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little wonder that significant portions of emerging generations are eschewing the faith of their childhood as it has little significance for the questions they are facing in adulthood. Jesus was a purveyor of radical thinking and action. In \u2018Jesus: Social Revolutionary\u2019<\/u>Peter McVerry believes he understands the reason Jesus was ultimately put to death. \u201cI believe,\u201d he says, \u201cJesus was put to death by good people acting for good reasons, because the God that Jesus revealed had radical consequences for ordering behavior and structures of society, consequences that threatened the existing order of society.\u201d <\/em>[1]<\/a>Yet, since the conversion of Constantine the Christian Church has often struggled to re-order the maladaptive structures and self-centered behaviors evident throughout society. It could not address these issues fully while attempting to maintain a grip on the power and influence now available to it. Seelig hints at this in her section on Envisioning<\/em>. She says; \u201cMany of the \u2018prompts\u2019 we get in life unwittingly stifle free expression and imagination\u201d[2]<\/a>I know she probably did not have the Christian Church in mind but perhaps we should think about this in light of how we convey the \u2018appropriate\u2019 expressions of faith to our congregants. Are we encouraging a free expression and use of imagination in faith or simply more of the same culturally comfortable Christianity that sufficed for previous generations? If we as leaders in the Church are not taking the time to consider 100 new meaningful ways to connect with a disappearing generation then it is likely that we are still using tools from a previous era. [3]<\/a><\/p>\nSecondly, several of you are aware that the past year has been particularly challenging for me personally. I have been on the brink of dropping out of this program on several occasions and continue to wonder whether or not the financial and personal investment is right for me. Without going into the sordid details much of that struggle has been attempting to discern where it is that God desires to place me for the next season of my life. I feel like for the past several years that I have been \u00a0<\/em>Maybe this book is out of place for a Christian D Min program seeking to develop a covey of leaders for the Church. However, perhaps it is the perfect text to foster a new perspective and a willingness to utilize the \u2018invention cycle\u2019 as a tool of the Gospel. As Augustine writes; \u201cNay, but let every good and true Christian understand that wherever truth may be found, it belongs to his Master\u2026\u201d (II.18).<\/em>[6]<\/a><\/p>\n [1]<\/a>Battle, John. “Jesus: Social Revolutionary?” Thinking Faith: The Online Journal of the Jesuits in Britain. May 28, 2008. Accessed September 14, 2018. https:\/\/www.thinkingfaith.org\/articles\/book_20080528_1.htm.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a>Seelig, Tina.\u00a0Insight Out: Get Ideas out of Your Head and into the World<\/em>. New York, NY: Harper One Publ., 2015. P. 43<\/p>\n [3]<\/a>Ibid p. 149<\/p>\n [4]<\/a>Seelig, Tina.\u00a0Insight Out: Get Ideas out of Your Head and into the World<\/em>. New York, NY: Harper One Publ., 2015. P. 68<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/images-2-300x168.jpeg\")
working neither to fulfill God\u2019s desires nor dreams of my own, but those external expectations foisted upon me by others. Maybe it\u2019s a \u2018mid-life crisis\u2019. (But, I pray that God doesn\u2019t make me live that long if mid-fifties represents mid-life.) Seelig again recognizes this tendency when she states; \u201cMany wake up one day, deep into their career, and realize that they\u2019ve been following someone else\u2019s dream, not their own.\u201d<\/em>[4]<\/a>I wonder too whether or not this is a common situation for those in leadership in the Church. Maybe we have been called to a specific and unique task but have settled for the ordinary, the comfortable, the secure role from which sufficient kudos is garnered, \u2018waking up\u2019 one day to realize that God had so much greater, but ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Unknown-2-300x168.jpeg\")
we settled for something less. Again, is it any wonder then that emerging generations are loathe to follow us when the path we are on is far from inspirational. What is it that God would have for us? This is more than some \u2018challenging\u2019 sermon that makes people uncomfortable for a few minutes until they walk out and start contemplating where they are going for Sunday lunch or which game they are going to watch that afternoon. No, this is more about demonstrative expressions of our faith, lifestyle decision we embody that consistently cause consternation. If we are surrounded by people just like us who largely approve of how our faith is lived out then perhaps we should consider whether or not we are in the correct \u2018dream\u2019. \u201cUniversal approval also suggests that you probably aren\u2019t stretching far enough or seeking out objective critics.\u201d<\/em>[5]<\/a><\/p>\n