Solace

This weekend we went to Solace in Melbourne. For us it is Church that as a family we all participate in as we like the theology, and expression. The discussion was based around the Ted talk by Karen Armstrong.

A few things I liked about the discussion that followed::

• Belief as we know it and most Churches today practice it was only really a modern phenomena. (I'm pretty sure Marcus Borg has a chapter on in in his book, "The heart of Christianity")
• I liked Armstrongs idea that Orthodoxy should come out of practice. There was much discusion about this. My observation is that for most churches the practice of compassion comes from doctrine first.
• The major religions all have an underlying theme of treating the poor/outcast etc as we would ourselves. Interestingly Armstrong mentioned that Confusious spoke about this 500 years pior the Christ.

It was good to morning. Solace is particularly good at giving voice to which most Churches would not. Pluralism was well respected this morning.

One of the thing that constantly stikes me as I have gone is the acknoweldgment of the aboriginals who were the traditional custodians of the land. Its the right thing for a Church to do...

 

Mission as Compassion

One of the organisations which I have an affinity with is Solace EMC in Melbourne. There is a bit of interesting conversation happening on their blog about Mission and Compassion.

Mission is an outward focus -the wellbeing of others not yourself. (Life with God has a huge and primary place for every person's wellbeing and whilst we start at the place to be renewed we are inevitably urged by God to focus on "others" as well.)

Jesus' whole attitude was "missional" -focused on "other" - he was sent and sends his friends and followers in a likewise manner.

Compassion seems to be the motivator and the compass. If we can be soft hearted and full of love for the "other" then perhaps we may not go too far wrong. So practices and lifestyles that grow our hearts are vital - much more so than messages or techniques.

Loving God and loving our neighbour are the core of God's commands to us and make up the communal fabric of our life on earth. They are the same command with different faces and as all the letters of John in the NT make clear you can NOT love God and hate your brother. So service to God and the world is the same thing.

Related articles by Zemanta

• How Cultivating Compassion Makes You a Better Communicator (suzemuse.com)
• Dr. Gary Trosclair: Blessed Are Those Who Suffer? (huffingtonpost.com)
• The Key To Everything In Life (pastorpaulvbsblog.blogspot.com)