Yesterday I was supposed to be part of a snazzy syncroblog thing happening about Australian's and Xy. Instead of blogging I spent Australia
If you have ever spent time in emergency you'll know it involves lots of nervous waiting. My friend had surgery on his throat the day before so he couldn't talk. This meant that instead of the two of us spending lots of time talking, I spent lots of time thinking. Every so often I tried to think about Xy inAustralia
If ever I did think about it I would tend to think of it in terms of my friend next to me, who is not a Xn. Which is kind of appropriate as when I do think about the future of Xy I tend to think about what non Xns think about Xy. The is because Xy is something that you opt into rather than opt out of so what non Xns think is important. My friend is a non Xn and today I was reflecting in on what he might think about Xy.
One of my favourite expressions of his is "bible thumper". As well as being a hilarious and accurate description of some Xns we both know, it also gives an idea of what his experience of Xy has been. I have said to some our mutual Xn friends that I think he gave up Xy for the right reasons. It seems like to me he gave up a Xy that made sense in Xn circles but just didn't cut it in the real world. Rather than spend a lot of time explaining this I’m going to recommend listening to this Dave Slusher's podcast. Not only is it great in it's own right, this "how I gave up Xy testimony" probably closely matches my friends own journey. I think all Xy offered him was a sheltered ghetto that just seemed ridiculous as soon as you stepped out of it.
My question is what does Xy have to offer people like my friend? Or, Why would any non Xn go to church? When I think of all the non Xn friends I’ve had, none have been the slightest bit attracted to Xy or church. They have often seen me as somewhat of an anomaly, an exception to the Xn norm. And they are definitely probably not ready to sign up to the cult of Chris. I don't think my experience is unique. There are plenty of people like me who just feel like they don't connect with regular church (be that mainline or larger evangelical churches).
I think the big question is "How do we outside the box Xns create a meaningful community?". To me this has to be more than a virtual community as I can't see a virtual community sustaining a new Xn. Maybe some kind of tech geek but not your average moderately tech savvy person. So, the future of Xy inAustralia
Happy invasion day.
This post is part of the Christianity In Australia synchroblog which a number of Australian Christians are participating in to celebrate Australia Day. For more on Christianity in Australia see:
If you have ever spent time in emergency you'll know it involves lots of nervous waiting. My friend had surgery on his throat the day before so he couldn't talk. This meant that instead of the two of us spending lots of time talking, I spent lots of time thinking. Every so often I tried to think about Xy in
If ever I did think about it I would tend to think of it in terms of my friend next to me, who is not a Xn. Which is kind of appropriate as when I do think about the future of Xy I tend to think about what non Xns think about Xy. The is because Xy is something that you opt into rather than opt out of so what non Xns think is important. My friend is a non Xn and today I was reflecting in on what he might think about Xy.
One of my favourite expressions of his is "bible thumper". As well as being a hilarious and accurate description of some Xns we both know, it also gives an idea of what his experience of Xy has been. I have said to some our mutual Xn friends that I think he gave up Xy for the right reasons. It seems like to me he gave up a Xy that made sense in Xn circles but just didn't cut it in the real world. Rather than spend a lot of time explaining this I’m going to recommend listening to this Dave Slusher's podcast. Not only is it great in it's own right, this "how I gave up Xy testimony" probably closely matches my friends own journey. I think all Xy offered him was a sheltered ghetto that just seemed ridiculous as soon as you stepped out of it.
My question is what does Xy have to offer people like my friend? Or, Why would any non Xn go to church? When I think of all the non Xn friends I’ve had, none have been the slightest bit attracted to Xy or church. They have often seen me as somewhat of an anomaly, an exception to the Xn norm. And they are definitely probably not ready to sign up to the cult of Chris. I don't think my experience is unique. There are plenty of people like me who just feel like they don't connect with regular church (be that mainline or larger evangelical churches).
I think the big question is "How do we outside the box Xns create a meaningful community?". To me this has to be more than a virtual community as I can't see a virtual community sustaining a new Xn. Maybe some kind of tech geek but not your average moderately tech savvy person. So, the future of Xy in
Happy invasion day.
This post is part of the Christianity In Australia synchroblog which a number of Australian Christians are participating in to celebrate Australia Day. For more on Christianity in Australia see:
- Matt Stone at Journeys In Between
- Ben Thurley at Ben’s Blog
- Rodney Olsen at RodneyOlsen.net
- Geoff Pengilly at The Healing Project
- Andy Porteous at Not Yet Finished
- Paul Robotham at A Christian’s Blog
- Chris Summerfield at A Churchless Faith
- Christina Aitken at Sojourn
- Heather at A Deconstructed Christian
- Geoff Matheson at Amateur Theology
- Andrew Hamilton at Backyard Missionary
- Deborah Taggart at The Bright Side
- Rob Hanks at Pump House
- Mike Carroll aka ‘Grendel’ at Sermons From An Atheist
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