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Five Pillars of Christianity and Technology Taking over the World

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

[more coming soon, but for now a re-post from Feb 2009]

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Ever consider how the movement of technology is eerily similar to the characteristics of Christianity? Never had I, until recently.

Then, in World Christianity class, our prof talked about someone who came up with the five pillars, or characteristics, of Christianity. These are handy to keep in mind for mission, and they’re good to remember because we often think of Christianity in our own neat and tidy way. These pillars are broader claims about CHRISTIANITY (big letters) with an emphasis on Christianity the world over.

First the five pillars, and then how they connect to technology…

Five Pillars/Characteristics of Christianity

  • translability:  there is no one language of Christianity. Latin was once used for theology, but it Christianity is inherently translatable
  • uses people’s idiomatic expressions of the divine:  related to the first, but considers, for instance, how we translate the name of God into different languages
  • biographical: Christianity is both about biography of individuals — one’s self — and the biographies of communities of believers. Primarily, though, it is about the biography of Jesus — which we will expound on in testimonies, or sing in hymns.
  • poly-centric: not one center of Christianity (but centers, perhaps)
  • cross-culturally diffused: loses its cohesiveness in order to interact with the context where it has been received, in that new context gain gains a new cohesiveness

Ok, now think about how new technologies, Web 2.0, and the basic movement of information relates to each pillar of Christianity.

  • Technologies are not in one language. In fact, the internet necessarily breaks down language barriers.
  • Tech stuff isn’t about expressions of the divine, but it is all about idioms, idiomatic expressions of what people claim as important (even sacred?) in their lives — that’s the blogosphere in a nutshell
  • Blogging, facebook, twitter is sooo biographical it’s almost too much for me. They’re all about biography and community, though.
  • Clearly, there’s no one center of the net and that’s what gives it enormous power
  • This last one is tricky, because technology doesn’t really lose its cohesiveness when met with a new environment, but it does become co-opted and gain a stronger cohesiveness when used well in the new setting.

If this were a paper, I’d now have to tie this up with a sweet conclusion. But it’s not. So I won’t. I do think, though, perhaps this means that Christianity — perhaps uniquely — may be spread through the use of technology. This seems like a big jump, perhaps, but I’ll take it for now. Or, on the other hand, I wonder if Christianity might be threatened by technology because they share so many characteristics? Is this why the church is so rapidly declining in Europe and the US, but growing in South America, Africa, and parts of Asia? Probably not.

Any ideas what to make of this?

image by cobrasoft

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“Thank you God for making me an atheist”

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

Originally posted at Gathering Voices: Faith Conversations from TheThoughtfulChristian.com

I missed the Golden Globes this year (ok, I miss them pretty much ever year), but I did catch the hubbub surrounding comedian host Ricky Gervais’ closing line. After thanking the many people that helped put the awards show together, Gervais concluded saying, “And thank you to God for making me an atheist.” Indeed, it’s a funny line from a master comedian.

What caught my attention in the conversation after the awards show was this clip from Piers Morgan’s interview with Gervais. I had never imagined that, in a mere three minutes, a person could make so many head-scratching comments about religion. Wow, where to begin?

You can watch the clip yourself, but here’s a few oddities:

  • Gervais, “I’m not mocking [believers]. People’s beliefs aren’t my concern at all. I don’t differentiate between religions. I look at all religions the same.”
  • Praising Christianity for the morals values it instills, Gervais does say the best way to move forward in life is to live out moral values.
  • Gervais paraphrases Jesus’ second greatest commandment (Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31) without any irony: “I say what good is and I treat people the way I want to be treated.”
  • Apparently proving he indeed doesn’t differentiate between religions, he speaks as if all Christians believe the earth was literally created in six days.
  • He concludes acknowledging a drastic difference between spirituality and religion.

I guess what bothers me most about the clip is the surface-level approach to religion and theology. In a world in which differences in religions (not to mention within the same religion) contribute to cultural strife, political battles, global injustice, and wars, it just strikes me as super-silly to “look at all religions the same.”

From other interviews I’ve gathered that Gervais grew up going to church and was a believing Christian as a child. But when Ricky was eight his older brother asked him, “You don’t really believe in God, do you?” And his mom, who overheard the question, hushed his brother. Ricky realized something must be off if his mom didn’t want his brother talking about atheism. So within the hour, Ricky Gervais became an atheist.

As a pastor, I walk a tricky line when engaging people in conversations about atheism in my parish and community. Some of my best friends are atheists. Close family members don’t believe in God. I love chatting to these folk about why they don’t believe, or using the famous line, “Tell me about the God you don’t believe in.” Sadly, more often than not, I find myself defending my atheist friends to my believer friends who are overly suspicious of atheists and agnostics, as if there’s some danger that non-believers carry a type of virus that’s libel to infect them.

