Last night during my Fuller class on Christian Community a classmate, Brad, shared a story that continues to intrigue me. I'll try and sum up his story:
You're always told that the best relationships you'll ever have will be in college. The whole experience fosters rich community and incredible growth. But why do those relationships have to stop when we leave college? Why are we forced to say goodbye to our closest friends at graduation in order to pursue the career and the money and the Dream of American life. Brad and his closest friends were challenged at graduation. They were asked, "What would it look like if you put relationships - to God, to your spouse, to even your close friends - before your career race to the top?" Brad was in a very strong small group of men throughout college, and they felt God putting things in place for them to try out this little experiement. So, they all started going to the same church so they could have a consistant place to be involved together. They found jobs in the area. They married (Brad got married a week after graduation). And now they are starting to have kids and buy houses in the same neighborhood.
Brad's 26 and has the tightest group of friends he's ever had. And he's been out of college for years. I know there's more to his story, and I'm excited to talk to him more about how it actually looked living this life of relationships before money. But I know enough to see what a radical and profound picture of Christian community this is. And I know there's got to be a way to experience this in my own life.
I have incredible friends right now. Some of the best of my life. I don't want to watch them fade away.
I know God is calling each of us in our own unique story. And I know, and am experiencing, how His call often pulls friends apart. There's got to be a way to live this commitment to relationship in my own life, though. There's just got to be...
So looks like I took the summer off with my blog. I just worked too much. But I'm back in a place where I can post. And I have a hunch I'll be posting quite a bit more often because I started grad school this week. Which means I'll have a ton of ideas spinning around in my head.
I'm into my first two classes at Fuller Theological Seminary, at the Seattle extension campus. This week was my first class, Christian Worldview, taught by Tom Sine ("Mustard Seed vs. McWorld"). It's an exploration into understanding worldviews and understanding where our worldviews come from. We'll be hitting the emerging church, arts, politics, history... And my term paper will be on Postmodernism. I'll keep you posted on that as well.
My other class I start on Monday. It's Theology of Christian Community and Ministry of the Church. Sounds like it'll be really interesting. I'm excited to get started.
Just a note about one the things about Fuller that I think I'll like the most - the generational and ethnic diversity. My class of 13 had students from 22 to mid 50s. It's going to help so much in my formation of an emerging church theology.
Anyway, I'm back and I'm looking forward to sharing some fresh thoughts these coming months.