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<\/a>It\u2019s just not cool to be a Christian. I went to Integral Spiritual Experience, (ISE) over the New Year \u2013 500 people from about 30 countries, representing dozens of religious traditions. Studying, practicing, talking with these people, deepened my decidedly Christian faith. Still, I was knocked off balance by the following, recurring conversation. \u201cWhat do you do, Sam?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m a Presbyterian minister.\u201d (awkward silence) \u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\nGod help me; why didn\u2019t I say, \u201cI teach meditation at a Vedanta center.\u201d I suspect the response would have been, \u201cCool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why Christianity is so un-cool? To be sure, there are dozens of reasons. Christianity has done a pathetic job of recasting a beautifully graceful image of God into the modern world. And let\u2019s face it, Christianity has had an unhealthy relationship to power. While at ISE I began considering another dimension of that.<\/p>\n
Warren Farrell, the only man elected to the board of NOW twice, and Marc Gafni, D.Phil., taught a seminar aimed at restoring the masculine. To be clear, they are talking about masculine and feminine, and specifically not about males and females.<\/p>\n
Our culture has spent the last 60 years or so moving ever so slowly towards the restoration of the feminine. This has meant \u2013 appropriately \u2013 deconstructing masculine energy run amok. Now however the masculine needs some restoration of its\u2019 own. They were talking about a healthy masculine, not some perverse resurgence of misogyny. Please God, let\u2019s leave Mad Men<\/em> in the past.<\/p>\nBut as they spoke, it occurred to me, that as we deconstructed the masculine, Christianity became very un-cool. I\u2019m wondering if the two are related.<\/p>\n
Christianity describes a masculine God. \u201cHe\u201d actively inserts \u201chimself\u201d in human affairs, speaks creation into being with a word, and insists upon clear boundaries \u2013 all masculine energies.<\/p>\n
This is the god of the \u201crevelation story,\u201d and this god differs from the god of the \u201cenlightenment story.\u201d That god includes us in the evolution of new creation and seeks union through ever widening circles of care. I know I\u2019ve overstated the difference; certainly each \u201cstory\u201d envisions a god with both masculine and feminine aspects, but nevertheless, I think the basic point holds true.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not advocating for a God who does everything while you and I, useless, miserable sinners that we are, do nothing of value other than receive the grace of God while living in abject fear of incurring his wrath. Still, as this view of god has been, appropriately, deconstructed, we\u2019ve lost something.<\/p>\n
I worry that we\u2019ve lost a clear vision of grace. For when that happens, we will lose the freedom of knowing that whether we meditate enough or not, whether are theology is right or wrong, whether we are awake enough or not, we cannot keep God from being God. God continues to speak creation into being and, working in communion with the feminine, brings about the next beautiful moment of creation into being. It\u2019s good news. Really.<\/p>\n
What thinkest thou?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s just not cool to be a Christian. I went to Integral Spiritual Experience, (ISE) over the New Year \u2013 500 people from about 30 countries, representing dozens of religious traditions. Studying, practicing, talking with these people, deepened my decidedly Christian faith. Still, I was knocked off balance by the following, recurring conversation. \u201cWhat do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":260,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theological-musings","tag-first-presbyterian-church-san-rafael-california-marin-rev-sam-alexander-progressive-integral-christianity-evolutionary-5thande-org-bible-sermon-gracecomesfirst-patheos-expert"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>It\u2019s just not cool to be a Christian. I went to Integral Spiritual Experience, (ISE) over the New Year \u2013 500 people from about 30 countries, representing dozens of religious traditions. Studying, practicing, talking with these people, deepened my decidedly Christian faith. Still, I was knocked off balance by the following, recurring conversation. \u201cWhat do you do, Sam?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m a Presbyterian minister.\u201d (awkward silence) \u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n