1000 Word reflection

Journal for living the Bible in a Post Modern Context Russell Bartlett
29 September – 3 October 2008

Monday

The Kansas State University clip was very confronting to me. I know that I have to face these realities, crucial for my ongoing work. This was further cemented with the Gen X’er (Lauren?) monologue. Her statements that she doesn’t expect promises to be kept, and that she’s homesick for something she never had, spoke strongly to me of the need to live with integrity myself, to be willing to build relationships and especially to listen well.
I appreciated the establishment of some theological underpinnings through the exploration of “expanding the box,” and the promise of deeper exploration. I am eager to dig deeper into these.

I’ll need to think a lot more about the DJ-ing metaphor. It certainly provoked some new thinking for me, though I would have liked clearer explanation and demonstration of how all three of juxtapose, subvert and amplify, actually work. The practical exercise with Steve’s sermon, “Christ as representative …” was very helpful and provocative to me at the same time. I wonder about the “weighting” of the cultural and biblical samples, and whether your average pastor can sustain finding a healthy balance of these as Sunday keeps on coming around relentlessly. (This touches on much wider issues – expectations of congregation, gifting, team ministry, equipping others …)

Tuesday

The opening exercise, exploring our post-modernity “colours” emphasised to me the importance of facing the reality of it, with its opportunities, its multiple voices and layers. The great danger for me is to stay safe, “head in the sand”, rather than engage. I am being called to engage.

How fascinating it was to learn of the production of the contemporary Scriptorium. It was very stimulating to be aware of such an enterprise, the making of a setting for the coming together of our culture’s realities (even the Twin Towers were there) with the text. I appreciated that it included a collaborative process of “correct interpretation.” Image and text, beautifully together.

Then came Si Smith’s 40. The balance, this time, of spoken word and image, quite drew me in. There were things happening for me that I suspect were not intended by the artist (like the reminder for me of empty tomb, as we peered into the cave that Jesus was about to enter.) As Si says in his interview: “Good art make room for the spirit to blow.” And that it is “subversive … revelatory … (it will) unsettle you. And these are all the things that Christ did.”

I loved the experiences of living the text in community, both Steve’s working our Christmas passage with us and later Brian McLaren’s modelling. These encouraged me greatly, to do it more myself, as I saw afresh how God speaks through the communal process. The word is the focal point around which the 3-D pendulum course of our souls swings. God is in the movement.

Wednesday

Here was another way of engaging with the text which captivated us all. “Godly Play” was a way of telling a Biblical story, with the drama unfolding literally before us. I appreciated that the process was easily transferable, and that the three key questions provide the potential for taking the participants into real sharing.

The input on “environments speak” furthered the message! The illustration of Pentecost at Opawa was powerful. We could see how it works! The Creator of the senses communicates through and to our senses.

The discussion about sustainability was very helpful, placing this whole exposure to “living the text” into a realistic context.

The possibilities of “takeaways” was another stimulus, very do-able.
I found the idea of the Good Friday service in the notes extremely compelling.
And I appreciated the final exhortation to see what we’re exploring in the light of imago dei – Please, more discussion and exploration of the meaning of this fundamental starting point.


Thursday

Having seen the movie Vantage Point fairly recently, I found my imagination going to work, considering how the text could be explored using differing perspectives. This led to reflection on the role of a pastor – pastor as equipper/empowerer. I’ve been reflecting again this week on Colossians 3:16, the indwelling of Christ’s word coming via the teaching/admonishing done by one another. I appreciated that the particular role of study/exegesis was not being denigrated – far from it – but put in the context of the necessity of various voices being heard for the fullest richness of encounter with the living word. So a pastor’s leadership role is to work at enabling all the voices to be heard, while also contributing their expertise and insight.

A further spur at this point was the presentation of imagination as having both poetic and ethical dimensions. This presented to me a further “growing edge”. ‘Poetic’ I’m somewhat familiar with, but to work imaginatively with the ethical possibilities I found quite challenging, especially in the post modern “labyrinth of mirrors.”

I enjoyed the whole of the input on story telling, especially the learning through the experience of the community. The reminder to “vary the diet” with respect to the balance of text and human story was very helpful.


Friday

In some ways, today’s input came through to me as a preaching workshop. The value of it for me was in the exploration of how creativity is nurtured (especially reflecting on what works for me, and thus the resolve to do it more), and the potential power of the communal dynamic.
The experience of the presentations by the class was a strong affirmation of the applicability of the week’s teaching, such a release of creativity in community, multiple ways to engage with the text.

Summary thoughts

There was a dynamic of building some sense of community during the week. Yet it was constricted by a degree of artificiality, being thrust together in a time-limited class. What was modelled in the teaching methodology, and the repeated return to the one text, has fired in me the vision of building a community around the Word where many entry points to engagement and encounter with Jesus and his Kingdom’s work/mission could happen in the context of the ongoing real relationships and experiences of a group who were committed to such a life.

Many other diverse thoughts and questions in my own mind have been triggered: for example, how “living the text” might be worked out beyond the main church gatherings; the place of doctrine in this way of journeying; how to train others to lead others in living the text?

Much stimulus, much to learn, much to explore.

Starters

Hi to all,
I've lived all of my life, except for almost 12 months in India, in Adelaide. I am married to Anne and we have four children (2 in Adelaide, 1 in Pt Lincoln and 1 in Kentucky, USA), all married, and six and a half grand-children.
I was ordained as a Baptist pastor in 1984, and continued pastoring at Parkside Baptist church for the next 16 years. The last 8+ years I have been working with the SA Baptist Union, in varying roles, pastor to the pastors, teaching and overseeing pastoral training, and facilitating learning and development.

In this class I am very interested to explore ways of encouraging engagement with the text of Scripture, with sensitivity to and understanding of the cultural dynamics in which this engagement occurs. I love to see people encountering and wrestling with the whole Biblical story, the "whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27), and thus being equipped to live life to the full. I hope that by the end of this class experience, I will be further equipped myself in helping others in this regard.