A Contrast Community in the Midst of the Empire: The Church of Colossae Paideia Gathers 2012 Chattanooga, TN Michael Goheen.

A Contrast Community in the Midst of the Empire: The Church of Colossae

Paideia Gathers 2012

Chattanooga, TN

Michael Goheen

Consumerism: Pervasive and foundational reality of our day

Consumer capitalism, both for good and for ill, is a pervasive and foundational reality of our day. (Rodney Clapp)

The Consumer Society is a formation system: it forms us and our behaviour. It is also an

information system: it informs us as to our identity and as to the status of our world. (John Kavanaugh)

A Formation System

A consumer society is undergirded by a religious vision that shapes every aspect of culture

That religious vision nurtures a way of life A consumer society is a ‘formation system’ that

continually nurtures its religious vision and forms us into a certain kind of people

Three further comments about Consumer Society

It is a communal religious vision and way of life that is idolatrous

Precisely because the culture of economism is a quasi-religion, with a pretence of encompassing the totality of life and of bringing happiness and fulfilment, we find ourselves obliged from a Christian point of view to denounce it as a dehumanizing idolatry . . . (Jane Collier)

Three further comments about a Consumer Society

Religious vision and way of life that is idolatrous Communal idolatry is destructive

To the poor To the environment To the wealthy (e.g., chronic lack of time, increasing cost for

service sector, debt, anxiety, psychological problems, distortion of education, family, sex, sports, etc., toxic buildup in bodies/foods, etc.)

To godly character (e.g., greed, envy, selfishness, triviality and superficiality, dissatisfied, ungrateful, entitlement, narcissism, apathy, addiction to mindless distraction, image over character, wastefulness, self-indulgence, etc.)

Three further comments about a Consumer Society

Communal religious vision that is idolatrous Communal idolatry is destructive Formation system so powerful that it even domesticates

the church

Documentary: Lord, save us from your followers

Most Christians who follow Jesus look nothing like him. (Bill Maher)

Christians are more committed in lived faith to the gospels of nation and culture than to the gospel of Jesus. . . . The impoverishment and domestication of the Christian faith . . is the central problem . . . (Kavanaugh).

Colossians as an forming, instructing, and equipping word

Paul’s concern: The powerful formation system of the Roman Empire threatens Colossian church (create ‘critical dissonance’ toward ‘counter order’)

Paul: Offers an alternative story, vision, worldview to counter

and critically engage the imperial one Calls them an alternative way of life to counter and

critically engage the imperial one Urges certain practices that will serve to re-form and

equip people in this powerful empire

Interpreting Paul’s letters

Historical starting point: Jewish rabbinical past Conversion

GOD GOD Messiah SpiritMessiah Spirit

SinDeathEvil

SatanInjustice

ShalomKnowledge of

GodJustice

RighteousnessLove

AGE TO COME

Paul’s understanding before Paul’s understanding before conversionconversion

OLD AGE

GOD GOD Messiah SpiritMessiah Spirit

World Kingdoms

Roman Empire: The

Beast

Kingdom of

God

AGE TO COME

Paul’s understanding before Paul’s understanding before conversionconversion

OLD AGE

Power of kingdom of darkness at work in Roman Empire

Power of kingdom of God renewing all of life

AGE TO COMEOLD AGE

Paul’s understanding after conversionPaul’s understanding after conversion

Two clues for understanding Paul’s vision for church

Two worlds of Paul: Rooted in Old Testament story fulfilled in Jesus Addresses communities living in pagan Greek

and Roman context

‘For Paul, to be “in the Messiah”, to belong to the Messiah’s body, meant embracing an identity rooted in Judaism, lived out in the Hellenistic world, and placing a counter-claim against Caesar’s aspiration to world domination . . .’ (NT Wright)

Two hermeneutical clues for interpreting Paul’s vision for church

Two worlds of Paul Being church means being new humanity as an

attractive alternative to pagan way of life

. . . humanity renewed in Christ was the fulfilment of the vocation of Israel, which unbelieving Israel was failing to attain. Paul was zealous to promote this genuine humanity as the God-given answer to paganism . . . Paul articulated a way of being human which he saw as the true way (NT Wright).

Paul and the Roman Empire

Nurture faithfulness in midst of beastly kingdom Idolatrous, unjust, seductive, pervasive, powerful Caesar is Lord; good news of peace; inaugurates

new age; create community of fruitfulness

In prominent public display the emperor was honored and celebrated as ‘the lord’ and ‘savior,’ whose ‘gospel’ of ‘salvation’ and ‘peace and security’ was publicly proclaimed. Although the emperor never visited these cities in person, the presence of the emperor came to pervade the public space. (Richard Horsley)

Goddess Pax with Symbols of Fruitfulness (Tellus, Venus)

Paul and the Roman Empire

Nurture faithfulness in midst of beastly kingdom Idolatrous, unjust, seductive, pervasive, powerful Caesar is Lord; good news of peace; inaugurates

new age; create community of fruitfulness So Paul wants to nurture Colossian church toward

a different story with different good news about a different Lord

a different way of life serving a different Lord

Paul and the ‘Consumer’ Empire

Nurture faithfulness in midst of beastly kingdom Idolatrous, unjust, seductive, pervasive, powerful Economic abundance is Lord; good news of

consumption; create community of prosperity; new age inaugurated by science and technology

So Paul wants to nurture 21st century church in: a different story with different good news about a

different Lord a different way of life serving a different Lord

In Colossians, Paul . . .

