Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Significance of By the Way. . . by Luke Bouman

By The Way has nourished me online for the past few years in some surprising ways. This has been more than simply a place of rest, but a place of refreshment and invigoration. As always, the seeds of thoughts sewn here have germinated in my mind and life in one way, but I have always imagined them coming to fruition in other minds and lives in other ways. As I reflect on this, what I realize is that By The Way has in some sense anticipated the future of the church not because it used new ways to imagine what it means to be community in Christ together, but that it has adapted some very old ways to a new point in time. Here are some of the seeds of the old that have come to fruit for me.

By The Way has never been about the experts. This is a place where all thoughts were carefully considered together and thoughtful people did not need some kind of training in order to contribute. The kind of humility and grace required to pull this off is unusual, but it is what makes BTW so refreshing. This is liberating for all who are oppressed by the tyranny of expertise, both novices and "so called" experts alike. The Christian community of the past meets the future when those with training honor and serve those without, and not vice versa.

By The Way has been a community where the questions are honored as much or more than the answers. Honesty requires of us as a community that we be clear about what we do not know, and reflect together in THAT kind of clarity rather than being clear about what we know and try to convince others that we see clearly what they do not. The Christian community of the past meets the future when we honor our questions, failings, and doubts in such a way that we can be surprised by the presence of God in the midst of such things.

By The Way has been a place where the journey is much more important than the destination. Where we will end, finally, is God's gift and is in God's hands alone. But how we get there is a different gift from God, one that allows us to share in the decisions and the direction. When we simply live the journey together, out of the values of inclusion, grace, and mercy that Jesus lives as he walks among us, we discover the joy and peace in community that we were intended to share together. The Christian community of the past meets the future when we delight in the journey as well as the destination, especially for those who walk together.

By The Way has been a place where the "holy" has not been sought in special places of "holy ground". Instead BTW understood that the "holy" finds us wherever we happen to be. This allowed BTW to be a transcendent community, not because it met online, but because wherever meetings happened, they happened in the presence of the "holy" in such a way that space and time were not captive to the here and now. Though I was never there at any of the gatherings in person, I was there none-the-less. The Christian community of the past meets the future when gatherings have this very tangible yet indefinable experience of transcendence as a part of them.

In ways such as these, and too many more to list them all, the seeds of By The Way have been sewn into the world and among far flung communities and places. The above "peaks" of my experience with By The Way remind me how to be in community in Christ in any place, whether traditional congregation or online meeting. Of course, faith communities who follow this way are taking huge risks, mostly because everything cannot be controlled. But the fruits of this work outweigh the risks, in my mind. I am hopeful that, because of By The Way, many more people might experience this "once and future" community, not only online, but perhaps even in places where buildings are shaped around chairs, and water, and bread and wine, reminding us of community, birth and renewal, and refreshment for a journey together.

Though today's blog entry marks the end of an intentional journey together, the thoughts and lives of those who have shared together By The Way will continue to shape our future journeys, and in that way, this journey is only, once again, being transformed. It does not end.

My overall sense is that if congregations learned some of the lessons of BTW, they would be much more vibrant communities of faith as well.

Blessings,

Luke

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2 comments:

  1. Luke thank you so much for your thoughtful reflection.

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  2. Thanks for your perspective, Luke, that what's new , in fact, may just be time-honored principles. I wonder how "participation", which seems paramount to 21st century style, already happens in what we do as a Christian community. Certainly in church discussions and studies, where folks have qualities you mentioned like humility, openness and tolerance, the church is au courant.

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