Posted on by Paul Asnicar

#3 Blog roadmap, scope and research leads

The biblical narrative in its historical context reaching back to bedrock.

I’ll begin with Tom Wright (or NT Wright for his academic works).  I was reading about Tom in a newsletter back in 2005/6 and how he upsets both the left and the right.  Then he was invited to Brisbane by the then Archbishop for a series of lectures.  The lectures are so rich that I need to keep listening to them over and over again.  His dulcet English tones defy the soaring ideas behind his words – ideas that send my imagination to form epic imagery (the movie 300 meets the television series AD?) on the impact of Christ on the late classical world and thereafter.  Tom’s genius comes from the fact that he is primarily a historian, not a theologian, and his task is to understand how the Greek scriptures were understood in the context of their day and in the light of the Hebrew scriptures.

Aside from richness, the other reason I needed to listen to these recordings many times is because it brings a tilt to my worldview (and this is difficult to change): how the first Christians understood the Gospel and the hope they were called to is very different to how I understood it.  Over 2000 years, a Hellenised cosmology has syncretised to the biblical worldview*, so in many ways how I understood the world was seen through Platonic eyes rather than, say, through the eyes of St Paul.  Future blogs will unpack what all of this means, but for now, and for the sake of understanding the rest of this post let me sum up very crudely.  The Platonic view was that true reality was found in the “essence” of thing (or forms).  This world is invisible, eternal, higher, not subject to change (truth cannot change), ordered, balanced, and serene.  In contrast, the world of matter, the visible world, is a lower world, one in which the “soul” is trapped. The hope for the Platonist is to escape this world.  It is very a dualistic worldview where “Matter doesn’t matter – and what matters isn’t matter.” (Mark Strom – more on him later).  I came to realise that this is not how the biblical worldview is framed, and that many of us have a syncretic view of this cosmology – whether we are Christians, or have rejected Christianity (just “pie in the sky when you die”).  (*My wife thinks I should use simpler vocab here.  Too obscure?)

I can recommend a few resources from Wright to get you started:

The CD’s of the lectures can be found here at a discount.

Podcasts are an easy way to access Tom’s thought for free.  (I find podcasts very efficient – listen in the car or while doing housework etc).  I recommend listening to the interviews with Tom on Nomad podcast (don’t skip over the banter of the interviewees at start and end – they are quite amusing).

As far as books go, his volumes of academic work may be a bit inaccessible (and not affordable), but if you have time and money, well worth reading.  If I were to recommend one in the academic series called “Christian Origins and the Question of God”, it would be “The Resurrection of the Son of God” on the defining event of history (future blogs will dig deep into this assertion) .   For his non-academic works, I recommend “Surprised by Hope” because “what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death.”

Wright is one of many authors that are exploring the ancient and classical worlds based on emerging archaeological findings and new information, and how this recovers the original contextual message of scripture.  Other authors and leads include:

  • Social Distinctives of the Christians in the First Century: Pivotal Essays by E. A. Judge
  • A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology by J. Richard Middleton
  • Reframing Paul: Conversations in Grace & Community by Mark Strom
  • World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age by C. Kavin Rowe
  • Destroyer of the gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World by Larry W. Hurtado
  • The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries by Rodney Stark
  • The Story of Christianity by David Bentley Hart

Part of the effect of these authors is to illustrate how the scriptural worldview has transformed the world.  God’s purposes in the world is not about “souls” escaping from the world, but how scripture and the Spirit’s creative impulses are “for the life of the world”.  There are video resources along these lines that could be used to prompt group conversation:

According to Phyllis Tickle in her book “The Great Emergence”, every 500 years or so, there were tectonic shifts in the Christian tradition, resulting in huge changes in both understanding and of practice.  The first was the time of Christ which Tickle calls “The Great Transformation,”.  Then, in 476, it was the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.  Then in 1054, came “The Great Schism,” when the Christian Church split into the Eastern and Western branches.  In the 1500s with the invention of the printing press, it was “The Reformation”.  It has been 500 years since the Reformation, and we are in a period of rapid change and upheaval.

