cogitatio

I wonder... just how many people who attend church are christians.

I ask out of fear... Why? Because I think we may be teetering on the edge of a cliff, no longer sure if were standing or falling. In so many ways we are trying to move beyond the legalistic tendencies of our recent ancestry, but in the process maybe we've taken it too far? I mean if we have very few rules it becomes easy for us to sin less doesn't it? I recently had a conversation on this and it moved in a direction where we could get rid of rules, okay, but then what's holy, what's sacred? The reason that the law was written (the first law) was because people were dumb, I mean you dont have to make a rule for something people don't do right? I mean let's look at it this way if we dont need rules, why not get rid of the laws in our own country, I mean the money we would be saving on enforcement and detention would be astronomical, but what would be the cost?

I wonder maybe us trying to get rid of the legalistic rules is because we need to feel better about ourselves. I remember one time when I was probably about 7 or so we had a list of chores and rules to do and follow, and when I stole some candies that I knew I shouldn't have taken I knew that I was in trouble, but I took down the rules and hid them (I dont think that my parents ever found them, although I know right where to look) Why did I hide them? Without the rules to lear down at me I thought that I might get away with it, and let me tell you that by backside didn't get away with anything, in fact I actually think that because the rules were hidden I recieved a larger punishment then usual.

God didn't make the laws to hurt us - just to remind us that without them we'd catch our death. Even though Christ died to save us from sin, doesn't the law help us to see it, to acknowledge it, to try to change to become more holy.

I guess I answered a different question than the one I asked.. basically I wonder how many people don't know that Christianity is a closed community - you have to believe this to get in, I say this because without the rules to help us live Godlier lives we might just appear to be good people instead of Christ followers, and without the law to follow we may not be that different after all, and if were not different then why would they or should they change their own lives? I mean do we even change our own?

All this to make a point, extremes are treacherous and can be deadly we really need to think about what we are doing and where that will take us. In the same breathe the verge often contains the most abundant and prolific life.

This post was inspired by an article on relevant you can check it out at the link below.

In this short article Jim asks us to consider that the post modern movement is pretty much over. He makes the essentialist argument that everything in the post-modern movement boils down to one major idea, there is no such thing as absolute truth. He then presents an argument that people are beyond this and are searching for truth, reality television (a fake reality but still raw) and crash (my favourite movie right now-I think). Where people are so individualized that they crave discourse and dialogue, with other individuized individuals, get the point. He asks us

Indeed what would happen, we would have the church's (small c) response to the post-modern movement. Where we are presenting the absolute truth, the reason people are flocking to christian communities like Jim's is because absolute truth has been stripped from everything, everything except for the truth. They are hungering for reality and we should be prepared to answer it. That is why it is so important for us to be ready to answer questions when they arise, to be available to openly discuss them with our peers, because they are searching for the truth, and we the you and I who are the church have been commissioned to answer it.


The post-modern movement in our society has caused us to look at our methodologies, and is in many places causing the church to strip back to the basics as Jim mentions. Getting back to reading the bible, to authentic Christian community instead of a religious community. The death that Jim is talking about isn't death it's what the goal has been all along, and it is following the pattern of the paradigmatic shifts of the past - first deconstruct current valuation structure - second take a look at whats left - third transformation take what is left after deconstruction and begin to build again, This is where we are building {not rebuilding} (everyone travels at different speeds so maybe your not building yet, or maybe your done). We are looking at the basics of our faith, which is authentic Christian community following the teachings of Christ, knowing him as part of God, incarnate {made flesh}, and impacting this world seeing the Kingdom of God here in this place/time. It is looking at "the living traditions of the dead" who are part of our dialogue through their moral teachings (bible, early fathers of the church etc)

Post-Modernism isn't dead it's just transforming into what it is supposed to be (hopefully it will get a better name soon, not that there's anything wrong with post-modern or emergent). Some might think we should have remembered to build a new boat before we took the old one apart, but I think it's done us some good swimming around getting wet and tired. Maybe this exercise will help us to remember to dialogue with "the dead" St. Augustine so lovingly refers to, instead of monologing with ourselves, so go read your bible.

Five years, thats how long I have been working on my undergrad degree, sure I took a year off and some of that has been part time, I dont feel like I have been wasting my time here at school, just that I dont really like school, well actually I hate it. You see the problem for me is seeing it through, I am really great at starting but dont really like to finish; you know? So for the past couple of months i have really been thinking of moving on to something new to some new challenge. The problem with that is that I havn't conquered any challenge here, I have one year left and I am looking for a way out. It really would be easier; easier for now anyhow.
Faith has two components, knowledge and will. I know that finishing my degree would be good but at the same time if I finish it then I have to move on into this great unkown region of life. That's what will is for right carrying us beyond our knowledge.
In the past I havn't really had faith I've been dealing in absolutes, in my knowledge in what I know, not just in life but with my "faith" too, in effect cheapening it to me I guess, I mean not necesarily on purpose but just as a result of how I've done things, that's why i have decided to put my foot down and finish my degree finally hooray I know, maybe who cares some say, I think though that willing ourselves through rough patches of fear and doubt in life really might be the point after all, maybe by being faithful to my five years here in Waterloo through finishing my degree will really help my "faith" become whole instead of the shell that it is propped and patched with my limited knowledge. It'll be a whole lot easier to not having to know everything thats for sure.