This is a story that starts years before the birth of a savior. Honestly, I can begin way back in the Old Testament, but for today let's go back to a different beginning, the birth of a brutal dictatorship. This is the story of King Herod.

Herod's family would be considered Jewish by name only. He was an Edomite. Edomites were a tribe that based their lineage on the person Esau. The same Esau who was tricked out of his birthright by Jacob. The same Esau who left to start his own tribe. (Eventually a tribe, that would be forcefully reinstated back into the Jewish fold.) Herod's family was the perfect leadership choice for the Romans: Jewish by name only.

Historical interest in Herod begins at the assassination of his father who was poisoned. Following his death, Rome naturally named Herod king of Judea. While historians call him a middle of the road kind of guy, keeping both Jews and Romans placated, he did so with a bloody fist and little concern for love and human life. If it maintained his place of power, he was interested at whatever cost.

Some of what he did during his tenure lets you know what kind of guy he really was. He had a mountain with a palace built on top named and in honor of himself. Just to make it clear he had the palace and the mountain built. It was purposefully built to be at a higher elevation than the Jewish temple. That says something about his ego. He built amphitheaters for the Romans. He built docks to increase trade in Jerusalem. However, the docks were named after Caesar, which made it unpopular among Jews. That says something about his focus. He had one of his wives killed. Interestingly enough he killed the one he supposedly liked the most. That says something about his morality, or lack of.

And let's not forget the story we Christians probably know him for the most: When the wise men came to see if Herod knew where the Messiah was he was so scared about the possibly of being ousted by 'the king of the Jews' he had every baby boy under the age of two in Bethlehem killed. This was near the conclusion of Herod's life. He was around 70 years old and was worried about a baby who wouldn't even be old enough to rule until Herod was able to die of old age. That says something about his lust for power.

But you know what? There was one good thing he kinda did. He remodeled the Jewish temple. Apparently after he was done it had a solid gold alter, the walls were lined with marble and expensive stones, and the ceiling was a heavenly blue. The Jewish people loved it! They would travel from all over the land just to see it. But you know what else? He also raised the temple tax really high and instead of giving the money back to the people he sent most of it to Rome. That says something about his greed.

So the years pass. A baby is hidden in Egypt and allowed to become a boy; spared from Herod's killing spree. When Herod finally dies it is safe for the boy and the family to go back home. Jesus grows up. He is baptized in the Jordan; tempted in the wilderness. He begins his ministry by calling a diverse group of people to drop everything and follow him.

As a teacher, Jesus finds himself in various locations helping the disciples see the big point: love the Lord, your God and love your neighbor as yourself. In the case of our scripture today the lesson happens in the form of one of Herod's crowning accomplishments: the renovated temple.

Just prior to coming upon the temple gates Jesus labels the Pharisees and the Saducess as a group that devour widow's houses. An extremely strong claim that is backed up when the disciples come upon the temple gates to see a widow put everything she had into the temple treasury. It was her duty to give to the temple, but it was also the temple's duty to take care of her. They were not doing their job. What the disciples were witnessing was a form of martyrdom. History has, with good reason, praised martyrs. It says something about dedication that a person is willing to give everything for their cause. In some cases, their lives.

But sometimes we get confused over who is putting these martyrs in these positions. God is not the cause. There are humans in this world who make terrible mistakes that cost other people greatly and there are humans in this world who might as well be monsters. For whatever reason, power, amusement, or neglect, they put people in positions where they must become what God never intended them to be: sacrifices for the cause. There was only one meant for that and he was more than a human.

So far, summing up: Herod was selfish, Jesus makes a statement of the priestly orders devouring widow's houses than physically shows the disciples how they are doing it. Appears clear enough? Good. All this was needed to set up the scripture for today. It will help what I am about to say make more sense.

Could you hear Jesus' heart break when the disciples respond to his teachings with a rebuttal? Seriously, our scriptures today starts with the disciples commenting on how well the temple is adorned in honor of God. I believe it was a direct counterargument to Jesus' claim that the priestly leadership was not taking care of widows. Ok, they weren't taking care of widows but they were praising God, right? Wrong! As we just learned, the gold and jewels were not put there by the priests but by Herod. And, they were not put there to praise God but to praise, once again, Herod. Herod the greedy, baby killing Jew by name only who had set up the temple tax to go to the Romans instead of the Jewish people, where it really belonged.

