Flickering Pixels, Chapters 9-12
Is real beauty visible at all in an image? Hipps argues that even the 'natural' images that we see are modified beyond recognition, but what about the internal beauty that our Creator blessed us with; how do we see this beauty in our cultural images?
It is easy to see the duality that Hipps creates around the issue of cell phone technology; it is more and more visible in much of the young generation. While Hipps calls this a tribe of individuals, our faith calls us to give up the self-centeredness for the care of the other. How does the church represent a counter-cultural stance in the midst of such a widely used media? Does it? Should it?
I know there is no sarcasm font on the computer, but my supervisor used to tell me of a storage place he had for all the disgruntled and angry correspondences he'd received over the years. How do we as pastors deal with parishioners who respond in anger? Should we respond in a certain way depending on the situation? Or the person?
The last question leads into my final question regarding conflict. It is said that the most thriving congregations are usually ones who have a small amount of conflict brewing all the time to keep the congregation active. How do you see yourself as a church leader working in a situation like this?
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With regard to the first question, I often feel that I do not see in our culture and media the beauty of being created in the image of God. For me, remembering that I am a child of God is constantly balancing all the messages I receive from culture. Culture says, "You're not good enough, you're not pretty enough, you're not successful enough, you're not popular enough..." and on and on. When I hear this, sometimes I have to retreat a little bit, remember Genesis, remember my baptism, and say, "I am God's child. I am part of the creation God says is GOOD." In this respect, I think the church has a counter cultural message.
ReplyDeleteQuestion two: I would say that a lot of churches I've been to are infected by the "tribe of individuals" idea. However, the very acts of worship - of coming together, singing, praying, sharing the meal - remind us that we are more than just a collection of individuals. I think the church should emphasize its ecclesiology all the more in our technological age. We are not a club, or a charity, or any collection of individuals. We are the body of Christ.
Question Three: I definitely think that our response to anger and bitterness must be situation-specific. My teaching parish pastor said that when someone is angry at you as pastor, "It's not really about you." I think the worst thing we can do is take those situations too personally. So often, anger is born out of pain and fear and sorrow; pastorally, we must address those underlying feelings without getting carried away by the anger.
As for the final question, I was really drawn to the Mennonite statement Hipps reprinted in the book: "Accept conflict." I grew up in a family that was full of conflict, and it taught me to fear conflict like the plague. I am striving to rediscover the helpful, necessary side of conflict. I think being a pastor in conflicted situations will probably be very difficult for me, but my hope is that I'll be able to see the creative energy that can flow from conflict. Without conflict, without different voices and different ideas, we become stagnant.
3. I think we would be wise to realize that just like in every other part of our world, some people are just not going to like us in the church's we are sent to. Call it 'personality differences' if you want but we need to be prepared for it. Even more humbling is that in many cases there will be nothing that we can do about it. When people respond in anger it is usually not about what they say but something behind that, and there may be something behind that even and so on. We cannot take responsibility for everyone's mood, preconceptions, misconceptions, assumptions, etc. All we can do is respond in love, be truthful with ourselves and recognize what we are bringing to the table ourselves and react to ourselves before we react to others.
ReplyDelete4. I would agree that healthy congregations stem from conflict. If we were all content we would become stagnant and be of no use to the world. As leaders, we have to be ready to be challenged and have the courage to say we don't have all the answers but with prayer and patience an answer will come to the community and not necessarily always to us. Likewise, we need to be ready to give this same respect in the midst of conflict even when it is not reciprocated. God speaks to us in many ways from the most unlikely of places.