#SH2015 'Chew More' Day 2: Closer (with @drbexl & @krishk)
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The first of 3 'Chew More' (theology) sessions prepared for Spring Harvest Minehead 2
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#SH2015 'Chew More' Day 2: Closer (with @drbexl & @krishk)
- 1. CHEW MORE: CLOSER Friday 3rd April 2015
- 2. Chew More Closer Dr Bex Lewis Social Media & Online Learning, CODEC Director, Digital Fingerprint T: @drbexl W: drbexl.co.uk Dr Krish Kandiah President, London School of Theology Founder/Director, Home for Good T: @krishk W: krishk.com
- 3. Does my religion look big in this? Dr Bex Lewis
- 4. Religion is often paramount in people who are zealous for their faith; they judge people by standards of holiness they can’t even meet themselves… Saul was truly a religious man. But his religion wasn’t saving him; he was wandering and lost, searching for a deeper sense of salvation. Cris Rogers, Immeasurably More, p.82
- 5. Barna Survey (US, 2007) •Judgmental •Hypocritical •Old-Fashioned •Too Involved in Politics •Anti-Homosexualhttps://www.barna.org/barna-update/teens-nextgen/94-a-new-generation-expresses-its-skepticism-and-frustration-with-christianity#.VQr7dRCsW38
- 6. “…Effort is the Baggage of Religion” Image Source: https://sarcasticfont.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/26079.jpg “Knowing God takes no effort whatsover…” Steve McSwain, Huffington Post, in Rogers, p87
- 7. Religion • “A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.” (Wordnik) • “Religion” is ultimately the idol we use to control the uncontrollable. (Rogers, p87) Faith • “The theological virtue defined as a secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will.” (Wordnik) • “… the innate drive to search for meaning, purpose and significance.” (Popcak, Patheos, 2014)
- 8. The danger of mere intellectual orthodoxy is that we are tempted to think we can manage God. Our doctrines then become idols - static, fixed and inflexible. According to Psalm 115:8, 'those who make [such idols] will be like them'. They will “become people who are static, inflexible and unsurprising. In contrast, the Lord 'does whatever pleases him' (115:3). And those who worship the Lord become free and spontaneous. God can never be contained by the human mind. If he could then God would be too puny a God to be worshipped. The point of theology is to understand God (to stand under God in reverent awe), not to over-stand God by attempting to control him through theological discourse.” Robert Farrar Capon, An Offering of Uncles: The Priesthood of Adam and the Shape of the World (New York: Crossroad, 1982), p. 163. http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/article_living_stevens.html
- 9. Rev Dr Calvin Samuel https://youtu.be/cOGgOTzs5yY
- 11. [If we are…] means by which God communicates and reveals himself through his Spirit, then our blog posts, status updates, tweets, artistic images, and online comments should be products of a life transformed by Christ and indwelled by his Spirit. As restored image bearers, our online presence and activity should image the Triune God. Byers, A. Theomedia (2013, 196)
- 12. On the Emmaus Road, Jesus was recognized in the breaking of bread rather than in the exegesis of Scripture. That’s an intriguing lesson to learn when so much of the web and so much of digital communication is about proclamation rather than reception. Phillips et al, 2013: 10
- 13. Rev Dr Pete Phillips https://youtu.be/q9-UOqUlrUw
- 14. DISCUSS •Have our expectations of God, theology, religion become burdens for self or others? •What does a ‘different’ way of thinking mean for our daily living? Image Source: RGBStock
- 15. Beyond Religion Dr Krish Kandiah
- 17. ADOPTION
- 18. 4For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 8:14-17
- 19. What does adoption give you in a relationship with God that other metaphors of salvation don’t give you? p.95
- 20. p.95
- 24. God is closer than you think Dr Bex Lewis
- 26. "If you want to build a presence in the social media platform, then you need to be present." - @unmarketing
- 28. The Jesus Bridge? Image Source: http://www.histruthbetold.org/images2/JesusBridgeToGod.jpg
- 32. DISCUSS • Where do we get our theological understanding from? – The Bible? – Architecture? – People? – Nature? • What impact does this theology have on our lives and the policies that we champion?
- 33. Chew More: Closer Find slides: http://www.slideshare.net/drbexl Dr Bex Lewis Social Media & Online Learning, CODEC Director, Digital Fingerprint T: @drbexl W: drbexl.co.uk Dr Krish Kandiah President, London School of Theology Founder/Director, Home for Good T: @krishk W: krishk.com
Editor's Notes
- So, having looked at the majesty of Jesus in ‘higher’ yesterday, we’re now looking at ‘closer’ today.
- The over-riding theme that struck me from this section of Cris’s book was that of how we reconcile the majesty of God, and the closeness we have with him, and how far we have sanitised what can be such a powerful message in our efforts to tame Jesus (who often rebelled against contemporary culture)…. We’ll come back to the notion of holiness…
- … and look what the world makes of that. What do they perceive of our ‘religion’?
