Sunday 16 May 2010

Two spheres... alike in... Kingdom?

If you've been following what's happening at the University this week, particularly with regards to the proposal to shut down the BSc in Deaf Studies, then you'll understand why I've not been writing much... 

Doing my normal 'job'... attending the protests... writing letters... going home to my family... all makes me ask an interesting question... how am I doing reconciling my 'work life' and all my other 'lives' with my 'faith life'?

I ask the question because I'm a firm believer that there should be no difference in the way that I approach life, and work, and God, and family, and anything else... I'm constantly haunted by the idea that, really, there should equally be need to create a division between any of these... that they are simply different facets of a single life; one that should be lived as an outworking of the Kingdom.

For example... I feel constantly challenged about why I have two blogs. Not, you understand, by other people... On the one hand, they are entirely too nice (perhaps they think I'm a blogaholic)... and on the other, when they discover what the other blog is about (the other one's here, just for information...) they're rather relieved that I haven't inflicted both on them after all!  

And yet I find it impossible to get away from the fact that there should perhaps only be one... to show my wrestlings with work to those outside of it... and (perhaps here's the greater pressure) to show my faith to those in my place of work.

And yet, I can't combine the two. Partly - as I demonstrated above - because you probably don't want to read about the ins-and-outs of my academic thinking... but more because the rules of engagement in different spheres of life are... well, different, and have to be treated differently.



Perhaps an example is useful here.

I have an academic colleague in France who subscribes to the 'no differences' school of thought. He's a Christian and makes no distinction between his faith and his work. In fact, he sees his work as a mission field... Initially it's refreshing, and then it's slightly uncomfortable... eventually it becomes a bit embarrassing. Why? Well, because his insistent inclusion of his Christianity alongside his academic work - particularly in a place like France which has an explicitly secular public sector - has ruined his reputation as a 'serious' academic and imposed a glass ceiling on his career.

I could even go so far as to say that, in his immediate circle, it has caused damage to the greater message of the Kingdom, by covering it with a patina of slightly cheesy, schmaltzy, smiley 'Fisherfolk' type good news... After all, there's nothing quite so stomach-shriveling as seeing the looks of distain on the faces of a group of gnarly old academics as he finishes a meeting with the hearty reassurance that 'God is good... and everything he does is good'.

After my point about only one life above... did I really write that? Shouldn't I be celebrating his conviction to put his beliefs before his career, defending his decision to integrate God into all areas of his life and looking for clues that there's a hidden story of a conversion out there somewhere... After all, God is good... and everything he does is good... so isn't this just a proclamation of truth and great news for the Good News?

No... I don't think so... and here's why.

I think we should be Kingdom people in every sphere of life... But I don't think 'Christian' is always synonymous with 'Kingdom' or that Christian 'culture' is the same as Kingdom 'values'.

Yes, there is a big 'C' on that Christian... I'm not just talking about small 'c' christian stuff (like playing fair, and forming an orderly queue), I'm talking about the cultures that grow to surround us, and that become gradually 'normal' as we immerse ourselves in Sunday services, in home groups, in Church weekends, in Spring harvests, in bible studies, in short and long-term missions...

And here's the rub... Bits of Christian culture still feel pretty close to the raw, disruptive, transparent, loving, powerful, God-wisdom fundamentals of Kingdom... but some of it has become so different that it's about as close as a knitting, cake-loving, W.I. gets to the original suffragette movement...

Which actually brings me back to the beginning of this post, which is the questions of how to reconcile the different areas of my life... And I think the answer potentially lies in living out the Kingdom in each... Note: not Christian culture... but Kingdom values... in a raw, disruptive, transparent, loving, powerful, God-wisdom way...

And because Kingdom isn't a 'culture' but a fundamental set of values... but culture isn't, living out Kingdom is potentially going to look quite different at work and at home.

Perhaps this is where I'd disagree  with the way that my friend lived his faith out at work... rather than living out Kingdom at work, within, through and disrupting the culture of that work place... he's actually taken a part of Christian culture, and dropped it into a context where it really doesn't make sense.

Which raises an interesting question... if Kingdom values and Christian culture can be quite different... what does it look like when Kingdom values are lived out... in the heartland of Christian culture? In church?

