In class on Tuesday, we talked about really important things like what happens after you die and how does what we think about that affect how we live now. I love these kinds of discussions, especially in the welcoming and friendly space of that classroom. I left class thinking, “I want to have these discussions in whatever I do. This is really important.”
A few minutes later it occurred to me that those conversations are not important without the doing things that are important like loving people, feeding the hungry, working for justice, listening to those who have no one to listen to. And so much of my problem with academia and those that dive deep into the “important questions” is that their questions are disconnected from the doing. But there are many who do, but don’t think too much.
This is the point – I want to do both. I think that is one the things that really drew me to the emergent movement is that there is rich theological discussion AND an insistence on praxis. But we are given a false choice when we feel we have to choose between academia and the church. Maybe one does become our vocation while the other becomes a way of life, but it also seems there can be ways to integrate the two. It just takes a lot of thinking outside the box and a lot of courage to challenge the definitions. A pastor who is willing to risk honest theological discussion risks stepping outside “orthodoxy” and the bounds of their denomination. An academic who is willing to enter into the pain outside the walls of the institution risks finding their air-tight answers don’t work as well in real life with people in real pain.
I feel caught in between because I’m not sure there are places that will let me do both… think, speak, and do things that are really important… not just walk the hamster wheel of institutional propriety.
; ) i love you jenny!
how about this: i stay in academia and do praxis with you and others – and you do church and do conversation with me and others and we’ll keep each other accountable and work together to do both. i’ll co-teach classes with you and we can co-lead worship in your church, ok? ; )
Again, you nailed it. Just one observation–I notice that repeatedly your list of purpose for your life, (i.e. loving people, feeding the hungry, working for justice, listening to those who have no one to listen to) doesn’t include bringing the eternal hope of Jesus Christ. This isn’t a criticism–it may be that is to be understood. I’m completely committed to a loving ministry in the “real” world–but without the eternal perspective, it becomes no more than a temporary fix. Just wondering. . . .