I was thinking this morning about CS Lewis. On the one hand Marcus Borg has identified the progression of 'conservative' to 'liberal' ideas in Lewis's thought. But that is not what I feel drawn to. Even if Lewis is the uber conservative armchair theologian that so many love and admire - his personal practice is what I am drawn to.

We tend to prop Lewis up as some sort of modern day St. Paul - dramatic conversion, prolific writer on faith etc. We also tout that he was in a writing group with JRR Tolkien. Both these men - Tolkien and Lewis -were defenders of Orthodox faith in their own way. BUT....we forget to take a look at the larger conversation they were a part of. The Inklings had more than just Lewis an Tolkien. It also consisted of people like Dorothy Sayers known for challenging Lewis on his thinking in women, Charles Williams who was influenced by sorcery and secret societies as much as he was by the Christian mystics and Owen Barfield - whose daughter Lucy was the inspiration for Lucy in the 'Narnia' books - was a lay philosopher whose work has greatly influenced many in the 'emerging cosmology' conversation and who himself was influenced by mystic and philosopher Rudolph Steiner.

My point is not that Lewis agreed with all these men or that they did not have sometimes severe disagreements of perspective, theology and application. My point is that Lewis participated in a space of feast and drink in which he and his friends gathered to hear each other, debate each other and...in the end....love each other.

It was a big tent approach.

Another "big tent" question ... A reader writes:

This is a big question for me because I'm considering going into ministry in a large mainline denomination that has members from across the various ideological and theological spectrums. How can we stand against hatred and still include people with hateful ideas in our tent?

Thanks for your question. Let's put Pat R aside for a minute, and just speak in general terms ...

If a previously closed-minded person begins to get sick of their closed-minded ways and wants to be part of something more magnanimous, we want to be sure to make room for them. The fact is, a lot of us used to be a lot more closed-minded and unloving than we are now ... Interestingly, this is the story of Saul of Tarsus in the New Testament. He was one of the most hateful religious bigots around, and he actually turned around. I can't give details for obvious reasons, but you'd be surprised who I've heard from over the last few years ... people you wouldn't expect telling me they're rethinking things and appreciative of the work I and others are doing. So I try to never consider anybody a lost cause ... you know?

Over the last few years, I've had some hateful people show up to some of my events specifically to interrupt, disrupt, and cause trouble. I haven't always handled it as well as I wish, but I think that even when people show up with less than helpful motives, it gives the rest of us a chance to learn to creatively respond.

Completely devoid of special effects, violence, or sex - and without a single chase scene or exploding car, Flipped relies on old-fashioned storytelling and great acting to tell the story of a boy and girl coming of age in the suburbs.

The story begins with young Juli developing a massive childhood crush on Bryce, the new kid in the neighborhood with dreamy eyes. In spite of those eyes of his, Bryce is completely blind to her beauty, and when he finally begins to flip for her as she has for him, it's almost too late.

The families of the two protagonists are essential to the film's richness. I asked producer Rob Reiner about some of these secondary characters.

"Really, the pivotal role in the film, aside from the two kids, is the grandfather. He's the moral compass in the movie," Rob explained. "Bryce is fortunate that his grandfather comes to live with him at such a critical time, when he's twelve or thirteen. The old man teaches his grandson something that Bryce's own father doesn't understand - that you can swim out so far from the shore in terms of character that you can't make it back."

Bryce's father, along with a few of his schoolmates, represents the negative polarity in the movie - outwardly successful but inwardly empty. Juli's father, in contrast, has "kept his soul" in Reiner's words, keeping his creativity alive and holding on to his love for his family, even though his lawn is full of weeds.

"The most important scene in the film, in many ways," Rob continued, "is the scene where Juli's dad takes Juli to visit his brother, her uncle, who is mentally handicapped." It's in that visit - climaxing in an embarrassing outburst in a public place - that we see the gritty courage and tough commitment that real families require.

The two mothers, each struggling with the complexities of marriage and parenthood, create one of the film's most redemptive moments - a meal where the two families come together and begin to overcome their longstanding alienation. (As many suburban families know, it can be a long walk to cross the street and meet a neighbor.)

I told Rob that I sensed a kind of understated spirituality in that dinner: it felt like a kind of communion, evoking in its humble way the epic meal in Babette's Feast. In it, people must face their false impressions of one another, and a kind of repentance begins for several of the characters.

"It really is a spiritual movie," Rob replied. "Juli has this pure love for God's creation, seen in her love for that old sycamore tree." And it shows as well in her care for some chickens - "my girls" she calls them, beloved byproducts of a science fair project.

Bryce discovers that the only way to love Juli is to love what she loves, and so he is brought into Juli's spirituality through her. It's a kind of reverse Eden story: Eve tempts Adam back into the garden he has wandered away from.