Here is where Jesus could have rebuked the disciples- yelling at them for not getting the point. Instead he takes the same analogy and turns it around. In the future the Saducees and Pharisees will be devouring the disciples for believing in a risen Lord. See, even Herod fixing the temple was a temporary gift. Anything built by human hands will eventually fail the test of time. (Even if you think you are worthy of God status, like Herod thought.) In 70 AD the temple did fall. It was destroyed by the very people Herod tried to please: the Romans. I bet he didn't see that coming. But Jesus did, and furthermore, Jesus saw something else: he saw how the human nature of humanity was going to treat the very people who clung to his words and followed his steps. Was God going to destroy the disciples? Did God need the disciples pushed to martyrdom to bring about the greatest gift in the world? No.

So Jesus gives something that Herod could never have given. It was something eternal and far more real than golden alters or marble walls. Jesus was giving himself and promised to be present even when future tyrants would torture and kill them for their beliefs. In this case, Jesus was not preparing a group of people for a Job moment where the waters of faith were going to be tested. He was preparing them for something far more disastrous:when human free will gets so far off track they hurt others.

I can't stand here today and say you will never be put in positions where others will hurt you. Heck, I was eight years old, being slowly starved, as I watched my drunken mother being beat by my drunken step-father nearly every night. Pain exists. It is foolish to pretend it does not. But, God exists too, and as much as I knew my mom and step-dad were off God's course, I knew God was with all of us. When I stayed up long enough each night to allow my sister to go sleep I knew God was staying up with me so I could go to sleep as well.

It was unbelievable to know that a symbol for God's presence, the temple, could come to mean corruption, but it did! And today, Jeremiah’s message comes back to us. God does not solely reside in some building. God will not fade and God cannot be destroyed. Even if the world crashes in around us God remains pure and true. God lives in our hearts. If we can live that it will not matter what else happens around us. For with God by our side, how can we fail?

* Information about Herod pulled from the devotional book: The good the bad and the ugly.

    Wow! Has it been a year already? I'm not talking a year from the online launch, that's months away. I'm talking a year since I sat down at my computer and began crafting what is now Fig Tree Christian. What a journey it has been. A year ago the website didn't even have it's own name! We had two likes on Facebook, my sister and myself. (My husband would have liked but he left Facebook about a year ago and hasn't been back.) I would like to take a moment and reflect on the journey so far. 