. . . offers another religious vision Israel’s story as it is fulfilled in Jesus

‘Paul is evoking a larger narrative counter to that of empire: Israel’s story as it comes to its fulfillment in the story of Jesus.’ (Walsh/Keesmat)

Christ is Lord over the powers of empire‘For Paul, the powers were unseen forces working in the world . . . through the oppressive systems that enslaved and tyrannized human beings.’ (NT Wright)

In Colossians, Paul . . .

. . . offers another religious vision Israel’s story as it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ is Lord over the powers Christ has established the true kingdom of peace and

fruitfulness Christ is the head over the body politic

Body . . . is a term plundered from the empire. In 1:18 Paul says that the cosmic Christ is “the head of the body, the church.” Bringing together these three words—head, body, and church—was politically explosive. . . because Paul is replacing Caesar with Christ and replacing the empire, with all of its symbolic and historical power, with the church. The church is a body politic . . . subject to an alternative sovereign. And he roots all of this in an understanding of the cosmos as created in, through and for Christ. (Walsh/Keesmat)

In Colossians, Paul . . .

. . . offers another religious vision . . . calls for another way of life

Contrast community that is attractive: Challenging the culture’s way of life

•Power of idolatry•Died with Christ•Allegiance not to Caesar

•Power to renew in God’s image•Raised with Christ•Allegiance to Christ

AGE TO COMEOLD AGE

New identity in ChristNew identity in Christ

•Put off old self•Strip off, put to death old way of life

•Put on new self•Clothe yourself in new way of life

AGE TO COMEOLD AGE

Work out new identity in new way of lifeWork out new identity in new way of life

Sexual sin (immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires)GreedHostility (anger, rage, malice)Sins of the tongue (slander, filthy language, lying)

CompassionKindnessHumilityGentlenessPatience ForgivenessForbearanceLove UnityPeace WisdomWorshipComprehensive obedience

AGE TO COMEOLD AGE

New life in ChristNew life in Christ

Idolatry Image of Creator

A Community of Fruitfulness: What does it look like?

Love which binds together all virtues

Love as self-giving

Love: A kindly affection that always acts for the

good of the other even when there is cost Giving yourself away for sake of others

“Man only is as he gives himself away.” (Karl Rahner) To God and to other people What it means to be truly human

A Community of Fruitfulness: What does it look like?

Love which binds together all virtues “Christ is all, and in all”: Comprehensive

scope “ . . . whatever you do . . . do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus”

In Colossians, Paul . . .

. . . offers another religious vision . . . calls for another way of life

Contrast community that is attractive: Challenging the culture’s way of life

Collaborating community that is loving: Participating in the cultural task

While this new life is a reality that is meant specifically for those who belong to the body, it is by no means a life of sectarian isolation. Indeed, the church is called upon to participate actively in Christ’s saving work, to live a life that manifests Christ’s lordship in the world. (Walter Wilson)

Collaborating community

. . . if Paul’s answer to Caesar’s empire is the empire of Jesus, what does that say about this new empire, living under the rule of its new lord? It implies a high and strong ecclesiology, in which the scattered and often muddled cells of women, men and children loyal to Jesus as Lord form colonial outposts of the empire that is to be: subversive little groups when seen from Caesar’s point of view, but when seen Jewishly an advance foretaste of the time when the earth shall be filled with the glory of the God of Abraham and the nations will join Israel in singing God’s praises. From this point of view, therefore, this counter-empire can never be merely critical, never merely subversive. It claims to be the reality of which Caesar’s empire is the parody . . .

Collaborating community

. . . it claims to be modelling the genuine humanness, not least the justice and peace, and the unity across traditional racial and cultural barriers, of which Caesar’s empire boasted. If this claim is not to collapse once more into dualism, into a rejection of every human aspiration and value, it will be apparent that there will be a large degree of overlap. “Shun what is evil; cling to what is good.” There will be affirmation as well as critique, collaboration as well as critique. To collaborate without compromise, to criticise without dualism—this is the delicate path that Jesus’ counter-empire had to learn to tread. (NT Wright)

In Colossians, Paul . . .

. . . offers another religious vision . . . calls for another way of life . . . urges practices to form church into contrast

community

Importance of community

With such powerful social forces as the market and the media constantly exhorting us to excesses of consumption, it is ludicrous to think the most viable and faithful response is to face these forces as an isolated individual or family.

