Next week I am going to be in Manado, Indonesia attending
the Global Christian Forum. It goes without saying that I am very excited to be
going to Indonesia for the first time. For some reason I missed the sixth grade
bus trip to Jakarta and have never been able to go to the country made up
mostly of islands (over 17,500 of them).
Not only am I excited to be going to Indonesia I’m also
excited to participate in this conference. The purpose of this conference is to
bring together Pentecostals, Evangelicals, and boring Christians like me and to
talk about Christian unity. I have to be honest, for some time I thought the
conversation about Christian unity had gotten pretty predictable, tepid, and
banal. In my estimation, such efforts consisted of talking about the wonderful
diversity we have at the table, how we are all concerned for the least of the
world, and ho we can put aside our differences to help out the needy. Usually
we end by sing some Phil Collins rip-off praise song, holding hands and looking
off to the horizon with a glint in our eyes – isn’t it just great to be a
Christian?
Well, apparently there is more to unity than this. Some
people don’t like Phil Collins rip-off praise songs (gasp!) and prefer U2
rip-off praise songs. Some people don’t want to focus so much on feeding the
least but instead of saving their souls (don’t get me started on the issue of
the soul – I don’t want to get into the Hellenistic influence on Christianity
leading to a dualistic view of reality, i.e. body vs. spirit thus showing that
Tertullian was right – don’t get me started). Us boring Christians would like
to respond to the soul-savers and say, “sure, we think that is important, but
not on an empty stomach.” The reality is that we really do not do much towards
that type of ministry which looks to gain conversions for Christ (and for
bragging rights).
So these other Christians who like to jump and yell and get
excited for Jesus go and save souls and their churches are growing like
mushrooms under my kids’ slide after a rainy day. I’m not saying that numbers
are everything, but maybe they are onto something?
I guess there is something more that needs to be said and I
am excited to hear what that might be. I will do my best to avoid being boring
(too late) and to contribute something to the conversation. I will also be
excited to be in Indonesia. I am especially excited to be headed to Indonesia
because right now I am sitting in a train headed to New Jersey.
Keep an eye on this blog (keep the other on the podcast blog),
and watch for updates. Maybe they will be interesting, maybe I will share a
powerful revelation and epiphany that I have, or maybe I will spend the entire
time in the hotel room curled up in a ball trying to recover from food poisoning/malaria/typhoid, or anything else. Regardless, it should make some
great writing.
Postscript - The picture is me in the Singapore Airport after 26 hours of flight from Newark, New Jersey to LA, to Tokyo, Japan to Singapore. During that time I have read articles from the Atlantic, Harpers, Newsweek, and Christian Century. I have finished one book and I have watched 8 movies. I still have 5 more hours of waiting until I fly for 3 more hours and finally reach my destination. I haven't had a full night's sleep, I don't even know the difference between day and night. Don't I look like I'm ready to represent American Baptists? (Roy Medley, if you are reading this right now, aren't you wishing you asked someone else?)
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