Conversations You Don\u2019t Forget About \u2014 <\/strong>My final* entry on my time at the Wild Goose Festival<\/em><\/p>\n I talked about how excited I was to see Frank Schaeffer at the festival and he went on to tell me that he shared in that excitement. If I am remembering my numbers correctly, he mentioned having read all of Francis Schaeffer\u2019s works by the time he was 14 then later reading through all of Frank\u2019s books too. He told me stories of reading his Bible and getting a knife and holding it to various body parts thinking about removing them from his body. He then said slightly emphatically \u201cWho was taking the Bible more seriously?\u201d He made an excellent point. While he and I both know that the interpretation of such a passage is brutal language about the effects of sin on lives, would the average Christian today actually cut something off if we knew it was meant literally? In the same way we read passages about loving our neighbors which we really do know that it is meant literally but so often we won\u2019t even talk to our neighbors most of the time. This kind of view can easily lead us into legalism. I dare say that some people from both sides of the fence (prominent Calvinists and Emergent voices). This usually happens when a moralistic statement is made without clarifying its roots in the Gospel. Mark was careful to distinguish that what he goes for in his ministry and his new book is not legalism but a call to mental+physical consistency in the Christian life. I say all of this because the rest of our conversation (primarily listening to him talk about his life and orthopraxy).<\/p>\n As I began telling Mark about my life, where I was and where I am now, he made some simple psychological\/social observations. There was no talk of my theology being wrong or off, he was merely piecing together from my life story how I got to the place I am now. I grew up as a kid who just had fun playing basketball and skateboarding. I never really had pressure to get smart and make good grades. My family was pretty all over the place in how they lived their lives and I\u2019ve basically become the exact opposite of them and how I was. Mark had a great way of communicating this to me and my 2 friends there with me by nudging my shoulder and turning to them saying \u201clooks like somebody needed a little bit of structure eh?\u201d alluding to my strict theological stance that I now hold.<\/p>\n Perhaps one of the most interesting things (out of a ton of interesting things) that he said was this: \u201cYou know, I don\u2019t see a difference between young neo-calvinists and young emergents.\u201d He said from his interactions with both that they live basically the same lifestyles. I take it that most of these interactions are from the Mark Driscoll-style Calvinism as opposed to the RC Sproul-style. I have to agree with him in that Emergents I know and Driscoll-style Calvinists mostly look the same. Indie rock, tobacco, struggling with sex before marriage and so on. Now, he wasn\u2019t saying this as a hit on either side, he was more-so leading into the next interesting thing he brought up: \u201cWhat people believe about God doesn\u2019t effect the way they live.\u201d He said this based on the example of the Emergent\/Neo-Calvinist similarities. I found it especially interesting because it was actually something I\u2019d never thought deep about or questioned. That quote by Tozer was drilled into my head by most of the preaching and reading I\u2019d been through.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.\u201d<\/p>\n While I still believe that in one sense, it seems that our young American Christian spirituality affirms that the shift from modernity to post-modernity has taken its toll on faith happening in our daily walk. The rise of global knowledge gets us stuck on studying and looking\/sounding spiritual when we really aren\u2019t putting a dent on world hunger or ministering to the needs of disease-ridden countries. Let\u2019s think about it, how many people profess to be Christians in the world? How many people are actually out there doing missions? Whether they be on another continent or even here in the United States? I think it\u2019s pretty easy to see the contrast. During the time of the Puritans there was a huge emphasis on communal ordeals. Basically because they didn\u2019t just have a huge store they could go buy food from, they had to round up their own. They could really see themselves living a life that was more consistent with their faith as opposed to us. Our environment no longer fosters community or even healthy communication between neighbors. I may be preaching to the choir about this, but I\u2019d argue that it\u2019s an epidemic that has to be healed before the world around our homes can be. At what point did we quit examining ourselves? It seems easy to slip into everyday life to a point of no introspection. It is extremely helpful to go to people outside of your own religious bubble to see how they see you. I think we can do this without abandoning our theological convictions if we just listen to each other. There was a point where I found myself trying to find ways to sort of refute what Mark was telling me, but I was able to evaluate that all he is doing is sharing some perspective with me, and there was no need for me to try and jab him. I\u2019m thankful that I got the chance to listen instead of having a circular argument with him about how people should live their lives or why people are the way they are.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/mainlineportal\/files\/2011\/07\/WGF.MarkScandrette-300x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Possibly my favorite moment at The Wild Goose Festival began when I got to meet Mark Scandrette. I didn\u2019t know a lot about him other than rumors that I heard on the Homebrewed Christianity<\/a> podcast about being the best dressed Emergent. Those rumors were true. He had some cool earthtone plaid shorts with a carefully matched color\u00a0bandana\u00a0around his neck. He had a pair of glasses on with a thick black frame which may or may not have had lenses, it was dark, so I\u2019m not sure. His face was also partially covered in mud. Doug Pagitt introduced us to him with a grand introduction saying \u201cThis guy has a book that just came out with IVP!\u201d So that was an easy starting point. We started off talking about the basics of life like what my job is and if I have kids, all the good stuff. Then we started talking more about theology. I had (and still have) basically no idea of what he believes about doctrinal theology other than as Christians we need to be living a Christian life tangibly and not merely in our heads.<\/p>\n
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\nMoving on, Mark was able to really help me understand some of my blind spots. He also really helped me examine my own life in looking at who I am now because of who I used to be. I can\u2019t say that there is a direct correlation between our upbringing and our current life and beliefs. I have dear friends who were raised in Christ from solid families and they believe the same as they always have despite going through secular educational systems and living in communities full of diversity. Another thing I really enjoyed about Mark is that he applied the same idea to himself. An example is that I lit up a cigarette while talking to him and he said \u201csee Devin, you\u2019re proving my stereotype!\u201d I just laughed and told him I\u2019ll take that one. Then he said that he fulfills a stereo-type too and that was impressive. I couldn\u2019t tell you how many people I know who label people (including myself) based on their views and how they live their life. It is rare to find somebody immediately admit that they fulfill a stereotype as soon as they point out someone else fulfilling a stereotype.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>I recommend everybody to read his newest book\u00a0Practicing The Way Of Jesus, Life Together In The Kingdom Of Love<\/em>. He was gracious enough to sign a copy for my son at the festival. I can\u2019t wait to help him read through it one day and tell him about my conversation with Mark. It\u2019s one of those talks you don\u2019t forget about, I hope to have conversations like that a lot more often.<\/p>\n