Incarnational Pattern

I’m beginning to pray that we can eradicate our propensity to categorize people or put them into appropriate “camps”. Labeling has become such an insipid form of placing people into our perceptual boxes, no wonder they and we actually start to reside in those spaces. As often as I attempt to avoid using a label for a person, administration, movement, etc..; I can’t help but to find myself falling back into the very thing I am running from. So I hesitate, mumble under my breath and use those words that have become so empty, words like “conservative”, “traditional”, “liberal”, “progressive” and better yet attach a fitting prefix such as “Neo-” or “Ultra-”. It just doesn’t do the person or my sense of understanding any justice [see Luke 6:37], in fact, it actually hinders my own comprehension of that person’s character. This is probably most prevalent in regards to theological, social and political contexts. It is true though, we eventually start to live up to our labels (if we agree with them). And those labels never do so much harm as they do in the midst of our congregations. This is why I believe that Myron Augsburger’s article best identifies with this Third Way that should be present in our faith journeys; even though I don’t necessarily agree with his labels. I, considering myself to be a lib... (dammit I’m doing it again)! Oh never mind! Here is my response to his first issue: New Birth.

Where in scripture is there an emphasis that our salvation is a sign-sealed-delivered one-time experience? Is not our journey of faith a daily surrender and transformation to the image and identity of Jesus? When did it become such an emotional and one-time event as so prevalent the thought in today’s church? I read once that the term “born again” was a phrase that was not used hardly if ever before the 19th century, it became a prominent “catchphrase” in the American South starting around that time. It seems that for the modern church and it’s understanding of “rebirth” should in some form parallel our physical birth, full of blood, sweat, pain and tears. Is this the only “authentic” conversion experience? Does it get any more emotional than to be in the delivery room at the moment a child is born? Maybe not, then again I wouldn’t know, since I have not yet experienced this joy and grace as a father. Why are people who are raised in the church, who don’t have a conversion moment (even though most would probably say that there were a series of moments) viewed with some skepticism? I wholeheartedly believe that our conversion and transformation into the image of Christ is something that happens initially once (or better said when we become aware of it) and then is a regeneration process for the rest of our lives. If we ever believe that we have truly attained our salvation then maybe that is precisely when we are in danger of losing it (Luke 5:31-32). For truly Paul understood it when he said that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). Not just once, but for our whole lives!

Biblical conservatives try to follow Christ in every way, which sometimes makes them liberal.

This is an article in Mennonite Weekly Review written by Myron S. Augsburger, entitled “The Kinds of Conservatives We Should Be”. I will be commenting and posting on this article for my next couple of posts, for now I wanted to post this so that you could read it and be better prepared for my responses.

February 14, 2005, page 7

“Dividing people into two categories, liberal and conservative, fails to recognize those who try to follow a third way, accepting some things and rejecting others from both the left and the right. I believe we should be biblical conservatives-that is, Christians who seek to be faithful to God in his Word written. This will make us theologically conservative. But it does not require us to be politically or socially conservative. When we take Jesus’ commands to love our neighbors as ourselves and to love our enemies, this discipleship will mean that a truly biblical conservative will be a social liberal. Many Mennonites and other Anabaptists, many African Americans and many ‘progressive’ evangelicals will be a social liberal. One characteristic of our humanness is that we submit to Scripture’s authority, we must recognize the presuppositions we bring to Scripture. Often what divides Christians is not what the Word says, but what we understand it to say. A commitment of being honest about what we bring to scripture distinguishes authentic conservatism from unhealthy traditionalism. The latter is bondage and legalism. The former allows freedom to interpret and contextualize while being true to Scripture’s meaning. Traditional conservatives, I believe, are not conservative enough. They do not stand firmly for the whole of scripture nor let it actually be the authority in correcting a given base. I have selected seven issues that illustrate differences between biblical conservatives and traditional conservatives. These differences are stated in terms of what we should do to be biblical conservatives.”