"Flipped" succeeds in doing something few films do without seeming schmaltzy: it captures moments of goodness. "You don't set out trying to convey goodness," Rob said. "You try to capture honesty. Because people aren't cartoons. We're all a mix. So you try to convey who a character really is with honesty. And when you do that, some goodness always shines through."

If you've been losing faith lately, wondering if all the eggs have gotten salmonella and all the beaches tarballs, take somebody you love (or would like to love) and see Flipped. And better still, make it a double or triple date, and plan to go out after seeing the movie. You'll have lots to talk about - honest moments where goodness shines through - which is probably the best kind of special effect anywhere.

I am a Korean Christian.
I read your book, A generous orthodoxy.
I agree with your thought. Especially, I don’t like systematic theology, even though I know it is also necessary.
And I majored in religious studies in University, so my mind is widely open, and flexible.
Now I am a seminarian to follow God’s will. (I got M-div, Th-m ana preparing for the doctorate course.)
But I don’t know which major in theology department I will choose.
What major do you want to recommend?
In what major can I learn more about what you wrote in A Generous Orthodoxy?
Systematic theology? New Testament? Something about spirituality? Church History?
Give me some advice.
I want to be a Christian writer, and a pastor.

The good news is that the kind of things I'm writing about are widely appreciated at most seminaries (fundamentalist and extreme liberal seminaries excepted).

Before saying anything about fields of study, I'd raise one question about the order of your career preferences. You said "writer and pastor," but I'd say that the pastorate is so demanding, so important, and so intense that it isn't easy put in the secondary position. In my own life, it's my 24 years as a pastor that challenged me to grapple with a variety of issues in an integrated way. So - if you plan to be a pastor at all, realize that it will be a highly challenging and demanding calling ... and writing will have to overflow from your pastoral experience.

I can only say that if I were going for a PhD today, I would want to direct my studies in the area of practical theology - where I would have the chance to integrate theory and practice across academic disciplines. But that's just me ... the fact is that this is a tremendously exciting time to be alive and study theology in almost any area. Biblical studies, liturgy, church history, theology and philosophy, theology and sociology, theology and ethics and public policy - every area is full of import and foment. And even systematic theology - I suspect that in the years to come, we'll realize that "systematic" wasn't the problem, but rather "modernist/colonial/imperial/chauvinist/eurocentric/Greco-Roman systematic" that was the problem. My hunch is that a whole new era in systematics will soon emerge and will contribute a great deal to what is emerging in and among us.

My prayers are with you today!

I've seen the film she refers to - it really is worth seeing.

Also worth seeing - Bob Roberts and Prince Turqi model Christian-Muslim dialogue:

Prince Turqi of Saudi Arabia from Glocalnetblog on Vimeo.

In North Carolina
In Tennessee
In Minnesota
In Baltimore
In Edmonton, AB, Canada
In Hong Kong
In Cambodia
In Boston, MA
In Houston, TX
In Toronto, Canada
In Boston, MA
In Philadelphia, PA
In Shreveport, LA
In VA Beach, VA
In Louisville, KY
In Dallas, TX
In Philadelphia, PA

I think I'm late in the game here with that particular discussion, as it seems a point of exhaustion feels to be at hand, by some people at least. However, I just want to pose some comments: It seems to me that Paul (in 1 Corinthians 10) is chastizing all of us who debate and divide over interpretation of scripture - not that what you are doing is wrong - I think it's necessary for all of us to process scripture on a much deeper level than 'literally'. I just think that people need to move past interpretation into action, out of theology and into practice, out of conversation and into friendship, out of division and into unity - at all cost. Perhaps we need a third voice beyond evangelical and emergent encouraging us to be radically united with even those whom we disagree, and find ways around theology we don't agree with by working out what it means to act on that theology. I do see the problem with the greco-roman narrative though. If we take that narrative as the thing that God has ordained (that is, perfection/fall/savation or eternal tormet), then our action becomes "tell everyeone how sinful they are, and get them saved by the blood of Jesus so that they can convert others and save them also". The end result is that we fixate on the wonder of the cross, and refuse to mature beyond this into the world of being post-resurrection, post-giving of the spirit people who live in eternal ways and make conciously eternal descisions, and repent when necessary. We do need to be reminded of the cross - which is why we were given the eucharist. I would propose that we take time to reflect on the cross, but that we also must take time to reflect critically and thoughfully on how the cross impacts our daily descisions and routines and interactions. I dont think this means that the narrative is wrong, I just think it means we aren't seeing the entire scope of it - which includes a whole lot of things happening on earth. If we are saved, then we are in a prime position with the power of the living God at our sides to help the poor with their poverty, care for the widow and orphan and be radically generous with our finances, resources, knowledge and time.