1. In the beginning it is all about the set-up: Fig Tree Christian didn't become www.FigTreeChristian.org until 4 months after the website was first built. In fact, I would bet if you saw the site when it was first built, you wouldn't believe it was the same site. That is because, you don't invite someone to something that is unfinished. The beginning is for trial and error. Want to try something, try it. You are building. See if what you are building could stand on it's own. Play with the layout. Ask what others think. Get feedback. 
2. This is a mission field. Treat it like one: Rule number one to mission work is to know the people you are trying to reach. You are not going to reach a people with your ways and your culture. So, don't try. When I first began I thought I would just make an online church. It would look, feel, and be church, just online. First of all, that is already being done. I point you towards Disciple's Net if you want an online church. Secondly, most who are online don't want an online church. They are searching for authentic. The most startling truth for me was realizing a congregation can exist without a church. Through this journey so far I have immersed in the online culture. In the beginning I failed often because I didn't realize how to connect.  People mistrust church. Notice the word 'church' isn't anywhere in the title except through the Georgia Regional Website? That's on purpose. That's understanding the mission field Fig Tree Christian is part of.
3. Keep really good notes: I would be very depressed today if I haven't kept really good notes from the beginning. From the beginning I have been journaling everything that has happened. About six months ago I began taking screen captures of my page hits. This has done two things. First, it has kept me from sharing behind the curtain stuff that doesn't need to be shared "on stage." No one except myself and God, who needs to know my frustrations regarding this or that. I understand the separation. It is called boundaries. Ministers who preach every Sunday at a church should have them, and internet ministers should have them. Secondly, it allows me to visibly see the progress. This is a long journey. In the beginning the site had 10-20 visits a day. A few months later it was 20-40. A few months later it was 60-80. Today we get between 100-200.  It didn't happen all at once. When I get frustrated at the the page views or individual visits, I take out my screen captures and compare. It always makes be feel accomplished. 
4. This is lonely: Part of the culture of the internet is a one-sided mentality. I have heard from more than one source, and I have witnessed it myself, people want to take but don't want to give. Only in the past few months have people finally started responding to the meditations. I imagine it will be another six months before the community begins to really form and begin communicating with one another. If you are a church wanting to get your feet wet online, realize you are not doing what we are doing. We live here. This is our culture. You are using the internet as a resource. It is two different beasts. You would completely have to change the DNA of what you are to be what I am. Don't do it. I say that in the most loving way possible, because you have something already, community. Use the internet as a resource to grow the community you already have. I am hearing so many congregants wetting their lips and imagining the huge crowd they will draw if only they have the right Facebook page, or website. You won't. I can't be more blunt. You will, if you realize part of the community you already have are internet savvy, enrich the congregants you already have. I personally miss what you already have. Someday, Fig Tree will be face to face. Not today. Appreciate what you already have. It is a blessing.
5. Blazing trails are difficult because so many people want to help: Everyone knows what you want to do and put you on their path. This is not evangelical. This is not a physical church. This is not a blog. So, while Fig Tree has used pieces of all those things to be Fig Tree Christian, we cannot follow any of those paths. This is blazing a new trail. It is hard work. We fall down a few times. We get bruised and cut, but it is still the right path to take. One of the most difficult parts of this journey is when the allure of an already blazed trail begins to draw me in. I become like a fly to a zapper. In the end I get burned because I start to do things that are not on Fig Tree's path. Then I have to dismantle and return to what I am supposed to be doing for this ministry. It is frustrating for everyone. The others don't know why I am not on their path. I cry out to God, "Why can't I see 10 feet in front of me when they seem to see miles ahead of them!" Eventually I realize it is because of the nature of Fig Tree Christian. I gird up my loins and move on. Wanna help? Share. Repost a meditation. Like the Facebook page. Follow on Twitter. Celebrate those small victories with me, and comment on the meditations. Just know, I won't be taking your path. That pa
6. The internet is WAY honest: Imagine if every minister on every pulpit ended their sermon with a 'like' button and a comment section. Now imagine those 'likes' and comments could be private. How many ministers would just give up right then and there? Ten years ago, I would have. Because users can hide behind their computer, the internet is really honest. Since the meditations have begun being posted on Reddit, I have been crushed nearly every week from users who troll my screen name and downvote my submissions. I have been yelled at regarding my gender. I have been correctly put in my place a few times. In short, I am extremely grateful. If only we could have this kind of open discussion in the church! I have had more opportunity to talk about female ministry since moving online, than I have ever had when I was a pulpit minister. It is extremely frustrating at times. I have learned who just wants to end discussions by throwing out one liners, and I have learned who wants to engage and discuss. Also, I cannot hide behind time. Everything I write, record, and post is there forever. It has softened me to others who work online. My grace has extended mostly because I pray others will extend it to me. When one says stupid things, like I have been known to say from time to time, it doesn't go away. In "real life" it can be forgotten and lost. Not here. And in some cases that is wonderful. There are some meditations I see people share. If I had preached that meditation it would be forgotten in a month or two. Now it can exist forever. So I guess my piles of guano and my tiny golden nuggets will exist. I'll take the prior if the latter exists too.

(Written for Community Christian Church (DOC) in Fayettville, GA 7/7/13)

I am going to be honest with you. I wrote four sermons before I finally felt I was headed in the right direction and began drafting what I am sharing with you today. Seriously. I wrote on this scripture for Fig Tree Christian and in my red journal there are three ½ written sermons. They are all making decent points, it just didn't seem to fit for this morning. But I think I got it.

I have, for years, considered myself a modern Protestant Monk. What I mean by that is I was raised by the church. I threw myself into the congregation and immersed myself in the bible. I was practically raised by the church. As a child, I introduced myself to the bible by reading the stories from a Children's bible each night before I went to bed. As I got older I would choose a book, like Job or the letter to the Romans, and read a chapter, writing questions in the margins, and brought those questions to the minister on Sunday. (I was very grateful my minister was also a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary.)