1. “We must understand the new birth as beginning a daily walk with Christ, not as an emotional, one-time experience. Traditional conservatives, emphasizing the new birth as a crisis experience, often fail to emphasize the life of discipleship with Jesus. Biblical conservatism means walking with Jesus in life, being conformed to his image. One cannot be truly a Christian and live by a private piety. Nor can one assume that being saved means that one’s convictions are automatically conformed to the will of God. Our regeneration is a work of the Holy Spirit recreating us to true selfhood. We are to ‘work out’ [our] salvation with fear and trebling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose (Phil. 2:12-13).”

2. “We must give priority to God’s kingdom in life relationships now. Traditional conservatives tend to see the kingdom of God only as a future happening. They read the Bible as a flat book and miss the unfolding revelation to its full expression in the Incarnation. They tend to take many biblical statements in a literalistic way, except those that don’t fit their presuppositions. Often they minimize being members of the kingdom of God now. We are born into the kingdom. This is a new relationship and order of life in the present. Eventually Jesus will complete building this kingdom and will turn it over to the Father (1 Cor. 15:24). Paul writes that we are citizens of heaven now (Phil. 3:20)”

3. “We need a biblical understanding of the state. Traditional conservatives fall prey to “God-and-America” ideas that neglect caring for the whole human family. Rather than being a Christian influence in the social order, as salt and light, they give the impression that they want to sanctify the state and have it mandate religious ideals… Biblical conservatives seek to be in the world but not of the world, living as resident aliens, seeking to express the will of God in society rather than trying to impose our convictions on others. Interestingly, traditional conservatives seek to confront the state with a higher will on issues such as prayer in public schools and abortion, but they become critical when biblical conservatives confront the state on additional issues such as war. God has ordained government to secure order in society. God has not ordained any specific government or leader, but government in general. Our witness to government should be to call it to be fair and just in its treatment of all people.”

4. “We need to follow Jesus’ command to love our enemies. Traditional conservatives apply this teaching to personal relationships but not to the social and political order. They claim to serve God even when carrying out the state’s violence. If one believes war can be just, it would seem logical that one should carefully examine whether a particular war is just or not. But such a judgment would be seen by many traditional conservatives as unpatriotic. Biblical conservatives are pacifists simply because we want to follow Jesus. Our pacifism must be clearly distinguished from a liberal pacifism based on humanism. Contrary to what some evangelicals believe, pacifism does not weaken America, or any other nation, but enriches it. Love must be our way of life.”

5. “We must be better stewards of material resources. Traditional conservatives tend to elevate capitalism as though it is the Christian approach to the material order. Many seem to measure God’s blessings by material prosperity. Some imply that God guarantees financial success to the faithful and that this is an essential aspect of true faith. Biblical conservatives emphasize dimensions of stewardship that promote equity and mutuality to meet human need. Jesus taught that we are not to hoard wealth but to share with the needy. Felix Manz said, ‘What is mine is the church’s if my brother has need.’ God has promised to supply our needs, not out wants. Christians should live at the median level of their community of residence rather than at a superior level. We should not spend on ourselves to the extent that we neglect the needs of our world.”

6. “We need to take a service approach to mission as we share Jesus’ message. Many traditional conservatives are so focused on ‘getting saved’ that they fail to model discipleship or to pursue evangelism that engages people in discipleship. The result is a conflict between religions and arguments over religious values rather than an emphasis on a covenant response to God. Our mission and evangelism must follow Jesus’ teaching that we are to relate to others by being servants. We need to serve in the spirit of Jesus, serving others as they need to be served and not as we want to be served. The Master has given us the ministry of reconciliation and has called us to be ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:18-20). If we go with Western arrogance, power, dominance and immodesty, we invalidate the gospel. Paul writes that we should not let the world squeeze us into its mold, but by the transforming grace of God demonstrate his good and perfect will (Rom. 12:2).”

7. “Our mission must be global and beyond nationalism. The traditionalist conservative finds it easy to endorse Zionism-establishing and preserving, at any cost, and Israeli state. The biblical conservative follows Paul’s teaching that Jesus broke down the wall to make of Jew and Gentile one new humanity, so making peace (Eph. 2:14-16). The biblical conservative sees the Incarnation as the final word of God and does not see a return to the Old Testament Jewish practices as a way of salvation in the future. The presence of the Jew anywhere in the world is a sermon for Jehovah. It is for us, by a spirit of grace, to help Jew and Arab, Jew and Gentile, to understand that God is creating ‘One new community’ in Christ. ‘For other foundation no one can lay that is laid, which is Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor. 3:11).”