Thanks for these comments. It isn't super helpful when one group says, "We are the ones who value the cross, and you don't," and the other group says, "Your view of the cross is narrow and one-dimensional. We are the ones who value the cross more fully." This quickly degenerates into the same-old same-old of "We're better than you," which then degenerates into "We're good/right; you're bad/wrong," which can then degenerate even further.

Far better, I think, for us to try to see the deeper concerns of the "other side." Some of those concerns are "purely" theological (which view makes more sense in relation to all the Scriptural witness?), but some are social (won't these new ideas divide my beloved community?), political (won't those old ideas lead to continuing oppression?), practical (if I fail to uphold "our" view, won't I lose friends - or my job?), and emotional (how could I ever differ from my parents, grandparents, and other authority figures - or my peers?).

In the end, many of us may simply have to differ - but I hope we can even then come together, as you say,

to help the poor with their poverty, care for the widow and orphan and be radically generous with our finances, resources, knowledge and time.

I am confused about prayer and the point of intercessory prayer. I understand prayer is great for developing, strengthening and maintaining your relationship with God, and to provide a means of listening to God and aligning yourself with his desires and intents for you on earth. However I don’t understand what intercessory prayer achieves. Does God really intervene directly in our lives? A dear friend recently told me she was abused for many years as a child. She prayed to God for it to stop, but it didn’t. She questioned, if God is all-powerful, why didn’t he stop that? Why didn’t he intervene?

People pray for sick people; sometimes they get better, sometimes they don’t. Other friends of mine have a daughter with leukaemia. They say things like “God was merciful and her blood count was good today”. So what, if her blood count was bad that means God was punishing her or something??? They think that because she has leukaemia, God must have specifically chosen her to have it so that he could in some way be glorified through their reaction to it. I can’t believe that and don’t want to worship a God who would work that way.

I know “God is not a slot machine” and we shouldn’t pray for a specific thing and then be baffled if it doesn’t happen. But I don’t really get how the whole system hangs together. Does God intervene, or not? If he does, why doesn’t it happen more often when people earnestly pray for things like healing? Why do miracles sometimes happen, but usually don’t? Is there a better way of praying that doesn’t lead to the confusion of apparent negative answers? I get very angry when people are told “It’s because you didn’t have enough faith that your prayer wasn’t answered.” I think that’s a load of BS, but frankly I don’t understand how it all works and would love a clearer picture of how to pray for others in a way that doesn’t lead to disappointment and confusion.

Many thanks if you have the time to respond to this.

God bless you richly for all you are working towards. Your vision of what Christians could be here on earth is inspiring. A very deep thank you to you from me.

You have articulated this question so well ... and your theological instincts, I think, are good, i.e. you are excluding bad-faith potential answers in a wise way.

My friend Kent Annan is writing a book on suffering, based on his work in Haiti before and after the earthquake, that grapples with these issues more honestly than anything I've ever read. It comes out in January - here's the link ...

My next book - we just decided on a title (TBA soon) - is about the spiritual life, and it deals with intercessory and petitionary prayer in some detail. Like you, I find a host of problems arise whenever people try to turn prayer into a fast, easy, convenient, and guaranteed (!) technique for achieving results "out there." I'm especially interested - both in my life and in the book - in how prayer achieves results "in here" - in my soul, my character, my innermost being. And then I'm interested in how "in here" results bring change "out there." So instead of seeing the two dimensions in opposition or as unrelated, I want to see them as interrelated.

The deeper issue you're raising - especially in the area of "intervention" - is God's agency, i.e. what kind of relationship God wants to have with the universe. The only place i've written on this in some detail is The Story We Find Ourselves In.

As you can tell from NKOCy, I think that many of our concepts of God's agency come from imperial, Greco-Roman frameworks, where they served the political purpose of pacifying people for submission to the powers that be. In contrast, the view of God's agency that is emerging today is much more relational than mechanistic, and much more inherent than interventionist, and it leads more to contemplative activism than to docility or imperial collaboration.

I hope that helps a little ... this isn't the kind of question you find a quick answer to, at least not a quick good answer to!

Hi Brian,
I am an avid follower of your blog and am reading one of your books right now for the first time. You're different way of thinking has truly helped me re-frame my traditional evangelical upbringing. I had never heard of "Big Tent Christianity" until your recent post about it as part of the synchroblog. From your post, I gathered it was a pretty cool concept. Then I read another post from a blog I follow "Ethnic Space and Faith" where the writer talked about an injustice done to him from White Christians...in relation to being asked to contribute to the Big Tent synchroblog. I am continually trying to broaden my perspective and be more vigilant against the subtle kind of discrimination and racism that is (some would say) inherent in dominant culture. So I wanted to ask someone I respected, what is this blog writer referring to? Is there something about Big Tent Christianity that only serves dominant white Christians at the expense of others?

the blog post I'm referring to:
http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/honest-hatred-under-the-big-tent/

Randy wrote a really important chapter in The Justice Project, which I helped edit. He talks there about the importance of people of privilege staying at the table - not walking away mad - when people who have suffered under their power bring up uncomfortable topics and perhaps do so in provocative ways. If something of value comes from the Big Tent gathering, it will be essential to pay attention to issues of white privilege (and male privilege, etc.).