The authors I mentioned above are some of many that are reaching back to the foundational bedrock of the Christian movement, which, in my opinion, will prepare the way for driving the next major epoch of human flourishing. My blog will try to explore the thinking, ideas, grounding and worldview behind how the biblical story and the gospel transformed the world and led to the dignity of the human person, human rights, hospitals, orphanages, schools, universities, care for the poor, democracy, science, and a reframing of the virtues to support all this.  It will also explore the conditions required for the next phase.  According to David Bentley Hart, “Christianity—that can be called in the fullest sense a “revolution”: a truly massive and epochal revision of humanity’s prevailing vision of reality, so pervasive in its influence and so vast in its consequences as actually to have created a new conception of the world, of history, of human nature, of time, and of the moral good.”  I don’t think Christianity’s transformation of the world is over: it will continue to give of itself for the life and transformation of the world, and for human flourishing.  I will use shorthand words to refer to the direction of God’s activity in the world:  Kingdom, New Creation, Shalom.  These short videos introduce these concepts:  Heaven & Earth;  Word Study: Shalom – “Peace”; and Gospel of The Kingdom.

The Gospel and human agency, innovation, design, creativity, leadership, strategy and transformation

Tom Wright’s genius comes from writing as an ancient and classical historian and the spanning of traditional boundaries of knowledge.  He is also a clergyman (bishop) and pastoral person, which is also part of his strength.  This may also limit him a little about where he can go in the ramifications of his research.  He does write about the implications of the mission of the church, but I felt, when reading him, that there was much more to be said and that there were big ramifications of this in human agency in every aspect of human endeavour.  At that point in my explorations, I thought that this thinking had not yet been done, and as I left corporate life, that maybe I should try to articulate the gap somehow.  It was by chance that I came across a resource that has been the engine room of my steep learning and discovery.

Around 2016-17, when I was GM Strategy for a large corporate, I encountered a company called 2nd Road: https://www.secondroad.com.au/    I was struck by their unique and human-centric approach to strategy, and upon enquiring on the thinking behind what they do, I was sent their founder’s (Tony Golsby-Smith) PhD thesis.  Because I was pressed for time and I wasn’t too fussed with Greek philosophers (the thesis drew on the work of Aristotle) I put it in the to be read pile.  I wish I did read it then!!!

At the beginning of 2018, I was beginning to involved in some strategy consultancy work.   I was not happy with how traditional strategic thinking and planning was done, so I started to read Tony’s thesis to try to dig in behind 2ndRoad’s thinking and at the very least, I would be a good refresher.  When googling one of the manuals referred to in the thesis, I come across “Gospel Conversations” podcast.  What a discovery!   Here were people speaking my language, and who have been thinking for a long time in the gap that I had only intuited.  This was a rich seam of gold to follow that led to many other seams.

The brilliance of Tony, and Mark Strom, who also works in the 2nd Road office, is that they have broken down any notions of a dualistic world, and have shown how biblical thinking has led to what most of us would take for granted, but also tapped into this thinking, articulated the concepts, and translated them for transformative effect.

This TED talk by Mark Strom gives a small taste of this translation.

There is a lot in Gospel Conversations. – As an introduction I would recommend starting with Mark Strom’s series called The Open Cosmos, The Open Society, and the Open Heart.  He draws on the work of Edwin Judge and traces through the history of ideas, and in particular contrasts Paul’s worldview with the Hellenised worldview of late antiquity.  Mark “help(s) us appreciate the vast, pervasive, and revolutionary impact [Paul] has had on the whole world…”

I hope to unpack a lot of the material on this podcast and what it means for my own practice.  Much of what is emerging in the discipline of “Design thinking” (https://www.ideou.com/ ) seems to have its roots in the biblical framework.  I’ll attempt to drill into concepts that feature in management literature, understanding both the thinking behind them, and the application into the here and now. Many of the following concepts are trending in management theory at the moment, but I’d like to understand how they apply not only in new ways of doing strategy, but their application by and within community to address “wicked problems“:

  • Design thinking
  • The power of narrative/story
  • Hope, purpose and possibility
  • Co-creation and innovation
  • Human centredness
  • Agency

For me, applying design thinking to wicked problems raises the question: what is the relationship of design thinking to economics?  That is, are there limitations to what an aggregate collection of individual choices can do in solving social problems?

