Wednesday, June 22, 2011

What I'm Reading #25: The Mystic Way of Evangelism (Elaine Heath)

The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach, by Elaine Heath

It feels like my pace of reading has slowed down lately, and although that's partly true thanks to field ed revving up, I'm feeling less productive in finishing books because I keep picking up new ones before I get done with old ones. The Mystic Way of Evangelism is one of those. It was recommended to me in conjunction with the evangelism directed study I'm working on, specifically as I look at Lockerbie Central UMC/Earth House in downtown Indy, Lockerbie being an emergent congregation whose expression of radical hospitality (though not equated with it) is this coffeehouse collective focused on the arts, wellness and conscious living. Elaine Heath's book, I was told, would help me understand some of what is going on there, and it certainly did.

This is a beautiful book, it's not long and it's an easy read, so I'd happily recommend it to anyone, even if you aren't interested in something too theologically heady. Heath explores the examples of various Christian mystics across time and space, engaging with favorites of mine like Julian of Norwich, Henri Nouwen, Hans Urs von Balthasar and more. Through a hermeneutic of love grounded in contemplation, sustainability and community, Heath builds a theology of outreach that acknowledges the challenges of post-Christendom and re-imagines basic concepts like holiness, sin and stewardship.

Heath does what many of the other authors I'm reading on evangelism have done: she makes it clear that this is no longer Christendom and no longer modernism. However, although the church is certainly in financial jeopardy as membership and giving decline, for Heath this is an opportunity for the church to become more fully the church. She describes this as "the dark night of the soul," applying a mystical theme to the corporate life of Christianity as it stands today. This dark night is precisely what the church needs to purify itself and to reclaim its prophetic voice, Heath says:

"Contrary to being a disaster, the exilic experiences of loss and marginalization are what are needed to restore the church to its evangelistic place. On the margins of society the church will once again find its God-given voice to speak to the dominant culture in subversive ways, resisting the powers and principalities, standing against the seduction of the status quo. The church will once again become a prophetic, evangelistic, alternative community, offering to the world a model of life that is radically 'other,' life-giving, loving, healing, liberating. This kind of community is not possible for the church of Christendom."

The modern frameworks once used for evangelism are no longer in place. We need a new model—and not just a new set of tactics, but a whole new (or old) way of understanding faith, community and healing.

One of Heath's projects is to re-frame how we think about sin. Using Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love, she shifts from the language of original sin to that of original wounds. Julian's visions displayed God's compassion for God's children, especially in a vision where she sees humans as an overeager servant who falls headlong into a ditch and injured himself terribly in his rush to do his master's bidding. Heath writes that Julian "locates sin in the context of wounds, offering a therapeutic vision of redemption." This completely changes the way God looks at sin, and how we should look at sin: "Wounds precede sin—original wounds—and for this reason the eyes of the Lord look upon the human predicament 'with pity and not with blame.'" Heath takes this even further when she draws a comparison between the story of the fall in Genesis and childhood sexual abuse. Adam and Eve had no reason or capacity to mistrust the serpent, Heath explains, just as a child may be told not to talk to strangers but has no defense mechanism for when their uncle or family friend says or does something they can't understand. This reminds me of the theologian Irenaeus, whose theology of the fall Dr. Warren Smith succinctly described as "we tripped on our shoelaces trying to stand up." The language of wounds, which prompts compassion, is, I think, a far better suited paradigm than that of sin, which only draws blame.

Heath also engages with Phoebe Palmer and other who were part of holiness movements. For Heath, holiness is not about keeping oneself clean and pure while rejecting any potentially tainting influences. She discusses the parable of the woman with the hemorrhages whom Jesus heals. I literally teared up reading this. "Instead of her uncleanness polluting Jesus, his goodness makes her whole. Jesus is glad to touch her." I cannot help but think of this fear of pollution in the context of the ongoing struggle within the church over homosexuality (which parallels a long discussion Heath has about divorce). This post by Dan R. Dick concerning the ongoing church trial of Amy DeLong has this heartbreaking line in it: "our Christian family is broken and that we are seeking ways to amputate limbs from our body." The church, Heath insists, is not called to purify itself in the sense that it should remove influences it sees as bad for its self-righteous holiness; rather, the church is called to kenosis, to self-emptying for the sake of the world. Holiness is not about us but about becoming vessels for God's grace: "We are not set aside and made holy for our own pursuits; we are now in partnership with God in God's mission." The idea of kenosis is directly related to evangelism, for while we often think of evangelism in terms of boosting membership or giving, it is really in the giving away that the church most truly embodies the reign of God: "The church has been at its missional best when giving itself away."

