A Theological, Religious, Sectarian, Worldly,

Modest, Bold and Nuanced Future.

This material is from www.beyond400.net - baptists imagining life after 400 years.
Editors:
Andy Goodliff
Chris Duffett
Juliet Kilpin
Neil Brighton
Peter Dominey
Simon Jones
Published: May 2012


There are good reasons why you might not want to read this: its not practical; it
doesnt comment on denominational organisation; it lacks focus and finesse. But,
you may want to read on because I plan to talk dirty. Or rather Im going to suggest
that in our musing about the future we should rehabilitate some supposedly dirty
words.

Theology Lets get theological. Please God deliver us from panic-induced
pragmatism; just because it works doesnt mean its worth doing. Theres been a lot
of talk in this conversation about hopeful imagination. Amen to that. But our
playful, imagining must be rooted in serious, theological reflection. The challenges
we face arent just organizational or cultural they are ever and always theological.

Religion Lets come clean about being religious. Of course we are, or at least we
ought to be. This Im not religious talk often amounts to little more than labeling
those aspects of church that we don't like religious and then writing them off. God
is a big deal, prayer is an integral part of our lives, worship is the highest expression
of our faith commitment. This makes us religious. Lets turn the religion dial up to
eleven and get on with it. Time to stride out of the closet. Religious and proud?
Well, maybe not but religious and unabashed? Certainly.

Sect Being sectarian has a lot to offer. We live in exciting times, our world is dizzily

pluralistic and significantly secular. Holding onto and holding out a distinctive
vision and a peculiar way of life these days is the equivalent of white water rafting.
It makes for a thrilling ride but the danger is well be swept away. If the call to be
more theological is a call better to resource our distinctive identity, then this is a call
actively to bolster that identity. We need to attend to plausibility as well as
truthfulness. Whats called for is more integrated communal living; ongoing
conversion to sharpen our ability to articulate the faith; smarter attempts to help
our children to own the faith, and a clearer sense of who we are, and who we arent.

Worldliness We should indeed be sectarian but only if we are also committed to
being worldly. We must engage in wider society. Sectarian forms of religion have
not typically been world-affirming but that doesnt mean we cant give it ago. So yes
please, lets ditch all vestiges of religious protectionism in the public realm but lets
also persist in being present. Lets not have prayers during official council business.
Lets pray instead before the business and after business, so that those who so
choose can do business with God about the business, there and then, alongside
overlapping the proceedings of civic society. Lets ditch the myth that
disestablished means disengaged. Lets show that voluntarily religion is absolutely
not the same as private religion. Distinctive doesnt equal detached.

Modesty We can be a cocky lot cant we? Lets admit it weve often been wrong,
might still be wrong. Lets ditch all expectation that people ought to listen to us.
Lets pull in our horns and hold out our hand. We dont have the right to tell em the
way it is, but we do have an invitation to tell it the way we see it. You cant take up
the call to witness unless you are prepared to embrace rejection. Ask Jesus.

Boldness No this is doesnt contradict the previous point, its the essential
complement to the previous point. Modest witness is not the same as diffidence.
Admitting we might be wrong is not the same as dithering. We cant offer certainty
but we must articulate our convictions. Time to step up and speak up methinks. As
William Placher put it, we are engaged in a tournament of narratives. Lets get
jousting.


Nuance Not everything Jesus said let alone everything in The Bible is equally
important. That kind of flatlander approach to Christianity ends up with such
silliness as inerrancy and, if we are not careful, a crushing legalism. It really couldnt
be much plainer: what matters most is loving God with everything weve got, loving
other people the same way and making the purposes of God our top priority. Other
stuff matters, of course it does, but not as much as this. Jesus said.