See also Randy's post here ...
http://ethnicspace.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/converting-the-missionaries-among-us-lessons-from-jesus-in-luke-4-by-randy-woodley/

I hope more and more people will listen to Randy, and not leave the table mad when we feel uncomfortable. Discomfort is often the fanfare heralding the arrival of major insight.

On a more hopeful note, see this - an example of Baptists (and others) in Virginia supporting needed action on past and continuing racism. It's been said that racism is America's original sin - and recent news suggests we haven't faced it very well yet.

Emergent Village will be releasing a short piece I wrote on the subject soon.

Be there November 1-3 if you can - and if you can't, educate yourself on this important theme. These blogs are a good start ...

And even if you can't be there, stay tuned ... hopefully lots of good things will unfold in the months to come from this time together.

Others discover they can't in good conscience make the faith they inherited their own - they face realities of science, history, psychology, philosophy, or even their own psyche that can't coexist honestly with their inherited faith. Some who find themselves in that situation simply put faith aside entirely. Others have to go through a painful but essential and tremendously creative process of adapting their inherited faith (instead of adopting it without adaptations). I'm always glad to hear when my books help young adults do the latter.

Many of us have wondered how to facilitate that process of helping young adults adapt their inherited faith so they can have a faith they truly and wholeheartedly celebrate. And we've wondered how to teach the faith to children in such a way that it will support rather than hinder their intellectual, interpersonal, ethical, and personal growth later on ... which is why I'm enthusiastic about the event that just was announced last week.

Here's a note from a recent college graduate ...

I wanted to follow up after speaking with you about 3 weeks ago when you spoke at CRCC. I recently graduated from [an Evangelical Christian university] with a degree in XXX & just in the last few months came out [as gay] to my parents.

Thank you so much for the deep compassion and love you demonstrated in speaking with me & introducing me to others at your church. Your kindness is greatly appreciated!!!! I also wanted to again thank you for boldness in writing your books. I know that you have dealt with a lot of condemnation & I'm sure lots of misunderstanding critics. Thank you for putting up with that in order to reach those of us who have desperately needed to hear from you. In particular, I wanted to tell you about 2 stories that have touched me & have caused me to think & understand Jesus & the world differently.

I believe it was in The Secret Message of Jesus that you describe the gospel metaphorically through the story of a kingdom overtaken by an evil empire of sorts...the King is overthrown & he becomes a beggar in order to demonstrate his love toward his subjects. It would take pages for me to describe to you the experience that resulted from my reading of this story. It changed me more than any other version of the gospel I've ever read & allowed me to finally let go of my hatred for God & begin to actually love him. Thank you for sharing this story!!!

The second story that I have loved is the one about Tony Campolo throwing a party for a prostitute at 3am in a donut shop. For much of my life I have struggled to overcome the belief that humans are inherently evil & always set on hurting others...this story helped me to believe in the powerful mystery of God working through his followers to create life & love rather than destruction.

I hope that God continues to strengthen you (physically & in every other way!) to continue listening to his gentle voice & following him.

Thanks for the note. It was a real pleasure to meet you. I hope our paths cross again soon.

I hope you have found time to enjoy your summer amidst the busy schedule I see you have. In the past six months I have read five of your books, and four of them have passed on to others to share your insight into God's plans for us as a human family. My wife of a couple of months and I always read aloud to one another. We certainly read books on our own, usually many at a time, but each night we come back to one book that we share together. Currently that book is one of yours, Everything Must Change. The book has been a catalyst for conversation both while lying in bed, around the breakfast table, and these conversations we share serve to instigate others with individuals at our place of work and at our church. The ideas and interpretations presented in this book are truly inspiring and have both of us itching to get out into the world and share the message of hope, the message of Jesus, with the world.
I'm sure you've heard testimonies like this hundreds of times, and I thank you for at least having an email address to field this, I suppose.... Thank you for your time, your tireless spirit, your inspiration, and your ambition for change.

Wow - I don't think I've ever had anyone read five of my books in six months before! Thanks so much for the encouraging note. And please know that encouragement like this not only means a lot to me, but also I think it also encourages others who have read the books ... to know that they aren't alone in their sense that "everything must change."