The wicked problems I have in mind relate to those that affect people’s length and quality of life.  The relationship between longevity and close relationship and social integration is quite established:

Can economics, which arguably is built off individuality, competition and consumption, solve problems that ultimately stem from our need for relationship and connection?  The new poor are those in our neighbourhood that suffer social and economic isolation and disconnection.  Some of them might be quite well off materially.

And what happens to economic growth when there is a great movement of people seeking simplicity, minimalist living and relationship over material consumption and clutter?

What happens when they want to escape the anxiety system of commodification and production?

The relationship between economics and the biblical worldview is complex.  Indeed economics itself probably draws on the Christian notion of the dignity of the individual and their rights.  The word itself comes from the Church fathers who termed oikonomia to relate to the law or order of the household – the “housekeeping” of a thing.

I think the church has a continuing role in driving an alternative economy, one that addresses those fundamental wicked problems.  This is not a notion that we jump to immediately.  As Daniel Bell says in his book “The Economy of Desire”: “When you ponder the ‘big problems’ that confront humanity and society … where does your thinking turn?  To the state and the proper policies it should enact.  You do not think first and foremost, “What should the church do?” or “What should General Motors do?” Instead, you think about governmental policies and action.  It is a habit of mind that is deeply ingrained.  We are used to thinking of the state as the chief social actor.” (page 39)

But government is becoming more and more fragmented and therefore its ability to provide the sorts of solutions we need is becoming more limited.  But even if it could, as many of the resources that I point to below will argue, the way the state works will bring more problems rather than their solutions.  I will argue the Kingdom as a driver of an alternative economy – a “kingdom come economics that orders the world otherwise , bearing witness to the strange, upside-down economy of a crucified-now-risen King. ”  (The Economy of desire p 11.  )

The Church, as it expresses this Kingdom into the world, can act as platform and catalyst to community transformation.  I think this is the case for at least two reasons that were touched on above: (1) Because it provides the fundamental “grammar” and conceptual framework of transformation; and (2) because it has been the primary driver throughout history.

Some lead resources into economics are:

  • “The Economy of Desire (The Church and Postmodern Culture): Christianity and Capitalism in a Postmodern World” by Daniel M. Bell Jr.
  • “Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future” by Bill McKibben
  • “The Economics of Neighborly Love: Investing in Your Community’s Compassion and Capacity” by Tom Nelson

What about the Church?

This blog post didn’t start with the church but with how the Gospel interacts with culture, forming our ideas on our world (cosmology), how society should be ordered, and the nature of being human (anthropology).  It starts with God as the primary agent of change through revelation.  It starts with God’s mission in all creation:

Isaiah 43:19 “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”;

Revelation 21:5 “And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

The church is created through the same Spirit that is renewing the earth.  This Spirit fires the prophetic imagination and inspires transformation, both personally and in the world.  Change and transformation, as we shall explore, are key themes of the biblical worldview that didn’t exist in the lexicon of  Hellenised antiquity.  (Mark Strom contends that the first ever use of a positive concept of personal transformation in the history of ideas was from Paul.)  It is no surprise that the church is changing.  In the post-modern, post-Christendom context there arises the emerging church and fresh expressions movements.

I’ll explore how emergent church concepts fit with the institutional church, including my own tradition (Catholic) – which has an advantage in using ancient practices that the emergent church is rediscovering, but that also has the disadvantage that it can be quite rigid – if you’ve ever been in a liturgy committee meeting you’ll know what I mean.  (What’s the difference between a terrorist and a liturgist?  You can negotiate with a terrorist.)

