{"id":923,"date":"2013-03-14T12:47:41","date_gmt":"2013-03-14T12:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/a-second-reading\/"},"modified":"2013-03-14T12:47:41","modified_gmt":"2013-03-14T12:47:41","slug":"a-second-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-second-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"A Second Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

I first read James Hunter\u2019s To Change the World<\/em> in 2010. In my excitement, I read through the book quickly (but thoroughly of course) hoping for some concrete steps on how to change the world. I got to the end of the book and was underwhelmed. Where was this world change? What were the actions steps we could take to fight hunger, poverty and a myriad of other sins? Sure, I believed in Hunter\u2019s notion of \u2018faithful presence,\u2019 but I was eager to move past that to action. The world was hurting and the church was too often on the sideline. Furthermore, being a millennial I was skeptical of institutions, even when I worked with and for them.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward a couple of years to my second reading of To Change the World<\/em> and my experience was different. \u00a0Whereas before I was disappointed for not having actionable steps, now I find great appreciation and relief in his idea of \u00a0\u2018faithful presence,\u2019 and I\u2019m becoming more and more connected to institutions and the role they play in influencing culture. \u00a0What happened?<\/p>\n

My growing appreciation and understanding of the Missio Dei<\/em> and its implications for my life precipitated this shift. It doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that the end results or actions will change. We don\u2019t throw our hands up in despair and retreat into our holy sanctuaries with exasperation.\u00a0 Faithful presence might mean doing the same things, but what\u2019s truly different now is the source of those actions.<\/p>\n

Before it was about me, it was about my effort in building the Kingdom. It was about doing great stuff for God, whether He was involved or not. It was Maslow\u2019s version of self-actualization. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I still battle with those motivations. But now, I try more and more to allow the actions to be a response to God\u2019s movement, as opposed to my attempts to force the hand of God. \u00a0This may sound like a subtle difference, but it\u2019s made a world of difference for my ministry. Before, the emphasis was on my skills, talents and personality and God might or might not be in the picture.\u00a0 Now, I feel as if the weight of the \u2018save the world\u2019 burden has been lifted. It\u2019s not my job to save the world. It\u2019s not my job to find a cure for AIDS.\u00a0 It\u2019s simply my job to be faithful to God, and if He leads me to those things, then praise God! Being a faithful presence might mean pastoring a church that\u2019s dying, or any number of other seemingly simple or futile tasks. It\u2019s the realization that I\u2019m not called to \u2018great things\u2019 first and foremost. I\u2019m called to be faithful to Christ, and He can make even the smallest, weakest efforts great.<\/p>\n

What about my growing appreciation for institutions, what happened?\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t one event or thought that precipitated that change but a variety of smaller experiences and realizations.\u00a0 It was the realization that institutions can do things individuals couldn\u2019t (like hospitals or colleges). It was the realization that institutions provide stability and can be the glue or thread that connects one generation to the next.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if institutions are larger than the sum of their parts because they can have such history and ideals associated with them.<\/p>\n

Do those positive attributes make all institutions great? No.\u00a0 There are lots of things that can be wrong with institutions and there are plenty that need to change or shut their doors. But, for me, institutions have an important and vital role in the world and I can no longer simply write them off because it\u2019s the fad of the millennial generation.<\/p>\n

I wonder what the third reading of To Change the World<\/em> will bring?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I first read James Hunter\u2019s To Change the World in 2010. In my excitement, I read through the book quickly (but thoroughly of course) hoping for some concrete steps on how to change the world. I got to the end of the book and was underwhelmed. Where was this world change? What were the actions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"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":[2,5],"class_list":["post-923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-hunter","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923","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\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}