Comments on: Ever Read a Blog that Made You Say “Whew Got That One Wrong”?

By: grace

grace — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 04:31:42 +0000

Mike,
No need to be embarrassed. Although a spar on my site with some of my regular commentors might be interesting.

A little background, I wouldn’t identify myself as “emerging.” I believe in the concept that the church is in an ongoing process of change to more accurately reflect the nature of God. However, I don’t necessarily agree with all of the ideas that get grouped under the banner “emerging.”

Missional is a scriptural concept that I believe is descriptive of the role of followers of Christ as agents of reconciliation.

As listed in your latest reply, my beliefs about God are basic, standard orthodox beliefs. I believe that we are reconciled to the Father through Jesus and that He is the Way, Truth, and Life. I am not confused about that.

Yes, we might not agree on matters of ecclesiology.

“God just wants us to be radically nice and healing like Jesus”

Yep, that’s me. My writing has a relational bent. That’s kind of the gist of “love God, love others.” Seems scriptural to me.

Anyway, it’s been nice visiting.

By: Mike Odlyzko

Mike Odlyzko — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 03:53:41 +0000

It's also clear to me, that a lot of my writing on this thread amounts to (ultimately) straining a gnat. The important questions about Disciples or Converts boil down to: (1) How do we distinguish spiritual growth from rot, fertility from sterility? (2) What are the specific means that foster the end of growth in Christ — for ourselves, and for others — with consideration for the opposition of world, flesh, and Satan? (3) How do the beliefs and practices of Christians -- whatever their "affiliations" (e.g., emerg***, reformed, Roman Catholic, etc.) -- measure up? The rub, though, is that our answers might be very different from each. How then do we proceed in wisdom and love?

By: Mike Odlyzko

Mike Odlyzko — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 03:38:09 +0000

Lionel, good call on sinfully careless use of language. There is shared belief in who the eternal, triune God is: glorious Father; incarnate, crucified, and risen Son; powerful, transforming Spirit. There is shared belief in his speaking through the Bible, and through the wisdom the Spirit bestows upon human beings. There is shared belief in God's supremacy and independence, and his working in creation and redemption. Saying there are disagreements about who God is was especially stupid; there are minor points here (e.g., what do we say to people who claim that followers of other religions worship God? isn't there a disagreement about who God is going on there?), but it is false in any general sense -- by definition, Christians cannot be confused about this! I'll stand by saying that there are significant disagreements over what God says, and how He works, within the professing church. That's kind of a moot point, though, as you've addressed in Wrestling With Truth. Thank you for requesting clarification before responding.

By: lionelwoods7

lionelwoods7 — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 02:43:55 +0000

Mike,

Can you elaborate on this?

If only our conflicts were merely over style and not substance, over how to talk about God but not over who He is and what He says and how He works…

By: Mike Odlyzko

Mike Odlyzko — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 01:11:06 +0000

Another note on formatting (still learning about what wordpress does and doesn’t recognize). In the third paragraph, it should read:
I didn’t claim that “any writing informed by your reading list” = “neublous, speculative thought scarcely addressing beliefs and conduct characteristic of healthy spiritual development.”