Comments on: torture consequences lost among the partisan rhetoric

By: subversivechurch

subversivechurch — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:30:55 +0000

Eh, who knows. None of us are doing it right. But I think there is a fear, or maybe hesitancy is a better word, of not having a traditional church setting. Even Emergent can't break away from the sermon style. By the looks of his church's website, I'd say it is probably the same format you'd find at any other tech-savvy, non-denom, mega-church. Which is too bad really. But you have to remember he was pastor of a mega-church before he sided against Bush and lost about half of his members. That was a good thing, by the way. I have to respect Boyd for sticking by his beliefs, even when it cost him revenue...I mean tithes. How many pastors or boards would have the balls to do allow that to happen? HOWEVER, this is not to say Boyd should be discredited, even over the tithing issue. Far from it. We all break away from the things man has attached to God at different times. And we all hold on to certain things man has attached to God, even if we don't want to admit it. As a side note, I am excited to see he has a follow-up to Myth of a Christian Nation. Myth of a Christian Religion. -mike

By: dan in cuse

dan in cuse — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:33:38 +0000

I agree. A simple step of having a forum whereby you can question and dialogue with the pastor publically would be a step in the right direction.

I gotta wonder though, does Boyd’s church actually operate drastically different?

By: subversivechurch

subversivechurch — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:05:44 +0000

@ Dan,

Good point.

That is why I like Greg Boyd so much. The thing is, and this is one reason why I have such a problem with the institutional church, many, possibly most, Christians are conditioned to be passive and let someone else do the work:

The pastor does all of the reading and synthesizes the material.

The worship leader learns all of the chords and tells people what song to sing.

Then, with our form of representative government, people elect those who say they will forward a particular adgenda.

This type of passive behavior is in direct contradiction of Jesus’ commands.

-mike

By: dan in syracuse

dan in syracuse — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:01:37 +0000

I recently listened to a Greg Boyd (Myth of a Christian Nation) podcast where he talked along these lines. We need to let the government do what it will do, but Christ has called us to a new ethic, a different standard, whereby we will seek out and be the change that the world needs, not just vote for those we think can push the Christian agenda of the day.

By: subversivechurch

subversivechurch — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:15:21 +0000

@ rogue,

I’m glad you like what you are reading. I’ve been of the mindset that there are many more subversives out there, they just haven’t realized it yet.

-mike

By: rogueminister

rogueminister — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:22:36 +0000

I absolutely love yall’s blog. Its refreshing to find other Christian Anarchists/Subversives out there. Keep up the good work in both your lives and writings. It is a pleasure and blessing to get to read the great thoughts posted here and weigh them against them the things I have been contemplating lately myself. Thanks!