Finally, Heath discusses the concept of stewardship at length. She invites the church to shift its thinking about stewardship from building maintenance and capital campaigns to creation care. Evangelism, she insists, is never complete unless it is good news announced to the whole of God's creation. "Evangelism is not good news until it is good news for all of creation, for humanity, animals, plants, water, and soil, for the earth that God created and called good." Heath challenged me with her ideas on how a pastor should live—that is, the church should move toward a model where buildings and staff are a minimal or nonexistent expense, and all funds go to mission, theological education and the like. The goal of all of this is sustainability and a holistic evangelism that embraces all the world. "[T]his theology of stewardship is grounded in the conviction that the Christian lifestyle, in regard to material goods, should be one of simplicity, adequacy, and sustainability." She advocates for a model of bivocational pastors in small urban and rural communities rather than the growth-oriented church of suburbia. Yes, Heath is helping me understand Lockerbie Central, and making me like the concept more and more.

I could write much more about this book, but instead I'll recommend it highly. It won't take long to read, and it invites the reader to come home to love that he or she might better love others. It is a beautiful little book that offers hope for the future of the church and the world.


Favorite Quotations

"Christian mysticism is about the holy transformation of the mystic by God, so that the mystic becomes instrumental in the holy transformation of God's people. This transformation always results in missional action in the world."

"[A] high Christology requires a hope for all people; otherwise we imply that the sufferings of Christ were insufficient, incapable of bringing about the possibility of salvation for all."

"God's mercy and justice are one and the same. The One who judges the world is the One who died to save the world. Therein lies our hope."

"The call to give ourselves in ministry is first and always a call to come home to love."

"Bonaventure asserts that the incarnation of Christ was not brought about by sin. Rather, the incarnation is the final perfection of creation, the completion of the universe."

"With a hermeneutic of love I give myself in prayer and friendship to the people around me, not so that I can get something from them, not even a commitment to join my church, but so that I can minister to Jesus in them, Jesus who thirsts."

"A hermeneutic of love is fully aware of the devastation of sin and evil, yet refuses to give them the last word."

1 comments:

Morgan Guyton said...

Awesome! Thanks for the reference.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

What I'm Reading #25: The Mystic Way of Evangelism (Elaine Heath)

The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach, by Elaine Heath

It feels like my pace of reading has slowed down lately, and although that's partly true thanks to field ed revving up, I'm feeling less productive in finishing books because I keep picking up new ones before I get done with old ones. The Mystic Way of Evangelism is one of those. It was recommended to me in conjunction with the evangelism directed study I'm working on, specifically as I look at Lockerbie Central UMC/Earth House in downtown Indy, Lockerbie being an emergent congregation whose expression of radical hospitality (though not equated with it) is this coffeehouse collective focused on the arts, wellness and conscious living. Elaine Heath's book, I was told, would help me understand some of what is going on there, and it certainly did.

This is a beautiful book, it's not long and it's an easy read, so I'd happily recommend it to anyone, even if you aren't interested in something too theologically heady. Heath explores the examples of various Christian mystics across time and space, engaging with favorites of mine like Julian of Norwich, Henri Nouwen, Hans Urs von Balthasar and more. Through a hermeneutic of love grounded in contemplation, sustainability and community, Heath builds a theology of outreach that acknowledges the challenges of post-Christendom and re-imagines basic concepts like holiness, sin and stewardship.

Heath does what many of the other authors I'm reading on evangelism have done: she makes it clear that this is no longer Christendom and no longer modernism. However, although the church is certainly in financial jeopardy as membership and giving decline, for Heath this is an opportunity for the church to become more fully the church. She describes this as "the dark night of the soul," applying a mystical theme to the corporate life of Christianity as it stands today. This dark night is precisely what the church needs to purify itself and to reclaim its prophetic voice, Heath says:

"Contrary to being a disaster, the exilic experiences of loss and marginalization are what are needed to restore the church to its evangelistic place. On the margins of society the church will once again find its God-given voice to speak to the dominant culture in subversive ways, resisting the powers and principalities, standing against the seduction of the status quo. The church will once again become a prophetic, evangelistic, alternative community, offering to the world a model of life that is radically 'other,' life-giving, loving, healing, liberating. This kind of community is not possible for the church of Christendom."

The modern frameworks once used for evangelism are no longer in place. We need a new model—and not just a new set of tactics, but a whole new (or old) way of understanding faith, community and healing.

