Bill Easum

I'm enjoying a two day seminar with Bill Easum.  Here are some of the ideas that we covered yesterday:

Easum uses the metaphor of National Parks vs. Jungles to describe the difference between the world that was and the world that is emerging.

National Parks
- Neatly laid out
- Predictable and slow to change
- Warn you about dangerous animals
- Change very slowly
- You are entitled to the experience
- Can be traveled alone
- No problem seeing the horizon
- You don't need a compass or GPS
- No bottom lines
- People are basically happy
- Christianity is King and Queen

Jungles
- Nothing is neatly laid out
- Nothing is predictable and changes are fast
- Predators are everywhere
- You are on your own for shelter
- Changes from day to day
- You're not entitled to be there
- No one goes into the jungle alone
- When you look up you can't see the sky much less the horizon
- You better have a compass or a GPS
- Values are no long ultimate or universal
- No bottom line
- Most people are basically broken
- Christianity is nobody
- Requires intuition and creativity

Safety is the major difference.
The problem is that there is just enough National Park left in the world for the church to hid in the past.

Comments

[Stacey]

It's so true! I see the difference everyday. It's especially apparent here at the college. Trick is learning how to live in the jungle!

[Tim]

Your next sermon series: Welcome To The Jungle? Guns&Roses could provide the theme song - I like that song.