Crazy?... or just faithful?

This is an article that I wrote about the congregation that I serve as pastor of and their story and courage of faith; it was in the Spring '05 Church of the Brethren Young Adult Newsletter "Bridge".

“You’re wasting your time and your breath!” was one response. “There is no way we can afford to do something like this,” replied another. There are a great number of items, ideas and agendas that could surely provoke such responses in our churches today. It isn’t too far fetched to think that most individuals, congregations, districts and the denomination haven’t done something in the past five years that has led people to think they’re crazy, depending on which side of the aisle you’re on.

At the South/Central Indiana District Conference last fall, the West Manchester Church of the Brethren and its average 35 weekly worshipers made a challenge to individuals, congregations, the district and the denomination that to date has not been matched by any other congregation. What did they propose? At the church’s fall council meeting, one brave soul dared to challenge the congregation’s members in such a time of financial woes to double their annual giving to the Church of the Brethren General Board… double! Crazy? Maybe. Waste of resources? Possibly. Act of faith? Certainly (see Hebrews 11).

At a time when the denomination has experienced a downward trend in budget, cutbacks to staff, not to mention a gradual decline in membership, such a decision to do something about it seems… well... crazy. This church chose to lift up and place their faith in the denomination in their struggle to bring forth the Kingdom of God on earth. It seemed that the response of “Are they crazy?” was one that the congregation didn’t seek but can rightly reply “No, not
crazy… just faithful.”

It seems that we can no longer take the unpaved road unless we choose to miss life’s central and transformative pattern. It would have been all too easy to do nothing about this “crisis,” to put it simply. Our denomination at best can level off right now with little hope of real growth (I am speaking of a numbers game here not necessarily spiritual growth, though it is not limited what growth can be). West Manchester is awaiting a response from another congregation to their challenge so that they may partner together for the benefit of the denomination and the glory of God. The congregation acted on the statement that was made by one Annual Conference Steering Committee member that said, “We do not have a money problem we have a tithing problem.” This comment motivated the church to do something about it as best as they could. Most every individual or congregation has a story of how “in faith” they set out to do something and then acted on it, and God responded to their faith with faithfulness. What’s your story? “This is hopefully the start of many good things to come,” said one member after the decision was made to double their giving. It is not a boastful statement that was made, rather a faithful one; it’s the ability to trust in something or some One greater than yourself. That is precisely what the call to faith is.

If conventional Twelve-Step wisdom has taught us anything, we have to be sick and tired of being sick and tired before recovery can begin. Simply put, the Church of the Brethren is sick and tired. And the question remains, like a mirror on our wall that won’t let go of our “image,” what are we going to do about it? Only when this question is asked will recovery, or maybe better said, transformation (which is what the Gospel is all about) begin to take place in us, our congregations and our denomination.

An Authentic Church? What would that look like?

One meaning of the word authentic is: to be true to one's own personality, spirit, or character. It is a word that I have wrestled with quite literally during my college years. There is nothing about me that, when I engage people, seeks to be conformed to some preconceived notion. It is my hope that people are touched by my quest to be a person of authenticity, integrity and conviction. In my own naiveté, I realize that isn’t always the case, as long as they can, people will continually pigeon-hole anything about me.

So I wonder if my struggle to be authentic is seen as an extension of the church that I belong to, is there a sense of authenticity within the modern church today? Is there something that sets it apart from all the other institutions on the earth? Or has the church become so mainstream that there is nothing about it that appeals to people’s needs or interests?

The Church of the Brethren has become a mainstream church that has lost its heritage that was specifically from an Anabaptist and Pietist background. Maybe it is because we sought to become more ecumenical and lost sight of what made us different from other churches. If we are in an age that is beginning to respect diversity then we must remind ourselves that it is alright to be different from other groups. Unity became the goal so we took our eyes from the path that brought us to the place we are. We’ve severed our roots and grafted them with others. If we are to survive it will be returning to our “spiritual ancestral birth.”

