I (joey) had the opportunity to attend The Great Emergence conference here in Memphis this past weekend. I only attended 1 of the 2 days because I unwisely chose work in Nashville over taking Friday off to attend the event. It was held in the St Mary's Cathedral which was beautiful, and attended by many different flavors of practicing Christians. Though I disagree with several comments made during the day that I was there, I am glad that I attended. In this postmodern society, we will be different Christians than we have been in the past. The world is different. What do we do differently? At the event, I worshipped in a different way, I spoke with and broke bread with people who are different than my normal community, I listened and learned of different than my normal ways of serving, praying, thinking, and worshipping. It was refreshing and funny at times, yet weird and uncomfortable at times, but I emerged with a few thoughts in my head and realized how different the Christian community is compared to mine, so it was worth it. Now I just need to apply some of the things I encountered/learned/saw examples of:
- more relevant and effective ways to serve the poor
- different avenues of worshipping and praying
- being in community with those who are not like me
How all of this looks is unknown for the most part, but I am starting to think divergently now, and that is good.
Oh, and I got to write a verse in the Handwritten Bible (1 Samuel 28:1) so next year, when it comes out, turn to my verse. :)
Monday, December 8, 2008
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2 comments:
Joey, it was so meaningful to have you along for this conference. I appreciate your heart for all things of spiritual significance and your perspective when it comes to embracing that which is different. You have a spirit of openness that the rest of the Church would do well to emulate. Bet you never thought you would tag anything on your blog "Emergent" huh?
joey, thats awesome. i can relate. some of the greatest spiritual and eye opening moments ive ever had came while surrounded around people totally different from myself. Its amazing how God can work in all those people while being so different yet having the most important thing in common. Thats a rad moment man.
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