Good Business, Good Theology

The title does not always fit reality.  Often times,  business is the devil for good theology.  The drive to succeed often drives people and communities to fudge with their theology,  for the sake of wider influence,  and ultimately,  they say,  more impact and a net gain of more ministry.   In the case of the phenomenon of weblogging,  and the elements they bring together when at their best,  what's good fodder for weblogs is good fodder for businesses on their given area of expertise,  and also good for theological dialogue when it comes to Religious/Theologically-based communities and orgainzations.

Theologically-based communities thrive when they provide a place for good dialogue and personal stories.  The stories help drive the perceived relevance of the ministries,  which encourages participation and support,  which provides monetary and personal (people) resources to enable strong , challenging,  supportive content.  The community that moves into and out of this swarm of content is driven in and out of this swarm,  IN to partake of the support and celebrative gatherings,  and OUT to make some difference in some context of the world where some group has taken it upon themselves to respond to a call that has driven them to "do a ministry".  This ministry makes use of its people resources throught the gifts that they bring  to the community.   To use a communication tool that encourages the art of storytelling,  such as Weblogs do,  is to build an online "place" that buiilds upon and extends the face-to-face "places" where the same stories are being told.

This is such an intricate Web (pun intended) of relationships,  this "chart" of how Weblogs and Churches can be good bedfellows.  This story is inevitably going to link off in several directions.  There is the "Inward Journey" of a Church where spirtitual and personal matters are shared,  and support is given,  and affirmation abounds.   This INWARD JOURNEY is crucial to surviving the realities of the OUTWARD JOURNEY:  one's web of relationships to the world outside the inner life of the community.   Central to this is "What is one to do?" or better,  "What can I do to help"?  Part of the inward journey that is a crucial part of the responsibility of the Church to nourish is the idea of the calling;  to help each other find our gifts,  and how these gifts relate to some work thatthe Church is doing,  or "should be and could be doing".  When a new calling emerges,  the people from whom this call emerges can "sound this call" to test and see if some mission will incarnate out of this thing which beckons them. 

This idea of calling and "sound a call" comes straight out of my sense that The Church of the Saviour in Washington DC has hit the nail right on the head.  There is a Church community that many go on special pilgrimages tovisit,  having heard tales or having read stories (many of them from the very gifted and inspired pen of the late Elizabeth O'Connor).   in her trio of books,  Call to Commitment,  "Journey Inward, Journey Outward",  and "The New Community",  she writes a history that tells a twentieth century tale of a people of God who rose to make an impact in several areas of Washington, DC's Adams Morgan area,  the city and the nations' capital,  and as a spirtual resource center around several issues of Money (The Ministry of Money) and Servanthood (The Servant Leadership School).  Many more details are scattered throughout some of my older , first web pages in this web space,  and I will be linking to them and moving some of the content into spaces in the weblog-enabled areas of this site where dialogue can happen around the issues which they present.

© Copyright 2003 Dale Lature. Last update: 9/23/2003; 3:35:21 PM.