Hyde Park Speaks

Mark Driscoll vs. Jim Harnish about The Shack

By Matt Horan

          This past Sunday at Hyde Park United Methodist in Tampa, FL, Jim Harnish preached a sermon called, "Welcome to the Shack."  He spoke to the ages-old temptation to blame God for human suffering.  He used some passages from William Paul Young's bestselling book, The Shack, which is the story of a man's interaction with Young's interpretation of God where they discuss God's role in suffering in light of the horrific abduction and murder of the man's six-year-old daughter.
          Harnish stopped short of giving the book a blanket endorsement as a theological authority.  At the same time, he said that he hoped that people would read it, because it is a quality expression of the free-will inherent in Methodist theology.  Harnish's sermon can be viewed here.

          What do you think of The Shack?  Mark Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Seattle, WA.  Unlike Harnish, Driscoll had nothing good at all to say about the book.  HIs sermon on the book can be viewed here.
         

          Please take a look at these two views, and post your comments below.  Should make for an interesting discussion!

Who Will Be Saved?

I just finished reading the book “Who Will Be Saved?” by Will Willimon. It’s one of those books that you have to share with someone else.

Do you know what the word “saved” means, or the word “salvation”? We use those words frequently in the church. You might say “I’m saved,” but what does it really mean? Mainstream popular Christianity has helped to simplify these words into very personal terms. I’d like to share a few quotes from the book with you that expand upon them.

 “Salvation isn’t just a question of who is saved and who is damned, who will get to heaven and how, but also how we are swept up into participation in the mystery of God who is Jesus Christ.”

 “Salvation is when God finally gets what God wants in creating the world. Salvation means finally, safely to arrive where you have always been intended by God to be. Revelation says that God’s crowning act of restoration is communitarian: New Jerusalem, a populous, raucously signing city, rather than a serene garden. You get this sort of result from a God who loves a crowd: read Revelation 22:1-5.”

 “Christians become protagonists in God’s story. This is what it means to be saved.”

 “A Christian is not saved in order to be plucked out of the damned rabble of humanity, but rather is saved in order to be truly for humanity. The church is the community that lives ahead of time, the people who say now what may one day be said by all, once God gets what God wants ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Christians have been let in on an open secret, a secret that we are called to make public.”

 “Although Ephesians 2:8 says, ‘this is not your own doing but it is the ‘gift of God,’ revivalism…put too much responsibility for salvation upon the shoulders of converts.” “We Wesleyans believe that salvation in Jesus Christ need not be a single, momentous, all-at-once affair. …Jesus is depicted as calling each person by name, each in our own way, each in our own time. The experience of salvation can be momentous, instantaneous, but more typically it will be a matter of sequence and process.”

Click here if you would like to read more about our Wesleyan theological heritage from UMC.org.

What we all think and believe about our salvation and the salvation of the rest of the world effects how we live our lives and think of others. Jesus did come to draw everyone to himself, and as you’ll discover in this book, Willimon pushes us to consider just how vast everyone really is. Will Willimon is not the only theologian who brings up these ideas, but his book “Who Will Be Saved” is a thorough look at salvation and a must read for all. Stop by the Aldersgate Corner Bookstore & Coffee Shop and pick up a copy today.

A Pint-Size Disciple Bible Study

I guess this is sort of appropriate that I only have time for a short post now, because I'm here to tell you about a short-term Disciple Bible Study. That's right. Anyone who's taken one of the four 34-week studies may be surprised to learn that DBS also offers shorter 11-week studies.

I'm part of a little tight-night group that meets most Tuesdays to discuss Christian learning and we've done so by reading a series of books. Over time, we realized that although we were reading a number of very thought provoking tomes, we weren't reading the Bible itself so much. Sort of ironic for a "Bible" study group, don't you think? We all remembered back to our DBS days and were delighted to find that DBS offered these shorter studies. We're going to be reading "Invitation to John," that literally focuses only on this one gospel. Perhaps you have a small group that might be interested in such a study. We ordered ours through the Aldersgate bookstore, and you can learn more about it at the Cokesbury site.

We have fond memories of our 34-week studies and created close bonds with a number of the participants, including some who went on to join our Tuesday group. But perhaps, like us, you might want to supplement your learning with one of these shorter studies.

