Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel?
In fact, our partisanship and faith have become so wrapped up together, that it is like one big ball of tangled string. They influence one another in various ways (some helpful and some not), and often times it is hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. This month, we will be crafting experiments together. These experiments will center on how we engage politics and how we are being formed by politics. Together we will notice what strings in this tangled mess the Holy Spirit is drawing to our attention, and we will intentionally practice ways of untangling that thread. How can we seek to be formed in the way of God's kingdom and bring that to bear on politics rather than allowing politics to shape how we view the kingdom?
We continued our experiments this week exposing the partisan liturgy of tribalism, reflecting on the ways we are tempted to find our identity in a political party or position. Then, we considered the counter-formational liturgy of humble service. What if our political activity followed the way of Jesus and humble service?
You can find the handout for crafting an experiments here.
For additional resources, please visit our website.
Resources for Navigating This Political Season
If The Practice Church is your home community, please join the Core Team.
If The Practice Church has been meaningful to your journey, would you consider a tax-deductible gift? You can give at https://thepracticechurch.com/give/
This guided practice is a part of our series The Liturgy of Politics. As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In this practice, we respond to the partisan liturgy of fear with the practice of breath prayer. With Jesus, we pray the words, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” This prayer reminds us, in the words of Pastor Mike Lueken, even if the worst we can imagine happens in this election season, “Jesus is still king. The kingdom is still real, and all shall be well.” And it reminds us that we are invited to join the Holy Spirit in its redemptive kingdom work.
This guided practice is a part of our series The Liturgy of Politics. As we seek to untangle ourselves from the partisan liturgies of our culture, we are engaging counter-formational practices. In response to our partisan culture which uses fear as a political tool, we offer a practice that can help us welcome the love and presence of Jesus into our fear so that we might be the kind of people whose political activity is marked by love.
Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel?
In fact, our partisanship and faith have become so wrapped up together, that it is like one big ball of tangled string. They influence one another in various ways (some helpful and some not), and often times it is hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. This month, we will be crafting experiments together. These experiments will center on how we engage politics and how we are being formed by politics. Together we will notice what strings in this tangled mess the Holy Spirit is drawing to our attention, and we will intentionally practice ways of untangling that thread. How can we seek to be formed in the way of God's kingdom and bring that to bear on politics rather than allowing politics to shape how we view the kingdom?
We continued our experiments this week exposing the partisan liturgy of fear, reflecting on the use of fear as a tool and noticing how it forms us. Then, we considered the counter-formational liturgy of love. What if all our political activity was rooted in love rather than fear?
You can find the handout for crafting an experiments here.
For additional resources, please visit our website.
Resources for Navigating This Political Season
If The Practice Church is your home community, please join the Core Team.
If The Practice Church has been meaningful to your journey, would you consider a tax-deductible gift? You can give at https://thepracticechurch.com/give/
Aristotle said the purpose of politics is to create a people who are better than they would be without it. Politics has a way of shaping how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Have you noticed how this is parallel to the task of the gospel? This journey of faith creates us to be someone better than we would be without Jesus. Jesus shapes how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we should live in the world. Is it any wonder our political activity has gotten so bound up in our understanding of the gospel?
In fact, our partisanship and faith have become so wrapped up together, that it is like one big ball of tangled string. They influence one another in various ways (some helpful and some not), and often times it is hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. This month, we will be crafting experiments together. These experiments will center on how we engage politics and how we are being formed by politics. Together we will notice what strings in this tangled mess the Holy Spirit is drawing to our attention, and we will intentionally practice ways of untangling that thread. How can we seek to be formed in the way of God's kingdom and bring that to bear on politics rather than allowing politics to shape how we view the kingdom?
We began this week with crafting our experiments. Setting the stage for the journey, we considered the formational nature of politics, and how this nature runs parallel to the gospel. Recognizing how easy this makes it for partisan politics to become entangled with the gospel, we set out to craft experiments that will help ground us in the kingdom of God and allow the Spirit to shape how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we believe we should live.
You can find the handout for crafting an experiments here.
For additional resources, please visit our website.
Resources for Navigating This Political Season
If The Practice Church is your home community, please join the Core Team.
If The Practice Church has been meaningful to your journey, would you consider a tax-deductible gift? You can give at https://thepracticechurch.com/give/