Passion and Message - Have We Lost Something Here?

There are a lot of things that have factored into this post but the first thing that got me thinking was this link: What Harold Camping Got Right.  But another factor was yesterday when I did a funeral for one of my members.  I preach to the same people all the time so whenever I preach to someone different I try to get feedback, even at a funeral.  My sermon was short, simple and to the point.  I got a lot of positive feedback and most of it had nothing to do with the message of the sermon, but the passion of it.  'It was nice to go to a funeral and the preacher knew the person so well they could speak passionately about them".  This was a typical comment and it has confirmed what I have long suspected.  People will never remember a message unless the preacher puts passion behind it.  If you try to preach something that you do not believe or have any emotions about you might as well sit down.

Through the whole Harold Camping nonsense, as the link above points out, the one thing you have to give the Harold Camping group credit for was their passion and message worked.  They went from an obscure group to being talked about across the nation and world in a few short months.  In large part we could blame sensationalism, but the fact is they had real passion about their message and that passion turned into action.  That action netted results.

The problem with the message of the American Christian church regardless of denominational flag is that it has a couple of problems.  On the one hand, we seem to have a large number of denominations and churches who are reworking everything so that it is unoffensive, tolerant and a different paradigm.  On the other hand, we also have a large number of denominations that are so concerned about being right in doctrine, that there is more infighting than ever.  Either Satan has us ineffective due to lack of passion and focus, or he has us shining our armor and fighting one another.  Either way he is winning. Some would argue that this is one of the reasons for the emergent church, but what is their central message?  Can anyone pin it down? 

Some questions that could be asked are: What is the message of the church supposed to be? and How does the church reclaim the passion for that message?  Comments are encouraged on this one because I personally do not see a simple answer to either one and the importance of them is beginning to get weighty indeed.

Truth and the Value of the Church.

Looking above, such a church may exist, but I doubt it would have any value. To have value, a church must hold something that is true as true. Without central truth, no value can be had. Relativism, believing truth is relative to the situation, will never bring value because value is fleeting and changeable in relativism. Guess me and the emergent church part company at this point. Although, I do hear some of the points they are making.

Whenever I stand in the pulpit, I am confronted with an inescapable fact -- I have former EVERYTHING in front of me. Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Reformed, Wesleyan, Pentecostal (Hey, that's behind the pulpit too), Charismatic, etc. are all present. In addition, there are several Tried Everythings as well. When I try to find something we have in common, it comes down to a single fact that we all got fed up with religiosity of our other churches and wanted to find a church where we could be Christan and yet have our differences respected. We were looking for a place where the commonality of our faith was the core, not how we differ from others of Christian faith.

That said, there are central truths we uphold at Hersey Congregational Church that are the common ground and give our church its core values:

1. The Bible is our authority and is the inspired word of God: what 'inspired' specifically means is open for debate. We all believe God had a hand in the Bible, but the exact 'how" he did it is open to interpretation because in truth the Bible really does not say itself 'how it works'. What we do not question is that the Bible has the authority to tell us how to live and what to believe.

2. The Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Three in One. One God, three persons. As confusing as this doctrine can be, it is found throughout Scripture and is a central tenant of being a Christian and understanding God.

3. The Historical Life, Work, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Honestly, is their a point being a Christian if there is no historical Christ who was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross and rose from the dead? Christ -- Christian -- get it?

4. Salvation through Faith in Christ: What 'faith' is and means is Bible defined, but the definition does have fuzzy edges when in the context of works (i.e. James or Paul or both), but in the end faith is not doubt. It is trust and evidence of that which is not seen (Hebrews 11:1). There are tons of issues under the heading of 'salvation' and how one is saved, but we point back to Christ regardless of which ones people personally have.

5. The Return of Christ: Christ said several times he would return to return his people to himself. When, where and how may be debatable, but one thing is for sure: He is coming back.

All of these, constitute what we believe to be the central tenants of the Christian faith. They represent a true expression of True Fundamentalism. Everything else is not necessarily relative, but these are the convictions that a Christian should be will to live and die for. Otherwise I would really doubt the Christianity of a Christian who cannot believe these core understandings.

So what about the rest. In the end we allow freedom to hold differences, discuss them, but still be brothers and sisters in Christ at the end of the day. They simply are not core enough, in my opinion, to break fellowship with someone because we disagree. Only the five above items justify such a break. Although it should be understood, the first one has the implication of following what is clearly said in the Bible. Murder and adultery are defined as Biblically wrong so they are wrong for everyone under 'the Bible being the authority' for example.

