“Epiphany 2009”

That is what author Ian Morgan Cron wrote inside the flap of the book he authored, Chasing Francis as I handing it to him for an autograph. I am pretty sure I had an epiphany of sorts at the Eucharist he and Randy Elrod performed as part of one of our cre:ate think tank sessions. Let me share a couple things before I share what happened.

I will not go into the doctrinal intricacies of the Eucharist and shatter my own Evangelical construct for communion here since really that is not my point at all. The Lord’s Table has always had great meaning for me. But, something more happened this time with the beauty of the ritual of the Eucharist that did not dilute my thinking of my prior experiences. In fact, this experience greatly added to it.

For me as a more mystically wired musician, my upbringing as an avowed Evangelical enriches me to this day with powerful reasoning, life-changing doctrines and value for the authority of scripture. This very foundation leaves room for a mystical side, even though many seem to be far from encouraging it in practice.

For those who are charismatic, or pentecostal, your theological base pulls Evangelicalism to the mystical already, so you get this I suppose. But, for me I have treaded lightly even when my experience and understanding of the the teachings of the Bible call me to hear from God in ways more colorful than two dimensional text and in the full color of an incarnational experience. Epiphany?

Let me share what happened just a few days ago. As the music and creeds and prayers were recited, the image of a leather button on the sleeve of a familiar corduroy coat flashed in my mind. In fact, I could smell that coat. My stepdad wore that and my memory of being tucked near his side, pulling his large finger said to me that this is how God sees me and where He wants me.

Those buttons were this epiphany of sorts. The earthiness of this 1970s coat transported me to feel for a brief moment what its like to be a child who comfortably nuzzles with his dad. This picture in the context of remembering Christ’s offering on the cross while receiving with open hands the body of Christ and dipping it into the wine undid me right then and there amongst these friends of mine.

How many times do I miss the God-moments where the truth of His Word is not just memorized, systematized but alive due to my busyness and laziness? I do miss the point here and often. One good friend who led my small group many years ago used to say that God is speaking to us all the time. My friend is right!

I confess my efforts and practice are remedial in hearing God in these mystical ways, even though I am perhaps a mystic through and through by design. My hope this year to is to live out what Ian so gracious encouraged us to do with one simple word. Epiphany.

What is your recent epiphany, mystical “God-moment” or does any of this even make sense to you?

WMB is a series of posts here on my blog.

The Myth of Proposition over Experience in Worship

Why is it that in our evangelical church culture we seem to put the beauty of music, art and other expression of our faith and worship below reason? Where in scripture does this occur? In reading the Psalms and other poetry of the Bible we see imagery and drama as part of our expression of faith and yes, even theology.

This does not mean we put beauty and story above reason and proposition, however. There must be a better way of explaining the longing in our hearts when pulled to the mystical side that experience offers without repressing this part of our humanity. In other words, perhaps it is not an indication of a fallen nature or a danger of being captivated by that nature to be moved by the beautiful. It is human.

At the cre:ate 2009 conference, we had a lecture by Steven Guthrie, who delivered a lecture similar to his Worship Leader Magazine article earlier this year (Music and Lyrics, WL Magazine, pgs. 25-30). What Guthrie described was a man with two halves which he says is derived from Augustine. What we take from Augustine is a fear of the music drawing us to a “lower” nature. So, why not subjugate music to reason, which is a higher form of faith? We seem to face that in our worship expression often in the evangelical church.

Postmoderns, as Guthrie described to us at cre:ate flip the same logic of Augustine and argue for making story, beauty and so forth higher than reason and proposition. May it never be! To deny the propositions such as the substitutional atonement and other pillars of faith to some fuzzy narrative is just plain stupid. We are talking about our eternal destiny here, not how we feel a movie moves us to a place of experience or how  Coldplay reveals universal truth that we can explain away as relative. Proposition is still important.

I would suggest, as Guthrie does far better than I can, that we are not two people as he states the idea of having two halves. This is, as he says, an “unbiblical anthropology.” We are both people of reason and emotion. To pit parts of humanity against each other seems heretical, actually. How could we truly worship if “Spirit and Truth” are not employed and if we do not sing “with our mind” and “with our spirit” as Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 14.

At another cre:ate conference we talked with author Kurt Bruner about his book, The Divne Drama. Bruner’s assertion of a “both and” of “proposition and story” when talking about the gospel. The Bible is indeed made up both of narrative as well as proposition. Should we think these are ranked, or do we accept all scripture as “God-breathed” and authoritative?

For the sake of discussion, I wonder how many readers would agree with this idea or not agree. Should we put reason above beauty, story, mystery or are both sides of us who we are?

For eight years I have been a part of an amazing think tank and creative leader conference called cre:ate (recreate) in Franklin, TN. Randy Elrod and his wife Chris have founded not just an environment that challenges, encourages and catapults a group of leaders but they have created a real community of influencers who are shaping the local church in America and beyond.

One benefit is having filmmakers, authors and talented musicians as part of this group along with experiences in a setting that is small–the max size ever is 150 people. Being able to dialog with authors like Ian Morgan Cron and gifted communicators like Ken Davis proved to make this past year as memorable as the rest.

Randy knows the power of community. The authenticity and safety of this environment gives the air needed to breath dreams. I have so much to unpack and journal regarding the powerfully impacting time taking the Eucharist or hearing Randy’s lecture “The Cure of the Blessing” as well as most of the other content. The advantage I have is that there are friends all over the world now sharing this experience with me until next time and with twitter, tokbox and skype we will do it together.

More to come about this experience. If you were part of cre:ate, did I get his right? If not, does a conference like this intrigue you?

Randy Elrod is a friend who has impacted my life in ways he may never know. He has a new book of his water colors out called “Beauty Is Calling” and is offering it at a discount price right now of $19.99 (a $60 value). Besides the enjoyment of this book as a collection of art, you will be supporting Kalien, a center that mentors young artists.  Go to Randy’s blog to find out more and purchase the book.