The “contemporary church movement” has attempted to do a new thing by adapting to the age it lives in; in doing so it has lost it’s authenticity by choosing to be no different than the culture. We would rather wear a mask and cover the true identity and image of the Body of Christ. We have worship services that resemble concerts and appeal to nothing more than a spirituality seemingly based on emotion. Our evangelism efforts have become little more than a salesman who is no longer familiar with the product he is selling. Discipleship has become a warehouse where disciples are no longer formed but manufactured to have a set of fixed ideas, theology or correct head answers to heartfelt questions. Any emphasis on asking questions is subdued by the fact that our culture and churches are persistently answer-oriented (just see how often the phrase “Jesus is the Answer” is used today). Any kind of spiritual formation is viewed with suspicion & hesitation and generally regarded as something New Age. We no longer have the “elder” office within the church and replaced it with the professional pastor that is often asked to be more like the CEO of a Fortune 500 company than the spiritual leader of a community. A shift must occur to the bi-vocational pastor who has a foot firmly planted in the church and the world the church seeks to serve. We have mega-churches that appeal to our one-stop-shop mentality. Ironically enough, it is the churches that are choosing to become “contemporary” by blending themselves with the culture, are the ones that are growing in leaps and bounds. Further proof that we really do not want a new thing, we’d rather have the familiar and comfortable. At the present rate if all we do is become mega churches, we could in theory have large houses of worship with massive amounts of worshipers who are more content to worship Jesus than to follow him. Thus, we never really mature into an adult faith. The other end of the spectrum is those congregations that are quite content with the way things are; they fear the new thing.

The Post-Modern Church is about marking a returning to the very things that have become lost. This new thing that God is doing isn’t going to be recognizable; rather it will be distinctly ancient, yet not so far removed from the longing of our hearts. It will be familiar only by our connection with the tradition that surrounds it. I believe that in our culture today we are experiencing another renaissance. One in which we cannot deny the vast number of innovations and intellectual thought that seem to be emerging within the culture. We are no longer as dependant upon one another as we once were. We let machines do our thinking and working for us. We are experiencing a new kind of ‘humanism” in the world today that is vastly different from the term that was used 600 years ago. This has led to an increase in eschatological thinking, blaming the modern humanists or other people who do not “have it right” for the wrath of God. Quite simply, we no longer offer hope… only fear; the one thing that is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Be not afraid!!).

On the heels of that renaissance will be another reformation. Not one that seeks to divide (even though the reformers would say that it was never their intention to divide the church) but rather a reunification of the church. It will not establish some new denomination or church rather it will be a reclaiming of what has been lost in the pace of our culture. This will occur within the North American Church as people who refuse to identify themselves with the emerging mystique that has become increasingly more “Americanized.”

If the church is to ever regain its authenticity it will be by returning to the things that make the church distinctively different from the surrounding culture. I will elaborate on some of the ideas contained in a letter written by Paul Grout who is currently working on the formation of “A Place Apart”, an intentional Christian Community that seeks to train people to be truly alive. Listed below are a sample of things that must be rediscovered if we are to ever reclaim what has been lost:

- We will no longer give lip service in our proclamation and worship of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; it will be our identifying with his life, teachings, miracles, suffering, death and resurrection; this is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
- The empowerment and guidance of the Holy Spirit will once again take precedent in our lives.
- A return to and love for simplicity and creation.
- Daily worship that seeks to bring together heart, soul and mind (Deut. 6:5).
- Daily conversion and transformation that surrenders our will to God.
- Promoting a lifestyle of working for peace and justice.
- Silence and solitude will not be feared but enjoyed.
- Reading the Holy Scriptures through the lens of faith and with sheer wonder and awe.
- The healing of our wounded ness and souls.
- The casting off of fears that so govern our daily lives and choices, and transforming it into pure joy and thanksgiving for life.

If we really are at a crossroad in the life of the church then it is my belief that we must come full circle in regards to what we have tried and succeeded at, as well as what we have failed at. For both are full of the grace of God. If we are to ever become true to our own spirit and character we may have to follow the path that T.S. Eliot so wonderfully ascribed, “The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.”