I am sorry that I do not write more. Some have told me they appreciate my writing, pictures of Ben and Jack, etc. I am in the midst of a lot of thinking about somethings that are better not published until thought through more. I don't want to be a heretic but I also don't want to continue on in the same old same old as before. There is reformation in the air. Because the other reformation has become as corrupt and callous as the reason for it in the first place. It is not time to go back to the original reformation but to the Source of all that is good, pure, honorable, true, lovely, excellent, and praise worthy to see what it is the Creator is doing today than look backwards to the past other than to recognize the same Voice and Sacred Heart.
Denominations were started out of a group of people who huddled together in solidarity through persecution and exile as well as seeking what it was that God was doing in a time when others were not necessarily doing that. These sects were set apart for a purpose not an institution. The purpose has been lost because it had been accomplished. Scripture was central, today doctrine is. Doctrine and theology has become central or solé while Scripture and Spirit has become suspect. Those who's doctrine was central cause apartheid. Those who's doctrine was central fought to continue slavery. Those who's doctrine are central perpetuate hunger, segregation, racism, sexism, and war. We mold God into our doctrine instead of finding wonder and awe in a dynamic Creator. We drive past the poor to argue doctrine. We spend time studying that which will win an argument without spending time with those who are meek.
I am not sure that I have much to say right now...
3 comments:
Those whose doctrine was central fought slavery.
Those whose doctrine is central build hospitals.
Those whose doctrine is central fight against ideas which state that the poor people who we all drive past are "the result of a purposeless and natural process" rather than children of God who have been made in His image and therefore have inherent dignity.
Tony, I have read you criticism of denominations in the past and certainly some of it is true. The trend to become institutional and insular seems to be a universal human trait that we all fall into and the need for reformation becomes a necessary cycle, not a singular event.
That said, three responses:
First, to divorce theology from scripture is a foolish assumption-as though one is separate from the other.
Many would consider Romans and the Gospel of John to be the two greatest books of Scripture and they are certainly the two most "theological" books of the Bible.
You may suggest that any particular theology is deficient or mistaken in its adherence to scripture, but to simply disdain theology – the systematic study and exposition of God's nature – is reject what both Paul and John have done so well.
To suggest that anyone reads scripture and comes away without some form of "theology" – a system of beliefs about God – is nonsense. We can either work out that "image of God" in discussion with each other in community (this is what a denomination does) or assume that any individual assumptions, unguided by any community, are adequate and faithful. I'll take the first option over the second any day.
Second, certainly, denominations are like every other human institution – including the church in Acts – filled with people who make mistakes and, at times, lose sight of their place and purpose.
But to say only that is to also disregard all they do that is good and faithful and of great benefit to the Kingdom of God.
Let's be honest, you essentially work for a denomination. Calvin Crest was envisioned by, created by, and sustained by, and owned by a denomination. Functionally, you draw your paycheck from a denomination. It seems denominations are not so faulty that you are not willing to be employed by one and that makes your criticism rather hollow.
Finally, show me the model you envision working in some sustainable way in some Christian community that has not fallen into the patterns you criticize within two or three generations. Places like Calvary Chapel, the Vineyard, and Willow Creek all started with the premise they were different ("we're a fellowship, not a church") and yet even in the second generation all have morphed into proto-denominations.
In a few years they will simply look like all the other denominations. Just look at how the mission sending agencies of the late 1800's morphed into denominations (the CMA is a great example).
Denominational Christianity has great faults, but when one single person tells me that all what has been done in the past is all wrong and he has a better idea for structuring the church than all the great saints that have gone before him, I think I am justifiably skeptical.
I don't hear you asking people to wholeheartedly abandon doctrine or theology. I hear you asking people to intentionally consider whether or not those parts of faith are in balance with scripture and the movement of the spirit. I think this is appropriate.
Denominations and doctrine do have limits. Knowledge is power, and we conceptualize, as a people, with ourselves in the center. We may not start with ourselves in the center, but we work our way in there. That's not a rip on denominationalism, that's a trait of humanity in a fallen world.
I'll process more ... later ...
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