A>) who are promoting Progressive Christianity. This is why the UMC has problems with not having enough pastors and why UMC membership is declining in the U.S.<BR/><BR/>What a church should be looking for in a minister is first off a Godly Christian. (See 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:6-9). They should seek a man who is dedicated to obeying the Lord. When someone is dedicated to living in obedience to God, then God will use that person to advance the kingdom.BrickBalloonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08795080739038614363noreply@blogger.com