Monday Reflection Week 5

The exercise on Monday was to get in small groups and find Kingdom like characteristics in different church traditions. This was a bit hard since the only resource we had at the time was the book from Karkainnen. It would have helped if someone from the tradition we were looking at (Lutheran in our case) was in our group; but most of us were clueless on Lutheran tradition. Yet the interesting part was the personal interpretation (which by combining group we ended up with around 14 people) of each students. Since most of us were not familiar with the tradition, we had to wrestle with how to understand what was described in the book. Many tried to interpreted the ideas in the book in light of their own tradition and experiences. Once then we started connecting it with the idea of Kingdom of God. It felt like the process of an entry in wikipedia. Fun exercise but I am not sure if it was much helpful since the accuracy of what was presented is still questionable and somewhat weak.

– Book Review 4 – Ronald J. Side, Churches that Make a Difference

Author: Ronald J. Side, president of Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA) and professor of theology and culture at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, is the author of over twenty books, including Just Generosity and the best-selling Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger.

Theme: The holistic church should combine both the words and deeds (Good News and Good Works). It should focus on the inner strength and spirituality of the people so the church can reach out and fulfill the complete mission of Christ.

Summary: As seen in the theme, the author focuses on the two very disputed and divided sides of the church (the “conservative” which focuses on personal salvation and “social-gospel” which focuses on the social works). The author claims that both have partial truth of what the church in this world should be and do. The holistic church should contain both elements; since social work without Spirituality and personal salvation without reaching out are incomplete image of the church. This is because we are both physical and spiritual beings. We can not neglect or emphasis only one aspect. Jesus’ ministry on earth focused both on the eternal salvation and the physical restoration of the person and community.

Reflection: By far, one of the best books I have read in this subject. I was blown away by how clearly he organized and argued his case. He answered many of the questions I had in my mind regarding the “healthy and holistic church.” I always had the sense that the church today was missing something yet I was hesitant to move away from it and go into the social issues because I truly believe in the importance of the local church. Most of the books I read criticized the current local church and emphasized mainly on the idea of going beyond its four walls. This book combines the two elements and emphasizes the important of seeing them as one. He does not just theorize it but shows models and theological grounds for that idea. As the author mentions; there is no one, two, three step process in creating a holistic church.
This book has been truly relevant and strongly helpful for me since my case study (not just for the class but for my ministry) is the church planting project. I had real hard time imagining the new church and to what direction should I take it. Because as much as I had an idealistic image of doing all that Christ wants, I also knew the reality of my culture in which the church planting team (as well as the congregation) were accustomed to. This book has really challenged me in pursuing a holistic ministry, but not just idealistically but taking in consideration of my current cultural limitation and hardships. At the same time it gave me a good foundation and models to refer back to as I am in the struggle to form a truly holistic church.

Wednesday Reflection Week 4

Today’s class really brought me to the focus and helped me in thinking of my final paper (also of my current church planting). It is kinna funny how it worked like the “Karate Kid” movie (How the main character was given bunch of tasks that didn’t seem to related and at the end they were crucial part of his learning). The reflections we did in the past classes were good exercises in helping us think of the kingdom of God in our ministry. The questions on Wed nesday (how would Justice, Peace and Joy would manifest in our context) helped us in narrowing down the definitions and characteristics of the Kingdom of God. I really had hard time identifying them in my case study (church planting) because we have externalized the idea of Justice and Peace to the “world,” only to the context of social justice and wars. The question of how that would look like in a church context really challenged me in seeing things differently. Because if those are the characteristics of the Kingdom of God, then they should be visible in the church of God. I am really excited about the paper which, as Prof. Bolger said, is not just an assignment but something that will help and benefit our ministry context. I true look forward to that.

Monday Reflection Week 4

Monday’s excercise of imagining Jesus in our context (our case study, which most people related to their ministry). I read a similar idea in the book “Just Like Jesus” from Max Lucado. The book begins “What if, for one day, Jesus were to become you? What if, for twenty-four hours, Jesus wakes up in your bed, walks in your shoes, lies in your house, assumes your schedule… What if, for one day, Jesus lives your life with his heart?” Back then when I read this I thought of “how should I act and be more like Christ.” But through the excercise on Monday, I was able to expand that to the minsitry context. Not just “how would I live” but “how would the community look like through the presence and ministry of Jesus.” I think that is a big part of the course, how to go beyond “I,” “my family” and “my church” to the “community” of God. This is very important since we, as human with sinful and selfish nature, tend to focus inwardly rather than outwardly. I think this excercise would be great for church members to think of and reflect.

