Like Minded Deviants

In previous episodes we have suggested the importance to push beyond deconstruction into a process of reconstruction.  We believe such a move to not only be possible, but helpful.  What does such a move look like?  How can we talk about it, what sort of language best helps us to identify such a disruptive yet exciting process?

Join us in this episode as we focus on the sort of speech that can help us better understand the process of deconstruction and reconstruction, outlining the helpful "messiness" that characterizes the non-binary speech we recommend for helping us understand the wonderfully mystical process of deconstruction and reconstruction.

Over the course of this season, we have been making a case for deconstruction of the traditional Evangelical faith system. We have been saying that healthy moves and progress are often found as one throws off the legalism and the surveillance mentality found in much of American Evangelical faith systems. Maturity can result in the loss of a person's cherished Evangelical faith system, landing the journeyer in a place of skepticism, doubt, and secularism. As we have said, this can be a move toward health and growth. However, there is still room to move on through secularism/skepticism toward a position of mysticism, wonder, and humility. We describe what that can look like, leaning on our own journeys as examples of that type of progress.

In this episode we attempt to tease out three potential forms that mysticism can take: (1) classical mysticism, (2) post-modern/post-Evangelical mysticism, and (3) mysticism that finds conceptual funding and inspiration in moves toward liberation and a focus on the poor.

Have a listen to see if this makes sense.  We think it does.  We also feel it might give listeners inspiration to identify other forms of humble mysticism, a maturing move toward mystical and humble connections with the divine.

So, join us as we discuss the path towards reconstruction on a journey to mysticism from skepticism and speak about how that process has played out in our lives!


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As always we want these to be informed by YOU, so let us know what you think, send us your thoughts, and we may even try a few! 

Deconstruction is a word that one finds floating around in Christian circles quite a bit lately.  

For some, the term promises liberating possibilities, an open door allowing fresh air into a context that has long felt stifled.  For others, the deconstruction process is dangerous, something that provokes deep anxiety, a move that threatens an unnecessary (and perhaps heretical) dismantling of valuable, historic non-negotiables at the heart of the Christian faith.

With that in mind, in this episode, we invite YOU along for a closer look at the deconstruction process.  We explore some of its connotations and we welcome the journey it entails.  We dive below the surface, peeling back some of the layers found in the idea, complete with insight into why deconstruction is often necessary, what is involved, and how it might be approached in a healthy manner. 

We hope this discussion invites new questions and new insights for those who are curious about helpfully, and faithfully, navigating the deconstruction process.

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As always we want these to be informed by YOU, so let us know what you think, send us your thoughts, and we may even try a few! 

Get ready for part 3 of our Evangelicalism series where JM, JSF, and Dr. Lindy Backues discuss deconstruction in light of our context in Evangelical America today.  This conversation ranges from discussing why deconstruction can sometimes be healthy to a deep dive into the phenomenon itself in with helpful language to make sense of its natural place within a faith journey.

As always we want these to be informed by YOU, so let us know what you think, send us your thoughts, and we may even try a few! 

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Join us for our first Friday release for the second episode in the "Evangelicalism" module, where Lindy, JSF, and JM dive deep into a conversation on "Christianese" in America today (yes we know--very "meta').

It is commonplace knowledge that how we as humans talk and the language we use affects how we see the world around us.  In short, the language we use helps shape the way we experience life. 

An offshoot of this is – especially for those of us from the Evangelical world – the language we use easily ends up walling us off from real life, prompting us to offer simplistic answers to difficult questions.  Worse yet, it often prohibits us from admitting when our language does not match the reality we encounter.  We often come off to others as being phony and afraid to discuss topics of deep importance.  In this episode, we take a look at how this works, and then we broaden our conversation to include a deeper look at the way we live.

 We conclude that we must learn to speak more clearly, be more transparent, and open up more fully to important – even challenging – facets of life, especially those related to our relationship to God through Jesus.  In short, we must avoid using religious platitudes or holy words that cloud sincere attempts to understand the puzzles of our world, even when that sort of speech uttered or a life lived makes us uncomfortable.



