Klassekamp eller quest for cool

“The struggle for status is replaced by the quest for cool, but the basic structure of the competition remain unchanged”
(Heat and Potter 2004, 322)

The task of a minister

“The task of the minister is not to get people to do things, our task is to communicate knowledge. If we try to get people to do things we have to jumpstart them every week, often get them do the things they don’t what to do. The task is to, under the power of the word and the presence of the Holy Spirit, bring knowledge to people. Knowledge of the reality of the kingdom of God and the possibility to live in union with that reality.”

-Dallas Willard

Kirke og institusjon

“They [Priests] can´t resolve conflicts between individuals and institutions because they represent the very institutions that are thought to be causing the problems in the first place.”

Heat and Potter(2004, 258) gjentar det vi har har hørt flere ganger, nemlig at det finnes en generell skepsis til institusjoner.

Kirker har et tillitsproblem og noe må også tilskrives dens institusjonelle karakter. Hvordan er det mulig som kirke å vinne tillit i en slik situasjon?

Therapautic church?

“The traditional functions of Western religions are to teach morality, sanctify marrige and family, and anchor social stability through shared beliefs, rituals and institutions. The actual content of the faith, while not unimportant, is acutally of secondary importance to these more mundane functions, and genuinely spiritual crises(death and sin, heaven and hell) can be dealt with by appealing to doctrine, as promulgated by the church hierarchies. In contrast, our current need are not really spiritual in traditional sense. Instead, they are therapeutic….”

(Heat and Potter 2004, 258)

Are church failing to teach personal spirituality that has the power to deal with the therapautic dimensions of ordinary life?

Christ is born!

Let the just rejoice,
for their Justifier is born.

Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
for their Savior is born.

Let the captives rejoice,
for their Redeemer is born.

Let slaves rejoice,
for their Master is born.

Let free people rejoice,
for their Liberator is born.

Let all Christians rejoice,
for Jesus Christ is born.

- Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-440)