S6 207: J. R. Briggs — The Sacred Overlap
Embracing the Tension of the Bible [45:03]
Episode Length: 45:03
Published Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2021 01:00:00 -0800
Session 6
About this episode:
Marty Solomon and Brent Billings are joined by special guest Dr. J. R. Briggs, the founder and director of Kairos Partnerships. His list of ministries and projects spans the gamut of possibility: from coaching pastors to instructing university students, from authoring books to hosting podcasts, J. R. brings a wealth of experience wherever he goes. He and his wife, Megan, have two boys and live just outside of Philadelphia.
About J. R. Briggs — Kairos Partnerships
Publications — Kairos Partnerships
The Sacred Overlap by J. R. Briggs
Thought of the Day: Sacred Overlap — Marty Solomon, YouTube
“Rubbing Shoulders with God” with Marty Solomon — Monday Morning Pastor
Practical Tips and Resources for Hand Copying Scripture — Kairos Partnerships
A Time To Heal by J. R. Briggs
Special Guest: J. R. Briggs.Notes
*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.
BEMA Episode 207: J. R. Briggs - The Sacred Overlap - Study Notes
Title & Source Summary
Episode: 207 - J. R. Briggs - The Sacred Overlap Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings Guest: Dr. J. R. Briggs, founder and director of Kairos Partnerships Focus: Living in the both/and tensions of faith rather than either/or binary thinking
This episode features a conversation with Dr. J. R. Briggs about his work in ministry, particularly his books on failure and “The Sacred Overlap.” The discussion explores how Western Christianity often defaults to either/or thinking when Jesus consistently invites His followers into a both/and reality. Briggs shares his journey from founding the Epic Fail Pastors’ Conference to writing about the overlapping spaces where heaven meets earth, challenging listeners to embrace the peculiarity of faithful Kingdom living that refuses to fit neatly into cultural categories.
Key Takeaways
- Grace is omnipresent, but we often forget it is fully available to us, especially in our failures
- Embracing failure as a gift wrapped in ugly wrapping paper opens us to receive grace more fully
- Jesus consistently lived in the both/and reality, not the either/or binary thinking common in Western Christianity
- Faithful followers of Jesus will be “too pagan for our Christian friends and too Christian for our pagan friends”
- The Kingdom of God is found in the sacred overlap where heaven and earth meet
- Christians are called to be peculiar - neither too normal nor too weird, but uncategorizable
- Writing is a discipline that requires showing up even when inspiration is absent
- Slowing down with Scripture through practices like hand-copying reveals details missed at reading speed
- The early church’s attractiveness was rooted in its peculiarity and idiosyncratic faith
- Ministry leadership requires building life on a foundation of grace, which requires first admitting we are failures
Main Concepts & Theories
The Theology of Failure
J. R. Briggs developed a comprehensive theology of failure through the Epic Fail Pastors’ Conference and his book “Fail.” This framework challenges the culture of success worship prevalent in North American Christianity.
Core Principles:
- Failure is omnipresent in human experience, yet churches lack safe spaces to discuss it
- Pastors and ministry leaders often hide failures, preventing them from accessing available grace
- A robust theology of failure sees it as “a beautiful gift wrapped in ugly wrapping paper”
- Failure becomes an invitation and blessing, not just a curse
- Professional Christians who are “paid to love Jesus” especially forget that grace is available to them
The Epic Fail Pastors’ Conference: This gathering provided a “healthy and hope-filled space” for pastors to discuss failure rather than celebrate success. The conference intentionally created:
- A safe environment for grieving ministry failures
- Celebration of obscure pastors full of wisdom and fruit
- A culminating communion experience that became profoundly meaningful
- The event was held in a former church building that had failed and become a bar, embodying the very theme being addressed
The Sacred Overlap
Briggs’ most recent work explores the both/and reality of Kingdom living versus either/or entrenchment. This framework addresses the growing divisiveness and polarization in contemporary culture.
Foundation: The concept emerges from observing how Jesus consistently lived and taught in paradoxical tensions:
- Fully God and fully man
- Justice and mercy
- Spirit and truth
- Kingdom is near and Kingdom is here
- Old treasures and new treasures
The Lord’s Prayer as Overlap: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is fundamentally a prayer of overlap. Jesus invites us to pray for the intersection of heaven and earth, where God’s rule and reign becomes present.
Eastern vs. Western Thinking: Briggs identifies Western either/or thinking as “anemic” compared to the Eastern-oriented both/and reality that Jesus embodies. The Gospel writers, rooted in Eastern thought patterns, naturally presented Jesus in these overlapping tensions.
Peculiarity as Kingdom Attraction
The concept of peculiarity stands as the antidote to being either too normal or too weird as Christians.