As always we want these to be informed by YOU, so let us know what you think, send us your thoughts,  we may even try a few! 

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Welcome back for season 2 of the Like-Minded Deviants Podcast! We begin season 2 with the first in our multi-episode module on Evangelism.

In this episode, we take a biographical and personal look at what has come to be called Evangelicalism in the West--predominantly the cultural phenomena in the United States.  Where did it come from?  What was it in response to?  What did it do?  How has it changed? 

JM and JSF give us some insight into their own family histories as they have woven in and out of the history of Evangelicalism over the last several decades.  Lindy throws into the mix of this history, baggage, and mix of blessings an older but somewhat different perspective that he has experienced.

As always we want these to be informed by YOU, so let us know what you think, send us your thoughts,  we may even try a few! 

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Join us for our Preview for season 2 of Like-Minded Deviants as we loop you in for a few program updates, and release schedule as we get set for season 2!  We are so excited to be back and look forward to our first module releasing in the near future!

We have been so excited by the response to our podcast and we want these to be informed by YOU, so let us know what you think, send us your thoughts,  we may even try a few! 

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Join us for our last episode of the first season – appropriately themed Bar-Talk episode as we reflect on the season as a whole, its impact on us, and what we have in store for season 2. In these episodes we connect for a lower key/more relaxed conversation, what we like to call, the conversation after the class! So feel free to grab a drink and join us!

Throughout this season we have arrived at the idea that the Church is not in itself the Reign of God, but the Reign of God is both its starting point and its goal. So that leads us to the question, how does the Church (as God’s idea) address the ‘crackedness’ of the cosmos (the problem of evil we explored at the beginning of the season)?  How does it ‘dramatize’ and manifest grace, love, justice, and the dream of God? 

Join us this week in our final content episode of the season (paired with a Bar-Talk episode) as we examine the call of the Christian Community as a Counter Force and an active participant through actionable grace in the narrative of The Pathetic God.

• Hendrik Berkhof, Christ and the Powers. Translated by John Howard Yoder, Harrisonburg, Virginia: Herald Press, 1977 (ISBN: 978-0-8361-1820-9).
• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Stephen Charles Mott, Biblical Ethics and Social Change. Second Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (ISBN: 978-0199739370).

Readings: 

• ‘The Church and the Powers’, Berkhof, Chapter 5
• ‘Salt, Light, Deeds’ and ‘Thy Kingdom Come’, Gushee & Stassen, Chapters 10 & 17
• 'The Church as Counter-Community', Mott, Chapter 7

**Also Check out our BONUS EPISODE! BAR Talk: The conversation after class and on-tap. Reflecting on the season... and what comes next!**

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Join us for the second part, and main conversation in our "Toolbox"* episode, where we delve into a theological engagement and critique of Macro-Economics, our Metaphors, the environmental crisis, Globalization, Internationalization, and The Pathetic God.


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*Note: Each Toolbox episode pairs with a shorter "Toolbox" mini-episode, on for a short lecture unpacking or describing the particular topic  of each "Bookshelf" episode. Think of the "Bookshelf" to Theory and "Tool Box" as praxis.

Join us for a new "Bookshelf" mini-episode for a quick and dirty "Lindy-Notes" lecture on Macro-Economics. 

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*Note: Each Bookshelf episode pairs with a longer "Toolbox" episode, engaging each topic through a theologically critical lens. Think of the "Bookshelf" to theory and "Tool Box" as praxis. 

Join us for the second episode of our new "Toolbox"* where we delve into a theological engagement and critique of Socialism and The Pathetic God.

• Bob Goudzwaard, Capitalism and Progress: A Diagnosis of Western Society.  Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979 (ISBN: 978-0853647706).
• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).