The central theme for us then truly becomes: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity. Both Augustine and Wesley (two guys with very different views) were fond of this saying and so am I. I may not always agree with my brothers and sisters in Christ, but I stand with them in unity about Jesus and love them no matter what.

Truth gives a church value, but also allowing each other liberty allows us to enjoy that value and walk in that truth. Otherwise all you have is religion which seeks to control and manipulate, neither of which are loving things to do.

I have finally found my church and it is one that fits me as a pastor. It allows me to walk in the liberty of the truth of Jesus Christ and love each person because I can allow them to be free as well. Instead of trying to control the flock, I work to have them know the truth so they can be free and follow Christ. I can only wish the same for everyone else.

The Second Reformation

Well, you have to hand it to Martin Luther, the guy had guts. In our modern language -- balls. What is needed now is a whole bunch of Christians with the same testicular fortitude. Why? Because there is a second reformation of thought needed in the church in the Western World again. There are several reasons I think this is needed:

1. Religious Experience Has Failed to Prove God to a Secular World: Now my former brethren the Pentecostal/Charismatic types are going to hate me for saying this but your experiences with God don't prove a blessed thing. The problem with religious experience is all religious people have them and that extends beyond Christianity. A Quote by a Christian lady on Facebook to my agnostic friend:"we don't need to prove anything to no one because everyday we wake up we can feel God in the wind, in the sunshine. We know clearly there is a God..." Hmmm. I wonder if a Hindu could say the same thing: "We don't need to prove anything to no one because everyday we wake up we can feel Karma in the wind, in the sunshine. We clearly know Karma exists..." See my point? A religious experience or feelings about spirituality only prove something to the one who has them; change the perspective or belief system and experience can be duplicated in other religions. As proof that a faith is ultimately true personal religious experience is for the most part useless. From my own experience in the Pentecostal movement, I have seen preachers fake an extraordinary amount of things and try to teach me how to do it as well. Psychological manipulation is very real in religious societies and so experiences in that regard are not proof of anything but gullibility or emotional need and susceptibility. One thing Christians need to remember is 1 Peter 3:15 -- 'and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you of the reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." That means to anyone at anytime. It is not a waste of time to give a reasoned response to why you believe based on what they understand and believe, in fact I would say it is the command of the Lord.

2. Theological Hardness: On the flip side, reformed thought of the Calvinist variety has so dominated for so long it no longer, or perhaps never had, the flexibility to change in the face of new questions. The answers that convinced people of the truth of Christian faith in the last 300 years no longer work. Reformed theology ultimately just adds fuel to the fire of the problem of evil and in the end seems like an arrogant mind that refuses to budge in the face of Scriptural questions. Many, not just in the Reformed camp have got to the point that no new ideas will be accepted about any doctrine of theology. Meekness (see 1 Peter 3:15 above) is needed to realize that no person has God in a box or completely figured out and to not leave room for change in our thinking is just our pride talking.

3. The Increase of Knowledge. Hate to say it there is so much information and options out there it makes your head spin. I would even say there is a new group of religious folks out there that I can only label the "TryAnythings". The move from one faith to another to try it out and see if it fits. One thing this has caused is a despair that a thing called "TRUTH" even exists. This is all made possible because Christianity is no longer the only game in town and the other options are easily found. The Technology of Today makes any religion no matter what or where it is accessible. This has led to a smarter and more knowledgeable population who have seen a lot and while Christianity may claim uniqueness, they can see similarities and that is what they treat Christianity like any other faith.

How is such a reformation going to happen? I don't think a fat monk is going to come along and nail 95 thesis to the door again, I don't think that the second reformation will belong to any single person. It is about a change of spirit so large that is going to be one of those quiet revolutions that is in many ways already happening. The Emergent Church takes a lot of flak from some corners of Christianity, but at least they are listening to what unbelievers are saying and formulating a response. That is however only one response; there are more.

One thing that is also happening is that Christians are returning to their Bibles and reading them for themselves and formulating new beliefs based on their own reading about God, Salvation and Christ. I am going to say this -- it is about time! It may take the passing of an old guard of thinkers in favor of a new one to make these changes. This means an inflexible denominational systems are going to fail to attract new people as more and more people will want a church where they can be free to believe differently than their brothers and sisters in Christ and still be accepted as part of the family of God.

Technology may provide accessibility to other religions but it also means that information about Christianity is also accessible like never before including about the historical questions about the Scriptures and Jesus Christ. It is also leading to a phenomena I and others call --faith without borders where Christians don't inhabit certain countries anymore with dominate cultures; they are everywhere. Those that are embracing this no longer dominating but permeating the world are part of the reformation to come.

