a sol cafe manifesto: We question "leadership"... of the human variety

a sol café manifesto

This is an attempt to capture a bit of what the sol café is all about. It will not capture everything. It won't even come close.

This is not a statement of faith. This is not a statement of vision. It's just a statement.

This is a piece of our manifesto:

We question "leadership"... of the human variety

Have you ever known a person or group that has gotten so enthralled with one leader and what the leader teaches that it begins to define who they are and how they believe? They seem to defer to them on how the bible is interpreted (if they are Christian leaders/people) and live according to the "wise leader". If you question something in life, they have a prepared response "in the words of...". I realize that most people don't live that way, however there are certain segments of the population that find it easier to attach themselves to a public figure and how they live. This happens in all segments of society, and is prevelant in the big ol' Christian world as well.

The sol cafe seems to avoid this. We may at times be too cynical of any one leader (well I am). We may throw out good teaching to hammer through an idea ourselves, but that's what we want. We want to read the bible, pray and discuss something. And as we said earlier, we may not agree on any resolution, but we accept that as well. The point is (for me anyway) "independant thought" and being open for the Holy Spirit to guide us, as well as accepting differing opinions.

I don't think anything sol cafe does is perfect or necessarily "right," but I work on a set of ideals that seems to fit into sol better than most Christian communities. Those ideals could be fallible as well, but hopefully God's grace makes up for all that I am lacking, which I believe is much.

contributed by steve the z

4 response(s):

Winston says...: I would modify this to say "We question human "leadership."

I refer back to an earlier piece of the manifesto...
Winston says...: Yes, that's it exactly!
Anonymous says...: Is it leadership, or human leadership you question - or is your issue that of inappropriate leadership? Leadership is, it exists. Someone, or some group lead sol cafe to start. Someone, or some group of them, still provides leadership. It's not only a pattern and gift of God, it's also the way the world works. It's just that we too often screw up and then the whole thing gets tainted.
Black Riders says...: The central issue is not the leadership itself, or what form it takes, or even whether it is appropriate or not. There is leadership, absolutely.

The point is that we question it. The point is that, as a church, as a group, we don't follow blindly. The point is that we know there is the risk of it getting screwed up, so we all watch and question and, perhaps most importantly, play our part in the leadership. We don't just let someone else do it and abdicate our own responsibility in it.

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	antecedents We ask questions like... "am I the only lazy Chris... Church is not the building This is not the "right" way to do church, but it i... We don't give pat answers We operate on "Mexico" time We ask questions like... "how have I been shaped? ... symbols are powerful and necessary, but don't conf... don't do anything just because "we've always done ... our whole life is an act of prayer all of this could be wrong more manifesto March 2006 April 2006 July 2006 October 2006 January 2007 July 2007 now			a sol café manifesto This is an attempt to capture a bit of what the sol café is all about. It will not capture everything. It won't even come close. This is not a statement of faith. This is not a statement of vision. It's just a statement. This is a piece of our manifesto: We question "leadership"... of the human variety Have you ever known a person or group that has gotten so enthralled with one leader and what the leader teaches that it begins to define who they are and how they believe? They seem to defer to them on how the bible is interpreted (if they are Christian leaders/people) and live according to the "wise leader". If you question something in life, they have a prepared response "in the words of...". I realize that most people don't live that way, however there are certain segments of the population that find it easier to attach themselves to a public figure and how they live. This happens in all segments of society, and is prevelant in the big ol' Christian world as well. The sol cafe seems to avoid this. We may at times be too cynical of any one leader (well I am). We may throw out good teaching to hammer through an idea ourselves, but that's what we want. We want to read the bible, pray and discuss something. And as we said earlier, we may not agree on any resolution, but we accept that as well. The point is (for me anyway) "independant thought" and being open for the Holy Spirit to guide us, as well as accepting differing opinions. I don't think anything sol cafe does is perfect or necessarily "right," but I work on a set of ideals that seems to fit into sol better than most Christian communities. Those ideals could be fallible as well, but hopefully God's grace makes up for all that I am lacking, which I believe is much. contributed by steve the z 4 response(s): Winston says... I would modify this to say "We question human "leadership." I refer back to an earlier piece of the manifesto... Winston says... Yes, that's it exactly! Anonymous says... Is it leadership, or human leadership you question - or is your issue that of inappropriate leadership? Leadership is, it exists. Someone, or some group lead sol cafe to start. Someone, or some group of them, still provides leadership. It's not only a pattern and gift of God, it's also the way the world works. It's just that we too often screw up and then the whole thing gets tainted. Black Riders says... The central issue is not the leadership itself, or what form it takes, or even whether it is appropriate or not. There is leadership, absolutely. The point is that we question it. The point is that, as a church, as a group, we don't follow blindly. The point is that we know there is the risk of it getting screwed up, so we all watch and question and, perhaps most importantly, play our part in the leadership. We don't just let someone else do it and abdicate our own responsibility in it. Post a Comment Links to this post: <$BlogBacklinkTitle$> <$BlogBacklinkSnippet$> posted by <$BlogBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$> Create a Link more manifesto March 2006 April 2006 July 2006 October 2006 January 2007 July 2007 [back to the manifesto main page]