I’m coming home to WordPress for the first time.  I finally moved out of my blogspot location, having blogged off and on there since 2003.   But I decided to keep the same name, “for the time being.”

When I originally decided to start blogging I was visiting a friend on an Indian Reservation in Zuni, MN, who had a book on the coffee table by Annie Dillard titled For The Time Being, and I thought it would be the perfect name to express the provisional nature of thought, that all things are passing, that nothing should be held too tightly (or just about nothing). So for me, as a missional/emergent/wishing-to-be-more-and-more-radical pastor and theologian, striving to participate in the mystery of Christ in the world for the world, to claim that these thoughts are “for the time being” seemed most appropriate, contextualized for a post-christian, post-modern, post-industrial, blah, blah, blah…world.

Beyond that, the title contains the words “time” and “being” which triggers all sorts of philosophical associations in me, beginning principally with Martin Heidegger’s epic Being and Time, which was very influential in my philosophical journey, even if I have now moved significantly beyond it (if that is possible…).  But more broadly, the questions of metaphysics, of temporality, of the materiality of both, and how it all interacts in the revelation of Christ and our lives are all themes.

So this is my new blogging home, and so far I quite like it.  I’m sure I’ll be tinkering around more, adding features and such, but hopefully it is the content more than merely the form that draws us along as we are drawn along by the Spirit in this world, which is all we have for the time being.

So a couple days ago J.R. Briggs offered some good tips on reading well. It spurred some good conversation.

Well, I’m currently working on my comp. questions for at Marquette, and I thought that some of you all would be interested in what I have to read for my tests. So today, is my bibliography on Contemporary Pauline Theology with special reference to the Philippians Hymn. I would highly recommend the short book by Stendahl to see where the “New Perspective on Paul” came from and where N.T. Wright got everything (well, kinda).

Pauline Interpretation

F. C. Baur, Paul, Apostle of Jesus Christ: His Life and Works, His Epistles and Teachings (Reprint; Peabody: Henrickson, 2003), part 3.

Albert Schweitzer, The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle, trans. William Montgomery (New York: Seabury, 1968), 1-40, 52-140, 334-396.

Rudolf Bultmann, The Theology of the New Testament, trans. Kendrick Grobel (2 Vols.; New York: Scribner, 1951-55), 187-345.

Ernst Käsemann, “‘The Righteousness of God’ in Paul,” in New Testament Questions of Today (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), 168-82.

____________Justification and Salvation History in the Epistle to the Romans,” in New Testament Questions of Today (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), 60-78.

Krister Stendahl, Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976)

E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977), 431-557.

James D. G. Dunn, “The New Perspective on Paul,” in idem, The New Perspective on Paul: Collected Essays (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), 99-120

————–“The Theology of Galatians: The Issue of Covenantal Nomism,” in Jouette M. Bassler, ed., Pauline Theology Volume 1: Thessalonians, Philippians, Galatians, Philemon (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), 125-46

James D. G. Dunn, “The Narrative Approach to Paul: Whose Story?” in Bruce W. Longenecker, ed., Narrative Dynamics in Paul: A Critical Assessment (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 2002), 217-30.

James D. G. Dunn, “Once More, Pistou Christou,” in E. E. Johnson and David Hay, eds., Pauline Theology Volume IV: Looking Back, Pressing On, 249-271

J. Louis Martyn, “Events in Galatia,” in Jouette M. Bassler, ed., Pauline Theology Volume 1: Thessalonians, Philippians, Galatians, Philemon (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), 160-79

Daniel Boyarin, A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity (Berkeley: University of California, 1994), 1-85, 228-260.

Richard B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ: The Narrative Substructure of Galatians 3:1- 4:11 (2nd Ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), xxi-lii.

Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven: Yale University, 1989), 1-33.

Francis Watson, “Is There a Story in These Texts?” in Bruce W. Longenecker, ed., Narrative Dynamics in Paul: A Critical Assessment (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 2002), 231-39.

Richard B. Hays, “Pistou Christou and Pauline Christology,” in E. E. Johnson and David Hay, eds., Pauline Theology Volume IV: Looking Back, Pressing On, 35-60.

Francis Watson, Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith (New York: T&T Clark, 2004), 1-29.

Mark Seifrid, “The Narrative of Scripture and Justification by Faith: A Fresh Response to N. T. Wright,” Concordia Theological Quarterly 72 (2008), 19-44.

Richard Horsley, ed., Paul and Politics (Harrisburg: Trinity Press, 2000), 160-83.

Philippians Hymn

Bauckham, Richard. God crucified : monotheism and Christology in the New Testament (Carlisle : Paternoster Press, 1998), 51-61.

Dunn, James D.G. Christology in the making : a New Testament inquiry into the origins of the doctrine of the incarnation (Philadelphia : Westminster Press, c1980), 98-125.