Now beyond seminary and ordaination, I have felt drawn to a focus. God had seems to have been drawing me to for years, to revitalization and new church start. In late middle school and early high-school I was part of a new church start. I saw and felt the struggles first hand as a congregant. The courses in seminary that re-energized my call were mission and evangelism focused. My favorite Saint is Patrick, who successfully brought Christianity to Ireland. My internship, while I was in Seminary, was to First Atlanta. I worked with Dr. Roger Sizemore as he led the discernment process for revitalization of that congregation. Since ordination, most of my continuing education has been focused on revitalization and new congregational start. I took an online course with Dr. Dick Hamm on revitalization, and the Georgia region sent me to Indianapolis to be trained as a Church Planter. As you know, today I am working to grow Fig Tree Christian. Every minister has a focus. Mine is clearly evangelism.

Now, there is a reason these two fields, Church revitalization and planter ministry, go hand in hand. Both are new beginnings. Both require getting back to the basics of Jesus. There are many congregations that don't realize this, the church, as we know it, is going to look way different in the next 10-20 years. As Dick Hamm put it, 80% of mainline churches are in decline with many of those near death. The world around us has changed. Not only has the internet completely changed how we engage with one another, culture in general has morphed into something new and different. Facebook altered how we connect with pretty much everyone. The rise of the “nons,” a group of Christians who claim faith but not a place of faith, has altered the path Christianity can take.

I like to think of it like the Missouri River. This is a river that is way larger than it appears. It flows for hundreds of feet across in both directions... underground. We only see a little bit of it above ground. Now, for years the Kansas/Missouri border had issues with this river because the river we see above ground would move. Whenever there would be a flood the river would change it's banks. The real river, the one underground never changed, the river above ground moved. Eventually, they built levees and chose where the river was going to stay. Now cartographers can accurately place the Missouri River on a map and farmers don't have to worry about their land being wiped out by becoming part of the wide Missouri. In fact, to validate my point, back in the early 90's they found an honest to goodness steamboat in farm land way off from where the above ground Missouri is now. It had sunk when the Missouri was where this farmers land was. Now it was no where near it. The river is still hundreds of feet wide, underground. When they dug up the ship they had to continually pump the water out of the hole.

Think of the river being like Christianity. For years when the culture changed Christianity would change too. The faith was deep and wide, and the organization of Christianity would change course where the society would go. This happened for years, until the levee was built by society. See, our banks have been set. Faith is still deep and wide, but what Christianity can be within the river of belief has been limited. We can't move with society anymore and still be what we have been. See, our worship, this hour of time we spend on Sunday morning, has worked for generations. But now, people are living outside of our organized process. They live outside of the river. We cannot move the river to them anymore. Our worship is a boat. We have to invent a car.

See, it's completely different. It doesn't look like anything we have ever done. And this is the world I am living in. Churches that seek revitalization have to figure out how to move from being boats into being ducks, those boats with wheels. New church plants, need to avoid the water all together, because there are more than enough boats out there, and figure out how to do what they do on land. And new church plants are struggling with this because many are just taking the place of the congregations dying out on the water. They are just changing the music or the style in which the sermon is done, which is really just building a speed boat when locomotion is needed.

So bringing it to the scripture. We have Naaman. Naaman wants to be healed of his skin ailment and requests the help of Elisha to do it. Naaman knows how it has been done. He knows the rites and rituals. He imagines he will be anointed with oil. Words would be said over him. He would have to do A, B, C, and D. In conclusion he would be healed. Instead, Elisha doesn't even show up and sends word for him to dunk himself in the Jordon seven times. To give you an idea of how dejected he would have felt, imagine if I decided to not show up this morning, and instead emailed my sermon ahead of time. Then my sermon simply read, “God is good. Go and do like Jesus.” Naaman was bitter. He was angry. He didn't want to get dirty in the stupid Jordan river. This is Naaman looking at the faith from the visible side of things. Since he sees the Priests and Prophets doing all the work, he falsely assumes it was the rites, rituals, and the Priests and Prophets who held the power. But this isn't about the people or the acts. This is about God. God is deep and wide. It is God who holds the power. Naaman had to let go of what he thought was a large conception of faith, but was really a tiny meandering conception, to gain a grand healing through God.

