Man of Depravity - Tyler Braun's posts on Church Ministry, Worship, Seminary, and Theology.

A New Perspective

2010 May 20

by Tyler

I started riding my bike to work almost two years ago. I remember how different it felt than driving to work, how much of a different perspective it was. There were things I noticed that I had never noticed before.

I came to appreciate the ability to travel at fast speeds without moving a muscle, I came to appreciate just how steep some hills really are, and I came to realize how blessed I was to have ever had a car in the first place. Those are the kind of things that are easily over looked when you are used to driving all over the place.

If you had asked me 5 years ago, I would have laughed at the idea of preferring to ride to work instead of drive. I wouldn’t have cared about all the benefits because of all the lost time, but the new perspective biking gave me was contagious.

I think Christians need new perspectives. They are often very good at insulating themselves into specific areas of life where everyone thinks the same. The conservative Christians have their circle of pastors, authors, schools, etc, that they run with and the same could be said for more liberal Christians as well. And sadly those paths rarely cross.

People often tell me that I’m hard to pin down because I take so many different sides on various topics covered on this blog. And the honest truth is that sometimes I think we all (me included) need a new perspective. Not that the one we hold is incorrect, but that we begin understanding that the world is bigger than our possibly correct perspective.

I hope I never settle into my preferred perspective at the cost of shunning the others that surround me. While I might not always agree with them, they do have something to offer.

Filed under: the rest...

http://www.contentunderpressure.net Josh

This one preaches, my friend…
http://www.benlemery.com Ben

I think this was a big “awakening” for myself when I stepped into the blog world. Being in the Charismatic circles pretty much since I got saved in 1999, those were the only speakers, authors, etc. that I had listened to. However, I would push it back a little bit that it isn’t quite a breakdown between conservative and liberal Christians it is more Evangelical, Charismatic, Baptist, Reformed, Emerging/ent, Social Justice Christians that all have their own circles of like-minded people parroting their causes.

We become comfortable with like-minded people because it doesn’t challenge our status-quo way of thinking. Then when someone from the outside challenges there logic, they circle the wagons quickly saying that you are judging.

Of course you haven’t bought the Misty Edwards cd yet, so if you want new perspective in worship music…=P
http://www.danceswithklingons.wordpress.com Steven

Perhaps what is needed is to look at Jesus as a mystic instead of a literal interpretation of scripture. The world is a wonderful place, but if you stay in one place too long, you miss the wonder of what God is doing IN the world.

Stepping outside of any form of Institutional Christianity to follow Jesus does wonders for the soul.
http://www.twitter.com/EazyHU Eric

Dope. You’re right. I hate arguing, so it’s a challenge for me to sit through debates/disagreements. But I’ve learned that even when I know I’m right, it’s still beneficial to hear other points of view.

I’ll tell you what bombarded me with a new perspective…youth ministry. I serve as a small (or smedium) group leader for about 20-25 high school guys, and their perspectives are ALL OVER the place. They keep me grounded…and slightly crazy.
http://www.manofdepravity.com Tyler

Steven-

There are a lot of ways I could reply. I could try and figure out what you specifically mean by “literal” interpretation of Scripture because that seems to mean something different to each person. I could try to figure out who you are targeting when you think of institutional Christianity. Or I could write an essay about how we come to know who Jesus is through the Scriptures and when we throw them out it becomes a slippery slope of how we come to know the one true God. But I think I’ll leave all those alone and say that if you aren’t coming to know of the wonder of God through the Scriptures, then you aren’t reading them correctly.
http://www.danceswithklingons.wordpress.com Steven

There lays the problem. With so many perspectives, which is really the way to read scripture? What makes you say that I am not reading it correctly?

I am aware that Jesus’ teachings are not the focus of most churches, that even if you quote the Master, which I did in many group discussion, both on line and in person, I got back “That’s not in there. Paul says….” Many people use the letters of Paul as “scripture” but they were written to a people at a certain time. Plus there is now evidence that the letters AND Gospel have been “added to”.

I walked away from Methodist tradition because I saw and still see that people want to feel “safe” from the world and a vengeful god. The Jesus I encountered after leaving the safe church world was someone who I could follow. I discovered that God loves ALL humanity. ALL, even the sinner.

The path I took stayed in the Christ culture but got away from, as Reggie McNeal says in “The Present Future” “Churchianity Christianity”. The term stand for those that put the church before Jesus.

I am a fan of Shaine Clairborne who wrote “Jesus For President”, Brian McLaren, Donald Miller (another local Portland guy). From these authors, I understand that God is NOT just in the Bible, but now wants to live IN me.
“The Kingdom of God is IN YOU.

I don’t do this for argument sake. I felt a response was needed. I spent many years hating what I had become as a conservative Methodist (Yes a contradiction) but I have been healed of a wound that now is changing me more and more.

I am more happy out of the “little church” and more dedicated to the Way of Christ than ever before.

I had hoped that my comment would have opened up a discussion but it feels like you closed down any way to bring as you said “A New Perspective”.
http://www.manofdepravity.com Tyler

Sorry you felt I had closed down your perspective. I’d be willing to discuss the importance/unimportance of the Scriptures though I think that would be hard to do over a blog. For me, the Scriptures have a high importance and losing that importance only leads to problems. I think all of the men you listed would agree with that.
http://www.danceswithklingons.wordpress.com Steven

Yes, they would agree not to throw out scripture. What I am saying is to read scripture from the point of view of a mystic. It is that new perspective that you are looking for.

I would never throw out the story of Jesus.

Would love to talk about this perspective face to face sometime.
http://threethirtypm.posterous.com Jim Gray

i once thought that the world was controlled by close-minded bots…then one day i was released into the open and have found a whole world of humanoids that have challenged my thinking…
great article…and yes, i comment in hyperbole,haiku and interpretive dance…