So some talks are keepers--they just work and can be used again. Other talks go in the junk heap, they might be good for some spare parts but the overall talk needs to be re-worked or just chucked. And others go in the "no one should ever be subjected to that talk ever again" pile. Last night's talk was a junk heap, which was disappointing after I felt so good about the week before, but there here's something that I think was worth passing along.
We were talking last night about brokenness, Jesus, and authentic community. My thesis: The place where pain and brokenness is turned into blessing and goodness is in the presence of Jesus Christ--which is most often experienced and mediated by authentic community (please note: run-on sentence for a thesis generally tells you you're trying to say too much). So we wrapped up with what authentic community isn't and what authentic community is.
Authentic Community Isn't:
1. Forced
2. Accidental
3. Conflict-free
4. "Safe"
5. Easy
Authentic Community Is:
1. Reckless in pursuing God as our good (not community itself)
2. Reckless in loving on another
3. Reckless in forgiving one another
4. Reckless in asking forgiveness
5. Reckless in sharing life together
Have a great weekend, everyone, and catch a little NFL football this kick-off weekend wtih your friends in order to cultivate some genuinely authentic community!
5 comments:
Sounds to me like you're trying to put this one in the recycling bin (where it belongs) rather than the junk heap. Use it again, but after it's been made into a new talk. Good stuff here!
honestly, i thought it was a great talk. i was surprised to see that you didn't like it. i think this year is going to hold a lot of change for UNC IV. i'm excited about it!
more alternative metaphors into which you can toss this talk:
the compost heap: bad stuff eaten away by the bugs of time, leaving only fecund goodness
the juicer: squeezing out the sweet nectar of brilliance, removing unnecessary pulp
the books-a-million clearance table: 'cause nobody buys those books, but sometimes if you look through them, you can see a page or two of good ideas.
can we use the "is and is nots of authentic community" for ODU IV?
that totally ties into where a few of us are at... made me laugh to stumble across that the week we experienced conflict and healing in relationships through forgiveness asked and granted.
makes me think maybe God is doing something with that.
please, feel free to steal it all you want!
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