The Blue Parakeet Review

Scot McKinght, the author of The Jesus Creed, just released a book on Biblical interpretation called The Blue Parakeet. The book is an honest look at practical biblical interpretation vs. theoretical. No one in life (except this guy) tries to follow all of the Biblical commands. We have to make some choices, because there are some very difficult commands in the Bible. (i.e. sabbath, tithing, foot washing, charismatic gifts and surrendering possessions.)

So, the question The Blue Parakeet asks is "How, then, are we to live out the Bible today?" We must read the Bible with our tradition as a story that we are to listen to and discern what it is saying.

The Bible is made up of "wiki-stories." Each author is given room to tell his story and then these stories are framed by God.

We are urged to read the Bible "relationally." To listen to the Bible and through the listening, our relationship with the God of the Bible is deepened. As our relationship is deepened, then we began to discern what to do with some of the difficult passages of the Bible. This must be done however, "through God's Spirit and in the context of our community of faith." Through this we will find a pattern of how to live out the Gospel in our world. (p.129)

The last section of the book to a practical application of the Bible to the question of "Women and the Bible" which was a very stretching and eye opening.

If you want to think through some very practical biblical interpretation issues I would recommend picking up The Blue Parakeet. It is a quick and informative read that will challenge your assumptions in the arena of Biblical Interpertation.

Thanks to Scot McKnight and Zondervan for the advance copy of The Blue Parakeet.

Organic Church - Preface

There has to be a better way. The church in America is in a slump. People are disinterested in church. (Honestly, I get a bit bored with church sometimes.) Many seem to desire to grow spiritually, but spiritual growth has been equated to church attendance and that just does not cut it. Church attendance just does not equate spiritual growth. Many seem to also want community, and the church does not answer that question either. What is termed as "church" (worship and some sort of small group gathering or Sunday School) is meeting criticism from those on the inside as well as those on the outside.

From the inside the leaders are asking why won't people come and how can we get more people here? Why does this not feel like what we read about in the Bible? Why do some many seem not to like us? Why do many of the ones that come, come out of obligation?

From the outside, people are asking why does church not help me grow spiritually? Why do I get criticized when I come or don't come? Why do "church" not look like what I read about in the New Testament? Why is it boring and if it is not boring why is it a show? Why does church suck?

I am frustrated by the fact that when I mention church, the idea that pops into people heads is a building that you go to to worship and gather and that is where church happens.

There has to be a better way and I believe that there is a better way. A way that looks more biblical. A way that you could actually imagine Jesus doing. Away that does not require a trained professional to do. The answer is not in what we have been doing for that last 200 years, but what was done 2,000 years ago.

Questions:
1. What frustrations do you have with church?
2. What do you believe must be done?

Organic Church

I have just finished a very challenging book called Organic Church by Neil Cole. This book has really shaken me up in a way no book has in quite some time. I think when we look at the church today in America and much of the world, we see it as inadequate and our attitude is that "you dance with the ol' boy that brought ya!" and so many of us continue to "do" church like our fathers taught us.

My friend had a great post on trudging. And that is what many leaders of the church have resigned them self to.

But as Cole points out there is another way, there is a way that looks more like what we read about in the New Testament. There are other ways. Our "fathers" never told us that there were other ways and that is probably because they did what their "fathers" taught them and the fathers never told them that there was another way.

I am looking forward to walking through this book and really contemplating on what is next for us.

Organic Church-Introduction

Christianity has been buried inside the walls of churches and secured with the shackles of dogmatism. Let it be liberated to come into the midst of us and teach us freedom, equality and love.--Minna Canth

For many years now I have taken to going to church less and less because I find so little there of what I hunger for. It is a sense of the presence of God that I hunger for.--Frederick Buechner

The data seems to tell us that people are interested in Jesus, but they are not interested in the church, at least not as popularly defined and practiced. We have equated spiritually as going to church and because people don't like church, they are labeled as not spiritual. What a load of crap!

So, the common cry of most churches is"ya'll come." It is about getting people to come to a location. It is about getting people to a place on a regular basis. When you step back and think about it, is it not odd that we expect spiritual transformation to happen this way? We don't see any examples of this in the New Testament.

Spiritual transformation is what happens when a person encounters the gospel. And the gospel is the story of creation being rescued from destruction. And that story involves all of us.

Because of the philosophy mentioned above, we have made "church" a show that happens once a week. It is a religious show, we watch and then we go home, having fulfilled out "commitment" for the week; having been "transformed" by our showing up.

And so, from a New Testament perspective the church is the place where Jesus is. It is not a building. It is not a weekly show. It is not a program that promises to do something for you. The church is believers trying to live out their faith.

If I seem a bit bothered, it is because I am. I am tired of the assumption being that "they" should come to "us." I want it to be "us" doing life with "them." However, I would still like less of the "us" and "them" terminology. (I am not quite sure how to transform my attitude.)

