Hopeless Church
Articles like these are likely to titillate the ears of the American Christian masses, but I'm not sure how helpful they are. Let people settle into complacency and what's the use of working toward change? That is what Mark Galli seems to be proposing:
Of course there's an element of truth to this: no church is perfect, because no human being is perfect. Therefore, we must show grace (just as Christ shows us) and stop measuring everyone else by a standard we do not (and cannot) hold ourselves to. But Galli seems to go well beyond this obvious affirmation, putting out a call for utter complacency. Taken to its logical extreme, his argument would suggest that the Reformation should never have happened... or worse, that the ethical, missional, and ecclesiastical (well, all but historical and theological) parts of the New Testament need not have been written.
If Word and indwelling Spirit are not enough to create a visibly Christian church this side of heaven, there is hope neither for the church nor for the world.
I wonder if [Jesus] calls those of us frustrated with church, those of us who think the church is not good enough for our godly aspirations, to become embedded in this wretched institution precisely because it is wretched. And calls us to be a part of it not to reform it or save it, but to remind ourselves week in and week out that, truth be told, we're just like these sinners.
Of course there's an element of truth to this: no church is perfect, because no human being is perfect. Therefore, we must show grace (just as Christ shows us) and stop measuring everyone else by a standard we do not (and cannot) hold ourselves to. But Galli seems to go well beyond this obvious affirmation, putting out a call for utter complacency. Taken to its logical extreme, his argument would suggest that the Reformation should never have happened... or worse, that the ethical, missional, and ecclesiastical (well, all but historical and theological) parts of the New Testament need not have been written.
If Word and indwelling Spirit are not enough to create a visibly Christian church this side of heaven, there is hope neither for the church nor for the world.
I have trouble connecting with any article that seems to accidentally use the word "jeremiad" twice.
ReplyDeleteIt's really important that in our critique of the church as it is, often born out of our desire to be increasingly faithful, we don't lose our love for the church.
ReplyDeleteI recently heard Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah say that as an academic he is a reductionist, always breaking things down and sorting them out. As a pastor he is a constructionist, building up people and building up the church.
This was a helpful frame for me. It's a way of looking at the reductionist piece as a source of information that ultimately works to build more faithful communities.
LOL... gosh, bro. I usually pick up on things like that, but this one slipped by me!
ReplyDeleteAmy, wise words. The Apostle Paul is so exemplary in this... exhorting churches toward change, rebuking where necessary, and encouraging them in what they're doing right, as well as drawing their attention to the hope they have in Christ.
It sure seems like Paul is being sarcastic sometimes when he gives the church kudos.
ReplyDeleteA bit disingenuous, perhaps? I think the majority of the time he's pretty genuine. The fact that he omits his traditional greeting when he writes to the Galatian church shows that he's not into patronizing. Of course, the Galatians had deserted Christ by deserting the one, true gospel, so Paul really didn't have much basis on which to praise them. I guess you could cite Paul's speech at the Areopagus (Acts 17) as a sort of patronizing praise ("I see you are very religious")... definitely sarcastic there.
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