Saturday, November 05, 2005
Doing Church
Jollyblogger takea a long look at the place of church in the gospel. Mostly David is talking about a new book from my old buddy George Barna, but he makes some points that are very important, and that I can, hopefully, bring a unique perspective to.
Young Life was founded by a guy as a specific outreach to get high school kids into church. The details of the politics of how it came to stand on its own are lost in the sands of time, but the mission was to introduce kids to Jesus sufficiently that they would participate in church. While it drew a lot of kids, that transition from YL to church never has really worked.
I personally think this is where much of the modern church trends are rooted. People that grew up with YL and its kin think that it is church. So, we end up with churches on the model. I cannot tell you how much a so-called "contemporary" worship service (singing with guitars followed by a talk) resembles a Young Life club. It's scary. And it comes at the cost of much that is vitally important in church ministry -- the sacraments, a sense of holiness. It is, in a very real sense, a dumbing-down of what it means to be a Christian.
David continues later
I stick it out because I believe I am supposed to, because I truly value the sacraments, because of the fellowship I do get from it, and because even in a less than ideal situation, I am a better Christian there that not there.
After leaving Young Life, "the transition," the movement from para-church to church has been the place where I felt most called to ministry. This is in part why I battle against "contemporary" worship as I do. It's church moving to para-church when the movement should be in the other direction.
My point in that is that all of these gospel presentations convey the true gospel but not the whole gospel. The whole gospel is the whole story of Jesus and so it would have to contain all of the material of the gospels, as well as the explanatory writings of the New Testament writers. For that matter, to know the whole gospel we would need to read the whole bible since all the Scriptures tell about Jesus, per Luke 24:25-27.What David is addressing here, in part, is the role of the "para-chruch." This is what I was when I was on Young Life staff. The para-church are organizations formed to do just part of the work of the church and to help enable the church to do it's mission better. World Vision, Young Life, Campus Crusade, Inter-Varsity...these are all para-church organizations. I think they all suffer from many of the same problems, but I am going to adress Young Life, since that is where I come from.
Although we might quibble with any gospel presentation regarding the order of presentation or what elements should be present I think they are at least on the right track as long as they address the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man and redemption through the cross. They are also on the right track when they focus on forgiveness of sin, restoration of fellowship with God and eternal lifee as the benefits of redemption.
But getting back to my point I do want to address the issue of where the church fits into these gospel presentations. In this respect, the Four Spiritual Laws and EE are representative of almost every gospel presentation I have ever heard in making membership in the church an addendum to the gospel.
Young Life was founded by a guy as a specific outreach to get high school kids into church. The details of the politics of how it came to stand on its own are lost in the sands of time, but the mission was to introduce kids to Jesus sufficiently that they would participate in church. While it drew a lot of kids, that transition from YL to church never has really worked.
I personally think this is where much of the modern church trends are rooted. People that grew up with YL and its kin think that it is church. So, we end up with churches on the model. I cannot tell you how much a so-called "contemporary" worship service (singing with guitars followed by a talk) resembles a Young Life club. It's scary. And it comes at the cost of much that is vitally important in church ministry -- the sacraments, a sense of holiness. It is, in a very real sense, a dumbing-down of what it means to be a Christian.
David continues later
So don't read anything I am saying as meaning that we are obligated toward one particular institutional expression of the church. I am arguing against a mindset which sees as optional a covenantal relationship with a local body of believers, with all of the binding obligations and responsibilities it entails. And I don't believe that expecting an individual believer to enter into such a relationship with a local church is any more unreasonable than expecting a married man to live with his wife. It's just what you do when you are married, you live with the woman you married, not just any old woman.Now, this I absolutely agree with. Confession time, I am not the happiest camper in church. There are a lot of people in the church I currently attend that I love dearly - with many of them I find genuine Christian fellowship. But taken as a whole, I view the church I am currently a part of as the lesser of uglies, not good, but better than the alternatives.
I stick it out because I believe I am supposed to, because I truly value the sacraments, because of the fellowship I do get from it, and because even in a less than ideal situation, I am a better Christian there that not there.
After leaving Young Life, "the transition," the movement from para-church to church has been the place where I felt most called to ministry. This is in part why I battle against "contemporary" worship as I do. It's church moving to para-church when the movement should be in the other direction.