Questions:
1. Have you ever had the mentality of "ya'll come?" Have you ever been asked or invited to a location?
2. How would you define church? How would you define spiritually?

The Tipping Point

I just finished reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell last week and it was a excellent read. this is a must read in my estimation and will require some serious thought, but thought that will be very beneficial. Here is my outline and implications from the book. (It ended up a bit longer that I would have liked.)

Intro

“Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do.”

Three Characteristics: 1) contagiousness; 2) the fact that little causes can have big effects; 3) change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment.

One: The Three Rules of Epidemics

1. The Law of the Few:

Epidemics are a function of three things: 1) the people who transmit the infectious agent 2) the infectious agent itself; 3) the environment in which the infectious agent is transmitted.

Some people matter more than others. 80% of the people will do 20% of the work; 20% of the criminals will commit 80% of the crime; 20% of the beer drinkers drink 80% of the beer; this become even more extreme in relation to epidemics—a tiny percentage of the people do a majority of the work.

2. The Stickiness Factor:

Translates into the message making an impact. It is not only a matter of getting the message out there, but getting the right people to remember your message.

3. The Power of Context:

Epidemics are impacted by their environment. This is an exponential factor and human are much more susceptible to their environment that they seem.

Implications: 1. The community should expect a minority to do a majority of the work in building the body, but that does not mean that the minority does not participate. They will need leading in specific ways.

2. It is not necessarily who you are hitting with the message,, but hitting the right people in the right way.

3. If we are effected by context in more powerful ways that we realize then it is important to provide meaningful environments for believers and pre-believers.

Two: The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen

1. Connectors –a small amount of people are connected to a large amount of people. They tend to “collect” people. It is very much ok for them to have many relationships where they rarely see that person. There is great strength in weak ties.

2. Mavens-connect people with new information. They are information specialist. They accumulate knowledge, but not in a passive way. They are passionate about sharing their new information with many different people. To be a Maven is to be a teacher.

3. Salesmen-has the skills to persuade us of what we are unconvinced of what we are hearing. Little things make a big difference in convincing a person, and a salesman knows what to do, when to say what, how to persuade and these skills can not be taught.

Three: The Stickiness Factor: Sesame Street, Blue’s Clues, and the Educational Virus

We catch much of what we don’t even pay attention to, especially if the material is in story form.

Implications: Be catchy and emanate what you believe. Tell stories about faith. Be a storyteller. And if we are not storytellers then we need to learn. Put the cookies on the bottom shelf and let the Spirit work.

Four: The Power of Context (Part One): Bernie Goetez and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime

Implications: The little things matter. Start at the beginning and be dogmatic about maintaining the start of the epidemic. You can not let it loose ground. If there is no base then there will be no epidemic.

Five: The Power of Context (Part Two): The Magic Number of One Hundred and Fifty

“Once we are part of a group, we’re all susceptible to peer pressure and social norms and any number of other kinds of influence that can play a critical role in sweeping us up in the beginnings of an epidemic.” p.171

We can care for 10 to 15 people deeply and then after that we begin to overload. The larger the group gets the more complex. Humans naturally top out in the complexity of relationship at about 150 people. After that there has to be superficial organization put in place to maintain the organization. We can have a genuine social relationship (knowing who that person is and how they relate to us) with about 150 people. A group of 150 or less is controlled by personal loyalties and direct man-to-man contact.

Implications: Should we be building smaller churches or larger churches? Should there be a max? Does it come naturally? I can ask questions about this all day and I probably need to…

Six: Case Study: Rumors, Sneakers, and the Power of Translation

People can be grouped into four groups—Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority. The important thing is that they all play off of one another and feed into each other. The Innovators assume the risk, the Early Adopters are the opinion leaders in the community who analyze what the Innovators did and relay it to the community. The Early Majority is the mass of people and the Late Majority are the skeptical who see no urgent reason for change.

“What Mavens and Connectors and Salesmen do to an idea in order ot make it contagious is to alter it in such a way that extraneous details are dropped and others are exaggerated so that the message itself comes to acquire a deeper meaning.”

Implications: Who are you in the formation of the church and who should you be; Innovator, Early Adopter, Early Majority or Late Majority?

How does this relate to the Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen?

Seven: Case Study: Suscide, Smoking, and the Unsticky Cigarette

Our peer group is the most infectious community we belong to; not our family like has so long been believed.

Implications: Where you belong matters a great deal. Cheers theme song in the back ground and think of a group yelling out "Norm!"

Eight: Conclusion: Focus, Test, and Believe

*Word of mouth epidemics begin in modesty. .

1. “Starting epidemics requires concentrating resources on a few key areas. The Law of the few says that Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen are responsible for starting word-of-mouth epidemics, which means that if you are interested in starting a word-of-mouth epidemic, your resources ought to be solely concentrated on those three groups.”

2. You have to test your intuitions. The world does not think the way we think it does.

Implications: Focus and be intentional.

What are your thoughts?