It's like the Missouri River. We only see a small part of the picture. We get so caught up in what we are doing as humans, when we are not the bringers of miracles. God is, and God is bigger than us.


So, realizing the real power comes from God, are we willing to give it all up for the sake of everything? How do we take the next step, the evolution of Christianity that is coming over the next 10-20 years? We have to see that God's presence is there whether we choose to sit or stand, whether we choose to sing contemporary, traditional or no music at all. God is there whether we meet in a sanctuary, concert hall, or out in the open. Because, our relationship with God is deeper and wider than a building with a cross on it. It is scary. Most things in the future are. Even if the future is moving away from what we have been comfortable with, our purpose will still be with God. If we can realize we are still with God even when we leave the metaphorical river we see, we will have a bright future in 10-20 years.

    Above is a side conversation I had a few days ago with a fellow on Reddit. Before I go into too much detail let me first confess my sins. I have poor grammar myself, so I should have been mindful of their grammar when trying to engage with a discussion with me. It wasn't too many years ago my language art skills left much to be desired. It took some tough seminary papers where my grade was dropped not because of my subject but because of the grammar I used to write it. Someone did something similar to one of my previous posts and I corrected my mistake and thanked them for bringing it to my attention. I was not mindful that others might not be so accepting.
    Second, I should have known, by the way they entered the discussion, they were after a quick jab, not a real conversation. 

    The real reason I am expanding this conversation to include others is simple: I want to have the discussion. The person I was talking to suggested this could be passive agressive. I share that so everything is out in the open. This is less about what I think and more about what you think. Should women, and really myself, be a minister? Can I be damned for accepting a call to ministry? If I am damned, if my words saves two, would that be worth damnation? I will conclude with another post I made to Facebook I look forward to the dialogue. 

    Hello, my name is Melissa and I am a bridge. Well, let me explain that. When it comes to age demographics there are Generation X and Millennials. Millennials are usually anyone who graduated 2000 and beyond. Gen Xers are those who were born 1980 or before. Simple enough. This isn't a hard line. Depending on where you live or your social status, how your demographic looks might be different. I have seen age demography charts where what I just shared is moved a few years in one direction. Now, I was born in 1981 and graduated in 1999. I will let you think that one through.  If there is one birth year left off the charts it is 1981. Even when the groupings are shifted 1981 is not included in either the Millennial or Gen Xer group. I have decided this means I am a bridge. I am allowed to be either a Generation Xer or a Millennial, depending on my mood and need. I try to be true to this true knowledge and be aware I have the ability to 'bridge the gap' so to speak. 

    Hello all! I am sure some of you are getting online wondering why nothing seems to be happening. From this end, things are crazy busy. Our family is moving this week so my focus has been on cleaning and packing. I was also fully immersed in my children's Easter experience. From a Fig Tree Christian perspective I spent the time praying and attempting to listen to the spirit. I hope you were to doing the same. 
    Here is what you should  expect to find over the next month or two:

• Guest Meditations: If communication is key to relationship than hearing different voices is vital to that goal. Because I, Pastor Melissa, will be away for the next two weeks moving, there will be some new voices sharing their perspective on this massive and awesome God story. Look for them on Thursday in the Meditation section. I will be back posting meditations on the 18th.
• The Good Samaritan Project is getting underway! First Christian Church in Hendersonville, Mo donated some funds for the mission and growth of Fig Tree Christian. Part of their donation will be used to start off this project. (You can find out more under the Support our Ministry tab. When you put your mouse over the tab, the Good Samaritan Project will be an optional tab to click at that that point.)
• The Fig Tree Shop will be open in May. Part of being an online community is understanding how people give when they are on the internet. There are a few churches participating in a t-shirt fundraiser right now. They will get a portion of their t-shirt sales to help their group/church. The rest will be used to open the store. At first, the store will be more inclusive of the denomination or Christian faith in general. As we begin to expand their will be Fig Tree Christian centered items. We will probably continue fundraisers in some form. It is a great way for us to help each other. It is true for every Christian congregation, whether that congregation is online or meeting in a church, offering alone does not cut it anymore. 

