My website registered over 8400 reads on the blog I published yesterday. Another 2100+ already today. (My previous best day was 5100.) The Coffee Party Facebook page shows over 4000 likes and 1400 shares. It's been tweeted and re-tweeted. It's been commented on, criticized, condemned and praised. It has found its way around the globe. And I have followers; 90 something people who actually signed up because (evidently) they care to hear what I have to say.
OMGoodnessGraciousSakesAlive.
My mind is boggled.
Since I'm not serving a local church these days, blogging is my ministry and cyberspace is my parish. It's an amazing world.
I've been thinking about my journey from Church of Christ fundamentalist Christianity to Disciples of Christ progressive Christianity. I'm ever so grateful for the grace that led me to this wider world. One of the things that attracted me to Disciples in the first place is the ecumenical and inter-faith commitments that keep nudging me to widen my boundaries, to keep my edges flexible, to work with whomever wants to be an ally, to remember that Truth is a rainbow that will never fit into anyone's pocket.
I've been thinking about the diversity of our congregations. One of the things I love about church is the range of opinions, beliefs and perspectives present in the people there; differences that are personal, theological, social and political. I love when folks live and work together in this mix and figure out how to keep on caring for one another in hands-on, practical ways.
I've been thinking about how - even with all this welcomed expansion - I still live in a bubble. My cyberspace "parish" is teaching me how small my world really is.
I first got into this work through my friendship with Egberto Willies - a popular blogger, political activist, passionate Humanist, thoughtful analyst. When he first heard that I am a minister and a Democrat, he stopped short. When he heard that this minister supports marriage equality, he pulled out his camera to document the anomaly. Egberto didn't know this kind of Christian even existed and he insisted that the people in his cyberspace circles would also be amazed to hear such a voice.
I thought he was kidding. He wasn't.
Every time I publish a blog pondering intersections of faith and politics, I hear comments like:
Wow, a real Christian...
Finally, a Christian who actually sounds like Christ...
I gave up on Christianity but you are restoring my faith...
Every single time it happens, it astounds me to realize how many people "out there" are not hearing any kind of authentic witness to the truly good news of God made known in Jesus Christ. All they ever hear in the name of Christ is judgment and condemnation. I guess we all live in some kind of bubble.
So I wonder - how do we progressive Christians keep enlarging our own worlds of experience, our own circles of friendships in order to intersect and inhabit these separated spheres? How do we keep speaking our truth and sharing our voices in this large, global conversation?
Church folks hear a lot these days about getting out of our buildings and out of our bubbles and into the wide spaces of the world. We hear about the importance of bold witness of love and welcome. We hear about risking our safety and security in order to invest ourselves in the wild life of the Spirit.
I'm here to agree how very much this needs to happen. I'm here to tell you that the precious Nones and Dones who are a part of my cyberspace parish are wondering where we are. They are wondering when the "other kind of Christian" is going to show up, speak up and stand up. There's a whole world of people out there who don't even know we exist.
But I don't know how to tell anyone else how to do that showing up, speaking up, standing up thing.
Since I'm not serving a local church these days, I have freedom to speak truth as I see it. I'm done talking the fine line. I'm finished protecting the status quo. I'm tired of worrying about offending. I'm ready to rock some boats.
I figure if Spirit is behind this WhoWouldHaveThunkIt ministry of mine, there just may be a NeverWouldHaveImagined ministry for some of you as well.
My Living in The Story blogs keep discovering that Holy Surprises have always been the Way of the Divine. Damascus Roads and Parted Seas; Impossible Pregnancies and Improbable Heroes; Unexpected Sustenance and Unlikely Saviors.
I wonder if we keep being surprised about this because we keep forgetting that God always does whatever God will do with whomever God wants in whichever ways God chooses. We keep forgetting God is still speaking light into every darkness, Spirit is still hovering over every chaos, Christ is still redeeming every hopelessness - with or without us.
There is no place where God is not. And wherever God is, is holy ground.
Across cyberspace, under bridges, over backyard fences, even in churches.
It's an amazing world shot through with amazing grace.
And I'm glad to be one tiny part of it.
http://egbertowillies.com/
Egberto's Charlotte interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB74rb3EemU
Coffee Party USA Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/coffeeparty?fref=nf
Charlotte blogs about Intersections of Faith, Culture and Politics at www.charlottevaughancoyle.com
Charlotte blogs about progressive understandings of Scripture at www.livinginthestory.com
No comments:
Post a Comment