Fowl, Stephen E. Philippians (Grand Rapids, Mich. : Eerdmans Pub. Co., c2005).

Heen, Erik M. “Phil 2:6-11 and Resistance to Local Timocratic Rule: Isa theo and the Cult of the Emperor in the East.” In Paul and the Roman Imperial Order, ed. by Richard A. Horsley, pp. 125-53. (Harrisburg: Trinity, 2004).

Gorman, Michael J. Inhabiting the cruciform God : kenosis, justification, and theosis in Paul’s narrative soteriology (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2009), 9-39.

Keesmaat, Sylvia. “Crucified Lord or Conquering Saviour: Whose Story of Salvation?” Horizons in Biblical Theology, 26 (2004), 69-93.

Martin, Ralph P. A hymn of Christ : Philippians 2:5-11 in recent interpretation & in the setting of early Christian worship (Downers Grove, Ill. : InterVarsity Press, c1997).

Martin, Ralph P. and Brian J. Dodd, eds. Where Christology began : essays on Philippians 2 (Louisville, Ky. : Westminster John Knox Press, c1998).

Oakes, Peter. Philippians : from people to letter (Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2001).

Wright, N.T. The climax of the covenant : Christ and the law in Pauline theology (Edinburgh, Scotland : T & T Clark, 1991), 56-98.

What is spiritual leadership? What does it consist of, where does it come from, where does it propel us?

Let me know because at Life on the Vine we have been thinking more and more about leadership development, and this has returned me to a classic from my college years (which, surprisingly, is over 10 years past). This classic for me is Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders. So I’ve decided that over the next couple of days and weeks I’m going to take various sounding from that book and reflect on them here. Sanders still speak to, encourages, and exhorts me to a deeper spiritual leadership and, frankly, I still haven’t found a better leadership book that covers all the basics.

But because I’ve read the book several times, it would help me to know what issues or topics you think most important so I can focus on those themes rather than merely whatever strikes me.

So let me know what you think is most important for or about spiritual leadership? And hopefully together we can gaze through the murky waters of leadership.

How do you understand and practice the ecclesial truth of the Family of God? And not just in the social sense that we, who practice faith in Christ, are part of a new reality, but that we truly have a Father with whom we can intimately converse.

At Life on the Vine we speak of the centrality of the Baptismal Family, around which the Biological Family must be ordered. This means that those with children, or even married couples, must not mirror the dominant cultural obsession with the nuclear family and all its activities, habits, and typical seclusion. Rather, our Biological Families are not the center of the social, political, moral, or economic universe because the Family of God is the center of all things. We try to indoctrinate our congregation along these lines especially around Easter when we baptize our youth and new believers, and during Pentecost when we bless and receive infants into the community of the Family of God, exhorting young parents that they cannot do it alone. And the reverse is true for singles. While the culture debases singles and makes marriage the norm, in the Baptismal Family of God all have a necessary place, meaning, and significance.

But for me this is really just the surface of what it means, for really, there are so many of us who come from broken families, who never had fathers who loved them, who never had healthy brothers to protect or exhort them, who never had sisters to encourage them, and never had mothers to nurture them. There are so many who are lost and wandering because they never really had a family to speak of (even if there family existed in some sense with all the elements). There are some many who have been emotionally, relationally, and spiritually orphaned by their families, and they feel it so deeply every Christmas when they go home. Or perhaps they have just stopped going home because there is nothing there.

It is here, in these places of loneliness, of insecurity, of defensiveness, and hurt that the church must live out the truth of the Family of God. There is not merely pastors and congregants, employees and a building, founding members…No, we are fathers, and mothers, sisters and brothers to each other. One’s pain is all our pain; and another’s joy is all our joy. It is here that we break the rule of what it is OK to talk about with others who are in our family, where we say hard things, where we show and embarrassing amount of love, where we can just be awkward because its alright…you’re home.

So, how can we better witness to the Family of God? For, certainly, each biological family should be practicing the mission of God, but the Baptismal Family witnesses to the love of the Father for all.

oh, yeah a test. baby!

I can’t believe it, but it is true. One line from one song has temporarily redeemed Christian radio for me: “Late have I loved you.”

Yes, that is right. There is a song played on KLOV which references St. Augustine’s Confessions. Here is the full excerpt for Augustine.

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you. You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

The song was written by Matt Maher, who is known for composing “Your Grace is Enough” which was made popular by Chris Tomlin. Now this song that I heard, Alive Again, is basically structured around this excerpt, which is read on the feast day of Saint Augustine.

Oh, did I mention that Matt Maher is Catholic. Yes! A song that was written as a reflection from the reading on the feast day of Saint Augustine is now at TOP 20 song on KLOV. Incredible! Christian Radio can be redeemed.