5 comments:

  1. This has certainly got me thinking. I am sure in the past I have encouraged people to live 'one' life. I wonder if Paul went through similar thoughts when he said 'Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.'
    I always wonder how he became all these things without compromise. I guess it means he remained the same values wise, but he communicated his beliefs in ways which were appropriate for his situation.
    The other side of the coin is situations where we need to be explicitly 'Christian' even when this may elicit a negative response. In a world which asks Christians to tolerate more and more while it tolerates Christians less and less we must choose our battles wisely. To me bickering over Harry Potter, or creation vs evolution doesn't seem as important as justice and love.
    I want to be part of a community that loves without agenda. I often think the things we do just for the sake of love, without any evangelical agenda speak more of Jesus than our latest seeker service.
    Despite all these thoughts that verge on sounding negative I am excited, whether it's a sense of something, or subconsciously being aware of exceptional people living exceptional lives, there seems to be a change stirring. I definitely feel my church is on the edge and just needs a small nudge to tip it into the fullness of God's plans for them. I'm not sure they, or indeed I, am ready for it, but it'll be one heck of a ride.

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  2. I was expecting a "lap-dancing" to be inserted between 'knitting' and 'cake-loving' in the runup to WI...

    Totally agree that christian culture does not level with kingdom values, and that it does indeed look quite different in our different life spheres.

    I like saying the word 'sphere'.

    I can't quite answer your final question re living out kingdom values in the heartland of christian culture, I will have to think about it for a while as I am a bit slow on the uptake on Monday evenings...

    But I do think 'disruptive' will have something to do with it.

    And that's no bad thing.

    @Nick - sounds like you're going need a seatbelt?!

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  3. @ Nick - spot on with the 'being a Christian even where it elicits a negative responses' comment... But consider Jesus' suggestion that

    "If the people of this world hate you, just remember that they hated me first. If you belonged to the world, its people would love you. But you don't belong to the world. I have chosen you to leave the world behind, and that is why its people hate you." (John 15)

    Not belonging to the world here isn't us shying away from it into a world of three-chord songs in D & 'Christian' cofree mornings... (or for the more modern - Costa Coffee church and songs about being missional)... It's about us getting right up people's noses (most often those in charge) by stubbornly clinging to a powerful, disruptive love that refuses to roll over in the face of greed, injustice, oppression...

    @ Pop... I don't think we're necessarily in 'brood of vipers' territory... but it's a very real challenge... If we're determined to embrace (as you've said, a 'simple') Christianity that is 100% committed to a real, heart-core pursuit of Jesus... how do we respond when those we upset (even as we love them and do it out of love for them) are potentially our own brothers and sisters...

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  4. @ Pop - Seat belt required more than you may ever know, but hopefully will be revealed in coming weeks...

    @ Mome - Still hearing you. The challenge for me is that we obviously can't write off the more 'traditional' methods that are still of use and importance to people. I am as guilty of happy clapping and really enjoying it as the next man when I'm in the right mood. But how do we meld this together with remaining relevant and welcoming to people coming in off the streets? This happened to me this Sunday! I was off into the evening service when I was stopped by two teenager characters who asked permission to come into our church! I was instantly worried about how I should explain all the stuff that would happen that could appear weird to them. As it happened they were only wasting 5 minutes as they were early to meet some girls (not fit ones apparently!?) I tried my best to explain things, but then they heard the music and saw a few hands being raised and erupted into giggles, as a side note I wonder if this was a nervous reaction rather than genuine mirth. The worst part was there was absolutely no printed information I could give them about our youth work!
    I suppose you could say that we need to be more welcoming and tone down our jargon but how far do we take this? If I get into a new hobby or sport I spend time learning the jargon, I become committed to it - shouldn't we expect a something like this from people coming to Christ?
    I guess the real question is how we get them to the point where they want to start learning a bit more. Which is why you point on Kingdom values is so right. Our values can be tangible to people, they can make people question their own values. Cus to be honest I don't think separate services will do it....

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  5. @ Mome

    Our response has to be family driven.

    We would know what to do if it was an issue affecting one of our family members. For some reason we forget this when it comes to the church family.

    At the end of the day, transparency and communication is the key - just like in family and a marriage, so it needs to be with the church family.

    People generally end up upset when communication has broken down somewhere along the line.

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