Erin has bestowed Jake Bouma’s Subversive Blogger Award on me. I am honored. Also, I am thinking about what subversive means, if it is a good thing, if I am really subversive, what I am trying to subvert, what I want to see in its place, and if I am somehow subversive in a good way. Maybe I am an analytical subversive.

To subvert means to overthrow (something established or existing). That’s pretty strong language. Yet, if brave people who spoke from a minority perspective never raised their concerns, then the vast majority of our society would be disenfranchised and not permitted the same opportunities as the privileged few.

I am just going to say it. I am trying to subvert the church! Not The Church, but the church. Not the church that the Holy Spirit and the Apostles birthed, but the one that we have designed. Not the church that is a crazy, diverse loving community displaying the beauty of God’s Kingdom, but the system that became an end in itself. You get the picture.

I would love to see the church system subverted not by using the tactics of warfare or even diplomacy , but by using creativity, relationships, and action. So many of us have been speaking and writing prophetically about the church that is and has been, but that is not subversive enough! Generally, people like me have been saying and writing things that make some people mad and defensive because they feel threatened. Now, I am suggesting that we display the beauty of God’s Kingdom in a way that winsome and inspiring.

In our subversive mission, we will make some enemies. Can we love them? Can we do this thing in a way in which we don’t regard other people as our enemy? Can we be subversive and still realize that God works in so many ways and in such strange circumstances , that we could never begin to have a comprehensive handle on all the ways he is working? Can we do it in a way in which we understand him even to be at work not only in the life a person that we may have formerly thought was very far from him, but also understand he is at work in the very church system we are trying to displace?

Can we displace a system without putting another system in its place? Can we avoid being controlling, manipulative, or holier than thou? The answer to those questions is yes… and no. We do not have repeat the mistakes of the past. We can do better than we have done. But we will make tons of mistakes. As in all periods of church history, there will be over reactions, excesses, and abuses, but we have to try! People need to see the grace filled, accepting, scandalous love of Christ being displayed in communities in ways that spills over to those in their greater community.

So, I have gone from being the ultimate insider to being that subversive guy with a blog who will soon launch a ministry to bring the frustrated and the dreamers together in subversive community. I would have never guessed this in million years!

Be subversive!

I pass on the Subversive Blogger Award to:

Cindy because she is an eloquent, gentle spirited subversive within the system.

Kevin because he stepped out of the evangelical limelight to follow his heart.

Cory, Jason, and the whole gang at The Fringe because they put feet to their dreams in South Africa and in their own community.

People on my list, but someone beat me to it:

Jeff because he knows the pain, but it didn’t stop him.

Barb because she is starting to speak up.

Kathy because she is a pioneer.