a deeper shade of grey...

I have grown tired of being provoked by narrowness of thought that lacks context beyond that of favoured, well tested quotes and proof texts

The Rubicon team have asked me to blog weekly for a new feature. Here are my opening lines...
I’ve just opened my email box to a ‘blanket’ barrage of Booth and Railton proof quotes, underpinning a message of ‘encouragement’ to do more. Links to sites to encourage me to ‘really’ understand the Great Commission, to truly know what it is to evangelise, telling me how inept I have been, how misguided, how I have compromised the gospel and my calling. Although bereft of context, to try and gain what the author intended, I’ve given the opinion respect and read the email. I feel great having started the day dosed up with some good ol’ ‘black and white’ uncompromising judgement and opinion.

The Rubicon team has asked me to contribute to– the Rubi-blog, ‘we want something pithy, provocative, and controversial’; ironically I’ve said yes. Ironic because I have grown tired of opinion, proof texts, proof quotes the life blood of many blogs. Ironic because I have grown tired of being provoked by narrowness of thought that lacks context beyond that of favoured, well tested quotes and proof texts. I’m tired of people coming into my office, lounge, garden or where-ever my wi-fi enables me and shouting opinion at me. My RSS feeder is clogged with words and opinion waiting to provoke me, while I watch a world largely unprovoked by a church busy making something of the Kingdom that is predictable and bland, wrapping the gospel up in small print and hidden agendas. I’m tired of people provoking the wrong people.

The biggest irony? I’m as guilty as anyone!

Saturday, November 29, 2003 I wrote my first post over at URBANarmy – I wrote “My mulling, musing and pondering probably - no certainly - will be of no consequence to anyone but it will be of every consequence to me!” I hold to that in my first rubi-blog post, welcome to my journey as I mull, ponder and muse! Join me, should you wish, on my journey to an uncompromising ‘deeper shade of grey’, where there are more questions than answers, as I try and make sense of challenge of the Kingdom and faith development within the context of the woven beauty of holiness and of mission.

If you are more comfortable with ‘black and white’ rhetoric, you might want to give me a miss!

Comments

Cosmo said…
Have you thought about cancelling some of your feeds?
6:39 PM
Gordon said…
good point :o)- the sucker I am though I am always intrigued. Then I guess I shouldn't moan!!
9:57 PM
youthwork southwest said…
Grey does seem to be a better place than black or white...somehow more of God than man. It's funny how we get accused of watering down the gospel when perhaps 'black and white', reductionism, 'gospel truths' would seem to make God much smaller, much less...mysterious? But then maybe I'm being a bit black and white now...!
2:29 AM
Stephen said…
I think if you inhabit the blogosphere there is a sense in which you are fair game because you know this kind of stuff is out there. Irritating it may be, but all you can do is hold fast to the shades of grey where most of journey if we stop to think about it. What really irritates me is the unsolicited posters that regularly seem to come across my desk because someone thinks our church should be supporting the latest evangelical guilt-fest. Just this week I have cleansed our notice board of material that people who come here looking for help are confronted with when they enter the building. We talk about signposts to the Kingdom but when all we can do is make people already struggling with life feel even more inadequate our signposts start pointing the other way.

I look forward to reading blog-icon and will sign off now before I get opinionated!
1:14 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A bit of sally bashing....

Came across a good bit of Sally bashing over at salvationsoldiers I have to say we try and make sure that everything we raise goes into projects that build local community in Poplar but hopefully if you read this blog you get that sense anyway.
Read more

Types of Christian Spirituality...

Image
It is easy to think and to limit ourselves to a single approach to Christian spirituality. A 'if it works for me it should work for you approach' tends to narrow our appreciation of other ways which actually impoverishes our experience of spirituality. Urban T. Holmes has developed a means of exploring spirituality and helps develop an appreciation through discovering links between spirituality, temperament and predisposition. The diagram illustrates his ideas together with potential inherent dangers. The vertical continuum speaks and helps us understand our relational orientation to God. This ranges from engaging with God through understanding and theological process to a more emotive response. Horizontally speaks of a persons preferred means of pursuing the spiritual life. Kataphtic speaks of affirmation and the need of something tangible in an individuals spirituality- this may take the form of worship, art, even imagination with the use of metaphors, symbols and images play
Read more

Lost Voices of Mission...Fred Brown

Image
Along the world famous Oxford street in London's Westend; nestled in among the classy frontage of designer shops there is almost an unnoticeable, unimpressive wooden door. It is more or less alongside The Regent Hall's main entrance onto the busyness of Oxford Street. People pass the wooden door oblivious to the equally unimpressive wooden steps that go up three storey's to what was Regent Hall's youth club. When I was 10 I played on these bare wooden steps totally unaware of the significance behind and upon which I played. Many years later I discovered a university youth work course - as an induction to Youth Work - stopped outside this insignificant wooden door to point out that Youth Work as we know it in the UK started behind this door. ...whether that be the surbanite flower people that flooded the Westend to express their free love; or the hard core drug community this unimpressive wooden door became the 'portal' that blurred encounter between church an
Read more