tensive visionaries or stenic managers?

The following is a piece I recently posted on the listserv localucctransformation:

Jesus didn't spin data. He didn't instruct in theology. He was of the highest intellect, but he connected with people on a vision of the kingdom of heaven. He enabled them to see what their intellect on its own could not see (in fact may have more so contradicted) , that the kingdom of God was at hand.

I find intellectual liberals and fundamentalists approach scripture less by faith and more by literalism. The fundamentalists say it is all literal (or close to that), intellectual liberals often reject those portions of scripture they can't "believe" in.

Walt Brueggemann many years ago taught me on the Psalms and introduced me to the difference between tensive and stenic. Stenic comes from the similar root as stenographer. They copy down exactly what they are told. Tensive comes from a similar root of tension...that is which changing, fluid, moving. Walt said (this was in 1978) that we live in a stenic world and especially in regards to the Psalms, it is a tensive piece.

We are taught much more in seminary to be stenic. We are not led to as much to be visioning, tensive leaders. But the scriptures and the journey of the church is much more tensive. Dynamic. Alive.

This is where I learned a lot from both Anne Wilson Schaef and Ed Friedman about how much our culture and we as individuals are addicted to specificity rather than casting a vision. What was ML King? A tensive visionary. Unfortunately, many of us in his same profession are stenic managers.

I think we all have the capacity to share a piece of the vision. But the organizations/ institutions are not into vision. Not even those who think that they are prophetic liberals. The issue is not intellect but passion and vision. Is the kingdom of God truly at hand? You can never prove it by historical/scientif ic method. But King convinced a significant number of us in a window of time, that it was.

That's your role as a leader for your church. Not as much a manager/chaplain, but a visionary leader of the kingdom which is at hand...and is yet to come.

(David Loar, Fairlawn West United Church of Christ - UCC, Akron, OH)

Brueggemann on the UCC shrillness

from the web discussion site UCCtruths.com (a site run by a more conservative critic of a lot of stuff labeled as "UCC" but still a fair voice in and of himself, and the overall discussion board has a variety to it), written by Don Niederfrank (Don and I were the two long haired hippies in our early years at Eden Seminary), who is clearly not a conservative, but has sought for years to bring the ideologs of the UCC into acknowledging a common center FIRST in their identity in Jesus Christ:

Probably the best, though not necessarily inspiring words were from
Walter Bruggeman who was applauded at Christ Church when at the end of
his talk--which was typical Bruggeman--profound and sound--he said that
the UCC needed to remember that God did not start speaking after the
comma. (applause) And that we--I'm pretty sure he said 'we'--need to
confess our unneighborliness toward those among us who do not choose to
follow the progressive agenda. (applause and amen's).

During the q&a he criticized the progressive church for devaluing
the 'Text' by its elevation of Biblical criticism.

He also said that part of the responsibility for the stridency of the
conservatives is the shrillness of liberals and that he finds himself
using the word 'shrill' with 'liberal' more and more these days.

Be hopeful.

Don N.
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Walt Brueggemann was my Old Test prof at Eden Seminary. He is one of the most prolific writers and speakers on OT theology, biblical theology more widely, and even more so on what it means to be faithful in times like these. He is no shrinking violet either in calling out the need for social justice in our world as the prophets are written about Biblically.