- What do you think of this as a phrase? Where is God in our “religion”? So… let’s have a look at what that baggage looks like…
- …Good opportunity for a Q&A as to how people see these differently… What do you think of when we say these words? Do they mean something different to you? Religion: Religion – structure, control (control God?), the ‘right’ way, over-emphasis on professionalism. Which help? Which obstruct?; Habits, Rules, etc. going through the motion; The positive of this?; Measure against the scales; the right clothes = all v. negative, what about a codified set of practices… Faith: Notion of relationship, not rules.. (life under prayer); Beliefs, substance?; Reanimation of life, through sacrifice - http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithonthecouch/2014/05/faith-spirituality-belief-religion-whats-the-difference/
- I stumbled across this whilst researching this session – (orthdoxy = “right worship” – doctrine lined up with scripture = blessing to everyday life and to God himself = reflected in our everyday lives…calling for the importance of ‘applied theology’ … our lives as worship everyday – something I am passionate about – everything I do = has God in it, having been brought up in a system that was more about wearing the right clothes, etc.. Bringing in an expert voice.
- 30-120 second video re habits of holiness related to the notion that religion can become ‘worshipping practices’ rather than worshipping God.
- So, whilst I was thinking about holiness, I was thinking how much of “Christianese” hides the messy edges of life, and this is something that the online has also been accused of … do we perform ‘online’, and is that any different from what we do elsewhere? Are people sharing the ‘truth’ of their lives – or are they seeking to radiate a form on ‘online holiness’…
- One of my colleagues hopes that this is true in some ways – we are the face of the God online … but does that mean…
- .. Are we proclaiming, broadcasting, seeking to publicise an ego about ourselves? Online = about relationships, and that is drawing on a good Biblical model – ‘real relationships’ – a theology that lives and affects our lives – online and offline… Talking of Pete, I’d like to share one of his latest enthusiasms:
- 30-120 second video re what popularity of Bible verses tell us about what we expect from God – helpfully demonstrating that Biblical scholars not detached from everyday living!
- Adoption focused stuff…
- Great discussion by Cris’s on pp102-3 - Michelangelo’s iconic painting (and I’ve seen it for real) that God is largely marking all the effort, and all that Adam needs to do is flick a finger.. And how often it has been parodied, as we have done with CODEC for a banner we created last year – we wanted to show that God is in technology, and that we but need to reach out to meet him… God is leaning full stretch towards us in all places.
- Present, incarnational … Incarnation = God coming in flesh & blood – not just about Christmas/Easter – middle/reason for being also important. What lens do we look at life through? [History – triple lens, digital incarnation; Rob Peabody Citizen] See pp106-7 where Cris describes how it’s possible to be present and absent at the same time – do we now live in a multi-tasking culture? How do we pay attention to the people in front of us, of God calling for our attention, etc.? Be involved with God in the day-to-day messy everyday of our lives (not the photoshopped selves we referred to earlier!)
- Notions of ‘presence’ …. BE. Where tired we try and do more = nervous breakdown. Bogged down in the world. God is present/in(terested) in us – we take him up on this? Reduced to ‘safe children’s story’ rather than ‘awesome’. God isn’t afraid to get dirty – how might this affect what we bring to God? [Footsteps = dragged] – the good, the bad & the ugly, how do we FEEL presence?
- Echo Krish’s session from Wokefield – what does this image say to you positively/negatively/theologically? I wondered what other images, etc cause us to think… do they need to depict God (or do we feel absence)? Want to show you a couple of contributions from one of my colleagues…
- "Images. They’re funny really aren’t they? Sometimes they get in the way, like when you go and watch a film based on a book and you wished you hadn’t because the words and your imagination did the job ten times better. But then sometimes, the images show you something new. The imagination of someone else right there in front of your eyes. Like you’re seeing into the depths of their innermost thoughts. But what if the image is of God? So perfect, so beyond our understanding, so completely complete. How could we ever begin to imagine an image of God that did Him justice? Well we do a pretty good job of it, because there’s a new one born every minute. But it’s more than that. Every line drawn, every scene filmed, every photograph taken, has His fingerprint embedded, deep inside it. Just waiting, waiting for you to see Him."
- So, Dave talked about how God is just waiting for us to see him – I want us to see the product of his God-given creativity – some Lego theology – see how it echoes that God’s thoughts are bigger than ours, but that he cares for the hairs on our heads. 2 mins So God finds us, and we can find him…
- 60-90 second video – the glory of God, sacred spaces, finding God everywhere, reference to Glory conference.
- Where is God, is he only in the majestic hills, or is he in all spaces? If we have nowhere to hide is that scary or encouraging? http://cuf.org.uk/sites/default/files/PDFs/Blog/Nov-13/Whatever%20happened%20to%20urban%20theology.pdf - 1970s to 1990s – range of urban theology, and its impact on urban ministry – do we find God in urban architecture, in the food banks, the inclusion policies … what about rural theology, digital theology… where is God in all aspects of our lives? What have we learnt about God (from the Bible, from art, from