Readings:

1. ‘Socialism and the Planned Economy’, Hay, Chapter 5
2. ‘Treasures on Earth: Economic Ethics in the Kingdom Way’, Gushee & Stassen, Chapter 18
3. ‘The Socialist Countermovement’, Goudzwaard, Chapter 7

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Web: lmdpod.buzzsprout.com
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*Note: Each Toolbox episode pairs with a shorter "Toolbox" mini-episode, on for a short lecture unpacking or describing the particular topic  of each "Bookshelf" episode. Think of the "Bookshelf" to Theory and "Tool Box" as praxis.

Join us for a new "Bookshelf" mini-episode for a quick and dirty "Lindy-Notes" lecture on Socialism.

Contact Us!
Twitter: @PodLmd
Facebook: facebook.com/LMDPod
Web: lmdpod.buzzsprout.com
Email: lmdpod@gmail.com


*Note: Each Bookshelf episode pairs with a longer "Toolbox" episode, engaging each topic through a theologically critical lens. Think of the "Bookshelf" to theory and "Tool Box" as praxis. 

Join us for the first of our new "Toolbox"* For a theological engagement and critique of Capitalism and The Pathetic God.

• Ellul, Jacques, Money and Power.  Second Edition, Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1984 (ISBN: 978-0877849162).
• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).

Readings:

1. ‘The Capitalist Market Economy’, Hay, Chapter 4
2. ‘Treasures on Earth: Economic Ethics in the Kingdom Way’, Gushee & Stassen, Chapter 18
3. ‘Money’, Ellul, Chapter 3

Contact Us!
Twitter: @PodLmd
Facebook: facebook.com/LMDPod
Web: lmdpod.buzzsprout.com
Email: lmdpod@gmail.com

*Note: Each Toolbox episode pairs with a shorter "Toolbox" mini-episode, on for a short lecture unpacking or describing the particular topic  of each "Bookshelf" episode. Think of the "Bookshelf" to Theory and "Tool Box" as praxis.

Join us for the first of our new "Bookshelf" mini-episode for a quick and dirty "Lindy-Notes" lecture on Capitalism.

Contact Us!
Twitter: @PodLmd
Facebook: facebook.com/LMDPod
Web: lmdpod.buzzsprout.com
Email: lmdpod@gmail.com


*Note: Each Bookshelf episode pairs with a longer "Toolbox" episode, engaging each topic through a theologically critical lens. Think of the "Bookshelf" to Theory and "Tool Box" as praxis. 

In the Church today there is confusion as to how storied, biblical truth might be translated into principles, themes, and motifs that later can be applied to the world that surrounds us.  Like finding a common note in a song, or a common image in a story, we can locate repeatedly appearing images, ideas, or themes running throughout the biblical story, ones that can help us evaluate the economic and political world around us.

In this episode we explore a particular, overarching concept we believe to be at the center of biblical resource management, something that needs to be at the center of all economic systems – Stewardship.

To fit the flow of conversation we have been having so far, our overarching image will need to agree with the topics examined in previous episodes: grace, love, justice, and the kingdom of God.  In future episodes, we will use this approach to evaluate the dominant, overarching economic systems available in the world today, i.e., capitalism and socialism.

Texts:

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).

Readings:

1.   ‘Christianity and Economics: Theological Ethics’, Hay, Chapter 2
2.  ‘Treasures on Earth: Economic Ethics in the Kingdom Way’, Gushee & Stassen, Chapter 18

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What is the goal of all of this?  Where was Jesus headed?  If we are to offer grace as God offered grace, if we are to love in a way that aligns with the Cross, if we are to be just in a way that frees the chains of the poor, how does that fit with the message of the gospel, the message that Jesus came to preach, the core of the message found in the New Testament?

The core of that message can be found in the phrase ‘The Kingdom of God’ – but, as Christian persons who often claim to know about the teachings of the New Testament, we very seldom focus on this central concept.  Why is that?  Why do we find ourselves so ignorant of the central idea that Jesus came emphasizing? In this episode we try to hone in on this concept so that we might find out what the phrase means, and why it matters to us as we try to live lives in the shape of Jesus.

