Thursday, February 08, 2007
Ultimate Evangelicalism
I am beginning to want to join iMonk in calling myself "post-evangelical" - especially when I see stuff like that rightly decried here. -- A home communion kit for one.
Evangelicalism, with its heavy emphasis on individual salvation has, I think reached its logical conclusion - the church of one. Isn't that what this implies? What makes me sad is that I used to proudly think I was an evangelical, but I am increasingly in doubt about that.
But here is the bottom line question - why do people want to have a faith like this? What makes a church of one attractive? Of course, some people just don't get it, and yes there are cultural influences in that direction. But don't we have the power of the Holy Spirit? Shouldn't we be able to overcome cultural influences?
But we find ourselves as followers, not leaders. We don't ask what church should be, instead we ask what people want church to be. We put ourselves into submission to cultural influences instead actually being a cultural influence. And we are left with home communion kits for one. ARRRGH!
What impulses and motivations have gotten us here. Lots of possibilities, and they are all the wrong ones.
Have you ever thought about the fact that a focus on evangelism comes at the price of working on ourselves? But what is really sad is that we dilute the gospel when we aren't working to become what the gospel is designed to make us. It's like a 400-lb man doing commericals for a gym without any "after" pictures.
It's time to get very serious about being Christians and being the church, not growing the church.
Related Tags: church, evangelicalism, communion, church of one
1 Cor 11:20 - Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper,Doing it alone kind of defeats the purpose don't you think? Certainly violates how Christ set it up.
Evangelicalism, with its heavy emphasis on individual salvation has, I think reached its logical conclusion - the church of one. Isn't that what this implies? What makes me sad is that I used to proudly think I was an evangelical, but I am increasingly in doubt about that.
But here is the bottom line question - why do people want to have a faith like this? What makes a church of one attractive? Of course, some people just don't get it, and yes there are cultural influences in that direction. But don't we have the power of the Holy Spirit? Shouldn't we be able to overcome cultural influences?
But we find ourselves as followers, not leaders. We don't ask what church should be, instead we ask what people want church to be. We put ourselves into submission to cultural influences instead actually being a cultural influence. And we are left with home communion kits for one. ARRRGH!
What impulses and motivations have gotten us here. Lots of possibilities, and they are all the wrong ones.
Have you ever thought about the fact that a focus on evangelism comes at the price of working on ourselves? But what is really sad is that we dilute the gospel when we aren't working to become what the gospel is designed to make us. It's like a 400-lb man doing commericals for a gym without any "after" pictures.
It's time to get very serious about being Christians and being the church, not growing the church.
Related Tags: church, evangelicalism, communion, church of one
