Here's a quote from an article I just read on Crosswalk.com which a friend just pointed me towards.
"As startling as it may sound, almost everything that is done in our contemporary churches has no basis in the Bible. As pastors preach from their pulpits about being “biblical” and following the “pure Word of God,” their words betray them. The truth is that precious little that is observed today in contemporary Christianity maps to anything found in the first-century church."
The words are from a new book I guess...by George Barna and Frank Viola.
They go on to warn against sheer rebellion against the institutional church or the other extreme of ignorant apathy when it comes to maintaining traditions, methods, and religious practices which are not necessarily supported by Scripture.
The article is timely since we just had a conversation in our small group about some of these deep issues of "church." God has really blessed Deb and I with two couples that love, encourage, and challenge us weekly in the Word and in our conversations. Our dialogue last night reminded me of the significance of experiencing genuine covenantal community with other believers.
Back to the issues being confronted in Barna and Viola's Pagan Christianity, they make the point that Christianity quickly became disconnected (by 2nd century) from its Jewish roots and was highly syncretized and influenced by Graeco-Roman culture. Add to that the fact that many of our current church traditions and practices have their origins in the Reformation (16th century) and Revivalist movements (19th century) and you quickly realize a little Socratic method of raising some serious questions are in order.
Perhaps the most foundational frustration I'm encountering as I go through this process of questioning, rethinking, and re-imagining church is the spiritually arrogant notion that an individual or even a group possesses the pure unadulterated interpretation of Scripture to which all others must submit in order to be "biblical." I would submit that if God's Word was this cut & dried (black & white, whatever comparatives you want to use) we would still have simply one Holy Catholic Church. That is obviously not the case.
2 comments:
So are you currently reading this book?
Abe and I are currently reading it and I must say that it has been quite frustrating and challenging. There are several points on which I agree and several more on which I disagree strongly. It's definitely worth reading.
Chris,
I've had some email dialogue with Frank about some of the positions that he takes. I'd love to hear what you think about the book. I've read some of his other stuff but I'm thinking of purchasing this new one for myself and a few others to try to process what he is saying. I'd have to agree with Joni that Frank's writing is typically frustrating and challenging!
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