    I hope everyone had a meaningful Easter. Part of the reason I felt called to go dark through Easter were these questions I am about to ask. Consider them as seriously as I have: What would Jesus do today? What would the symbols and acts look like had the internet been at Jesus' disposal? My prayer led me to the conclusion that worship would look different than a church service. If worship looks different, the conclusion is an Easter celebration would be different too. Prayerfully consider what that means to you. 

    There is something selfish and self centered about the internet. In a world where our voices have been silenced and our actions have been muted the internet is the only real megaphone anymore. We want our 10 minutes of fame; or ideas 'liked.' In doing that, we hope people notice us, not realizing we also need to notice others. Everyone has a blog. Anyone can post videos. Everyone hopes those ideas and thoughts are seen. And here I am. Everyone is talking so loudly, desperate to be heard for just one soundbite, just one sentence, that I feel like I am drowning in the sound. Meanwhile, in the real world I feel the silence is so deafening it swallows up my words. They are washed away before I can ever say them. The difference is so stark it is no wonder it is so difficult to translate the digital experience into a real relationship. None of us want to be the voice in the wilderness crying out. None of us want that attention. But, in the sea of voices our sound are only really heard if it means something, because otherwise it is only a drop of water that can be ignored in the massive ocean of sound. It is safer to speak when everyone else is speaking too. It is much more difficult to stand in truth when truth means standing alone in the field of silence.
    My ears hurt as I hear the collective voice crying and screaming: I am alone. I need relationship. I want to be connected to something greater. They don't actually say those words. It is read between the lines.  It is written between the smart comments on Facebook. It is seen behind the instagram photos. It flirts on any of the many match making sites out there. Meanwhile I cry back: I have learned where to find relationship. I have learned how to reconnect with others. But I fear the noise is too loud. I fear the answer I have found has been drowned. I fear it more and more as I realize the megaphones that once existed in the real world are broken or in major disrepair. 
    What do I do? How do I continue? My voice is meek. My voice is soft, and God calls me to use it? How do I speak over the Corporate sounds? They are the only ones with working megaphones anymore. How will anyone hear my voice? All the Whos down in Facebook are yelling "We are here! We are here!" and at the same time those pleas cannot break through the internet into reality... We need a "Yopp" to throw all those voices over the top and break through. And I am not sure if what I am yelling is "I am here," or if God might have given me the "Yopp." 
    This is what I want to say: I know how you feel. Before the internet I too desperately wanted to be heard even if the only note I was able to get out was, "I am here." I saw the world connecting and I wanted to be part of it, but I was damaged by life. I had to fix myself first. It is so fitting that my first solo was "Amazing Grace." It taught me God loves broken little me. I wanted to share that message with everyone else. Today, I still sing that song, but my words are more expansive and my tune is the cadence of the written word. Today I am no longer saying, "I am here." It has been replaced by, "God is here, and God hears you." Oh, if only my voice can rise above the flood to share that. How simple it is. How needed it is. Maybe that can be the bridge from the digital experience to the real relationship. Maybe now, before we all drown in the sea of words. Maybe now, when God's love can help us into the life boat.