Here are all the lyrics, not sentimental or poorly crafted, well written and drawing from the ancient traditions of the church.

Alive Again

I woke up in darkness ?Surrounded by silence ?
Oh where, oh where have I gone? ?
I woke to reality Losing its grip on me ?
Oh where, where have I gone? ?
‘Cause I can see the light ? Before I see the sunrise

You called and You shouted ?
Broke through my deafness ?
Now I’m breathing in and breathing out ?
I’m alive again ?
You shattered my darkness ?
Washed away my blindness ?
Now I’m breathing in and breathing out
?I’m alive again ?

Late have I loved You ,?You waited for me, I searched for You ?
What took me so long? ?
I was looking outside ?As if Love would ever want to hide ?
I’m finding I was wrong
?? ‘Cause I feel the wind ? Before it hits my skin ?

You called and You shouted ?
Broke through my deafness ?
Now I’m breathing in and breathing out
?I’m alive again ?
You shattered my darkness ?
Washed away my blindness ?
Now I’m breathing in and breathing out ?
I’m alive again

In our organic leadership styles, and non-hierarchical organizations, where starfish grow and spiders flee, it is often heard that we must trust the community. We (leaders of some type) must learn to trust the community (and by that I mean individuals within the community) to work out its individual problems, sins, and issues. If leaders always jump in and attempt to solve the problems then people are deprived of the opportunity to learn the difficult skills of living together under the lordship of Christ. And they eventually become dependent on leaders to solve everything. So of course we need to trust the community, let it grow and learn at the proper rate, experiencing first hand how to live in Christ with others.

But, sometimes this hands-off approach to trusting the community turns into an abdication. For leaders, at least leaders commissioned by the church, have a responsibility to the community which has been entrusted to the leaders. While leaders (and there are always leaders no matter how democratic, or flattened your structure) must trust the community, they must also realize that the community has been entrusted to them for its care, protection, and provision. And while this idea of “entrustment” can lead to authoritarian abuse by those seeking to control a community according their own whims, we must not abdicate leadership when issues, problems, or sins threaten the general health of the church. If a wolf is loose in the sheep pen, it is the shepherd’s responsibility to take care of it, not the community of sheep.

Finding the balance between intervention and abiding is very difficult, especially for action oriented and people oriented leaders (yes, that is everyone!). So, thankfully I get to work it out in community!

“We are inclined to begin with the book, with historical context and social setting, words and idioms, grammar and literary forms, religious and theological vocabulary, and the many other topics that command our attention. But the early Christians began with the risen Christ.”

by Robert Louis Wilken

“Interpreting the New Testament,” Pro Ecclesia 14 (2005): 15-25, 16.

I know that I am guilty of this at some level. But I’m really stuck. I, and many at Life on the Vine, are both concerned for the poor locally and globally. And that is the rub. You see, I’m concerned about not participating in poverty creating or exploitative economic practices, and therefore try as best I can to purchase ethically manufactured clothes, shoes, food, etc. I believe that every dollar I use to purchase something is not only related to that product, but circulates far beyond through economic practices/companies/regimes that I may or may not want to be affiliated with. For those reasons I support places like No Sweat, Autonomie Project, and Toms.

Now I don’t think that is missed placed concern at all, but I also know the temptation to reify my concern for the poor in these concerns for exploitation free economics. Being missional is certainly not to stand on the heads of global workers by buying designer jeans while we go out to a local coffee shops or bars and drink a designer coffee or beer. But that is not enough. We still need to seek out the poor locally and not congratulate ourselves merely for supporting local economics (as good and right as that is).

So, anyway, that is what I’m trying to remember here in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Many of us in the emerging church or missional conversations can become wary, disillusioned, and disappointed with the church. It moves so slowly. It changes imperceptibly. It squashed innovation ruthlessly (unless it is innovation of basically the same thing). Many times it seems that we can’t break out of the status quo without a serious jolt, a shock to the system, a dramatic upheaval.

And this is where we come in. The “we” of missional change. The “we” of emerging openness. The “we” of prophetic pronouncement. The “we” that wants to look back on our lives and know that “we” were on the side of history, of a great revolution, for God’s kingdom against the status quo of mere churchiness. And so “we” come to push the envelope. But often when “we” are pushing the envelope “we” end up destroying the letter. In the effort of tearing down walls we end up building new ones. Often we fail to accomplish what we set out to do, and lose ourselves and our relationships over an ideal.

But Paul, even in the midst of his immense frustration with the church in Corinth, needing to push all the envelopes and buttons to get them back in line, still could say and live:

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Cor. 3:2-3)

Because letters written on hearts are from Christ, the ministries and individual which pushes the envelop in the name of Christ must take care not to destroy those letters in the process. Our zeal is no excuse for running over people and communities. So, when you are pushing the envelope, be sure you don’t destroy the letter.