Texts:

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, 2nd Edition, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• J. Andrew Kirk, Good News of the Kingdom Coming: The Marriage of Evangelism and Social Responsibility, InterVarsity Press, 1983 (ISBN: 978-0877849384).
• Stephen Charles Mott, Biblical Ethics and Social Change. Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2011 (ISBN: 978-0199739370).
• Howard A. Snyder, Models of the Kingdom,  Wipf and Stock, 2001 (ISBN: 978-1579107017).

Readings:

• ‘Jesus Began to Proclaim: The Reign of God’, Gushee & Stassen, Chapter 1
• ‘Why the Tide Has Turned’, Kirk, Chapter 3
• ‘The Long March of God’, Mott, Chapter 5
• 'Models of the Kingdom: Sorting Out the Practical Meaning of God's Reign', Snyder (https://www.jstor.org/stable/43052383)

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Justice is a concept, a concept that can be very theoretical and abstract.  But, we must ask ourselves, what does justice look like?

Justice - like everything else we examine  -  must look like Jesus!  Jesus came to fulfill justice proactively, in community, so that we might live and participate in a way that is dynamic, actively toward the fringes and margins of the system, so that those who have previously been excluded by the system might taste participation in the community.  In order for that to happen, we must overturn the tables of our definitions, dismantling the static structures of ‘justice’, which actually are very unjust to the poor.

Come Deviate with us, as explore it means to corporately embody the sort of justice we are speaking about here, as we embrace the Christomorphic shape of justice we find in the picture of Jesus.

Texts:

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, 2nd Edition, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique, Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).
• Stephen Charles Mott, Biblical Ethics and Social Change. Second Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (ISBN: 978-0199739370).

Readings:

• ‘Weightier Matters of the Law: Justice’, Gushee & Stassen, Chapter 7
• ‘God’s Justice and Ours’, Mott, Chapter 4

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The word justice appears in a lot of places in the biblical record.  As a community seeking to follow the pattern of Jesus – a community attempting to live in a way that is Christomporphic, that is ‘in the shape of Jesus’ – we must put the idea of justice as central to our understanding of the good news as did Jesus.

The trouble is, though, we often do not know what justice is.  We often see justice as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ rule that everyone needs to obey equally.  The idea of justice needs to be parsed and better understood. Come deviate with us as we seek to better understand what justice means, especially in light of the call to those who feel prompted to follow a pathetic God.

Texts:

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, 2nd Edition, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique, Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).
• Stephen Charles Mott, Biblical Ethics and Social Change. Second Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (ISBN: 978-0199739370).

Readings:

• ‘Weightier Matters of the Law: Justice’, Gushee & Stassen, Chapter 7
• ‘God’s Justice and Ours’, Mott, Chapter 4

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So many of our popular songs, hit movies, favorite poems, social media spin around us the notion of love.  We all teach about love, sing about love, long for love, shoot--we even cry out for love! That being so, surely we must know what love is, right?!  No doubt, we got love down, don’t we, since we seem obsessively focused on it almost all of the time? Not so fast! Let’s be real, WE know, that YOU know, that we really mean different things when we say, ‘we LOVE tacos’ and ‘we LOVE our significant other’ .

We think the problem might not be that we are so unfamiliar with love - instead, might we not be too familiar with it? If that is so, how might we recognize the kind of love that the gospel story describes about what God in Jesus did for us?  Is love even the best way to describe what we find in the gospel story?  Come Deviate with us and start the conversation! 

Texts:

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, 2nd Edition, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique, Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).
• Richard B. Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation, A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics, HarperOne, 1996 (ISBN: 978-0060637965).

Readings:

• ‘The Greatest Commandment: Love’, Gushee & Stassen, Chapter 6
• ‘Three Focal Images: Community, Cross, New Creation’, Hay, Chapter 10

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Email: lmdpod@gmail.com