One of Heath's projects is to re-frame how we think about sin. Using Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love, she shifts from the language of original sin to that of original wounds. Julian's visions displayed God's compassion for God's children, especially in a vision where she sees humans as an overeager servant who falls headlong into a ditch and injured himself terribly in his rush to do his master's bidding. Heath writes that Julian "locates sin in the context of wounds, offering a therapeutic vision of redemption." This completely changes the way God looks at sin, and how we should look at sin: "Wounds precede sin—original wounds—and for this reason the eyes of the Lord look upon the human predicament 'with pity and not with blame.'" Heath takes this even further when she draws a comparison between the story of the fall in Genesis and childhood sexual abuse. Adam and Eve had no reason or capacity to mistrust the serpent, Heath explains, just as a child may be told not to talk to strangers but has no defense mechanism for when their uncle or family friend says or does something they can't understand. This reminds me of the theologian Irenaeus, whose theology of the fall Dr. Warren Smith succinctly described as "we tripped on our shoelaces trying to stand up." The language of wounds, which prompts compassion, is, I think, a far better suited paradigm than that of sin, which only draws blame.

Heath also engages with Phoebe Palmer and other who were part of holiness movements. For Heath, holiness is not about keeping oneself clean and pure while rejecting any potentially tainting influences. She discusses the parable of the woman with the hemorrhages whom Jesus heals. I literally teared up reading this. "Instead of her uncleanness polluting Jesus, his goodness makes her whole. Jesus is glad to touch her." I cannot help but think of this fear of pollution in the context of the ongoing struggle within the church over homosexuality (which parallels a long discussion Heath has about divorce). This post by Dan R. Dick concerning the ongoing church trial of Amy DeLong has this heartbreaking line in it: "our Christian family is broken and that we are seeking ways to amputate limbs from our body." The church, Heath insists, is not called to purify itself in the sense that it should remove influences it sees as bad for its self-righteous holiness; rather, the church is called to kenosis, to self-emptying for the sake of the world. Holiness is not about us but about becoming vessels for God's grace: "We are not set aside and made holy for our own pursuits; we are now in partnership with God in God's mission." The idea of kenosis is directly related to evangelism, for while we often think of evangelism in terms of boosting membership or giving, it is really in the giving away that the church most truly embodies the reign of God: "The church has been at its missional best when giving itself away."

Finally, Heath discusses the concept of stewardship at length. She invites the church to shift its thinking about stewardship from building maintenance and capital campaigns to creation care. Evangelism, she insists, is never complete unless it is good news announced to the whole of God's creation. "Evangelism is not good news until it is good news for all of creation, for humanity, animals, plants, water, and soil, for the earth that God created and called good." Heath challenged me with her ideas on how a pastor should live—that is, the church should move toward a model where buildings and staff are a minimal or nonexistent expense, and all funds go to mission, theological education and the like. The goal of all of this is sustainability and a holistic evangelism that embraces all the world. "[T]his theology of stewardship is grounded in the conviction that the Christian lifestyle, in regard to material goods, should be one of simplicity, adequacy, and sustainability." She advocates for a model of bivocational pastors in small urban and rural communities rather than the growth-oriented church of suburbia. Yes, Heath is helping me understand Lockerbie Central, and making me like the concept more and more.

I could write much more about this book, but instead I'll recommend it highly. It won't take long to read, and it invites the reader to come home to love that he or she might better love others. It is a beautiful little book that offers hope for the future of the church and the world.


Favorite Quotations

"Christian mysticism is about the holy transformation of the mystic by God, so that the mystic becomes instrumental in the holy transformation of God's people. This transformation always results in missional action in the world."

"[A] high Christology requires a hope for all people; otherwise we imply that the sufferings of Christ were insufficient, incapable of bringing about the possibility of salvation for all."

"God's mercy and justice are one and the same. The One who judges the world is the One who died to save the world. Therein lies our hope."

"The call to give ourselves in ministry is first and always a call to come home to love."

"Bonaventure asserts that the incarnation of Christ was not brought about by sin. Rather, the incarnation is the final perfection of creation, the completion of the universe."

"With a hermeneutic of love I give myself in prayer and friendship to the people around me, not so that I can get something from them, not even a commitment to join my church, but so that I can minister to Jesus in them, Jesus who thirsts."

"A hermeneutic of love is fully aware of the devastation of sin and evil, yet refuses to give them the last word."

1 comments:

Morgan Guyton said...

Awesome! Thanks for the reference.

 

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