i enjoy talking about this and i really like what was commented in the last post. the reality of the "already not yet" kingdom is a huge part of the conversation that deserves a lot of thought. that Christ's kingdom is an already but not yet reality really is the point of what i'm wrestling with. it's already here, making "appearances" in many different settings, but it in all truth has not come to full revelation. this is the paradox, the crazy tention that christians and nonchristians live in when it comes to the way of Christ on earth.
the kingdom is present in settings all around (starting in with my own perspectives again), regardless of the acknowledgement of those present. i think a good way to put in some holiness though is that in prevenient grace, the kingdom is at work even in the presence of "nonchristians." i firmly believe that God is at work where there is good happening, even if where that good is happening isn't under the banner of christianity. it's a strange way to think about it, but to think of the other extreme is quite limiting to God, is it not? that's why i made the statements in the last post about God really being at work even in agencies where it is not acceptable to even preach the gospel message. perhaps when people are getting real help and their lives are improving, God is at work. God can use even those who don't like him or what anything to do with him.
my real frustration comes in the form of another tension. as said before it's my firm belief that the church misses the point when spirituality is unbalanced with social action. "carpet theology" is a cool way to put it, i liked that a lot. just this afternoon there was a guy who came by the house i work in who was formerly the youth pastor at a nazarene church close to where i was at the last three years. he is working for the dept. of health and welfare and some business brought him by. he is just as much in full time ministy in my belief as he was before in the church. he's got a hard job, harder than being a youth pastor, i think. the tention and frustration i feel where i'm at is that i'm on the end of the spectrum that says social programs are the answer. i believe in what happens here, but it's quite limited when i (often) am bogged down by the enormity of the crap going on in our world. my little bubble i've lived in my whole life is all but gone. i have seen things i still can't believe are out there and rubbed shoulders with kids that are miracles to be only as rough as they are.
my firm stance is that the church's spirituality is great. social action for the good of the marginalized is great. but they have to go together for real transformation. the only hope i see in so many of these lives his a total life change through the power of God. i heard a pastor once say that only christian counselors are good and that people don't need any other kind of help. it was hard for me to hear that because i think it's way off. we need social action and social justice wherever it can come from, but the only real hope i can see is the hope that God brings to our lives. that doesn't mean we don't need top notch programs to help in recovery from many different struggles, because we do.
i just feel if we as christians believe what we say about God, we have to be spending just as much time washing feet as we do singing songs. it starts with me, i know this, because i don't have any room to be talking. i complain about my job to my wife on a daily basis. i guess i just am seeing more and more what being a "minister" needs to look like and is going to look like more in the years to come (for all believers). i love the church and an not trying to say that ministers in the church aren't doing the job of the gospel. i want to be in the church and hope to be again in that context of ministry. i guess i'm becoming a believer in the need for christian ministry to take place more outside the doors than in. i'm grateful for this opportunity to work where i do because i didn't see it before. my whole perspective is changing. and i think for the better. it's a hard change to accept, but needed.
so when i got a cell phone a few months ago i was suckered into "getting a phone that will still be cool in 2 years when you get an upgrade," according to the 16 year old salesman at best buy. so i got one of those razr phones and i thought it was pretty sweet. i also was suckered into getting phone insurance, which i thought was a waste at the time. it's $5 per month.