I can't exactly go on to recommend "Invitation to John" yet. I've barely cracked it open. But hopefully I'll find time to update you on our progress.

Going Beyond the Sermon

Sometimes I sit there listening to the sermon thinking "hmm... I never thought about it like that." Those are the times that I should dig a little deeper, so that thought doesn't come and go. During our current worship series, we're trying to view the world in a new way.  So many times we look at people, events, and our own lives based more on things we've learned from society rather than through the lens of the resurrected Jesus.  The fact that Easter happened should make a difference in how we look at things after Easter.

So as I was saying... when I have those thoughts about looking at something deeper, I should go look around our bookstore at the church.  They just got over twenty new books in that talk about topics related to the current worship series "Easter Earthquake! How the Resurrection Rocks the World."

Here are a couple of the new books that look interesting to me.  The first is Prayers for a Priveleged People, by Walter Brueggemann.  Here's what the publisher says:

In Prayers for a Privileged People, this much-published author sculpts—as carefully as if with chisel—prayers on behalf of those who are people of privilege and entitlement—the haves—at an urgent moment in our society. The privileged face, on the one hand, the seduction of denial or, on the other, the temptation of despair. These prayers of wisdom and prophetic power remind us that when things go wrong, when we are afraid, and when we feel prodded by those who lack voice, there is a conversation we can have—a conversation situated amid the promises and commands of God.

The other book that caught my eye is  Raising Unselfish Children in a Self-Absorbed World, by Jill Rigby.  I don't have any kids yet, but the thought of raising them to see the world and how they relate to their stuff through the eyes of God seems extremely hard. Maybe this book will help me one day and maybe it'll help you too.  Let me know!  Here's a word from the publisher:

A generation of child-focused parenting has produced narcissistic, selfish, dysfunctional adults who are ill-prepared to survive in the real world. But in this revolutionary book, parenting expert Jill Rigby assures moms and dads that it's never too late to reshape your child's heart and develop a parenting plan that starts right where you are. Shining the light of reality on the failed self-esteem philosophy, Rigby will show you how to gently "bump" children off self-center and instill in them an others-centered heart and a healthy self-respect.

Whether you pick up one of these books or one of the others in bookstore, I would encourage you to learn more about one of the week's topics that speaks to you.  If all of us do see life differently and how we interact in the world because of our faith, we are all helping to bring God's Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. 

Are You "More Ready Than You Realize?"

Well, if you scroll through some recent posts on this blog, you'll notice several references to Brian McLaren. Out of pure coincidence, our Wesley Group is studying his book "More Ready Than You Realize." At first, as the title suggests, you may think it's about coming to Christian faith, when, in fact, it's really more about taking that faith and sharing it with others. You know, everyone's "favorite" subject – evangelism.

Pardon the sarcasm, but I'm sure most all of us have gone through (or are going through) our own struggles with evangelism. I know in my own way, I handle it very "soft sell," so to speak. Usually it's in conversation with someone when I'll mention something about "going to church," or something else as pedestrian, to see if it strikes a chord with someone. And perhaps leads to a spiritual conversation.

To tell you the truth, I found this book a fairly daunting read at first, with its talk of modern and post-modern paradigms. But it's starting to turn the corner for me. I hope it continues doing so (we're only halfway through at this point, so don't expect a book report just yet). McLaren, I believe, has it right in that evangelism isn't about selling. It's about engaging, asking questions, and being a spiritual friend to someone as they figure things out for themselves. One phrase that he used in the chapter I just read – sometimes belonging must precede believing. As he puts it -

I was fortunate that the church that I served understood something that too few churches understand: Sometimes belonging must precede believing. In other words, unless we let non-yet-Christians enter and participate in the Christian community, many of them won't become Christians.

Really puts the whole idea of being welcoming into a whole new perspective, doesn't it?

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell brings fresh thinking and perspective to how we view Christianity in a modern world. Our Wesley group has discussed a lot of books, and I'd say this book more than any other so far, had us talking about our faith in ways we had never thought about before. The easiest way to tell you about Rob Bell's ministry is to provide a link to this Time Magazine article. For further description of the book, click here.