I'm doing something in this blog I've never done before. I am placing the body of a letter that I just returned to a friend, answering his inquiry into what I felt about "seeker-sensitive" and "Purpose-driven" churches. I find that these church styles seem a bit passe' now that the Emergent Church movement has begun in earnest. Still, there are many churches out there committed to these "styles" of doing church. There are also a growing number of churches being founded on the new "emergent church" style or philosophy, if you will. As a teacher I am often reluctant to tell my students "what I think". That is a deliberate (or should I say "intentional" :) for the sake of my students) on my part.
What follows though is more or less a personal response to an inquiry into "What do you think?" that this friend as me about in relation to these evangelical movements of doing church. His question had to do with his local church that has embraced a style of doing ministry that is embracing one, or maybe even both, of these styles of ministry. My sense in his letter (which I've not included even as I've not included his name) is that he isn't so much as disturbed by this all, but wondering what the long term goals are in doing ministry with these ministry styles as the primary focus. He asked what I thought (along with a few other pastors he knows) ...and so this is what I think. It should not be construed as a final thought, but one that is current for me on my own radar as I think about the Historic Faith we are stewards of, The Church as the mediator of that stewardship, Jesus Christ as the Personal allegiance to that Faith, and the 21st century that we living all of this out in.
***********************************************************************************
Hi _______,
Well, first of all thank you for the inclusion in the "six pastors whom I respect unreservedly" category...I'm flattered and honored.
It's an interesting subject that you bring up, because it's much more than simply the issue of "style" which is what so many seem to think of this as. I think the issue is more framed by the "theology" behind these ways of doing church. Forgive me for dragging the issue more deeply than perhaps it should be, but I do think we're dealing with the 21st century, Western, Material/Consumer, Rugged Individualism that is a product of 60+ years of Evangelicalism, and to be even more broad stroked in historical theology, the product of the 3 centuries of tweaking the reform movement away from it's Reformed base to one that is decidedly Arminian -- for good or for worse is up to you to decide.
My overall sense -- and I teach a section on "the future of the church" in both the last Church History lecture, as well as in a Ministry Internship class -- (much to long of a paranthesis, so I'll start over). My overall sense is that we are seeing a continual evolution of theology away from the "Monergism" of the Reform period. The first shift came after the Reform period's generation died out and cold sterile orthodoxy (that's an oxymoronic idea) led hungry believers to Pietism (which was a practice more than a theology) and a shift away from the strict Monergism of the Reformers to a softer Arminianism that embraced the changing world of scientific discovery.
Forgive me ______ for this lengthy diatribe...I hope it will lead to something clear.
The attack (??? Not sure if that is the right word to use) on Christianity began in earnest as the initial scientific enlightened world began to question the traditions and religion of the church -- something I believe was of God. As the age of discovery, both in the extension of Europe to new worlds, and the emergence of a scientific shift in worldview, began to emerge the church adapted it's theology. No longer was God in charge of everything...that was obvious. Instead, human kind had a much bigger part to play in the overall work of God in the world.
Theologically the shift is most pronounced in Arminian theologies that emerged in old rejected Calvinism -- Methodism, Frontier Baptist (remember Baptists at first were Calvinists), and the many revivals of the 18th & 19th century. Finney was a great proponent of revival as the natural outcome of Human derived efforts working in concert with God. From Finney we go to the Keswick movement...the beginnings of Pentecostalism. Before that though, evangelical revivalists like Moody. The supposed clash between Pentecostalism and Fundamentalism is not nearly as significant as the 20th century revivalists that continued to proclaim a message of individuality in relation to salvation and faith.
Eventually, Evangelicalism bridges the gap between Pentecostal and Fundamentalist zealous fringes...a softer Evangelicalism emerges...Billy Graham (not soft at first, but eventually)...Bill Bright...and as well, the shift of missions to a world focus that is quite Arminian - DAWN and Center for World Missions as examples.
OK...thanks for hanging in this little History summary. My point is that in our believing lifestyle we've seen all sorts of attempts to grasp the "Holy Grail" of what is going to next change the world and bring the Kingdom of God to the earth. It seems, to me, that it's focus is more or less strongly the product of this theological evolution and worldview that seek to be brought together in harmony.
Seeker-Sensitive, Purpose-Driven, as well as a whole host of other movements from the last 40 years continue to be reflective of a western world always looking to bring about the newest and the better to solve our problems (don't we remember the Jesus People Movement, The Charismatic Movement, John Wimber and the Vineyard Movement, etc...even to today in the newest -- the Emergent Church movement?).
It's not so much that I'm against them, or even wary of them as theologically incorrect, but I think more than anything I am weary of lurching towards the next and the best way to now reach the world.
Church History has ruined me! I see God at work in people and in relationships, in prayer, in the clear and simple proclamations of Jesus, and in the presence of the Kingdom of God. There has been an attempt to dress that up in many different clothes over our lifetime, and the years before us...and I think, somewhat sadly and perhaps cynically...there will always be attempts by people of faith to take the simplicity of Christ and his church and change it into something of their own creation.
Is it of God? I don't know...I doubt it, but then again...Jesus is coming back for a bride not a harem! So, in the end, we're part of it whether we want to be or not.
Forgive my long answer, but thanks for the question, and if you did read this in entirety, thanks for honoring me!
Much Love, with Faith and Hope,
Elliott
No comments:
Post a Comment