Subterranean: The future of the church
Subterranean: The future of the church
This post is a part of the Blog Tour for the book Subterranean: Why the Future of the Church is Rootedness by Dan White Jr.
Reading Subterranean, by my friend Dan White Jr., was like drinking a cool glass of water and simultaneously being kicked in the butt.
Give that image a second to sink into your mind and then let me tell you why.
Dan is helping us understand this proposition: the future of the church is rootedness.
The church has never been so uprooted.
As followers of Jesus we float above our every day places and spaces (our neighborhoods, workplaces and civic centers) like robots programmed to go from A to B. We hardly notice what is in front of us if it doesn’t have a screen.
Dan confronts this reality in some powerful ways.
The “cool drink of water” Dan offers sounds like this:
In Jesus, God is gathering people under his reign to participate in the renewal of the world… The kingdom of God is the people of God submitting to the king’s will in the place they are called to dwell.
The “kick in the butt”:
Efficiency is a terrible replacement for presence… to be subterranean [deeply rooted in our place and relationships] we must ask hard questions about what ambitious assembling, and constructing without strong discretion, does to the fragile flicker of presence – being with, really with, people.
So I get a short moment to tell you what that back and forth feels like for 133 pages until you reach a beautiful chapter entitled, “Practicing Community”.
In this concluding chapter, Dan makes the cool drink and the kick in the butt all worthwhile.
He gives us a picture of what could be.
While I encourage you to read the whole book, let me highlight his two main areas of focus for this chapter: availability and vulnerability.
Dan suggests that these are the foundation of a community that wants to move from idealism to realism.
I’ve spent my fare share of time in communities that were actually pseudo-communities.
They were built on the false pretense of what a community could do for each individual rather than the strength of the whole. They were fueled with unrealistic expectations that community would be easy and natural when it is actually hard work and constant learning.
It doesn’t end well.
To be a rooted, subterranean community we must be diligent and intentional about availability and vulnerability.
Dan suggets:
For too long the church has attempted to function without them, creating uprooted and unstable humans… we need to choose to be together. We are so acculturated toward individualism that we need to choose against all our inner conditioning.
AVAILABILITY:
I feel the tension he describes as so much pulls at our schedules. I feel the tendency to pull away from community rather than step towards and express availability. I resonate with his observation about how strange a “drop by” to someone else’s house unannounced has become in may mainstream cultures.
(You may cringe at the thought of the idea!)
This left me asking these questions:
- How can I prioritize availability in the communities I am a part of? My neighbors, my missional community, those I disciple closely?
- What “patterns of availability” do I have in my life that my roommates, my co-workers, my close friends and family can count on so our presence to one another can be regular?
- What’s at stake if we don’t make ourselves available to one another so that our relationships can take root?
- When do we intentionally gather around the table and eat together, rather than on the go?
VULNERABILITY:
Vulnerability in community leads us to incrementally present ourselves as we are, limited, afraid, insecure, angry, weak, excited… vulnerability is the doorway to transformation, allowing the sun’s rays into the rooms of our heart. Vulnerability is experienced as emotional strength, not weakness.
It doesn’t always feel like strength though, does it?
I am simultaneously drawn to and terrified of vulnerability.
Dan points out the only way to overcome that fear is to intentionally grow as a community of trust. He also gives some great questions every community should ask themselves if they truly want to trust each other as they step into vulnerability.
The questions that resonated with me were:
- Do we seek to cut each other slack in their motives?
- Do we express faithfulness to each other?
- Do we abandon relationships that seem difficult to maintain?
- When someone is different in opinion and culture, do we avoid them?
- Do we speak passive-aggressively about people when we are disappointed with them?
It’s difficult to ask these questions… but as the chapter title suggests, we must practice if we are going to grow in authentic community.
I highly encourage that you give your self the opportunity to drink this cool glass of water and get kicked in the butt for good measure.
Pick up your copy of Dan’s book today!
Thanks for your clarity and honesty Dan. Let’s press on into God’s preferred future for the vehicle of God’s mission we call the church!
