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Bo Sanders: Public Theology

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Watch this space

I have picked a new layout in anticipation of some new posts here. I have been blogging over at Homebrewed Christianity with the headier-theological stuff and here I want to make it a little more casual.

I will be attempting something new this weekend – several people have asked me about the old podcast … and I may have some good news!

Tell me what you think of the new layout – and stay tuned for the experiment

I appreciate all the feedback and deep conversation about these deeply meaningful topics.

-Bo

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Why change is challenging

I am fascinated with human behavior and the psychology behind it. I love reading books that examine sociology and help to explain why we, as a culture, do what we do. This is partly why I am in the field of Practical Theology and not Philosophical, Biblical, Systematic, Historic or any other branch of theology.

I am interested in how faith is lived out in actual locations.

I am also interested in why I do what I do. Why do I make the decisions that I do? Why do I value what I value? Why do I spend my time the way that I do?

Two quick stories:

I used to be a big fan of ‘time’ theory and practice. I based much of my philosophy on books like “Unwinding the Clock” by Bodil Johnsson and “Margin” by Richard Swenson. When I was a Lead Pastor this was a major emphasis of my thought and practice. Then I went back to school for graduate work and became an Associate Pastor and almost all of this has either gone out the window or deteriorated to the point of being unsustainable.

This past week I had the opportunity to go up to the mountains where there was no TV, Internet or reliable cell coverage. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving break. It dawned on me after two days “maybe I am not spending time during the week in a way that brings out the best of me.” I decided to revisit some of my routines and renovate some of my ruts.

Saturday went well as I change the way I prep for Sunday.
Sunday went well as I tweaked the way I get ready for a full day of activities.
Monday went well as I disciplined myself to change the way I spend time in the office.
Then came this morning…

I was doing so well that I thought I would return to an old pattern I had gone away from: morning devotional reading.  I pulled out an old daily reader that I have read and re-read so many times over the last 20 years but have not touched for the past 4.  I was excited to sit down with an old friend and meditate again to some classic ideas. There was just one little problem – it stunk.  The reading was stale and the thoughts were antiquated.

I had a good laugh after I got over my initial disappointment. This is why it is so hard to make changes! If your first run doesn’t meet immediate success, it can be really hard to muster enough energy to try again. This is especially true if you are making the change because of a perceived lack or deficit.

I feel like the person who does situps one day and then is disappointed when they look in the mirror and they are no thinner.

Anyway – I almost done with the semester and have great plans to get ready for the new year and some new patterns. I just thought I would throw out this reflection and share it with people I love exchanging ideas with.    seasons greetings to one and all  –Bo

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The cancer of criticism

In various forms, I have heard the following concern expressed: does being a part of a system take away the possibility of bringing a substantial critique?

  • Can one gain the needed perspective to level a valid critique on the program as a whole if one is a participant?
  •  Is it possible to escape ones location and particular constructs to the degree that a valid attempt might be made at a critique of the enterprise one is socialized in?

I believe that it is.

I draw my inspiration for analogy from the cancer cell. A cancer is comprised of the same biological material as the body that gives rise to it. They share the same biological makeup and DNA. The difference is that the cancer cell is participating in a different narrative than the other cells that make up its host body. This narrative in turn directs the cancerous cells to behave differently from the organism that houses it and behave in such a way that undermines that body to the point of threatening its very existence.

Aware critiques  are in this same way cancerous to their host organism. Though it is comprised of the same genetic material and from the same biological makeup, it operates in such a way to undermine the dominant project and subvert the enterprise altogether. Aware critiques are housed within systemic frameworks and are inherently (genetically) of the same substance.

I argue that location determines the resulting direction of critique. Aware critiques may originate from the center and provided a valid critique.

Admittedly, it is not sufficient on its own but it remains credible none the less. I actually think that it may carry more weight in most scenarios than a critique that comes from the outside and non-invested,  as they may be dismissed as mere criticism or complaint.

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talking about the Bible [links]

I have really enjoyed the recent conversations about Reading the Bible better and the book of Revelation. I will pick up on those themes tomorrow and Thursday.

Until then, I wanted to point to one of my favorite blogs with professor of Bible J. Daniel Kirk. He has been reviewing a new book about the Impossible Bible and he said something really true about those of us raised or converted into a tradition that reads the Bible in too-tight a way (mostly ignorant of it’s cultural context among other things).

Students who believe in this kind of Bible but then leave the world that makes it plausible by going to, say, a public university or a differently oriented seminary or, worst of all a PhD program and there encounter the real Bible for the first time–well, they lose their faith. Or, they have to go through so much intellectual reconfiguring of their faith that its persistence stands in question.

We see this over and over again in Pastoral circles. It is only going to get worse with people like Bart Erhman (who this happened to) promoting all the ugly stuff that young believers are usually protected/sheltered from .

You can also get the Bible Made Impossible by Christian Smith here.

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Then agian, maybe I’m wrong

I posted yesterday about Plaxico Burress, Romans 8:28, Walter Rauschenbusch, President Obama, and the Antichrist. My point simply was that people do believe this stuff – even though sometimes I am accused of contending against something that no one really believes. My only point is that people do actually believe those things.

