The Goings on and Work of Sam Mahlstadt

The other day I wrote a brief post highlighting some great collaborative projects, and my desire for the church to pick up the need for artistic collaboration among creatives.

The producer generation has limitless connections, and it seems like six degrees of separation has become more like two or three with the networks of Facebook, Twitter, and the like. This generation values and understands the necessity of collaboration. We have a deep desire for community, and the humble (although many times this gets overshadowed by insecurity) sense that we can’t do it alone.

If the church can embrace and empower artistic collaboration as a new generation explores past the boundaries the previous generation placed on our faith, the possibilities are endless.

Our faith will take on new dimensions, our understanding of God will be stretched and deepened and our communities will become stronger. Even our Bibles will embrace a more holistic view of the faith that would have seemed heretical in the previous generation.

You can sample The Voice by downloading the Gospel of John, here.

I often write about the church and how it intersects with the culture in which we live. Part of that is disgruntled, frustrated responses to how the church is missing it.

Allow me to make a few personal comments:

• I love the church (I’ve served in both paid and unpaid capacities)
• I believe in the church and it’s future
• I want to be a part of the church’s revitalization with this generation

At times, I may write about topics from a seemingly annoyed or impatient place. That’s because I believe in the potential of the church, and I hate to see it wasted away fussing over things that don’t carry eternal weight.

At times, I may seem to flippantly disregard traditions of the faith. That’s because if it is a dead tradition, I believe we should move on. There are certain traditions of the faith that come through mandates – such as communion and baptism – but the others that surfaced through what worked hundreds (or even 10) years ago need to be treated as such.

I desire to be a voice that spurs on the saints of this generation. I desire to stand on the shoulders of those who have come before me, and keep my eyes forward, sensitive to what God is doing now. I want to join in the work of the Spirit, and that requires growth, movement and a decision that I won’t settle (but also not neglect) what I know, where I’ve been and what I am comfortable with.

I don’t want to be a hater. I want to be a catalyst.

I love these online networks that embrace community and encourage progress. I pray we learn how to do this in the Church, as a new generation is creating and producing incredible work.

• Red Bubble
• Soul Pancake
• Behance Network

I’m the American Church, and I suffer from a fear of commitment. Don’t get me wrong, there are some days where a part of me wants to follow in the footsteps of the Rabbi with everything I’ve got. But most days, I react like a ragged and confused Peter, standing over a fire, weighing my options.
It’s easier to just get caught up in programming, and projects and productions. It’s not easy to catch the eye of Jesus as the cock crows for the final time. I certainly don’t deny the Christ as Peter did, but I do one worse; profess with my mouth and bear no fruit.
It all stems from my deep fear of commitment. I have a hard time loosening my grip on my things. My money, my time, my doctrine, my dogma. It’s all too comfortable to give up, even when I feel like that’s the only option left.
But please don’t give up on me, because there are moments of glory. Moments when I gaze into the heavens, moments when I share my bread and moments when I trust whole-heartedly. I’m trying to sort this out, asking questions I haven’t been allowed to ask for generations.
Don’t give up on me yet. I have fears and shortcomings and dark parts in my heart, but I cling to a great Hope. I believe a great promise. I worship a great king.

I was having a casual conversation with a guy yesterday about raising money. He was inquiring about a project I am working on, and was curious as to how I would seek out funding.

In a rather funny turn of events (as he didn’t know my background) he said that I should start a church. I informed him that I had been part of a church plant last year, and that they weren’t exactly always a cash cow. I asked him why he thought starting a church would lead to significant financial contribution. His insight struck me initially as funny, but all too often true.

From his perspective, outside of faith and organized religion, I think he is calling it as he sees it:

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After a series of posts that challenged our perception of who Jesus the radical Rabbi was, and how to best apply his teachings in our culture, I incited some pointed conversations. (To catch up, the posts spanned from April 12 through April 22.) There were some comments here, and many more on Revelife.com, where this blog happens to be syndicated. I also got some push back from friends in private messages.

Let me bear my soul for a quick moment:

It was hard for me to be challenged. I post on this blog daily. Almost everyday more people than I think is appropriate come and read what I have written (largely because I remind you all via Twitter and Facebook status updates). Rarely do I get negative responses; people who think I am wrong letting me know so. And when that happens on rare occasions, readers usually come to my defense. Well…this time, even though there was some great conversation happening, I felt as though I was taking on my readership.

I felt defensive; they aren’t listening to me!

I felt disappointed; they just don’t get it!

I felt like I had failed; none of this is the point!

I second-guessed my motives. Why I had written the posts? Could anything good possibly come out of them. Did I simply facilitate an argumentative snark-fest instead of a conversation? It sure seemed so…at the time.

But then something staggering happened. I received a tweet from a good friend of mine (one who disagreed with me throughout the political series :) ) announcing a new blog called Be The Now. I read The Kick Off post laying out the vision of the blog, and the heart behind the movement. I was blown away.

The entire purpose of the series I wrote was to encourage you to wrestle with your faith, no matter where you are on the journey. If we consider ourselves Christians, I believe we need to take a long, hard look at what that means for today. For now. I could not be more thrilled to announce Nate’s new endeavor, Be The Now, to you creators of culture. Please take a few minutes to click over to BeTheNow.com and look around.

You can also follow the blog on Twitter @BeTheNow. This is is what it is all about!

Go be the now.

While they share some distinct features, the very nature of a conference is contrary to that of a personally penned letter.

