Conversation #1

Warning: The following posts will be discussions between Josh Graves, Spencer Bogle, and Mark Manry. One lives in cozy Rochester Hills, MI and the others live in Jinja, Uganda. All three are dedicated to asking the question, "What does it mean to be an apprentice of Jesus?" The conversation is based upon Eugene Peterson's book "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology."


Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places
Conversation 1- Clearing the Playing Field


And so we begin our conversation on “a conversation in spiritual theology.” I will try to offer up ideas which will ignite some dialogue, though it may be tempting to merely converse on the subject of “Eugene Peterson as poet extraordinaire.” I am not sure what structure will work best for this dialogue, but I think that the form my initial entry will consist of my overall understanding of the main points (often times I find in discussion that what I perceive as the main point might not necessarily be so), maybe a quote or two that I see as representative of his argument (or perhaps quotes that just blew my comfortable framework of spirituality to pieces), and then some proposed questions concerning praxis. Let me know what you think if it is not what you expected or wanted.

This guy is a stud- to steal a Mark Manry word, an absolute wordsmith.
I felt that the Introduction and “Clearing the Playing Field”
prolegomena exposed the current (and historical) Gnostic tendencies that separate the spiritual life from the here and now and from the relationships that compose our nexus of existence. It draws back the theologian with head in the clouds as well as the elitist spiritualist who interprets holiness as isolation from the surrounding ‘sinful’world. I guess if I were to choose another sub-title for the book so far it might simply be, “a celebration of Life.” He has such a way of constructing ideas to open eyes to the possibility and the reality of life in everything that exists. All of this, encased in the Word. I love that he states that he will use 2 stories, 3 texts and 4 terms to begin, and the 2 stories and 3 texts are all scripture. I guess I was expecting a good “sermon illustration” story, but found that everything is scripture in here, and it challenges me to see all of life through the Word. His passion for the Word of God, living and played out in
every aspect of life, is apparent on every page. I thought I had a
fairly decent “theology of the Word,” but I was captured in his exegesis of John 3 and 4, as he exposed the creative nature of the word made flesh. He has a way of sharing thoughts that are so profound to me in a way that leaves me feeling like, “why in the world did I not see that? How have I missed it?” In both stories it is comforting to find Christ at the center, creating and recreating, covering a spectrum of influence of which is impossible for me (or the people with whom I
work) to be outside. It is so very freeing.

My thoughts through this section was that it seems that our interpretation of spirituality and tendency to separate it from its sibling translations of the more “here and now” wind and breath have such a profound impact on ecclesiology. It seems that it lends itself to a rather low ecclesiology where it is hard to see the church as the body of Christ in action in the world. It seems that this gnostic spirituality is always waiting for Christ to “use me” or Christ to do something while very rarely reaching the point of identity where we see ourselves as the body of Christ as well as ourselves in direct relation to the body of Christ incarnate in the world. His 4 terms all seem to resound with one theme- Relationship! With everything.

All of the time. How do we see it? How is Christ at the center? To often we have reduced this to a trite moralism that stifles our imagination. My struggle is to find the language that can re-define the terms that our congregations are so “used to” and comfortable with that are now a barrier to imagining the Christian Life in whatever context they find themselves. How do we talk about sin? Salvation?
Grace? How can we use a language that challenges our churches without
leaving them behind with a seminary jargon? How can we challenge
them to use the same imagination that they use with their jobs working on a computer, designing a car, exploring ways to teach a 7th grader, in their walk with Christ? Well, I guess I will spare the quotes this time because I have guests and need to cook something for dinner. I am anxious to hear what you think.


Spencer