It is already happening and like a snow ball rolling down a hill it will grow and then change everything when it reaches full maturity. The only real thing that stands in its way is a Traditional Protestantism but that is dying. It is just a matter of time.

The Bible and Nakedness -- Part 17 -- The Church and Nudity -- A Prediction

Now as a general observation -- traditions die hard. Even if the truth of a situation can be shown -- the tradition will be maintained because it is...well tradition. That means even if you show the truth that a tradition is wrong it will be maintained. People do not like change and they do not like to admit they were wrong.

Now in the case of traditional Christianity and Nudity the issue is that Biblically there is little support for traditional understandings of what constitutes nudity and nakedness. However, I doubt they will change their definition. Simply put, they have invested a lot of time and energy maintaining and they are not going to consider it a waste. There are political and religious forces that will hold them in place as well.

In order to affect change, a younger generation that is willing to reexamine their understandings of Scripture. In short, there is a need for a reformation of Biblical thought and theology. You can see it already beginning in many ways but the most significant is the amount of young people leaving the church but returning but with their own ideas. The emergent church also has had an effect with people have their own Christianity on their own terms. I think an interesting transition is about to take place in the American church where a new generation is going to throw off the old ideas and rediscover a new Christianity that will be different. It will also have its problems but hopefully one thing that will be present is a desire to reexamine viewpoints in the context of what Scripture actually says. I hope the issues of sexuality and nakedness will be among them.

Next: Other Things to Consider -- An Initial Attempt to Contextualize.

Ministry and the Emergent Church

Over the last few years there has been a great deal talk about the Emergent Church and recently I was directed to a video on the issue as I visited another site I enjoy reading:

10 Signs You May Have Entered the Emergent Church Zone

Now the fact remains that the Emergent church is a reaction to traditional church. The belief that we have entered a new era where ministry in the post modern world. My article here is to engage this video in relationship to effective ministry. I simply ask the question is the video accurate and does the Emergent Church have a point.

1. Doctrinal Statements are a good thing but I myself have seen doctrinal statements get completely out of hand. When you are defining what being a Christian is and you leave no room for variance of opinion at all you have gone to far. There is a central core of Christian doctrine that all churches subscribe too but it is often the extras that break Christian fellowship and in that regard the Emergent Church is right on. The Emergent Church is funny this way, I admit: they do have statements on how not to make doctrine to big a deal but they still define their views on the Bible, the trinity, etc. But may that is their point -- "In essentials unity, in non essentials liberty, in all things charity.

2. Polemics refers to an aggressive attack on the opinions of another group or person. I hate to say it that the Emergent church has a point on this one -- I have seen Christian Brother divide against one another because of this problem -- when we get so involved in in being Right that we forget to love one another and allow for differences of opinion we are not really following Christ anymore. I have no problem with engaging other people's ideas to test them to see if they are right (See my Tiptoeing Through the TULIPs series), I do have a great deal of problem with Spirit it is usually done in. At the end of the day, I still want to go out and sit with my Christian brother or sister and have dinner and friendship.

3. Like the third comment -- commercialism is often attacked but it is amazing how many churches do so and then advertise their church in the paper. That however is not simply a Emergent Church problem, it hits a lot of others as well.

4. The fourth point the video makes is a good one. The Emergent Church's problem is that irrelevancy often is more important to them than anything -- including the plain statements made by Scripture. Evangelism in such churches is often watered down to what God does for me, instead of what God asks of me.

5. I am not sure the guy on this point is right. 'Living incarnationally' means to live like Christ. It is a reaction to the character of many Christians who know their faith but don't live it in their daily lives. It means to not only know how Christ lives, but model it in your own lives. Sorry the guy is overgeneralizing on this one.

6. Not sure in this one, the point he is making is confusing. He should define his terms a little better.

7. Good point, but not all Emergent Churches do this, another overgeneralizing point.

8. I do not see this as a problem. The fact is theology without relationships is dry and dead (See Revelation 2:1-7) but relationship without theology is nothing but feel good nonsense. If a church argues theologically for relationship and can do so with the Scriptures how are they wrong? This question has been around long before the Emergent Church.

9. I like this one, but I have not really met an emergent church person who does this in truth. It seems to be an attack by their critics but I have yet to see and example of it myself.

10. I think the emergent churches point on propositional understanding of Scripture is actually more of a point involving how this is only one facet of interpretation. I propositional understand Scripture but i don't stop there. I also ask the question how it applies to my relationship to God. The fact is not all truth is prepositionally attained or understood. I don't reject this as a method, but it also has its limits -- kind of like logic.

All this said I like the video and enjoyed some of its points. I just think at times it over generalizes. When you present the views of someone you are arguing against you should be more accurate with what they actually say and do.