    This past week I spent a wonderfully fulfilling time at a leadership conference for Church Planters and Church Revitalizers. It was sponsored by the Hope Partnership for Missional Transformation. I will be taking much away from the conference, the most important being relationships with like minded Disciples who want a restoration of God's Church in today's fragmented world. Knowing God does not leave us alone in our task is one of the most uplifting pieces of knowledge.
    I write this today because there was a sneaky theology that kept being thrown out. It was like proof text and it was being used as a shield to block a critical thought in Church Planter ministry. More than twice this past week I heard the words, "We must be set apart from the world; not in it."
    It used to be, mission was a one way street. The Christian organization would take their worship, their images, and their words and expect the overseas culture would embrace it. It was ok, but the work of mission really didn't take off until they stopped trying to force the images that worked for the missionaries and began listening to God's call to find the images that worked for the group they were trying to reach. It was understanding that God was already alive and working in the community. It was the way St. Patrick did evangelism- using their pagan symbols and world around them. A perfect example: he used the three leafed clover to explain the trinity. To help them understand God he had to understand and live in their world so he could speak their cultural language. (Cultural language being something greater and deeper than physical language. People communicate with more than words. The unspoken truths of a culture sometimes speaks louder than words.)
    Now, let's bring it together. The reason the collective church is drowning in it's own death is not because they were immersed in the world instead of set apart from it. Their problem today is mission. Churches do not know what to be set apart from and what to be immersed in. Listen, the natural order of life is to return to what is most comfortable to us. Nature was from the chaos and from the chaos we wish to return. Our ultimate goal is to be set apart from that which will return us to our un-created state: chaos. We are to immerse ourselves in that which brings us closer to God, our created state: relationship in the form of love. Mission is the natural result of being immersed in love and separated from chaos. Mission is relationship. It is learning the spoken and unspoken language of the people you are called to reach and using that language to create relationship. The collective church in the United States is dying because they have failed to do real mission for way longer than I have been around.
    That is why the mission statement for Fig Tree Christian is this: "To be a place grounded in knowledge of Jesus Christ through education and connection to God and others." As a minister I realize it is a fools work to say what projects and goals are going to arise from this experience. The need will arise from the relationship, and relationship can only happen in God's love. It is where the core values of Fig Tree come from: "Speaking the truth, teaching the truth, and living the truth without fear. Connecting and connected to bring the Body of Christ together to know God better."  
    We are not outside of the world, but we are set apart to keep the chaos from overtaking us. We have disconnected for far too long. We have lost who are neighbors are. We need to stop un-friending and start reconnecting. Let's start piecing the Body of Christ back together and start working again. Set apart to work within the world.