The Peculiarity Framework:
- Christians who are “too normal” appear no different from unbelievers, removing any incentive for conversion
- Christians who are “too weird” become off-putting and fail to engage meaningfully with culture
- Peculiarity occupies the space between normal and weird
- Being peculiar means being uncategorizable, defying simple classification
- This idiosyncratic faith characterized the early church’s attractiveness
Practical Expression: Faithful Jesus-followers will experience tension from both sides:
- “Too pagan for our Christian friends” - engaging with culture in ways that make religious people uncomfortable
- “Too Christian for our pagan friends” - maintaining Kingdom values that challenge secular assumptions
- This dual accusation indicates authentic Kingdom living in the overlap
Writing as Spiritual Discipline
Briggs shares extensive wisdom about the writing process, particularly for teaching-oriented writers.
Three Phases of Writing:
- Down Phase - Getting everything down on paper without concern for perfection
- Up Phase - Tightening the manuscript by cutting, rearranging, and restructuring
- Tweak Phase - Refining word choice, strengthening verbs and adjectives, adding details
Key Principles:
- “The muse shows up when your butt is in the seat” - writing requires discipline beyond inspiration
- “Write drunk, edit sober” (Hemingway, metaphorically) - allow free flow initially, then carefully revise
- Writing vs. being published are different goals with different motivations
- “Writing is easy, it’s the rewriting that’s excruciating”
- Great writers are made in editing, not first drafts
- Every writer must discover their unique writing personality through experimentation
- Writing is like giving birth - painful in process but beautiful in result
Writing as Teaching: For teachers like Briggs and potentially Solomon, writing represents “teaching on paper for students who are hungry to learn through the written word.”
Hand-Copying Scripture
Briggs initiated a global movement of hand-copying the Gospels, starting with Luke and moving to John.
The Practice:
- Simple goal: 10 verses per day
- No registration or formal commitment required
- Share photos and insights using #handcopyingjohn on social media
- Practice spread to four continents in nine different languages
Benefits:
- Slowing down reveals textual details missed at reading speed
- Creates space for discovery and deeper reflection
- Builds global community around shared practice
- Example: In the Zacchaeus story, Briggs noticed that Zacchaeus wanted to “see” Jesus, not necessarily talk to him - a detail that opens new interpretive possibilities
Examples & Applications
Jerusalem University College Experience
Briggs’ semester at Jerusalem University College in 1999 fundamentally shaped his approach to Scripture and theology.
Cultural Immersion: His daily life included:
- Learning from a rabbi teaching “Jewish Thought and Culture”
- Shopping with Suleiman, a Muslim shopkeeper in the Christian quarter
- Conversing with Dove and Moshe, modern-day Pharisees from Canada who had memorized more New Testament than Briggs despite not believing in it
This exposure to multiple perspectives within the same geographical and cultural space challenged his “bento box” approach to faith - keeping everything neatly separated. Jesus, by contrast, lived fully in the messy overlap of these realities.
The Pandemic as Failure Context
The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented ministry challenges that highlighted the need for failure theology.
Pandemic Realities:
- Pastors facing extraordinary pressures and disappointments
- Temptation to believe lies about ourselves, God, and others
- Unprecedented opportunities to step into grace
- Need for resilience in leadership
Briggs sees this moment as requiring a “deeply rooted and robust theology of failure” more than ever, as traditional ministry models failed and leaders had to navigate uncharted territory.
The Attractiveness of Early Christianity
The early church’s peculiarity made Christianity compelling to the surrounding culture.
Historical Model: Early Christians were attractive not because they fit cultural norms or were bizarrely countercultural, but because they were genuinely peculiar - they defied categorization. They:
- Cared for the sick during plagues when others fled
- Valued women, children, and slaves as image-bearers
- Practiced economic sharing that transcended class divisions
- Maintained sexual ethics that differed from both Jewish and pagan norms
- Refused both emperor worship and insular separatism
This uncategorizable faith in the overlap made Christianity compelling.
Personal Story: First Book Publication
Briggs’ vulnerability about his first book “When God Says Jump” demonstrates his failure theology in practice.
Lessons from Early Work:
- Published in his late twenties
- Now out of print, which Briggs acknowledges “probably should have been”
- An autographed first edition exists in collectible book markets
- He describes it as sounding “like somebody who wrote that when they were like 26 years old”
This openness about imperfect early work models the grace-based approach to failure he teaches.
The Editing Process
Briggs shares practical examples from his editing discipline:
Perfectionism Battle: As a self-identified perfectionist, he must constantly remind himself: “That’s not going to come out perfectly. None of it is perfect. The best authors in the world - it doesn’t come out perfectly.”