• Letters are intimate; conferences are gatherings of strangers
• Letters are personal; conferences must be impersonal in order to address all in attendance
• Letters are soul-bearing; conferences deflect with pomp and circumstance
• Letters are meant to be read; conferences are meant to be observed, engaging the mind in a passive way – think book vs. television
• Letters are fluid; conferences require themes and continuity to keep speaker and attendees on the same page
• Letters are built out of a context of relationship; conferences are indifferent to relationships, assuming everyone in attendance should hear the same message

That, my friends, is why the Christian conference is not the modern-day epistle.

Let me tell you why. The letters of the New Testament, written to the churches in cities across Eurasia, served several purposes. Each letter is unique, but all have the same general functions. Paul wrote fellow believers in order to encourage, correct, teach and motivate them in their faith.

Fellow Believers

Paul’s letters were written to leaders in the new church, growing at rates that were unmanageable. Although Paul speaks for the importance of reaching unbelievers with Jesus’ message, his letters are reserved for the like-minded men and women who were laying down their lives for the cause of Christ. Brothers in arms, if you will. There is a sense that Paul is a pastor, friend, admirer and role model in his letters. The mutual affection is based on the common denominator in their lives; Jesus.

Christian conferences are similarly intended for the fellow believers who are living their lives for the glory of Jesus. Usually geared to those who serve in vocational ministry, conferences often serve as an oasis for dry and weary ministers. If you have ever attended a Christian conference, you would have experienced the pastoral/friendly/admiring/role model dynamic in the relationships among presenters and attenders.

Encourage

Paul is largely seeking to encourage the church leaders who are dealing with unmanageable growth, persecution, and the blending of cultures. No doubt the pastors of these local churches were in overdrive trying to keep up. Paul emphasizes that it is about the work that God has done and is doing, not about the individual leaders ability or qualification.

As a 21st century leader, this is something that can quickly be overlooked. With big personality leaders, and churches that seem to explode overnight, it is important to keep our eyes on the Creator of the Church, and not our abilities, or lack thereof. This theme is the through-line of many conferences.

Correct

Because cultures were blending, the theology was developing, and people are people, Paul spent a good amount of time in his letters correcting the young leaders. Much of which was reminding them to keep their hearts right before God and men. If something wasn’t right, Paul would bring it up.

This is harder to do in a conference setting, where speakers may be addressing representatives from multiple churches. Correction can be made about things like leadership perspectives, programming strategies and stewardship of time and finances. The best example I have seen of this was Rob Bell’s talk at Catalyst this past fall, where he urged leaders to let go of their attendance aspirations and to be faithful to those whom God has called them to serve.

Teach

Paul addresses many theological stances in his letters. Especially in metropolitan areas where cultures and religions are meshed, strong theology is difficult to uphold and communicate.

Conference speakers are unique in that they usually speak/teach about a specific characteristic of God. Many times, several speakers will cover very different aspects of God, which helps to form and reaffirm a strong understanding of Scripture.

Motivate

Paul constantly urges the church on through his letters. Although he encourages, teaches and corrects, Paul always left the readers with a strong motivation to carry on in their work.

At conferences, motivation may be one of the best things a speaker can provide. If a leader walks out of a conference with the truth that they can carry on, and that they are being greatly used by God, the conference has done it’s job. I would imagine the leaders in Phillipi, Corinth, Rome and beyond had that same feeling after reading a letter from their friend Paul.

I had a curious thought the other day. I was thinking about a conference I want to attend this fall, and the speakers who will be presenting.

Then I began to wonder how the conference came to be, and why we attend them. Especially in the church world; why do we love conferences? In the midst of this inner-conversation I wondered, is the Christian conference the modern-day epistle?

Over the next two days, I will give my reasons for why it is and why it is not. Tomorrow will be my “why yes it is” day. Wednesday, I will attempt to show how the conference is the furthest thing from the epistle.

The bonus, underlying content, will be that you get to witness an example of the arguements that take place inside my head.

In the meantime, what’s your initial reaction? Is the Christian conference the 21st century epistle?

I happened across an article on the website for Princeton’s student newspaper, that dealt with creating a conversation culture. The piece is written by a Rhodes Scholar from Princeton, and speaks about how the University should play more of a role in fostering a conversation culture on their campus. You can read the entire article here.

One comment he made stuck with me, and I think it applies to culture at large, and also has huge implications for the church.

…conversation culture is born not in elevators, lecture room seats or basement hallways before precepts — it flourishes in the smoky, sweaty corners of pubs; in cafeteria alcoves; and over beer in common rooms.

Pubs, cafeterias and common rooms. These three things share a commonality, which is that none of them are formal educational spaces. Colleges and Universities place a lot of focus on their formal spaces, but often neglect creating the culture that will foster growth in areas like critical thinking and classroom participation.

I think there is a takeaway for the church here as well. Great (faith) conversations don’t happen in church lobbies, pews or Sunday school classes – but thrive in pubs (or coffeehouses if that makes you more comfortable), cafeterias and common rooms.

Faith conversations rarely happen inside church buildings. Like many post secondary educational facilities, churches often focus on the building in which they gather once a week (formally), and neglect their responsibility to create a culture of conversation – which ultimately boils down to neglecting their responsibility to create disciples.

If the church can continue to move from a monologue to a dialogue, it can be a major player in the culture of conversation both in local communities and on a global scale.

In an interview, Bono once said the church should be the moral force in our society. The church can’t be the moral compass if it isn’t at the table when decisions are debated and executed.