Movements & Institutions, Part 2
[Ed. note: For part one, check out the post and comments from 12/19. There's been some great discussion. Feel free to join the conversation. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and writing.]
“I think the church should be a movement.”
“Describe what that looks like...”
******************************
“Well... you know, a movement. Not an institution. A movement of God’s people.”
“Okayyyy…?”
“Well, it’s just that if the church is an institution, it won’t ever change. And why would anyone want to come to a church like that. I want a church that knows what I’m going through. And if the church is going to stick to what it always believes, says, does, and practices it will die.”
“Well, just like some people are afraid of change, it sounds like you might be afraid of not changing, and that you associate it with the death of the church. Initially, this might be a big jump. It's important to realize that the church will never die, whether you call it an institution or a movement or whatever. If the church is God’s people, the living saints who are in Christ and gathered around his Word and Sacraments, as well as the dead saints waiting to be raised, it will never end until Christ comes again. Individual congregations may close, but not the church universal. It sounds like you’re mixing your definitions. Maybe it’s important to distinguish between the church (singular) and congregations, (plural).
“Well, whatever you call them, change has to take place. People change. Times change. The church has to change or congregations will close.”
“I agree in part. There some things in the church, in fact most of it, that doesn’t change. What we believe, our body of teaching, our emphasis on what is primary in worship, God coming to us through his Word and Sacraments doesn’t change. Neither does what we have confessed for centuries. However, I would agree, just like we updated the King James Bible, there is room for change in the language we use to express of these beliefs and the methods we use to tangibly carry them out.
"So you would agree that change ought to take place, but more in what we say?"
"Yeah, especially as we take Scripture, as we take our teachings and apply them to our lives today. But I don't think that necessarily calls for a radical overhaul of everything the church has ever done. When you read Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis, he cites the Reformation as grounds for a neo-reformation in the church today. That's because he saw it as new teachings that emerged in the church. But the truth is, the Reformation of the 16th century wasn't something new, but a return to what Scripture had been saying all along, but framed in such a way as to meet the theological needs of the day/church/hearers.”
"But don't we need a new movement to emerge in today's church?"
"A new movement? You bet we do. We need God to move everyday, and every week. We need him to come to us, to forgive us, to shape us and change us into his image. As he always has, still does today, and will continue until the end of time when he makes the final movement, emerging from heaven and coming down to raise the dead, judge mankind, and take those who are in Christ to be with him forever. That's the true emerging movement."
"Amen!"
“I think the church should be a movement.”
“Describe what that looks like...”
******************************
“Well... you know, a movement. Not an institution. A movement of God’s people.”
“Okayyyy…?”
“Well, it’s just that if the church is an institution, it won’t ever change. And why would anyone want to come to a church like that. I want a church that knows what I’m going through. And if the church is going to stick to what it always believes, says, does, and practices it will die.”
“Well, just like some people are afraid of change, it sounds like you might be afraid of not changing, and that you associate it with the death of the church. Initially, this might be a big jump. It's important to realize that the church will never die, whether you call it an institution or a movement or whatever. If the church is God’s people, the living saints who are in Christ and gathered around his Word and Sacraments, as well as the dead saints waiting to be raised, it will never end until Christ comes again. Individual congregations may close, but not the church universal. It sounds like you’re mixing your definitions. Maybe it’s important to distinguish between the church (singular) and congregations, (plural).
“Well, whatever you call them, change has to take place. People change. Times change. The church has to change or congregations will close.”
“I agree in part. There some things in the church, in fact most of it, that doesn’t change. What we believe, our body of teaching, our emphasis on what is primary in worship, God coming to us through his Word and Sacraments doesn’t change. Neither does what we have confessed for centuries. However, I would agree, just like we updated the King James Bible, there is room for change in the language we use to express of these beliefs and the methods we use to tangibly carry them out.
"So you would agree that change ought to take place, but more in what we say?"
"Yeah, especially as we take Scripture, as we take our teachings and apply them to our lives today. But I don't think that necessarily calls for a radical overhaul of everything the church has ever done. When you read Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis, he cites the Reformation as grounds for a neo-reformation in the church today. That's because he saw it as new teachings that emerged in the church. But the truth is, the Reformation of the 16th century wasn't something new, but a return to what Scripture had been saying all along, but framed in such a way as to meet the theological needs of the day/church/hearers.”
"But don't we need a new movement to emerge in today's church?"
"A new movement? You bet we do. We need God to move everyday, and every week. We need him to come to us, to forgive us, to shape us and change us into his image. As he always has, still does today, and will continue until the end of time when he makes the final movement, emerging from heaven and coming down to raise the dead, judge mankind, and take those who are in Christ to be with him forever. That's the true emerging movement."
"Amen!"
posted by nate at 9:18 AM
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