- Rodney Clapp

Missional practices and communal formation

Baptism as counter-cultivation (2.11-12)

[Baptism means that] they belong to the new world, where the rulers of the old world have no authority. . . . Paul’s frequent appeal is

that the church should become in fact what it is in theory, should put into detailed operation the life to which it has been committed in

baptism.’ (NT Wright)

Baptism as a commitment to counter-cultivation

To baptize . . . is in a sense culturally subversive: it is a commitment to cultivate and give a cultic vision . . . which is a radical alternative to the social-economic ‘cultivation system’ that is the Commodity Form. It is also, and more significantly, the incorporation . . . into the very life of a triune, covenantal, personal God.

Missional practices and communal formation

Baptism as counter-cultivation (2.11-12) Worship: ‘Welcome to the real world’ (3.16)

Worship is a world-making endeavour. By singing songs of praise to God, we proclaim the source of ultimate sovereignty in the world. By singing the poem of Colossians 1.15-20, the early church subversively announced that Christ, not Caesar, is Lord. By singing that song today, we proclaim that Christ—not the global market, not the president of the United States, not Microsoft, not military might—is Lord of our lives (Walsh/Keesmat).

Missional practices and communal formation

Baptism as counter-cultivation (2.11-12) Worship: ‘Welcome to the real world’ (3.16) Watchful and thankful prayer (4.2)

Prayer will be crucial, as a regular method of centering her life, of bringing order to the constant demands and tasks that fashion a home and young family. Without this centering in faith the totality will never be made conscious. She will be lost in particulars which become duties exacted of her rather than expressions of love and choice. Without centering, she will be unable to see how the compassion, affection, care and structuring she provides her children are important social acts, are furtherances of justice, and are profound methods of resisting the Commodity Form. She will be unable to see how the crucible and joys of intimacy with husband and children are actually the testing and living out of the revelation of Christ. (Kavanaugh)

Missional practices and communal formation

Baptism as counter-cultivation (2.11-12) Worship: ‘Welcome to the real world’ (3.16) Watchful and thankful prayer (4.2)

Watchful: Eyes open to spiritual battle in culture Thankful: Countering dissatisfaction

We are held captive by dissatisfaction. . . . ingratitude is ingrained within every social class within the culture of money. It is how sin takes shape within us, conditions us, and holds us captive. . . . the longer we live ungratefully, the more we strengthen the claims of a culture that takes everything and everyone for granted. (Mary Jo Leddy)

Missional practices and communal formation

Baptism as counter-cultivation (2.11-12) Worship: ‘Welcome to the real world’ (3.16) Watchful and thankful prayer (4.2) Teaching and practicing radical and intentional parenting

(3.21)

The remarkable power of technology to shape worldview along with the enormous amount of time young people spend with its many forms makes the small amount of time they spend in Christian nurture seem almost negligible by comparison. The best preaching, worship, and education programs of a church simply cannot compete with television, movies, the internet, cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, and the ever-expanding list of technologies that shape our vision of the world. If families are not taught to make radical, costly, and time-consuming commitments to nurturing their children, the future of the church as a missional community in the West will be bleak (Goheen).

Here is why I care about this . . .

Missional practices and communal formation

Baptism as counter-cultivation (2.11-12) Worship: ‘Welcome to the real world’ (3.16) Watchful and thankful prayer (4.2) Intentional parenting (3.21) Importance of teaching and growing knowledge

and wisdom (1.9, 28; 2.2-3, 8; 3.16) Colossians as example of teaching to transform

[Wilson] Teaching alternative story and worldview Understanding rival (culturally dominant worldview) How to live faithfully

Community of Fruitfulness in a Consumer Society

A community of self-control and marital fidelity in world saturated by sex.

A community of truth (kind humility and gentle boldness) in world of uncertainty and suspicion.

A community that knows God’s presence in a secular world.

A community of generosity and enough in world of consumption.

A community of forgiveness in a world of hatred, competition, violence, grudges, and revenge.

A community of thankfulness in a world of entitlement.

A community of praise in a world of narcissism.

Community of Fruitfulness in a Consumer Society

A community of self-giving love in a world of selfishness and self-gratification.

A community of wisdom in a world of proliferating knowledge and information technology

A community of humility in a world of arrogant self-interest.

A community of patience in a world of immediate gratification.

A community of compassion in a world numbed by overexposure to violence and tragedy.

A community that uses language positively in a world of destructive communication.

A community of joy in a world dominated by a frantic and hedonistic pursuit of pleasure.

Community of Fruitfulness in a Consumer Society

A community of depth in a culture of superficiality.

A community of cheerful seriousness in a culture of triviality.

A community committed to the important issues of our globe in a culture of apathy and indifference.

A community of self-giving in a culture of self-absorption, narcissism, and entitlement.

A community of joyful purpose in a culture ‘amusing ourselves to death.’