Pursuing the Peculiar

Last updated on: September 19, 2014 at 8:36 pm by Russell Rathbun

Pursuing the Peculiar 2014-09-19T20:36:22-05:00 Russell Rathbun

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

There is of course the notion that we all want to find points of connection—we want a big tent, we want a broad-way. It has been a hallmark of this thing of ours, that it is okay to be you, and it is okay for me to be me and we will find a point where we connect and let us celebrate that.

And I celebrate that.

But what I am really interested in is the points where we diverge. Where we do not quite line up. I want to see the peculiar and the particular in you and I want you to see the particular and the peculiar in me.

I am a cofounder/co-pastor of a church in Saint Paul, Minnesota called House of Mercy. We have been around for a while—since 1996. So early that we didn’t know we where Emergent/emerging until Tony Jones and Doug Padgett suggested the possibility.

What is peculiar about House of Mercy—and me, maybe—is we are really, very, sort of into the Bible. Some communities take their cues from culture, some from art, music or a historical monastic practice. So, I write about the Bible and the Bible’s intersection with popular culture and literature, in my sermons an at questionthetext.org, a lectionary blog that asks of each weekly gospel text from the Revised Common Lectionary the hardest question we can find in it. We ask questions in light of our current cultural context, through the lens of our pop culture obsessions or tug on strings that remind us of some song stuck in our head—but it starts with the Biblical text.

The Christian Biblical cannon serves as an agreed upon vocabulary/arena/pallet for some of us to wrestle with the elemental questions that draw us to write or talk or make art. But it is not a purely inherited interpretation of the Biblical text. It is only the agreed upon arena. The text is always fluid and in question.

Questioning the text is important, because the Bible is the witness to the Living Word of God. We are called into relationship with God through Jesus the Christ, The Word. Relationships, at their best, are dynamic, growing, deepening, revelatory, generative and transforming. A primary way we pursue relationship with the Living Word is through the study of scripture, so it must be taken seriously, approached with a robust confidence and a passionate vulnerability. We ask the text the hardest questions because we can. It does not break, it is not offended, and it does not judge our desire for understanding. The ancient rabbis say that when we study the Bible we release God’s mercy into the world. It is important to question the text, because the world needs as much of God’s mercy as possible.

Previous Post

September 18, 2014

To Change Everything, We Need Everyone

Next Post

September 19, 2014 Learning Action and Contemplation at Richard Rohr's Living School

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Atheism Authority Bible Cartoons Christian Year Christmas church church planting Civil Rights Community Contemplative Spirituality Culture emerging church Empire Eschatology Evangelism Events Gender Healing Humanism Islam Justice Kingdom Lent Movement Building Multi-Faith Music mysticism New Wave Emergence origins Personal Poetry politics Prayer Preaching Privilege Racism Religious naturalism Resurrection salvation SKEPTIMERGENT Theology Trauma Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Commanded to go to Nineveh, I fled in the opposite direction on a ship to Tarshish. Who am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hosea Jeremiah Jonah Elijah