Daily Archives: May 11, 2008

The Kenotic Subject

Posted by on May 11, 2008 5 comments

“The kenosis of God creates the possibility of a human subject very different from the consumer self.  The absolute uniqueness of Christ cannot be subsumed under any more general categories of being.  If God is God, then God must always be beyond our comprehension: si comprehendis non est Deus.  We are, nevertheless, invited to participate in the Trinitarian life through Christ and the work of the Spirit.  But in order to do so, we cannot grasp, we can only submit.  We cannot stand back from the world and survey it; we must simply take our role in the drama that God is staging and give ourselves to it.”

–William T. Cavanaugh, Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 81.

Problematic Words

Posted by on May 11, 2008 21 comments

There are certain key buzz words among evangelicals, particualrly emergey-types that literally make me want to perpetrate extreme violence on anyone I hear saying them.  And sadly, every now and then I find some of them escaping my own lips.  So, if you find me too harsh, just realize that much of what I am about to say is as much self-loathing as others-loathing.

So, here are quintessential evangelical phrases that if you say around me may very well result me suddenly unleashing all my wrath upon your kneecaps:

“I’m just looking for someone to ‘do life’ with me.”

“I’m searching for something real, you know, something raw, authentic, you know?”

“What we really need is authentic community.”

“We need to strive to be more intentionally missional.”

“We’re not Christians, we’re Jesus-followers!”

“Jesus was Green!”

“Everything must change.”

“We totally need to hear each other’s stories…like I need to hear your story and you need to hear my story.  We need to just hear, you know?  Each other’s stories.”

“We’re all about radical discipleship.”

“Our home communities are where the church really happens.”

What else is there?  Come on folks, lets do life and be authentic together as we think of more annoying emergentisms!

Switch to our mobile site