{"id":6270,"date":"2015-10-29T15:02:27","date_gmt":"2015-10-29T22:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=6270"},"modified":"2015-10-29T15:02:54","modified_gmt":"2015-10-29T22:02:54","slug":"social-theory-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/social-theory-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Theory & Church"},"content":{"rendered":"
For me, the reason I joined this professional doctorate program is simple. \u00a0I just want to be a better local church pastor (Although this is an altruistic motivation for me, Lemert & Elliot would probably argue that by applying to Fox I was actually acting out of my entrenched globalized-self and the need to \u2019transform\u2019 and \u2018improve\u2019 every aspect of myself as part of my self-actualization 8201) . Elliot\u2019s, Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction<\/i> is very helpful to me. \u00a0Unlike Grenz\u2019s helpful thesis that every Christian does, and is doing, theology, Elliot helps me become a better pastor not because everyone is doing social theory, but because contemporary social theory helps explain societal forces that shape how people in and out of the church live. \u00a0As I learn the various social theories, I am better equipped as a leader to not just shepherd The Hub, but to create ministries and plan Sundays that directly confront the plethora of invisible social forces and structures with the Good News of Jesus and His Kingdom. \u00a0Whether one agrees with any of these theories or not, we can all agree that \u201cwe live in new worlds of social and cultural organization\u201d (571). \u00a0The local church needs to respond to the \u201cshifting terrain of exciting experiences\u201d (560) and make Jesus and His Kingdom accessible to her neighbors.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A Case Study<\/b><\/div>\n
Consider Brenna, (not her real name) who is a real people at The Hub and who\u2019s life can be dissected and explained by various contemporary social theories and for whom The Hub exists. \u00a0As a recent divorcee, Agamben would say she is living a \u201cbare life\u201d on the margins of church culture (486). \u00a0The church can respond to this situation like Jesus responded to the Samaritan woman at the well. \u00a0What do ministries and liturgies look like for single women in church who are living the \u201cbare life?\u201d \u00a0What topics need to be discussed in small groups that will expose and heal wounds?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
During her divorce, Brenna stops showing up for her small group Bible study. \u00a0Brenna takes a lot of weekend trips with her homosexual male friend and misses Sunday Morning Worship Gatherings. \u00a0She is making these choices not because she lives in a \u201cborderless world\u201d (Kenichi Ohmae 593) or out of some type of class conflict (Marx 906). \u00a0There are other forces that influence her behavior. \u00a0According to Bauman, Brenna is \u201cre-personalizing\u201d her ethics and morals (6479). \u00a0Now that she is not married, the American loneliness discussed in Putnam\u2019s, Bowling Alone<\/i> and Bellah\u2019s, Habbits of the Heart<\/i> is magnified exponentially. \u00a0Brenna\u2019s life is not only bare, but has morphed into Bauman’s \u201cliquid life\u201d (7406). \u00a0Brennan is lonely and now starting to drown. \u00a0How does The Hub accept and love Brenna and live in community with her and not preach and live a \u201cwatered down\u201d gospel?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Brenna\u2019s job is changing and she feels the need to pursue a new occupation. \u00a0Richard Sennett says that the loss of economic long term commitments is effecting her self-identity and self (8030). \u00a0 It won\u2019t be long before Brenna asks the question of The Hub, \u201cWho needs me?\u201d \u00a0Or even worse, Brenna will leave The Hub, not because she was called elsewhere, but because \u201ctoday\u2019s corporate culture of short-termism\u201d is making it really difficult for people to remain loyal to institutions, even the church (8061). \u00a0 The church can help here with preaching about our identity in Christ and by going through whole church campaigns like Emotionally Healthy Spirituality<\/i> by Pete Scazzero. \u00a0Demonstrating love in an unconditional way like delivering meals after a surgery helps here as well.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Each of Brenna\u2019s children plays sports. \u00a0Brenna finds it impossible to be at each game, each team party, practice, and then help with homework. \u00a0This is because Brenna and each of her children are living in a globalized world where there is more and more pressures for \u201ccommunal\u201d loyalty (8099). \u00a0Not only does Brenna feel expected to be a major contributor to, and present for, every \u201cwork\u201d function, social function, and church function, but she is expected to participate greatly in each of her children\u2019s \u201ccommunal\u201d networks. \u00a0School, sports, clubs, and even church each contribute to this time and energy drain on Brenna.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Hub can come alongside Brenna in a \u201cTransformist\u201d (Held) and \u201cCosmopolitan\u201d (Beck) manner. \u00a0I can lead The Hub to share life with Brenna in a reshaped and reconfigured way (7765) as humans (7828). \u00a0As a mom, Brenna is experiencing what Barber says the West is experiencing. \u00a0She has put forth a significant amount of effort to promote a certain culture, but her ability to do so is deteriorating (7958). \u00a0Most parents of teens know this feeling! \u00a0One way The Hub could help is to create a safe space for her teens to regularly gather and worship and pray. \u00a0The Hub also needs to offer divorce care classes.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Conclusion<\/b><\/div>\n
Pastoring a local church in a networked globalized world is hard. \u00a0But do you know what else is difficult, being a member of a local church in an authentic way. \u00a0Now more than ever, The Hub\u2019s value of \u201cBelonging before you Believe\u201d is simultaneously increasingly important and messy. \u00a0The good news is two fold: 1)Social theory can educate us on what is going on in the real world outside the church office and attempt to label the forces that have a hold on people. \u00a02)Jesus and His Kingdom offer a new life for humanity no matter how terrible things get.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For me, the reason I joined this professional doctorate program is simple. \u00a0I just want to be a better local church pastor (Although this is an altruistic motivation for me, Lemert & Elliot would probably argue that by applying to Fox I was actually acting out of my entrenched globalized-self and the need to \u2019transform\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[675,238],"class_list":["post-6270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dmlgp6","tag-elliott","cohort-lgp6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6271,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6270\/revisions\/6271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}