I suppose what most bothers me, whether from one point of view or another, is anyone who’s not open to exploring questions of religion and belief. Maybe that’s why I like the name “The Thoughtful Christian.com” so much. And if there were a “The Thoughtful Atheist.com” that’d be great too, emphasis on the “thoughtful.”

Additional Resources from www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com

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Sermon: Unity in Christ

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

First Presbyterian Church of Hallock, Minn.

Jan 23, 2011

Unity in Christ

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the rhetoric in Washington. For a time, after the Giffords shooting in Tuscon a few weeks ago, politicians held their tongues. Republicans in control of the House put off the contentious health care bill repeal vote until later. Members of both parties floated the radical idea of sitting with each other during the President’s upcoming State of the Union address. It reminded us, briefly, of the bipartisanship in the weeks following 9/11– politicians of all creeds standing on the Capital steps singing, “God Bless America” together.

But that was then.Times change. … Continue Reading

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Why I Blog (hint – not for narcissistic purposes)

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

Originally posted at Gathering Voices: Faith Conversations from TheThoughtfulChristian.com

Shortly after I began blogging four years ago, I often found myself explaining what a blog actually was.  Many people, I found out, had heard of blogs but never actually read one.  These days, when someone finds out I’m a blogger, people are more apologetic than inquisitive.  “Oh, I should really do that, I know,” they’ll say, “I just don’t have the time.”  What a difference four years makes.

Jakub Krechowicz

I don’t actually think everyone should blog any more than I think everyone should have a dog or have a taste for cheese curds.  Yes, bad blogging can be narcissistic and reactionary.  Yes, blogging takes time that could be spent otherwise.  But as a pastor and pilgrim, I find blogging both feeds my soul and sharpens my skills for service.

In Bird by Bird, a fantastic reflective book on writing and life, Anne Lamott pens a chapter entitled “Looking Around.”  I first read the book for a seminary preaching class, our professor emphasizing the qualities of good writing for strong sermons.  Years later, upon becoming a regular writer beyond sermons, I still think of this chapter fairly often as it aptly describes an important element in my blogging and other writing: looking around.  Lamott writes:

Writing is about learning to pay attention and to communicate what is going on….The writer is a person who is standing apart, like the cheese in “The Farmer in the Dell” standing there alone but deciding to take a few notes. You’re outside, but you can see things up close through your binoculars. Your job is to present clearly your viewpoint, your line of vision. Your job is to see people as they really are, and to do this, you have to know who you are in the most compassionate possible sense. Then you can recognize others. (97-98)

Most good writing — including blogging — calls the writer to assess her place in the world and consider others.  It requires slowing down; thinking.  Good writing comes to those who wait.

Lamott’s image of the cheese standing alone rings true for me, because blogging and writing does take a certain apartness.  For me at least, I find that I must stand alone to look carefully at how we stand together.  That said, blogging is about making connections, connections between ideas and connections between people. Countless times, a comment on my blog will call me to reassess a perviously-held thought, or take me to another more considered position. Links and ideas posted on other blogs inform my writing, my preaching, and my daily life. Friendships with other bloggers — some of whom I’m met in person, many of whom I haven’t — enrich my life and deepen my community.

In brief: I blog so that I might live more faithfully.  You don’t have to if you don’t want to.  But I do hope, in whatever way works best for you, you can find practices that help you look around, that enable you to see the world with complexity, so that you might recognize others and the God who is working in all our lives, even now.

Additional Resources from www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com

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A few good plugs

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

I’m happy to announce three cool things on A Wee Blether today. Yes. Count them: one, two, three!

  1. The Presbyterian Outlook, an independent magazine reporting on issues of interest to the PC(USA), is looking for two new part-time employees. And yes, you can even work from the comfort of your own home! I know I’m not alone in my push, in the most amiable way, for the Outlook to refocus efforts on web presence and social media (yes, their site makes me want to pull my hair out). Well, the new Internet Content Manager Job will do just that. They’re also looking for someone to fill this CopyEditor Job Description. I’ve worked with the Outlook folk in the past and can recommend them as a classy organization filling a vital role in the denomination.
  2. The Thoughtful Christian.com, a great portal for lesson plans and book deals, has recently expanded and launched a new blog: Gathering Voices. I managed to wrangle my way into the first group of regular bloggers, so Wednesdays my posts from Gathering Voices will be cross-posted back here. I’m excited to work with such an awesome group of bloggers — some young, some old, all smart — and I’m also quite happy that it’s less of a time commitment than my stint with the Century Blog. It’s live as of yesterday; my first post goes up tomorrow.
  3. MinnPost.com, speaking of new ventures, is a newish effort in high-quality nonprofit journalism for “news-intense people who care about Minnesota.” Well, that’d be me!  I’ve followed them for a few months, and recently re-worked a post for them.  It appears today in their “Community Voices” section under the title, “The Minnesota breakfast crew vs. the Twitterati: Cherishing a sense of perspective.” Check out their site, though, not for my voice but for their new model of quality journalism.
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Sermon: Honest Testimony

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

First Presbyterian Church of Hallock, Minn.

