EUGENE PETERSON’S ADVICE FOR MORE AUTHENTIC DISCIPLESHIP

Jonathan Merritt interviewed Eugene Peterson in September 2013 and Peterson was about to turn 81 years of age. That means he is 84 years old as I write this. He lives in Montana, having taught Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver for 6 years. 

One bit if that interview conversation may be of interest to you as you think about church, and particularly if you are restless about church, concerned about church or considering changing churches.

Merritt’s question was "Eighty-one years is a long time. As you enter your final season of life, what would you like to say to younger Christians who are itchy for a deeper and more authentic discipleship? What’s your word to them?”

Peterson answered, "Go to the nearest smallest church and commit yourself to being there for 6 months. If it doesn’t work out, find somewhere else. But don’t look for programs, don’t look for entertainment, and don’t look for a great preacher. A Christian congregation is not a glamorous place, not a romantic place. That’s what I always told people. If people were leaving my congregation to go to another place of work, I’d say, “The smallest church, the closest church, and stay there for 6 months.” Sometimes it doesn’t work. Some pastors are just incompetent. And some are flat out bad. So I don’t think that’s the answer to everything, but it’s a better place to start than going to the one with all the programs, the glitz, all that stuff.”

So what do you think about that?

Entire interview:http://religionnews.com/2013/09/27/faithful-end-interview-eugene-peterson/

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT GOD

The Philips family live in Oregon, Mack and Nan and their five children. Some years ago Mack took his youngest three children on a camping vacation. Nan was at a continuing education class in Seattle and the two oldest boys were enrolled at college. During this vacation their youngest child, a daughter named Missy was abducted from under Mack’s nose. Evidence later discovered in a remote cabin, a shack really, pointed to the conclusion that Missie had been brutally murdered. Each year after that dragged on through inexplicable sorrow with no new facts, no closure. One day Mack received a letter in the mail which said, “It’s been a while. I’ve missed you. I’ll be at the shack next weekend if you want to get together.” And it was signed ‘Papa’. A peculiar note and signature to say the least.

William P. Young wrote a book in 2007 that became a best seller and made the author a famous man for a brief window in time. In that novel which is entitled ‘The Shack,’ Young tells that story to which I have just alluded. The Book’s cover contained the sentence of praise from famed Christian writer Eugene Peterson. “This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!”

The Shack generated conflicting opinions among Christians.