–Book Review 3– Karkkainen Veli-Matti. Introduction to Ecclesiology

Author: Veli-Matti Karkkainen is associate professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. He has published numerous articles in international journals of theology, and his books include Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, Internationalm and Contextual perspective and An Introduction to the Theology of Religions

Summary: The book is a survey of different ecclesiological traditions (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Reformed and more) and theologians (Zizioulas, Pannenberg, Newbigin and more) as well as the church in different cultural contexts (Non-church movement in Asia, The Feminist Church, Post-Christian Church and more).

Reflection: The section that got my attention was the “A World Church” which speaks of the catholic missionary Vincent J. Donovan and his work on ecclesiology. This was so since I am currently part of the church planting team of my church (which is also the case study for the class project). Donovan’s main argument is that the church must go and think beyond its four walls and see that the whole world could be the church. He tries to redefine everything that is believed to be the core element of Christianity (i.e. Church, Jesus, Sacraments).
I totally agree with Donovan that Christians have made institutionalized church into something more (or less) than what Jesus had in mind. There are cultural elements, beginning from the Hellenistic down to the current Western culture that have influence and reshaped the church. We have added all this cultural “baggage” (as described by Donovan). The author also criticizes the inwards focus of the church which results in failing to connect with the world and with those we must reach out to.
As much as I agree with his basic ideas, his proposed solutions seem to destandardize (one of the title’s section) the church too much to the point that we loose the uniqueness of Christianity and the church. God speaks of the heart to save the whole world but never deemphasize the idea of the few, chosen people of God; the remnants. We must be outwardly focused but at the same time we must be inwardly conscious of the community of God we are put into. We can truly “reach out” once we know who we are and where we stand. The author’s effort seems to try to destroy the four walls of the church instead of expanding them. As an example, the author states that the authentic Eucharist is found in the world among people instead of on an altar. I see his point, of feeding the hungry, being a crucial part of the church’s ministry but we can only do that once we receive the heart of the servant from our Lord Christ. We don’t feed the hungry and serve the poor just because they need help and we can in fact give them. We do it because it is will of God and because they are also creation of God. The center of all our belief and action must come from God. The church is not a concept but a concrete organization (yes, in need of renewal), a visible sign of the Kingdom of God. Because many times the church is not living in accordance to the Kingdom of God does not mean we should find a different way of portraying the kingdom God. We must reform the existing church by expanding its walls and not by getting rid of them.

Wednesday Reflection Week 3

“Kingdom of God” is a very controversial and constantly debated term that Jesus used to describe his ministry. It was hard to picture the kingdom of God in our discussions today since we, as class, had not defined the term. Our group, in line with many scholars, defined the term as “The reign of God.” If that is the case, the question: “what does the kingdom of God look like in churches/mission groups?” should shock us in a very awkward and funny way since the very essence of church and mission group should be the “Reign of God.” It is a sad reality that we know more churches that do not seem to be under the reign of God than churches that do. That is what leads us to ask questions such as the above. I think the “Kingdom of God” is not a result that can be seen and proven; the actual visible result may vary church to church and culture to culture. To me, the Kingdom of God is more like the state of our heart towards God. It is the giving up of our will and plan (someone once said that we are busy planning “God’ plan for us”) and putting ourselves in the state of total obedience to God. Just as everyone has different talents and different calling, the external result of the kingdom will be different depending on who and where you are; as well as your community’s calling.

Ordination?