Jan 16, 2011

Honest Testimony

Psalm 40:1-12

I haven’t been a babysitter for a while now, but I remember this much: order matters. When putting a child to bed — on a calm night, at least — you need to go in the right order. Bath first. Get on pajamas. Brush teeth. Go to the bathroom. Set a cup of water by the bed. Locate stuffed animals. Read a story; maybe two short ones if you’re lucky. Turn out lights, (but not all). Sing a song. Leave quietly. As I remember, for the children I babysat at least, if you changed this order of nightly rituals you’d pay for it. Either the child would think you were silly, or more likely, they’d just think you were incompetent. Everyone knows you have to read a book while sitting up in bed after you brush your teeth. Never before.

I’m reminded of this sacred order as we read Psalm 40 today. There’s a sacred order of lament psalm writing. Usually psalms expressing hurt and sorry go like this: they start with an invocation calling on God’s name, name the complaint, ask for a specific petition, give some sort of assurance that God hears the prayer, and then have a vow. They almost always end with thanksgiving and praise. Not every psalm of lament follows this strict order, but almost all are pretty close. Not psalm 40.

Think of Psalm 40 as the bad babysitter psalm. The order is all wrong. It’s worse, — if you can imagine this — than reading Goodnight Moon backwards! … Continue Reading

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Perspective is Hard to Tweet

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

I’m a pretty big advocate of social media. At least, I often advocate people of faith use social media in positive ways because it’s a very powerful tool for community and connections. But, when I speak or write on social media, I always do so with a caveat: social media will not save us. Social media is fine and dandy, but it’s used by sinful folk who make mistakes. And, perhaps the most compelling aspects of social media are also its downfall. I’ll soon get to an example, but first, let me tell you about my breakfast — no, for real, not what I had for breakfast, but how.

Every Wednesday I’m in Hallock, I have breakfast at the local diner. (Only one choice in town, by the way, but it’s delicious.) Each week, I walk in and take my seat at the center table with the crew. The crew, or some conglomeration of it, is there every day save Sunday when the diner is closed. A busy day will bring 15 guys or so, but it gets down to 5 or 6 when the weather is -25 below or more and the snowbirds are gone.  They’re all men, many retired farmers (some still farming), and I’d guess the average age minus me is probably 80 or so.

I look forward to these Wednesday mornings because the guys just talk. I mostly try to stay out of the way and let them at it. We cover — without really meaning to — sports, politics, local happenings, old hunting stories, family updates, condolences, how things used to be, and there’s always somebody lambasting the DNR. What I love about these breakfasts is the way the banter happens. Sometimes voices get raised, many times controversies get stirred, but it happens at a table where you can talk things through. There’s no hurry. They’ll all be there tomorrow, God willing.  So they talk at things knowing they don’t have to figure it all out that morning. What’s the hurry anyway.

Now contrast this with my experience Saturday watching social media in the immediate wake of the tragic Tucson shooting. Friends I love and respect put up, on their Facebook walls, reactionary rhetoric accusing the Tea Party and Sarah Palin of guilt-by-association in the shooting before the Loughner’s name was even released. News outlets I respect incorrectly reported Giffords had died (though I have to say NPR’s apology was first-rate). Acrimonious accusatory quotes were being slung around Twitter faster than snot freezes on a Minnesota ski trail. On the whole, this was not social media at its best, but sad angry people lashing out against those with whom they deeply disagree.

Please hear me: I’m not saying Twitter and Facebook are bad. I love them both and use them extensively as fantastic tools. But I am saying, on Saturday at least, they were used as instruments to voice our lesser side.

Tim McGuire writes glowingly of the Arizona Republic’s coverage of the Tucson shooting. The Sunday edition came out less than 24 hours after the event, but even that short time allowed for more careful reflection and fact-checking.

The Caribou Grill breakfast crew is far from perfect. But the manner in which they meet — slowly, carefully, repeatedly, knowing each other well, with coffee — does imbue the gatherings with a sense of perspective I cherish, one that I sometimes miss on the lighting-fast platforms of social media. So when I go to breakfast Wednesday mornings I do something very rare for me: I leave my smartphone in the car.

image by Thomas Bush

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