Mosaic - A year on

Life a year on

About a year ago, I made a decision, I walked into a Café at 6.00 on a Sunday night to meet a group of people doing something different, something new. I had become frustrated at where I was, I needed challenge. I had a yearning that there was a great world to be discovered, to explore. The community was Mosaic. A group of 10 or so people, who are trying to figure out what it means to be Christians today. We aim to be missional in all that we do.

So what has this meant for me, what have I learned over the last year.

Intentionality

Communitas

Missional living

Hospitality

Generosity

What has happened to me on this journey:

I have detoxed from where I was;

I have learned new things about Gods character;

I am learning how important it is to be defined by God, not by stuff, by what I believe, the exterior;

I am learning that it I am responsible for my journey, I have to take self-leadershipl and

I have figured out that this journey isn’t over, its just beginning

Hopefully in the next few blogs, I will unpack a bit of what’s been going on this past year, where my thinking is, and where I need to move next. This may help people, it may not.

Lying as we "worship"

Our central lie is in the discrepancy between the language of worship and the actions of worship. We confess “Jesus is Lord” but only submit to the part of Christ’s authority that fits our grand personal designs, doesn’t cause pain, doesn’t disrupt the American dream, doesn’t draw us across ethnic and racial divisions, doesn’t add the pressure of too much guilt, doesn’t mean forgiving as we have been forgiven, doesn’t ask for more than a check to show compassion. We “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” expressing our desire to know Jesus, but the Jesus we want to know is the sanitized Jesus that looks a lot like us when we think we are at our best. Despite God’s Word to the contrary, we think we can say that we love God and yet hate our neighbor, neglect the widow, forget the orphan, fail to visit the prisoner, ignore the oppressed. Its the sign of disordered love. When we do this, our worship becomes a lie to God.–Mark Labberton, The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice (Downers Grove: IVP, 2007), 71

Worship to me is one of the central aspects of the Christian faith. In its purest and truest form the Christian faith is radically and staunchy monotheistic (We beleive and worship one God.) God is jealous about being worshiped. We are to worship him and him alone, not ourselves, stuff, creation, but him along. We are also here to enact Gods righteousness, bringing about Gods kingdom on earth as in heaven. This means caring for the hungry, looking after the lonely, being there for the widow. Being passionate about ending injustice and helping the underdog. Worship is not about songs, its about the state of our heart. Desiring to honour God in every moment. Desiring to live a life that pleases God because we are bringing love joy and hope.

HT: Alan Hirsh

Posts of Note # 4

I've put a number of new links up on my blog over the last couple of weeks to blogs of members of Mosaic.

Get Busy Living is the blog of Benn Crawford

The walking stick and Learning to Love are the blogs of my New American friends Justin Blass and Lacey Speck. They are missionaries here with student life. It is great to have them as part of Mosaic. I am sure having a whole lot of fun spending time talking with them and sharing life with them in our little (yet growing) community.

Kingdom grace has an interesting post on intimacy with God and what that means. How do we see our relationship with God. Is the electric fence experience important? What does it mean to walk with God? What she has to say is very encouraging though.

My friend Lisa has another thoughtful post - this time on multiculturalism and the church. Many people know that I love worship and how it is personal and cultural. That we can express our personal story to Christ and it doesn't need to be restricted. Its awesome. I look forward to seeing people worship God in a whole series of ways in heaven, in song, in dance, in caring for one another, by eating together, by sharing stories with one another, by being co-creators with God. I love all these different expressions that show our gratitude to God but also the way in which when we do these we come closer to understanding what humanity was truly intended to being about.

Update
Steve Taylor of Emergent Kiwi has done a blog on the theology contained in the Hillsong song "for all you have done", he has been very kind to Hillsong who for all the theological issues contained in their songs (particularly the ones leaning towards "Jesus is my boyfriend songs and bad prosperity gospel) have actually written a song which is pretty sound theologically. Well done Hillsong, and well done Steve Taylor for being gracious and humble.

You can see further reaction to a Steves blog on Bill Kinnnon's blog who gives his critical response.