open season

every now and again, i want to share some thoughts that will hopefully provoke some soul-reflection and culture-engagement. if you know me at all, you'll know that i enjoy a good argument ("oh i'm sorry, but this is abuse ...") - which doesn't mean that i like to get into emotionally charged conflict, but rather a solid no-holds barred evaluation of ideas and practices. if an idea, no matter how uncouth or unorthodox it may be, might be worth some consideration, i say let's give it the time of day. in the end we may all agree that it is a silly or bad idea, but there may be intrinsic value in trying to figure out 'why' or looking at what light it might shed on our own tightly held beliefs.

so just to get things rolling, here's a discussion that i participated in online with some other ministry provocateurs ... what is the goal of a Christian ministry? i've been in the church circles that promote that it's all about the 'decision' to give one's life to Jesus. so is that it? an exercise of the will that gives mental assent to a proposition about who Jesus was and what was accomplished by his death on the cross? does that define a Christian?

what if being a Christian is not so much about a set of assumed beliefs as it is about the trajectory of our life choices that fashion us more into the likeness of Jesus?

what if true Christianity is more about the kingdom transformations that we are effecting here and now than about the security of an (attractive) eternal destination point?

and what if the attempt to put the definition of "Christian" into a category is a violation of the essence of Christianity itself?

this, i believe, is truly a wrestling match worthy of pay-per-view.

open season