Today (1/12/07) was a special day for me. I met the Korean Methodist Church ordination board and officially started my ordination process today (whatever that means^^). In Korean Methodist Church, one of the required steps in order to be ordained is to plant a church. As many of you know our church has just planted a missional church in Walnut and that will be the church I will be serving. I hear it will take around two years for me to be ordained. I don’t think I am ready for that yet… When I said “whatever that means,” was becuase I don’t think I really know what it means to be ordained (not the ritual aspect) or become an ordained pastor. Well…. God has started it, so I pray that God will finish the process and use me for his great purpose. I pray that I would serve with humble heart and “finish well” the race…

“Please take from me my life when I don’t have the strength to give it away to You Jesus” – Third Day

-Book Review- John Fuellenbach, Church, Community for the Kingdom

Author: John Fuellenbach, SVD, who teachers at the Gregorian in Rome, has taught in the Philippines, and lectures internationally. He is author of The Kingdom of God

Summary:
In this book, the author revisits the idea of church and the concept of “Kingdom of God” as presented by Jesus; and how that idea is (or should be) relevant to us in this age. The author also states that in the struggle to answer those questions, the church of today is facing a serious difficulty in finding the direction for its future. We can not and should not rely in the historical model since it does not give us the right answer for the future.

The two answers for the questions and the ways for the church to advance in the kingdom of God are: 1) the enculturation and 2) solidarity with the poor. The author argues that the church today must go beyond the western model and theology of the church. We must listen and adapt from the churches found all over the world, especially from Africa, Latin America and Asia, which, according to the author, will be the place for the future church. Fuellenbach also notes that we must focus on the poor, the marginalized, just as Jesus did while standing up against the society.

Reflection
Although I agree in many of the author’s prospective and have greatly benefited from his writings, there are certain aspects that I strongly disagree with. This seems to be an obvious result since we differ in our presuppositions (found at the beginning of the book). The author claims that there is salvation outside the Christian church, through the work of the Holy Spirit released in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He backs his claims with how Genesis begins with the account of humanity and not of the chosen people (just as revelation ends with the gathering of all nations). Also a qualifier he adds is that “the manner in which salvation in Jesus Christ is made available outside the church through the working of the Holy Spirit remains mysterious to us.” In fact it is true that the work of God is mysterious and in fact God “could” grant salvation to an individual outside the church (because he is God and nothing is impossible for Him). Yet, that does not mean we can claim salvation outside the church. Here, I am talking about the principle and the guidance given to us through the scripture (I am not declaring that I hold perfect understanding of scripture). It is clear in the bible that the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ. I do not think this refers, as the author writes, that the resurrection of Jesus could be extended to other religion. I believe there must be a concrete and specific professing of faith in Jesus Christ and His resurrection through the community of faith (the church). The idea goes back to the idea of principles. An illustration would be: God could in fact save someone who has taken his or her own life if He chooses to (or for some other reason not known to us), but this does not mean we could claim that “you will still go to heaven in case of suicide.” We must teach what we were taught by the scripture (of course while leaving the result to God) and that order should not be changed.

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This disagreement also brings a different personal view and conclusion of the church with that of the author (only in part). I believe the local church as institution (no matter how corrupted it might be) is crucial for us the believers. If there is something wrong with the church, we must try to fix it but not find an alternative under the name of “different church.”
In terms of the answer given by the authors: Yes, we must be sensitive to the culture but we must not let the culture define the church. It is the gospel adapting to the context, not context reshaping the gospel (I am not saying that is the author’s claim but that in fact, it is happening in many places).

Free hugs?

I came across to this video when surfing the TIME magazine website. It was one of the 10 webvideos worth watching of 2006. True story~

it was title: Free Hugs Campaign. Inspiring Story! (music by sick puppies)

“Unlike other cities, in L.A., nobody touches you. We miss that touch so much that we crash into each other just to feel something.” from the movie “Crash”

Wednesday Reflection Week 2

Today we had two group discussions regarding the content of Lohfink’s book. Our group spent most of the time in the question of the church (rather than in the “mission of Jesus” or “kingdom of God”). That is probably because we are more familiar with the idea and the institution of the church rathen then the idea of Kingdom of God. We, and the book, have concluded that the church is the community of believers who trust in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. What I noted in the group discussion, and want to restate, is that the main word among that definition should not be the “community” but “Jesus Christ.” I am saying this becuase today many believers have overemphasized the idea of “community” and in the idea of taking care of one another to the point that the church became a social gathering where the need of the individuals are met. If the “people” becomes the focus of the church, it only means that we have imported the consumerism model into the church. I believe we must focus in Jesus Christ and in his resurrection. The gathering of believers can only become a true church when we are transformed and united by the power of the blood and the resurrection of Jesus Chirst.