Topic: E-mail response to a friend
I agree with the basic presuposition you presented about denom’s, but on some level creeds, confessions, and separation is a good thing. Just because something walks, talks and smells like a Christian doesn’t mean it is. The start of denom’s began towards the end of Paul’s life with the entrance of Gnositism and Arianism in the church. True believers, with true doctrine, practice, and community, had to distinguish themselves from the false. But, like all things that seem to start right, denominationalism has become an out of control monster, rampaging through our culture like Godzilla in Tokyo.
On some level I think it is preferable to simply show people what it means to be a genuine Christian community by living out Jesus where you live, work, and play. The labels some times can hinder us. I thought long and hard about removing “baptist” from our name, but we didn’t. Although, I don’t think removing baptist would go far enough. As I see things I don’t know if we need “names” for our churches. Our culture relates to them in some way, so in that case they are good (we have a name I am proud to be associated with), but the reality is, we should just be believers banded together under a common purpose, place and pocessions seeking to live our Jesus to others.(Connecting Church talks about this; well thought and laid out) We meet regularly with other believers in our homes to study, pray, break bread, and fellowship, (Acts 2:42-47)and then we meet together as a whole to celebrate what God is doing and let our worship be a witness to others so they can “report that God is in you of a truth” (1 Cor. 14:25)
It seems so simple, so powerful, yet probably so hard for our traditional, modern churches to transition into. And, that’s okay. We should have patience with them. After all, what they are clinging to isn’t wrong, per se, just dieing. We have to help them see that everything dies, and it is okay to greive it’s lose, but we also have to go on living; changing, serving God.
To be honest with you, I am going through what I believe to be a total deconstruction process in my thinking (I may be wrong, though). (The opening pages of A New Kind of Christian are so me it isn’t funny!) I see in areas where I am beginning to reconstruct, but mostly it is still deconstruction at this point. I struggled for a long time with “am I turning liberal or what?” I even renigged, “repented” of my “progressive” thinking, only to return to it like a dog to its vomit (or so some would think). I’m not turning back this time. I can’t. I know better. I now see that what I am thinking isn’t “wrong, liberal or unbiblical” just different traditionally, and culturally.
Books like Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll (www.marshillchurch.org & www.acts29network.org), A New Kind of Christian and A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren (www.anewkindofchristian.com), Heaven is a place on Earth by Michael Witmer (www.heavenisaplaceonearth.com), The Connecting Church by Franzee (www.theconnectingchurch.org), Emerging Church by Dan Kimball (, Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren (www.pastors.com), etc. are challenging me on my journey of faith.
The voice of Jesus, through the Scriptures has been my biggest challenge to my faith.
As culture continues to finalize its shift from a modern era (1500-1960′s) to a post-modern ear (1960′s to ?) the way Christians think, believe, and do church will change, and not for the worse, and perhaps not for the better, but it will change, and we will see, speak and do things differently – not wrongly, but differently. A lot of our church constructs of a modern era will fall by the wayside (fundamentalism, denominationalism, etc.). God is raising up people who are seeing this, prophets who are speaking about this, and apostles who are shaping it, and pastors who are continuing it. I believe we will be apart of it.
(At this point let me add that many will think we are shifting not culturally but generationally, but that is not the case. What is happening in America right now is not a “baby boomer” to “gen. X’er” thing at all, but on the same level as when culture moved from the Mideval Culture to a Modern Culture.)
I believe we will see a Reformation in our life times, on the scale as Martin Luther’s. I believe we are already seeing it. I’m pumped about it. Personally, I hold no ties to my fundamental background. I never considered myself as such. I hold no ties to my Landmark background; I never was one. I have ties to one background, my relationship with Jesus.
The 1500′s Reformation not only gave the world the Scriptures, but it also sent us into a “modern” era for better or worse. The Reformation I think we will see will give us back the church; the living body of Christ, formed in local community and networked throughout our villages, cities, states, countries and the world, and will help us transition into a post-modern culture for better or worse.
“So, you say you want a revolution…” It’s coming. It’s hear. I’m smiling.
Toby
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