Next-Wave is running a journey article by Pastor X, which sparks a few thoughts, starting with the observation that Dallas Willard can mess you up. In a good way. He ruined me some years ago with The Spirit of the Disciplines. The beginning of becoming post-charismatic is realizing that the normal way of God changing lives is mundane everyday ongoing stuff that you can participate in… and not a crisis experience in the prayer line every Sunday morning after the message.
After reading the account of “Pastor X” though, I’m struck by how pastors, leaders, and so-called-laypeople everywhere are waking up and saying in effect, “Hey, the emperor has no clothes, and come to think of it, neither do I!” It’s fascinating how this move away from the established church is coming as a chorus of spiritual realizations about self as well as the structures we’ve been a part of. The ringing cry is less, “Hey, we’ve been duped!” and more, “Hey, this is all wrong and we’ve been duping people!” Rather than whining that someone “done us wrong” I see an odd degree of identification with the “wrongdoers” and a departure in order to try and do it differently.
Reading “Pastor X” I thought for a minute or two I knew who it might be… or maybe it was one of about 5 people I could think of, or for a minute, hey, maybe this was me. After realizing that everyone’s journey has so much commonality, I’m wondering at the moment if there might be only about two dozen possible bullet-points on the way to the emerging church, and if you hit about ten of those you qualify. Just a thought…
A chorus of individual voices singing a song they’ve each learned on their own, and discovering that they’re singing the same tune. And hey, I’m just preachin’ to the choir.
And this voice in the choir sings “Amen!”
the whole emperor’s clothes thing is in Wayne Jacobsen’s book, The Naked Church.
I am finding that as I step back from the institution…there are alot of us singing the same song…
yes…that Out of the Question book had my brain doing overtime too!
and now…Dallas Willard’s books are sitting on my nightstand.
i am being stretched and changed more in the last few months by being OUT of church than id did in 20 years in the church.
This is the REAL stuff…real life…focussed on giving that glass of wather tothe one who needs it, instead of passing the same stagnant glass of water around the pews and pattin ourselves on the back for showing up and performing well on Sunday mornings.
I am a recovered Charismatic who started a church six years ago
with intention of being diferent in ministry style and message.
The message is centered on the cross of Christ by the way not me
my super gifts. I am posting this because I would like a clarifica
on this article; are you saying that church is irrelivant or are
you saying that church has lost its place in the planet? Or both?
Because if that is the message of the emerging church I am confused.
It seams to me that the church, dispite its failings, is the only
organization ordained by God to speak to a hurting world. I am
convinced that the model of church is faulty but the idea of church
and community and synergy in purpose and relationship and… is what
church is about.
What am I missing? Help me understand.
Thanks
Ed Johnson
Sodtrodder
Ed,
Sounds refreshing. To clarify, I think upon re-reading my post that the “we’ve been duped” parts could be coming off wrongly… I don’t mean to deride “The Church” (in the global small-c-catholic sense). I believe in a lot of fundamental ways, you’re right to suggest that “community and synergy in purpose and relationship and… is what church is about.” My point is that the form, the structure, the method has gotten all fouled up. As church-builders we’ve erred, and in a lot of places gotten wrong priorities and motives and then built upon that foundation. This is where we’ve been “duped” and have “duped” others.
So I’m not against the church, I’ve just gotten to believe that there are much better ways to “do” church which allow it to be what it’s supposed to be. otoh, if it’s going to be what we’ve built on wrong foundations and motives, I want out. Not that I or EC has all the answers, but an honest search after seeing the issues is a good start.
To bring it around to the terms in your question, I would say that if the church is to accomplish its purpose on the earth — and it does have one — it needs some fundamental changes to its methodology.
hth.