Janel told me some months ago about ikon, a group that led worship one evening at the Emergent Convention in Nashville. The gist of that service was centered around the idea of worshipping God despite God's absence, or non-existence. I realize there's a pretty big difference but I don't remember exactly what their word choice was. They had a number of blank canvases up front, upon which people keep writing the phrase "God, if you exist, come among us" (or something along those lines), over and over in black, until the canvas was completely covered in darkness.
I realize that not everyone would appreciate such a service (Janel said it wasn't really her style), but I found her description of it kind of fascinating.
HERETICAL Building upon the idea of our religious traditions as iconic discourses that recognise and celebrate the apocalyptic nature of God, it follows that Ikon acknowledges itself as a heretical community. Each revelation of God requires interpretation and these interpretations are inevitably limited by such things as language, intelligence, cultural context, tradition and psychological makeup. By recognising this we endeavour to hold our current understanding of God lightly, allowing both the Spirit and other people to challenge what we believe. Thus we echo Augustine when he asked himself ‘What do I love when I love my God’, thereby affirming his love of God while simultaneously questioning his understanding.
In addition to this we acknowledge our heretical stance in relation to the larger Christian community. Unlike the terms ‘unbeliever’ and ‘infidel’, which traditionally referred to those from a different religious tradition, a heretic is one who comes from the same tradition but who reads it in a different way. Not only do we acknowledge and celebrate the multiplicity of ways that one can read Christianity, we actively employ these diverse readings in order to help ensure that no single understanding is taken as the only true understanding. By doing this we also endeavour to be a place of refuge for those on the edges, or outside, the traditional church system, yet who desire God. While this can often place us in tension with more established forms of religion, we view this as a creative force that allows for a critical, two-way interaction with the larger church, challenging while being challenged.
We are aware that our own success will ultimately help undermine our heretical stand, for if we become established then we will become the dominant voice. Hence we attempt to build self-critique into the very heart of each Ikon service so that we are continually undermining our own ideas rather than those of other people. In this way Ikon is neither a conservative or liberal community (although people who attend come from both traditions) for the point is not what you believe but whether you are willing to challenge and critique it.
I hadn't thought much about ikon since Janel told me about the service, but the other day I ran across a reflection from their site which kind of intrigued me again, posted by Adam at pomomusings (see below).
Jesus and the Five Thousand (a First World translation) | by Pete Rollins
13 Jesus withdrew privately by boat to a solitary place, but the crowds continued to follow Him. Evening was now approaching and the crowds, many of whom had travelled a great distance, were growing hungry.
14 Seeing this Jesus sent his disciples out to gather food, but all they could find were five loaves of bread and two fishes. 15 Then Jesus asked that they go out again and gather up the provisions which the crowds had brought to sustain them in their travels. Once this was accomplished there stood before Jesus a mountain of fish and bread. 16 He then directed the people to sit down on the grass.
17 Standing before the food and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks to God and broke the bread. 18 Then he passed the food around his disciples and they ate like kings in full view of the starving people. 19 But what was truly amazing, what was miraculous about this event, was that when they had finished the massive banquet there was not even enough crumbs to fill a starving hand.
If you're interested in more reflections like this, many of which take a common scriptural story or parable and turn it on its head to make you look at it in a new way or look at yourself in a new way, you can find more of them on ikon's site (here) or Pete Rollin's blog (here).
Have you heard about Pete's upcoming, soon to be released book, "How (Not) To Speak of God"? I have read part of a manuscript he sent me and it is fantastic.
thanks, punk, i have heard the title, but haven't seen anything else about it...i'd love to though. i'll keep my eyes out for it. i'm curious to see if it includes the similar 'parable' format at all--which is all i've really read from him--or how he structures it.
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