I would like to use the following five themes for what I read Vosper to
be saying in this chapter. My points are not exhaustive of all she says,
but for me they help to summarize her message: Kairos, Radix, Integrity,
Conspiracy, and Carpe Diem.
Kairos
"In moments of utter chaos, great things can happen." This is
how Vosper begins chapter one. While "chaos" is a word I might
use to underline the point she is trying to make, I prefer to use the work
"kairos" which has a particular meaning in the early Christian
church.
"Kairos" is a greek work to describe "time." But in
the New Testament it is infused with a special meaning. Early Christians
chose the word "kairos" to mean "the right time" or
"the time God selected" to reveal Jesus to us.
Since then, some Christians have been inclined to use this word to denote
a special time when history is a crossroads and the "reign of God"
breaks through once more in human history.
Kairos - has been used to describe the decision of the early church to
allow the apostle Paul to undertake his missionary journies among the Gentiles.
It has been used to describe the Reformation of the sixteenth century or
the expansion of "Christian Europe" to America.
Vosper says that we have come to a crucial time in Christian history when
"basic change," not a "cosmetic remake," needs to occur.
Radix
This is a Latin word meaning "radical" or "root." It
does not so much mean radical in terms of "political extreme"
but radical as "basic." To be radical in this way means to get
to the heart of an issue, to its root.
Vosper calls for a profound change in the church which she considers must
be "radical." We need to view her call as a "profound"
challenge, which may be extreme for many Christians, but which claims the
honourable meaning - "basic" (or) "essential."
We need to understand that Vosper's call is directed to a rather exclusive
audience. She addresses those who remain a part of the more liberal or
progressive wing of Christianity which she believes is under particular
stress in our time. Losing numbers. Closing facilities. Waning in societal
influence.
She is not addressing people in the more conservative wings of the church.
Neither is she addressing people outside the church.
Vosper's primary audience is people like us who are gathered to study her
book in a "Canadian Mainline Protestant" church.
Her challenge to us has much precedent in the biblical and church traditions
we honour. So in a real sense we should not be surprized.
Integrity
"Walk the talk" - is one way to define
the word "integrity."
Many critics of the church in times past used to describe Christians as
hypocrites. Christians would look so good "all clean and neet and
in their seat" on a Sunday morning, but their lives through the rest
of the week, it was claimed, were a blatant contradiction of the Sunday
morning image.
I don't think Christians in Canada get much of that kind of criticism today.
Many Canadians do not know - nor do they seem much to care - what Christians
think or do. The world has, in many ways, passed us by.
So why does Vosper use or imply the word "integrity" in this
chapter? I would suggest that she still lives with a memory of some of
the criticism that used to be levelled at Christians. But more importantly,
I think it is because observers of the first Christians lived "integrity."
We are told, in the book of Acts, that people would watch the behaviour
of early Christians and saw them as transparently and authentically loving.
"See how they love one another" outsiders would say.
Vosper's argument is that radical Christians today need to determine what
the basic HUMAN values really are. She lists some of them on page 32: hope,
peace, joy, innocence, delight, forgiveness, caring, love, respect, wisdom,
honour, creativity, tranquility, beauty, imagination, humour, awe, truth,
purity,, justice, courage, fun, compassion, challenge, knowledge, daring,
artistry, wonder, strength, and trustworthiness.
Vosper considers these terms "non-religious" - not the in-house
language of Christians. She believes that Christians need to dispose of
in-house language and behaviour. They need to live lives that authentically
and transparently reflect basic human values that observers will recognize
when they see it.
Conspiracy
If Christians were to live basic human values, many of which Jesus modelled, other Christians would probably be the first to become very upset. The irony, here is that - instead of celebrating such behaviour, certain Christian elites (persons of power and influence) would violently oppose them.
We know this happened to Jesus, and the Christians of the early church.
It has continued to plaque persons seeking to live lives of Christian integrity
all through history.
Vosper believes that the gravest threat to authentic Christianity today
exists within - not beyond - the Christian church.
If we truly want to live basic human values with integrity, Christians
should expect betrayal and persecution. They will have enemies, and many
of those conspiring against them are close by, not far away.
Carpe Diem
This is another Latin word which I see as I summarize this chapter; even
though Vosper does not use the term. It means "seize the day"
and concludes her thoughts on a positive, hopeful note.
Vosper believes the risk of living a radical Christian life is very much
worth it.
Now is the "kairos" - the time to "carpe
diem!" |
Bonnae McTavish opened the meeting with a meditation on Hands. "I
admire people's hands. I take note of them as they seem to tell a story
about the person. I look at the hands of newborns and see the potential
there. I look at the hands of old people and see the stories of their lives."
The evening closed with a reflection by Sharron Larson on the founding
ideas behind the formation of United Church of Canada going back one hundred
years (1908) in Saskatchewan."One hundred years ago, the first draft
of the Basis of Union was completed " 
