I just finished reading Dan Hughes’ authority, identity, and the other kingdom. You can maybe get a copy by 1. asking him, 2. getting on his yahoo group (altho it is maybe invite only), or 3. buying the CD from ooze which should contain the talk (ooo I don’t see it mentioned there, that is a problem!) for which this document was the notes.
As I told Dan…2 words: pub lish. He hits the nail on the head so many times…I’ll try to share just a couple…
"Because we recognize that all that is emerges from all that was--that our very spiritual authorities themselves have genealogies--we stand in a position of having to make decisions with regard to authority that have no unambiguous answer, not unlike Abraham hearing voices and choosing to raise his knife. ...We must decide...'Is this authoritative?' If we do not decide, rest assured, someone will decide for us...Authority and truth are both decisions to submit...Our defining texts and practices were all created, redacted and canonized by agreement. The agreement of some--generally, those in power...
"In a community centered on belief--that is, cognitive assent to a collection of sentences--the smartest or most articulate are considered the most spiritual and those that naturally lead. Out of this comes such abortions as 2-week discipleship classes or the monstrosities of systemized small groups that are declared to be community...
"The Kingdom is a movement of revolution that is enacted; of passion that is a total reordering of life along a logic of transformative human encounters that create sacred space in which the impossible is embodied. There is no labyrinth of ideologically correct doctrine; no priviledged interpretive stance. There is the compelling and the less than compelling."
I’m quite sure if this man puts forth any formal publication of his thoughts on this matter, it will by far excel all.