http://www.shapevine.com/pg/blog/pam.hogeweide/read/46662/missional-power

So as to your blog post – its all about labels, non? I say let’s see labels as icons rather than idols. They are a path and portal to truth and divinity, not as an idol a replacement for these things.

Even the word “God” is a culture bound symbol given us via the Germanic languages. The One whom we know as our All in All cannot ultimately be named or bound by any one symbol or label.

So let’s love our labels while they remain relevant. And when they start “going off”, bin them. The labels in this post title, a response to Brians book, are still for me fresh and resonant, and I love the twist you have given them.

Peace …

liz - thanks for the link, always thankful for your voice and perspective out here in wacky blogland. and yeah, grace rules…

Great journey. ID with Jack of too many trades, but thanks for the upside there.

joy – thanks for watching my back when i lay it all out on the line out here, ha ha. i like what you said: “that may be their form of missional, but that’s not what resonates with me..” i agree, i know it works for a lot of people, the idea of rah-rah missional, but i think there are a lot of us who know deep down that the mission of God is something far more than we’ve been taught. something that strips away all that we once knew. something that requires us to get radically in touch with our own brokenness in order to connect with the brokenness in the world. something that requires us to be far more uncomfortable than comfortable. something that requires us to be in relationship with the least likely instead of just sending money from afar. i could go on and on. bottom line is that it’s all a lot nuttier & lonelier than we probably thought, eh? lots of love to you & emdes, too.

ron – oh that made me laugh. i hope you’ll still like me, ha ha. did you read john’s comment? so much resonated with a lot that you have written. yeah, i believe Jesus is bigger and wider and vaster and wilder (and more simple) than i think any of our limits & names & semantics & conversations & theories can ever contain & that when we do try to define & limit & make-it-fit-into-something-we-feel-better-about we miss the whole point of the upside-down ways of the kingdom. i do want my faith to get simpler & simpler, stripped down to the essence, discovering what that really means. i taste it sometimes & yep, it definitely supersedes the need for the word “christian”

danielle – thanks for the link. always love your thoughts.

sonja - oh i so relate, everyone gets annoyed with me for inviting too many people but i always want everyone to know each other & get along

christen – always love your thoughts & yeah, the pulling away from the center is a great image. even though it might seem like the hodge podge of ideas pull away from the center, maybe it’s even less likely because one doesn’t fill up/weighdown/carry so much more weight than the others and pull it away from its core too much. hmmm, will think about that some more for sure. thanks for sharing. so glad you are part of the convo here.

jonathan – it will be fun to meet someday (are you going to dc by the way?) yes, some days i have that hope and then other days i read some stuff and it all gets dashed. i think it’s important to do whatever we can, even in very small ways, to nurture friendships and relationships and safe and challenging conversations that help us learn to grow.

randi - thanks for your thoughts here. i am glad you are digging that book. such good stuff in there. i like changes that heal, too, it’s in my top 3 healing-and-healthy-relationship type books. i think one of the reasons that typical churches don’t know how to cultivate true diversity in community is that it is scary. we like to be with people that think just like us. we find comfort in words that tickle our ears and keep us safe. a divergency of ideas and people and shapes and sizes can be very disorienting and uncomfortable and unfortunately many are looking for “comfortable” when it comes to “church.” i think true kingdom-infused community is anything but comfortable! and in terms of needing to “defend our faith.” oh boy, the part we need to remember is that what the definition of that is was created by man, not Jesus. it’s a great example of how one passage in scripture gets extrapolated into a bit of “here’s exactly how good christians do it.” we need to be so careful about recognizing how much of what we do or think we are supposed to do has nothing to do with what Jesus stirs up in us or what we see in the gospels but rather what we’ve been taught in church by human beings who are sure they “know”. thanks for sharing, randi, it is so fun to see what God continues to stir up…

esther – oh i love that line: “i think the best defense is always our life.” so good! i am with you! people do not care about words (christians do, but the world doesn’t). they care about actions, the living bible, seeing love & mercy & hope & grace in-the-flesh. this is why we have such a bad rap, too many words not enough action. frankly i think we need to just shut up and quit blabbing about being a christian and actually be one

sandy – thanks my friend, i appreciate your thoughts & it is always good for me to hear because some days i’m like “why am i letting myself be this vulnerable, for what?” i think you are so right, lots of secret mutts out there who are afraid to say some of those thoughts swirling around in their head out loud out of fear.

mary - that made me smile.

eddie – thanks for reading & taking time to comment, how did you hear about the carnival?

sarah – thanks for your thoughts & yeah, the big, wider, global church is far bigger than many of us have been taught. the more i learn about the beauty of people across all kinds of shapes & sizes & beliefs living out the values of mercy, justice, compassion and hope, i am humbled and reminded that “western christianity” doesn’t have the market cornered on the image of God alive & well across all kinds of boundaries.

sage – leave it to you to throw that fun idea into the mix. wow, if you pick that one apart there’s a lot in there. love you, my brother and friend, and couldn’t imagine this journey without you. last night when you served communion with steve and reminded us of the openness of the table & how this binds us together across all of our divergent ideas, it lit up my heart. yes, what’s impossible with man is possible with God. l

There is so much value in openness to the influence and contribution of a variety of streams… and I especially appreciate an openness to the the voices of the wider, global church as well.