Christianity in the Premodern world engaged the five senses regularly. (55-56)
“Don’t focus on what it believes or its official statement of faith; rather, consider how much time your church expends in creating beauty. What does it do to develop embodied practices and multisensory experiences? For most of Christian history, the church was the major patron of the arts.” (56)
“Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth.” -Pablo Picasso
“The English word for miracle comes from the Latin words miro (to wonder) and mirus (wonderful). It’s the same root from which we get the word mirror. When you look in the mirror, do you wonder and admire the one of a kind miracle you are? Or when you look in the mirror, do you see more copy than copyright? Jesus does not want look-alikes, only love-alikes.” (58)
Enthusiasts comes from the Greek and means, “God within”. (60)
“Risen from the dead, Jesus calls us to rise from the bed, stop occupying pews, and get preoccupied with participating in the resurrection life of Jesus. The church has more than enough mission statements and not nearly enough mission relationships and mission movements.” (61)
Note the story of the Valle vase and transformation on page 61.
In the postmodern world, “custom” is returning to the customer. (67)
Starbucks has bet its future on the fact that future culture is not reactive, but interactive. While our educational systems still reward linear thinking and passive learning, digital culture rewards lateral thinking as well as role playing and other forms of participation. (69)
The Incarnation- God taking on human flesh- is a participatory event. But we have made it representational. God did not send a representative to earth. Neither did God dispatch some prophetic plenipotentiary to have a meeting with us. God sent ‘very God of very God’ to be one of us. (82)
“This is what missional means: to participate in the mission of Jesus in the world, to incarnate in the experiences of our lives and our communities the good news of God’s love for the world. We must become G.O.O.D. Church, which stands for Get Out Of Doors. We must get out of the church building and venture into the world to join the God who fills a “the hungry with good things.” (82)
“People long to participate. The worst thing you can say about a worship service is that it is uninvolving. Worship wars in churches are better described as EPIC wars, since the battle is less about the type of music than it is about the degree of participation. Liturgical music composer Marty Haugen lies to tell the story of the church organist who complained, ‘No matter how loud I play I can still hear people singing.'” (84)
“People want to participate in an organic way, not in a strategic or formulaic way. They are not interested in our strategies of participation; they are interest in the participation itself. Authentic participation is a fusion of two components, best captured in words you don’t often hear in casual conversation: spizzerinctum and sprezzatura.” (85)
Spizzerinctum (Appalachain culture word of ‘chutzpah’)- daring, imaginative, bold, and in the moment. Nearly 54% of the works of Jesus, as written in the Gospels, were instigated by His hearers. Jesus was good in the moment. (85-87)
Hospitality is more about entertaining strangers than friends or guests. (89)
Note the story of Father Kolbe’s sacrifice on page 89.
Sprezztura- simultaneous opposites. Leaving room for people who do not agree with you. Paradox is the midwife of Truth. (90-91)
Joe Skillen 