I have just returned from Canada and USA to visit parishes leading the way in changing “from maintenance to mission”.  These parishes are primarily focussed on changing their own culture, and borrow from corporate success models and learnings from the mega-churches.  They are attempting to revitalise, reorganise, and strategise.  This is exciting and admirable, but I did come away with the view that there was a much wider conversation to be had.

As far as I can tell, the topics covered in this post have fallen off the radar of the local parish, in my part of the world at least.  The best parishes are focussed on the first step of internal cultural change, not the transformation of the neighbourhood around them.  Of course, internal change is an important first step, but unless it is in the context of a wide conversation, it loses the “why” and becomes shallow.  My hope is that this blog will play a small part in widening the conversation as it engages with the literature and you the reader, firing the prophetic imagination of a learning and experimenting community.

Key points of entry into this area are as follows:

  • Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America by Craig Van Gelder and Dwight Zscheile
  • Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World: The New Shape of the Church in Our Time by Alan J. Roxburgh
  • The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball
  • http://www.themissionalnetwork.com/

Where it all comes together – look out your window.

A key theme arising from contrasting the biblical story vs abstract Greek thought is the focus on this world rather than on abstract themes.  The focus on matter means that people matter, place matters, time matters.  Scripture is an unfolding story of people place and time.  The incarnation calls us to live into time and place. ‘When God chose to enter the world, it was not in some ethereal generic manner but in a particular family, in a particular town, in a particular country with particular socio-religious practices. Just as Christ “became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood” (John 1:14 The Message), so also the people that comprise the local church in the parish are meant to be a tangible expression of God’s love in the everyday reality of life.’  (Paul Sparks, “The New Parish”)

What does all this mean for the East Brisbane are in 2018? The following resources and questions are about this translation into the here and now.  (BTW – I was surprised at how much is out there on theology of place and neighbourhood transformation!)  As the blog and the associated conversation unfolds, my hope is that as a learning and experimental community together, we can imagine and build an alternative way for our neighbourhood.

Instead of starting with wicked problems, how do we start with a positive “appreciative inquiry” approach that empowers communities by identifying and utilising the gifts and strengths (assets) within the community?

  • “Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets” by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight
  • “Asset Based Community Development (ABCD): Looking Back to Look Forward: In conversation with John McKnight about the intellectual and practical heritage of ABCD and its place in the world today” by Cormac Russell
  • “Building Communities of the Kingdom: How to work with others to build great spaces and places” by Andre Van Eymeren (for Australian Context)

How does neighbourhood economics and the common good fit with consumer society and specialist systems?

  • “The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods by John McKnight and Peter Block
  • “Community: The Structure of Belonging” by Peter Block
  • “An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture by Peter Block, Walter Brueggemann, and John McKnight
  • “For the Common Good: Redirecting the economy toward community, the environment, and a sustainable future” by Herman E. Daly and John B. Cobb Jr.
  • https://commongood.cc/
  • http://www.abundantcommunity.com/home/home.html

How can we identify, develop and harness the gifts and talents of everyone in the service of others, particularly providing a platform for those on the “second curve” of life towards realising their purpose, working towards community transformation and supporting those on the first curve?

  • http://www.hopeworkschicago.org/
  • “Aging Matters: Finding Your Calling for the Rest of Your Life” by R. Paul Stevens
  • “Unretirement: How Baby Boomers are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community, and the Good Life” by Chris Farrell

How can we be a catalyst for innovation, entrepreneurship, and social-entrepreneurship; that develops entrepreneurial leaders and provides a platform to link to investors seeking the flourishing of the neighbourhood and wider society?  (Monastic communities used to develop the land around them.  In the urban environment, we cultivate people.)

How are church communities transforming their neighbourhoods?

How do we foster wellness and quality longevity; and what can we use fitness as a platform for promoting both wellness and community/connection?

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