Radical Transparency and the Colapse of Piety

Greetings Readers, it’s been a minute since The Dialect of Praxis had a post. It’s been an exciting time in my life and new adventures have kept me engaged in conversation elsewhere. I hope you all are well!

Radical Transparency is a term I’ve borrowed from David Kinnaman’s well-selling title UnChristian. The phrase is an ideal set by the Buster and Mosaic generations (specifically those ages 16-29) who have grown skeptical and/or cynical about the portrayal of Christianity and the mass-marketed consumerist society surrounding young people today. Radical Transparency is a mindset aimed at deconstructing image-centered hyper-individualism and being “real” with people.

Kinnaman’s book, boasting copious amounts of research and data analysis on Western culture’s negative perception of Christianity and its people, declares, only 1 in 22 Christians (in the 16-29 age bracket) have a deep connection to the Christian faith (UnChristian). This phenomenon is what authors such as Kenda Dean and others have come to call Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.

In the spirit of Radical Transparency, I have to say I’m not alarmed by any of the statistics, negative views, erosion, or declining numbers of the Christian faith. I’m at the tail end of the Buster demographic and have personally experienced the skepticism, cynicism, and need for authenticity in the Christian world. But, the skepticism and cynicism (which I have no doubt worn as a coat of armor) is as concerning as the façade of moralistic perfectionist Christianity.

Pious behavior (personal devotional reading of scripture, doing everything right, praying enough, and the like) doesn’t save us and this is a fair criticism from non-Christians and skeptical believers, towards the typically Conservative portion of the Christian community. However, I’m not looking to tear down Evangelicals today. Instead, I ask, could a delicate balance of piety be a bad thing?

Honestly, I’m not hugely pious (or remotely pious compared to my days as an Evangelical Christian) but I like to study the scriptures. As is evident by the statistics in UnChristian, most people identify the importance of Christianity in lifestyle before anything to do with the Gospel message. And, experience has shown me that many young people in the Church today don’t have a basic understanding of the Gospel (or scripture in general). Maybe non-Christians don’t want to know who Jesus is because most Christians don’t know who Jesus is anymore. Christianity is not a set of lifestyle principals; it is faith in the living God and redemptive work of the cross.   

Lenten Devotional 12: Spirit and Flesh; Fully God and Fully Human

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Scripture reading: Mark 14:32-42

As we have been in this time of Lent (a season of lament and repentance) the experience differs for us all. There may be moments of sorrow, joy, hunger, peace, unrest, reconcile, angst, comfort, loneliness, community, religious fervor, and/or divine turmoil. Lament and Repentance change our mindset (this may or may not be an uncomfortable experience).

For people, like me, faith is not grounded in experience, but it is an element of the journey. In our passage today, Jesus knows what is coming and, like many of us, the coming trial has him apprehensive (vv. 35-36). The humanity of Jesus is part of what brings our understanding of God into divine relationship. God isn’t this distant being that cannot relate to what it’s like to be human. Jesus, God incarnate, knows what it is to lament and experience great sorrow.

Jesus understood that, “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (v. 38b). This is what it meant to be God incarnate: of spirit (pneuma) and flesh (sarx); divine and human. I believe he said these words about himself (not about the godliness or sinfulness of human beings). After he says those words he prays again that the Father God “remove this cup from [him]...” (vv. 36, 39).

If our savior felt the human emotions of fear and trembling over his calling to die for us and only the Spirit of God could do the will of the Father through him; how are we surprised by our own human weakness? Jesus is Lord, fully God and fully man; yet, he knew the lamenting sorrow of human suffering. It is only by the work of God that the Holy Spirit graciously works in our lives. For, the Holy Spirit is willing to do what we cannot do for ourselves, but the flesh (substance of being human) is weak. This is the work of God alone.

Father God, many of us may ask you to remove the cup of plight from our lives because it is more than we are willing or able to bear. However, the work of your Holy Spirit does what our immutable will cannot do and carries us through times of trial. The fact that Christ understood our emotions is a gift to us. Thanks be to God for the work of grace and the cross. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thanksgiving: Redefining "Family" as God Redeems the Raw and Gritty

It is Thanksgiving weekend and I have a lot to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for the God of the cross who has carried me through one breath at a time. God gave me everything. It is through the gifts of God that I live in grace and redemption.

I understand God through the event of the cross and the cross is the lens I look through to see life. I am blessed. Sure, this past year or so has been like, a cinematic tragedy, and I’ve spewed a fair amount of raw and gritty emotions. Now is not the time for raw and gritty.

I’m thankful for my family and friends; without whom, I might be singing a darker tune today. But, God gave me you, wonderful people to share life with; so, I’ll be damned, if I’m not going to stop and feel the love long enough to say thank you.

In 28 years, I have only missed Thanksgiving with family on two occasions. In 2009, I spent a memorable day with some of my close friends at Trinity. Honestly, a handful of my friends are an extension of my family; therefore, Thanksgiving, to me, is about family (relative and friend). In turn, I may have spent Turkey Day in 2009 and 2011 apart from relatives, but I was still with my family (thank you Lance and Jeff, I love you guys)!

I’ve spent this weekend thinking of family (friend and relative) missing the family who I could not be with, share a meal with, pray with, laugh with, and love face-to-face. It’s been a warming reflection. I laughed as I remembered last year living with Grandma, being banned from the kitchen due to Mono, and sneaking in to carve the turkey as my last girlfriend saved the meal for the five of us. Grandma’s not here anymore, but I got to live in her home for her last Thanksgiving; without a doubt, I am thankful for that memory!

Austin, Holly, Jake, Hillary, Jeff, David, Kristin, Lance, Brandon, Scott, Jeremy, Kellie, Jim, Susan, Dick, Cindy, Michael, Carol, Kyla, Karly, Morgan, Ally, Sam, Michelle, Chase, Dave, Valerie, Melissa, Nadia, Matthew, JP, Phil, and the countless people who have supported me this year, I am incredibly thankful for the presence you have had in my life! I dedicate this post to all of you my family (friend, relative, and church). Again, I thank God for all of you, all you’ve done for me, and what you mean to me. With a prayer of thanksgiving, I am especially grateful, in a different way, for my dad and Holly and continue to pray for the Lord’s healing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tim “Jimbo” Kellogg 

(While I wrote this, I listened to:)