Posts tagged Theology

Well, there’s an idea I’m going to throw out there.  Tell me if you like it.  I’ve gotten a picture of our church community in the future as it could be, if we want it to be.  This community is one that loves God, and loves truth, and values beauty.  In trying to figure out how to get us there, or even to get ‘there’ myself, I’ve been thinking about my thesis, and about how I want it to be something for the church, and for God’s glory on behalf of the church.  I want to write my thesis (i’m finishing my MA in philosophy fyi) on something that will help the church to make more disciples, to keep us urgently and relentlessly, even strategically, on mission.  The idea occurred to me to think of my thesis as an offering that I could give to God on behalf of conVerge.  The idea being, I write my thesis for the community, even if nobody reads it, and I really pour myself into it, and direct it to edify the body.  This limits me to writing on something that conVerge needs, but this is a good limit. Also, it motivates me, since before I was just writing it to get a degree.  Now i’ll be writing it to real people for a real purpose.

This got me thinking about how we ought all to be in this state of preparing offerings like this for God, throughout our lives. I think that even after I, God willing , finish my thesis/degree, I’ll still want to do big things like this for God. Now, I don’t mean ‘big things’ as in things that cost a lot of money, and much less things that make a lot of money.  Rather, I am thinking of offering as something which stretches us to be more of what God desires, which teaches us to desire that too, which expands our character and ability, and which forces us to depend on community, and celebrate in community.  I think after my thesis, I may learn to play a piece by Chopin on the piano.  Now, I can barely read music, much less piano music.  So this will present me with a daunting task which will take years, but when I think of offering it to God, perhaps on behalf of the church, then it feels right, like this is how we should spend our recreational lives.  This mindset gets me dreaming about things that I have always wanted to do or be, and it gives me a reason to do and be them.  It also gives me the blessed limit of community, in which I am not doing for myself, or even by myself.  You see, I’ll be doing for God (i’ll be sacrificing much time and even money if i need lessons, and not gaining anything but character and ability), and, this is crucial, i’ll be doing on behalf of the church.  This is what is really exciting to me, that I might play the piece for my small group, and then tell a testimony about how glad I am that I did it, and how much i’ve learned, and how much I love God.  How encouraging it will be to be in the audience of this event, to get to be encouraged and blessed as someone in my body glorifies God on my behalf.  How unifying this would be.  How happy we would be.

Now, I do not think this is tied solely to music and writing.  Really, anything you might dream to accomplish, which is truly good, which seeks the good and beautiful, and pushes you on to seek and think these things, is something worth offering in this way.  It should be something that is appropriately hard for you, something that requires much time, practice, and sacrifice.  It should take you around a year to prepare, and it should have something to do with the mission. My guess is that pretty much everyone has something beautiful they want to do, and that if we all started living this way, we would create an irresistible culture of beauty and truth.  Our church would have such a magnificent history, one you could see in the offerings we’ve given over time, and in our joy-filled lives.

This is very embryonic for me, but I’m going to try to do this with my thesis.  What thinkest thou?  Stupid idea? Good idea?  Good idea, but not every one is artsy? Let me know.