when people see you, do they see christ? i'm not talking about some "metophor" - i'm talking in your face, 100%, in all you do christ. do they see christ in you? for those of us who walk in faith we need to remember that it is not what we "say" that defines postmodern christianity, it is what we "do" that defines it. we have to remember, no matter how much we would like it another way, we are not the only ones defining christianity - theose outside the church are also defining postmodern christianity also. our goal should be to find common ground, to here the voices of those who are not "insiders" and seek there wisdom. on a "modern-evangelical" plane, this is impossible, because all we do is defined by us, not others. but on a postmodern post-evangelical view, this is not only very possible - it should be a requirement. if we are truly striving to define who we are, we need to see how others see us.

i remember once sitting in a group discussion with a group of people i had just met, and we were all sharing first impressions. the idea was that we first write down how we saw ourselves - and to as honest as we could. then, we would share with each other - and the requirement was that we could not get mad at what others said - and let me tell you, i was one pissed puppy. but then i realized, the way i saw myself was not the way others saw me - i realized that my defination of "john o'keefe" was not the defination of "john o'keefe" others had. this little experiement opened my eyes and allowed me to change so that who i was, was what others saw -

i think andrew perriman at "open source theology" is doing some every cool stuff, that excites me - and gets me thinking about possibilities. i have to admit that over the past i did not read his site, for many reasons (mostly i got burned out on reading and needed a break) but i am glad i found it again - and i would suggest all find it again. it is quikly becoming a "first read" for me in my day. as i start to develop a deeper undersing of what he is writing - i love it.

now, i will admit that i may not have the whole "open source theology" down, but the idea of having an open source is exciting - sharing the "codes" of our faith so others can help build it - too cool for words.

pax