Much better!

Whew - church this morning was great. The usual pastor was back, and I do mean B-A-C-K! He hit so many of the Emerging Church touchpoints, it was almost like we were back in NY. Stuff like "we're not here to play church," and "the problem isn't a lack of knowledge, it's a lack of action." And we're supposed to be loving and serving people - that's what loving and serving God looks like.

The fancy words (which he didn't use) are orthopraxy and orthodoxy. The Emerging Church says orthopraxy (right living) is just as important as ortodoxy (right doctrine)... while traditional Evangelicalism has a tendency to emphasize the doctrine a wee-bit too much (occasionally to the point of questioning whether or not a person like Mother Theresa, for example, is "really saved," because we're not sure if she's "prayed the prayer." Yikes!). The thing is, we can make a mental assent to all sorts of doctrines and theological statements, but whether we actually believe it or not is proven by our lives and our interactions with the people around us.

Anyway, the pastor talked about Mother Theresa and Gandhi as examples of leaders who really put their beliefs into action, put others first, did not rely on positions of power, formal education, money, etc. He made me a bit nervous when he described leadership as being "influence," (without quoting my second-least-favorite-writer-in-the-world John Maxwell by name, thank goodness), but then went on to explain leadership in terms that lined up nicely with Kevin Cashman's definition of leadership: authentic self expression that creates value (best definition of leadership ever! Read my Punk Rock article from two years ago for more details).

Bottom line -I think we're going to stay with this place. The kid's program is great, the community is warm and active, and I think it's where we're supposed to be.

That's a beautiful thing.