This Blog Tour is offering a unique 40% off discount code that expires Oct 23rd if purchased at: http://wipfandstock.com/
Subterranean: The future of the church
This post is a part of the Blog Tour for the book Subterranean: Why the Future of the Church is Rootedness by Dan White Jr.
Reading Subterranean, by my friend Dan White Jr., was like drinking a cool glass of water and simultaneously being kicked in the butt.
Give that image a second to sink into your mind and then let me tell you why.
Dan is helping us understand this proposition: the future of the church is rootedness.
The church has never been so uprooted.
As followers of Jesus we float above our every day places and spaces (our neighborhoods, workplaces and civic centers) like robots programmed to go from A to B. We hardly notice what is in front of us if it doesn’t have a screen.
Dan confronts this reality in some powerful ways.
The “cool drink of water” Dan offers sounds like this:
In Jesus, God is gathering people under his reign to participate in the renewal of the world… The kingdom of God is the people of God submitting to the king’s will in the place they are called to dwell.
The “kick in the butt”:
Efficiency is a terrible replacement for presence… to be subterranean [deeply rooted in our place and relationships] we must ask hard questions about what ambitious assembling, and constructing without strong discretion, does to the fragile flicker of presence – being with, really with, people.
So I get a short moment to tell you what that back and forth feels like for 133 pages until you reach a beautiful chapter entitled, “Practicing Community”.
In this concluding chapter, Dan makes the cool drink and the kick in the butt all worthwhile.
He gives us a picture of what could be.
While I encourage you to read the whole book, let me highlight his two main areas of focus for this chapter: availability and vulnerability.
Dan suggests that these are the foundation of a community that wants to move from idealism to realism.
I’ve spent my fare share of time in communities that were actually pseudo-communities.
They were built on the false pretense of what a community could do for each individual rather than the strength of the whole. They were fueled with unrealistic expectations that community would be easy and natural when it is actually hard work and constant learning.
It doesn’t end well.
To be a rooted, subterranean community we must be diligent and intentional about availability and vulnerability.
Dan suggets:
For too long the church has attempted to function without them, creating uprooted and unstable humans… we need to choose to be together. We are so acculturated toward individualism that we need to choose against all our inner conditioning.
AVAILABILITY:
I feel the tension he describes as so much pulls at our schedules. I feel the tendency to pull away from community rather than step towards and express availability. I resonate with his observation about how strange a “drop by” to someone else’s house unannounced has become in may mainstream cultures.
(You may cringe at the thought of the idea!)
This left me asking these questions:
- How can I prioritize availability in the communities I am a part of? My neighbors, my missional community, those I disciple closely?
- What “patterns of availability” do I have in my life that my roommates, my co-workers, my close friends and family can count on so our presence to one another can be regular?
- What’s at stake if we don’t make ourselves available to one another so that our relationships can take root?
- When do we intentionally gather around the table and eat together, rather than on the go?
VULNERABILITY:
Vulnerability in community leads us to incrementally present ourselves as we are, limited, afraid, insecure, angry, weak, excited… vulnerability is the doorway to transformation, allowing the sun’s rays into the rooms of our heart. Vulnerability is experienced as emotional strength, not weakness.
It doesn’t always feel like strength though, does it?
I am simultaneously drawn to and terrified of vulnerability.
Dan points out the only way to overcome that fear is to intentionally grow as a community of trust. He also gives some great questions every community should ask themselves if they truly want to trust each other as they step into vulnerability.
The questions that resonated with me were:
- Do we seek to cut each other slack in their motives?
- Do we express faithfulness to each other?
- Do we abandon relationships that seem difficult to maintain?
- When someone is different in opinion and culture, do we avoid them?
- Do we speak passive-aggressively about people when we are disappointed with them?
It’s difficult to ask these questions… but as the chapter title suggests, we must practice if we are going to grow in authentic community.
I highly encourage that you give your self the opportunity to drink this cool glass of water and get kicked in the butt for good measure.
Pick up your copy of Dan’s book today!
Thanks for your clarity and honesty Dan. Let’s press on into God’s preferred future for the vehicle of God’s mission we call the church!
This Blog Tour is offering a unique 40% off discount code that expires Oct 23rd if purchased at: http://wipfandstock.com/