But I know what people who hold to those views are going to say – I have heard this line of reasoning since I first attended Bible college 20 years ago. Here is what they will say:

  • Maybe Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the foot did happen for a reason. Maybe God – who is in control [which is the next level up from being sovereign] – let this happen so that nothing worse happened. Maybe God allowed him to injure himself so that he did not harm who know how many other people with that gun.
  • Maybe people don’t know about Walter Rauschenbusch because he focused on the wrong thing (social conditions like poverty) instead of the Gospel (of salvation). [if you are unfamiliar with this distinction, read this post by Rachel Held-Evans about Scot McKnight’s new book]. Maybe God let his name fall into the annuls of long lost history because his ministry was not honoring to the truth of the gospel and got side tracked from the real important issue.
  • Maybe President Obama could be the Antichrist. With everything happening about Israel right now, all the earthquakes, the economy like it is… this could be the end – and if it is – then the most powerful politician in the world who plays both the Christian and Muslim card could be that duplicitous man of lawlessness that we have been waiting for.

Its not that I am unaware of the line of reasoning. Its just that I don’t believe it. Now, I could be wrong about any one of these given bullet points – but that people do believe these things … about that I am not wrong ;).

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Just FYI

I have been asked to contribute on a major project to be unveiled for early 2012.  I am so excited.

So I need to condense down some of my side projects and focus them a little more. This will become the home for my 300-500 word posts about life,faith, and the Bible in the 21st century (navigating between the everyday and theology). I will post my more theological-philosophical stuff over at Homebrewed Christianity.

I posted there this morning in defense of one of my favorite theologians and authors John Caputo if anyone is interested.

A quote from Caputo’s the Weakness of God:

The kingdom of God is the rule of weak forces like patience and forgiveness, which, instead of forcibly exacting payment for offense, release and let go. The kingdom is found whenever war and aggression are met with an offer of peace. The kingdom is a way of living, not in eternity, but in time, a way of living with out why, living for the day, like the lilies the field–figures of weak forces–as opposed to mastering and programming time, calculating the future, containing and managing risk. The kingdom reigns whenever the least and most undesirable our favor all the best and most powerful or put on the defensive. The powerless power of the kingdom prevails when ever the one is preferred to the ninety-nine, whenever one loves one’s enemies and hates one’s father and mother while the world, which believes in power, counsels us to fend off our enemies and keep the circle of kin and kind, of family and friends, fortified and tightly drawn.”  – p. 15

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Bo to Go

I have been having some fun at different outlets around the web. Here are 3 audio files that you may want to download for your listening pleasure.

  • I preached this past Sunday at Westwood UMC. Here is the Media player. You can also download it onto your computer or get it on I-tunes. I look at the story of Zacheaus from Luke 19 in a sermon called “the Gift of Possibility”.
  • The economy is a concern for us all. At Homebrewed Christianity it is a theological concern. Tripp interviews Joerg Rieger, author of No Rising Tide – my favorite book on the subject. It is a theological look at the economy and it is fascinating.
  • I got to interview Graham E. Fuller ,the former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA. This is our HBC 9/11 special and I hope that you will listen to it. [the interview starts in minute 9] He wrote a book called “A World without Islam” and we talk about the world we live in and geo-political roots of our contemporary conflicts. We go to  Israel, Turkey, Russia, Bosnia,  Malaysia, Indonesia and America.  We also go back in history – past the Crusades – to the roots of the East/West split and the relevance of those tensions for us today.

I wanted to link these all here for those who, like me, are always looking for something interesting to listen to on their Ipod. It is wonderful to be a part of the wider conversation and I really appreciate all who participate in this little corner of it!   -Bo

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if you are going gray

I wrote this for a friend of mine who hates his prematurely gray hair but loves Joel Osteen… or is it the other way around?

Go to the mirror every morning and open your Bible to Prov 16:31 or 20:29.

Then in your best Texas-Pentecostal voice say:

This is my Gray Hair. I love my Gray Hair.
I have earned every one of these Gray Hairs.
I believe what God has said about my Gray Hair and I receive it as a crown of Glory!
I will never regret my Gray Hair. Never never never.
I will wear it like a banner of Victory and confess that God has established me like a root of prosperity!
I am blessed with God’s favor and my offspring will declare that I am the beloved of God.
I will not be ashamed of what God has done to my hair – and will let it be known today that with this Gray Hair that God has crowned with with favor and blessing.
Therefore what God has declared over me will cast down all concerns about me
and no appearance or image held up against me will prosper.
The Lord has said and now let it be so!!

In case you have never seen the original here is a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncxlkokN-6Q&feature=youtu.be

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Catching Up – September 1

it has been a wild a woolly Summer. In the past week I have moved from Claremont (where I go to school) to the west side of LA (where I work). I had to make multiple trips to the old apartment to clean and clean up in order to get ready for the final walk through (so we could get our deposit back). I also started a new semester of school.  It has been busy.

I have been blogging over at Homebrewed Christianity and will transfer some of that over here… but not all of it. I wanted to experiment and see how some theological ideas would float over there with a different audience. It has worked out well and I have figured out what voice I want to use over there and what I want to post over here.

If you have missed the TNT (Theology Nerd Throwdowns) that I do with Tripp Fuller, you may want to listen to these on I-tunes – unless you have 43 minutes to listen to them streaming.

I will be posting some catch-up stuff in the next couple of days. I look forward to the ongoing exchange of ideas.   -Bo

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