If I Start Drinking at 11:30 a.m., is that Cause for Concern?

I met Tim, aka Friar Tim, for lunch today. I got there earlier than expected, so I had a Guiness. Yes, Guiness at 11:30 in the morning is as good as Guiness at 11:30 at night. It's still a blessing.

We talked a great deal about church stuff. Tim is a professional clergyman. He knows I consider that an insult, and he forgives me for it. He says he doesn't take offense, which is probably true, as he still believes in the church (as do I, but let's not get into what that means again).

Tim and I seem incapable of not thinking about things in terms of faith, God, church, Christianity, morality, etc. If we can, we don't talk about it well. That got me to thinking about Walter Brueggemann's idea of calling. Too often calling is taken to mean an historical moment wherein I heard God say something like, "You! Yes, you, go do some kind of ministry." Calling then always refers back to that historical moment as legitimation for pursuing a vocational ministry. Brueggemann talks about calling as a lifed lived with a "theonomous cast." Life is viewed through the filter of God-ness. I like that. It's not an historic crisis moment; it's a way of looking at life. It requires critical distance from cultural infatuations (not always possible) and allows for a level of disaffection as normal.

I've been on a search for the root of my disaffection lately. I may have found it in Brueggemann's idea. I've long thought that I have a pathological attraction to ministry. The pathology always manifested as an inability to swallow the crap that people call church. Brueggemann makes me hopeful that my disaffection is normal, to some degree.

Comments

[nick]

i have come accross this the past coule years with myself as well. whilst in romania in march, the person who runs the "programmes" there inquired of my intent to return in this way; "Is your purpose and calling, as it was previously, still to spread the word of the gospel and bring people into the church?" I can't remember if those were the exact words, but that's how I heard them. This implies that having a calling means that i preach, or talk alot about jesus, and multiply attendance figures for World Mission's books. Since then I've been re-understanding what my "calling" is in relation to how my life is affected daily. very difficult.

[Scott]

Ah yes, I bathed, breathed, ate, slept and crapped that for years Greg. Calling, like it is a moment God performs a spiritual labotomy (sp) rather than a direction in my life. I agree with Brueggemann. In addition, I believe that God works through our personality. Thats not to give excuses for people who choose to be ass holes; thats not a personality trait it's baggage. A person's calling is very much linked to the person God created you to be. I heard it said this way once; "What you are passionate about is what God is CALLING you to change."

Taking the "calling" of a person as what it is...a direction and passion in life, that statement is true when seen through the "filter of God-ness". Good one G.