Earlier I was sat in a lecture on European Federalism. My professor was explaining how the institutions of the European Union were designed with different questions in mind (e.g. things like how to manage a strong centre, economic redistribution etc. with writers like Spinelli) and are now having to adapt to new demands. This got me thinking about what Todd Hunter says about the reformation and the fact that most of our explaination of Jesus/what church is etc. is designed to answer questions which people are no longer asking, that we have to learn to listen (like Eugene Peterson says) so that we can learn the new questions.

On Saturday I went to see my Grandpa. He told me that he'd been thinking about the fact that the word Christian seems to have so little meaning in today's world, it's a word used when you don't know what else to say you are (for some people). He was telling me how being a "disciple" or "follower of Jesus" is a far better term. I could only agree. I can't remember having chatted about that with him before but what he said to me sounded like what I could have said to him. Weird (and cool).

I can't help but think that it has only been since he retired as a minister of an Elim Church that he has started to get back to basics. It's like he's gradually letting go of all the religious legalism that he was brought up with.