Four-Hour Writing Blocks: He discovered his writing personality requires focused, uninterrupted blocks:
- Cannot write in cabin-isolation for weeks
- Cannot utilize brief 10-15 minute fragments
- Needs approximately four hours weekly, in one or two chunks
- Treats these blocks like unmissable meetings
Variable Productivity: Some four-hour sessions yield abundant material, others produce only 300 words. He practices “trust and faith that that’s the progress that I was supposed to make today.”
Potential Areas for Further Exploration
Biblical Both/And Tensions
- Systematic exploration of Gospel passages demonstrating Jesus living in overlap spaces
- How Old Testament wisdom literature embraces paradox and tension
- The role of mystery in Jewish thought versus Greek philosophical categories
- Paul’s both/and theology (already/not yet, law/grace, Jew/Gentile)
- Trinitarian theology as ultimate both/and reality
Failure in Church History
- Historical examples of church leaders who failed but later bore fruit
- How different Christian traditions handle pastoral failure
- The relationship between Protestant work ethic and success worship
- Monasticism as alternative success metric
- Desert Fathers’ embrace of weakness and humility
Cultural Polarization
- Specific strategies for maintaining peculiarity in polarized contexts
- How social media algorithms reinforce either/or tribalism
- Historical periods of similar cultural division and church responses
- The relationship between apocalyptic thinking and binary categories
- Bridge-building practices between divided communities
Writing as Spiritual Formation
- The history of Christian writing as spiritual discipline
- Lectio divina and hand-copying as related practices
- How journaling functions differently from writing for publication
- The role of creative writing in theological reflection
- Technology’s impact on contemplative writing practices
Resilient Leadership
- Briggs’ Resilient Leaders Podcast and its framework
- Theological foundations for resilience versus merely psychological approaches
- How Sabbath practice relates to sustainable ministry
- The role of spiritual direction in leadership resilience
- Community practices that build collective resilience
Geographic and Cultural Context
- How physical geography of Israel shaped Jesus’ teaching methods
- The significance of Jesus conducting ministry in overlap spaces (Galilee, Samaria)
- Modern pilgrimage as educational practice
- Differences between American Holy Land tours and semester-long immersion
- How diaspora Jewish perspective informs Christian biblical interpretation
Comprehension Questions
-
How does J. R. Briggs define the difference between being “too normal,” “too weird,” and “peculiar” as Christians, and why does he argue that peculiarity was the attractiveness of the early church?
-
Explain the concept of “The Sacred Overlap” and provide at least three biblical examples of both/and tensions that Jesus embodied or taught, rather than either/or categories.
-
What does Briggs mean by describing failure as “a beautiful gift wrapped in ugly wrapping paper,” and how does this perspective create space for grace in ministry?
-
Describe Briggs’ three phases of writing (down, up, and tweak) and explain how this process reflects broader principles about perfectionism and the creative process.
-
How did Briggs’ experience at Jerusalem University College, particularly his relationships with people of different faiths, challenge his “bento box” approach to faith and contribute to his theology of overlap?
Personal Summary
Dr. J. R. Briggs offers a refreshing and challenging vision for Christian life that pushes back against the success-oriented, binary-thinking culture prevalent in Western Christianity. His journey from creating space for pastoral failure to articulating a theology of overlap demonstrates how personal struggle can birth transformative ministry.
The concept of the sacred overlap resonates deeply because it reflects the actual texture of following Jesus. We experience constant tension between multiple legitimate goods: justice and mercy, engagement and holiness, prophetic challenge and pastoral care, conviction and humility. Rather than resolving these tensions by choosing one side, Jesus invites us into the uncomfortable but fruitful space where these realities meet.
Briggs’ emphasis on peculiarity offers practical guidance for this overlap living. We need not worry whether we are sufficiently countercultural or adequately engaged with the world. Instead, we focus on faithful Jesus-following, trusting that this will make us uncategorizable by conventional standards. The early church’s explosive growth came not from perfect strategy but from genuine peculiarity that attracted those hungry for authentic Kingdom life.
The discussion about writing provides valuable wisdom extending beyond authorship. The discipline of showing up even without inspiration, the three-phase process of creation and refinement, and the acceptance of imperfect progress all apply to spiritual formation, ministry development, and Kingdom work. We honor God not by presenting polished perfection but by faithfully engaging in the work, trusting the process of growth and transformation.
Perhaps most importantly, Briggs models what he teaches. His openness about his first book being appropriately out of print, his acknowledgment of ongoing struggle with perfectionism, and his transparency about the painful writing process all demonstrate a life built on the grace-filled foundation of accepted failure. This authenticity gives weight to his message and creates permission for others to live honestly in their own journeys.
The hand-copying Scripture practice embodies the overlap theology in practice - it is both ancient and contemporary, individual and communal, disciplined and creative, Western in execution and Eastern in spirit. This simple practice of slowing down creates space for the Holy Spirit to reveal what speed obscures, reminding us that the goal is not information consumption but transformation through encounter with the living Word.
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