The Bartender’s Assistant
A Guide for the Journey
by Tony Blair
A Study Guide for
The Bartender: A Fable about a Journey
by Mike McNichols
The Bartender’s Assistant
A Guide for the Journey
Copyright © 2010 Tony Blair. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Resource Publications
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
isbn 13: 978-1-60899-555-4
eisbn 13: 978-1-4982-7258-2
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
Foreword
When I began writing The Bartender as part of a doctoral project at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, I found that I was not prepared for the difficulty I encountered in writing fiction. Academic writing is one thing—there’s no character development, no plot line, no dialogue to follow. But fiction demands all that and more. It can be just as messy and troublesome as life itself, which is why it works well when we’re talking about the mission of the church in the world. If you want messy and troublesome, the life of the church has more than its share.
The Bartender was intended for an audience of people who appreciate academic speculation but also hunger for fleshing things out in everyday life. It’s one thing to talk about spiritual formation and evangelism as issues embedded within both ecclesiology and missiology; it’s another to engage in those things for oneself and with one’s neighbor, especially a neighbor who seems broken beyond repair. Putting the roughness and uncertainty of these things into the lives of frail, struggling, fictional (sort of) characters was my way of helping draw people into the conversation and, hopefully, more deeply into God’s mission in the world.
My friend Tony Blair has taken my modest enterprise and created this wonderful study guide to help leaders and churches open up conversations about both the inward and outward life of the church. He has taken the jumbled furniture of my fictional house and offered a framework for a sense of order—not in the way that confines, but in the creative, intelligent way that he has for preparing things for movement and action. I’m grateful for his thoughtful work that has resulted in this study guide.
Both of us agree that spiritual formation—the formation of a person’s inner life by the work of God’s Spirit—and evangelism are not only important but also indispensable in the life of the church. However, we also share the conviction that both of those areas of life require new explorations and innovative engagements. We don’t intend to throw any babies out with the bath water; we’re more interested in finding the babies in the midst of very murky water, and helping them to grow and flourish.
Tony and I journeyed together with Leonard Sweet and a wonderful group of learners for three years, exploring questions about life, ministry, the church, and the world. That time of growth and learning moved us into new areas of thought in a number of cherished areas of our Christian faith. We both share the hope that others will not only join in the discussion, but will also engage those around them in the larger conversation that takes place around the table of Jesus.
Michael McNichols
Lent 2010
Preface
About The Bartender . . .
Christian faith is continually challenged by the tension between certainty and mystery. A historic faith can seem threatened by the uncomfortable recognition that God continues to work in a rapidly changing culture. The Bartender is a fable about the messiness and unpredictability of lives being opened up to God through relationships characterized by deep listening and looking for the ongoing work of God in the world. The parallel and sometimes intersecting paths of two men on different spiritual journeys reveal how God seems to be present in the most scandalous of human dramas. When both men take risks that threaten their own religious sensibilities, they find new ways of living out the implications of their faith.
—From the Back Cover
About The Bartender’s Assistant
This study guide was created chapter by chapter as the staff of Hosanna! A Fellowship of Christians in Lititz, Pennsylvania, read and discussed this fascinating book twice a month over a period of ten months. As we read further, we found ourselves handing out copies to members of our congregation and others, for the issues we were discussing were so relevant to so much of our other conversations about life, ministry, spiritual formation, evangelism, relationships, and the life. And Mike McNichol’s choice to discuss these issues in the context of a fable made them accessible in ways that a more didactic approach would not have.
As a result, this guide has been adapted for the use of a more general audience. Specifically, it’s been formatted into 12 sessions for those who would wish to read, discuss it, and practice its principles together over a defined period of time. Of course, it can be adapted for other schedules and formats. Whether you’re reading this on your own or as part of a group, I hope it’s helpful to you.
—Tony Blair
Session 1
The Prologue
. . . in which we discover that we are reading a story about regrets.
“Do nothing without deliberation, but when you have acted, do not regret it” (Sirach 32:19).
1. Who or what is Sirach?
2. “People who lack religious affinities can embrace regret once they recognize that something is horribly wrong with the world and there is no solution to be found” (p. viii). Do you agree that unreligious people believe that there is no solution? What if they believe religion is what is horribly wrong with the world?
3. What is your understanding of God’s will? Read Romans 12:2 and then answer the question again.
4. Have you ever felt that God was being deceptive? That He is an astonished and secretive parent? That what the Bible says about Him “just doesn’t work?” How have you navigated through that experience? How could you help another?
5. What hopes or concerns do you have about reading a “story about regrets?”
Chapter 1
. . . in which we meet Pastor Paul Philips and Music City Community Church.
“I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see,
