Tuesday, June 15, 2004
"when the church was marginalized, persecuted, and alien"
There's an interesting editorial and collection of articles on a subject that's very dear to my heart: the state of the Church today. As you can see from the links to the left, I've done a lot of thinking about church life and practices, and I have come to some definite conclusions and "action plans" as a result. Those who know me well, are aware that I've always had an uneasy tension with the Church in its "institutional" expression. In fact, this is one of the "projects" I mentioned in my previous blog entry, that I'm working on. Here's a quote (emphases are mine):
Very simply, the church began as a movement but ended up as an institution. And because the institutional church has lasted for some 1,500 years, we've grown overly familiar with this way of existing. It's ingrained in us. But this institutionalized way of church—what has been called Christendom—is deteriorating. Because of the way things are now in the context of history, the old institutional mold can't be rebuilt, and it would be unwise to attempt to rebuild it. Biblical Christianity will move on and thrive without it.
These early disciples had a sense of mission. They saw themselves as sent by God into the world for the sake of the world. Wherever Christians were, that was their place of mission. Local congregations became intent on ministering in both word and deed as witnesses of Jesus Christ. Because the members of this new community were often persecuted and exiled, their witness to Jesus was spread throughout the empire. Mission wasn't the job of a few professional clergy. God gave spiritual gifts so that each member could do his or her part.
The early church's leaders didn't carry on with an air of professionalism. According to the book of Acts, these leaders were common men and women who were called and gifted to shepherd the flock of God. The example of Paul demonstrates that it wasn't uncommon for these leaders to work with their hands to support themselves and their families (see Acts 20:34).
Early Christianity was radical—far more radical than the bland, conservative product we call Christianity today. Early Christians seemed to understand that their faith involved a radical commitment to a wild God who would often lead them to dangerous places.
This new community learned through the hardships of persecution to care for one another's needs. Although they came from different social and ethnic groups, they were bound together by the common purpose of the kingdom of God. They served their local communities with good deeds. They sacrificed and gave of themselves for the service of the kingdom of Christ. They had the conviction that they were a part of God's continuing story of the unfolding of redemption
Wes Roberts & Glenn Marshall, Reclaiming God's Original Intent for the Church, NavPress, 2004.