    I have issue with fellow theologians who embrace the Trinity in a cemented fashion. They embrace the three in one as something too complex to understand. It is true. If you focus too much on the parts of the Trinity the parts fall to pieces and no longer work. The Trinity is held up by tradition. There has been a long standing written battle between theologians of whether/when/if tradition is something we canonize. There came a point where we 'closed' what was going to be added or taken away from the bible. The question is, did we leave room for the story of God to continue or was it really time to close a door to one story to make room for a new one? The Trinity was solidified post canonization of the bible. In fact, the Apostle's Creed, in it's early form, wasn't even trinitarian. The Spirit was included late in it's inception.  Yet is seems like the Trinity is an untouchable piece of theology. We can say the word 'tradition' and it builds this 50 ft tall 3 ft thick wall around it. Believing in the Trinity is a question of faith and not believing in it is blasphemy. I propose the Trinity, as we understand it today is forced. If we were to be honest we would see the three in one is really the many in one.
    First, our initial problems happen when we try to place secondary names on the Trinity. As my 1st semester Christian Thought professor explained: The Trinity is not three modes of being, like water. The Trinity isn't like one pie but three pieces. It isn't a three leaf clover. Those are ways to help us understand but the mystery makes it more than that. The trinity is one God. All the persons of the Trinity are still one God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God. The Father is God. They are separate in who they are but they are still one. This is not the same as one pie but three pieces because they are also all different. This is not the same as three modes of being like water being vapor, liquid and solid because they are also all the same at the same time. 
    Many have tried to reword the threeness in order to make it less patriarchal, less human, or more of something else. In every case they have discovered a new view of God which is destroyed within it's threefold frame. Father-Son-Holy Ghost is blind to the feminine way of God. I joked years ago that I was going to rename the Trinity the Parent, Child and Holy Vibe to be gender neutral. Some would see my joke as a possible idea. They would relate the Parent to Father. They would see the Child as Son. The Holy Vibe would be the Spirit. Yet, with an all in one understanding of the Trinity, could one do that? Think about it. Just by changing the names you have labeled the threeness and given order. The Father is a parent. Well, so is the Son because the Son is also God. So is the Spirit because the Spirit is also God. 
    Another separation of the Trinity is Creator, Christ, and Spirit. A creator is not a Father yet it is put in that role. If we are honest, Creator is really a forth dimension of God. Just as the Word is the fifth dimension of God. The Word became flesh. Jesus became Spirit. Why does the Word become Christ? In that case Jesus would become Spirit and the third part of the Trinity would cease to be three and become two. 
    There is a purpose to my separating the different ways the trinity has been verbalized. The trinity is God, all three God and all one God. At the same time different parts of the trinity are different and unique. The Trinity is three and at the same time one. The Father is the Son is the Spirit. But the Father is different from the Son who is different from the Spirit. I do not disagree with any of it. Instead, I joyfully agree with that part of it. 
    If I was speaking these words in conversation instead of writing them I am sure the dialogue partner would counter my argument by saying, "Yes, but every image of God is incomplete." Perhaps they would follow with, "We have to understand the trinity in some way or we cannot talk about it at all" I say, do we? We have biblical pointers to a parent, a child and the spirit. Yes- celebrate for winning that point but where do we get the precept from God that those three should be placed together? Hmm? It's OK, step back and look it up. So after you do your mini-research you might come back with the threeness within the creation narrative. OK, but you have to put aside "Creator," and make a connection between Christ and the Word. Already, distinctions are made and the trinity begins to all apart. Father and Creator, Son and Word must be one to make it work. But, the Word and Spirit are also one. However, they at the same time, can't be in the Genesis example. Creator and Son are one. Within this discussion it begins to look like what I said before more like five in one, (Creator, Word, Christ, Father, and Spirit.)
    It is the only way to give the spirit equality in the equation. Yet, by always listing the spirit last in the 'line-up' puts it last in our sense of hierarchy. How often do you pray to the spirit? I know I don't very often. 
    I purpose a new idea- rather than separating our images into the threeness of God why not accept all images as a partial and (in someway) whole representation of God. Instead of three in one is really Infinity in One. Believing infinitude of God shares the unbelievable complexity of God. It also does something else: 
    The trinity limits those whose relationship with God does not fit. Infinitude accepts how God could come as a female to one, a male to another, a dog , an ocean, or a bright light to someone else. Even in apparent contradiction of itself, God is found in the trinity- but God is more than threeness.
    As an individual, God comes to each of us and our image of God is shaped by our story. That does not mean we create our image of God! Our image is ours because God understands what we can translate. Yes, our translation is sometimes poor or, dare I say, pitiful, but that is one of the pitfalls of freewill. The more we act and know the truth of God the further away we move from "Eden" and the closer we become to something else, "A New Eden." Now our communal image is made clearer through bringing the images together. You might be having issues with this but realize you already do it. Theologies are images of God. My personal image is heightened by Barth, Cone, Augustine, Cobb and countless others. How God came to Augustine is not and cannot be the same way in which God comes to me. To go further, how God comes to Ashton Kutcher (as an off the wall example) is different than both Augustine and myself. My goal, as an interpreter of images, is to try to parse out what is God's image within the interpretations of Augustine, Kutcher and others.  This I must also do within the image God gives me because I will always place myself into anything I see. It is impossible not to do so.
    Now for all you haters who were screaming at the computer and blacklisting me for ever speaking negatively against the Trinity, there is something about it I believe. I believe the trinity positively embraces the concept of many and one. We are individuals and we are community. We are either one community with many individuals or I am an individual within the multitude of the community. We are made in the image of God. In knowing God we become like God and further away from the Garden and closer to community with our creator. To be clear, we don't become gods, but rather, like God. Attempting to become gods will only lead down the road of false idols and destruction.
    Each of us has a piece of the greater image of God. Some of our pieces overlap and, even if every person openly gave their piece, we still would not have a complete picture. However, God completely comes to us. We can individually see God in perfection. Yet, God sees us completely as we interact with creation. Our relationship with God must be both communally and individually. They are both equally important.
    Now this is my last statement regarding the Trinity: I could be completely wrong. I am open enough to confess my belief may not be inspired at all. I fear what that would mean if it was true. I believe I was created in God's image. If I don't have room to see anything but Father, Son, and Holy Ghost I don't have room to see anything but males being created in God's image and females being created in a males image. In that case God is no longer my God and I refuse to be servant to the god created for me. I truly believe my God is the God of all creation and I was created in that image. I believe it because of Genesis 1:27. "God created humanity in God's own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them." Somewhere and somehow God is my Mother and my sister, and I was created in Her image.