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BlogHere are the thoughts and news of the people in our community. Leave a comment as you wish. If you want to join the blogging ask Mark.
Thursday, February 03, 2005Protesting Protestants An Inclusive Church Conference Post One message that came out through the conference was the issue of protesting. As protestants, Brian McLaren said, protesting is inherent in our psyche. Mistakes anmd difference are wrong and mean you have got to be kicked out. And the consequence is that within protestantism, we are defined by our distinctives, until the next group comes up with the next 'latest thing', that is the new 'right' - this is what Brian called the "practice of being righter than thou". This results in us being very narrow in our view of what is church and what isn't. Do they conform to this rightness that defines what we are? Although this started theologically with the reformation, noting of course that the mainline reformers did not want a split with the catholic church, these days all sorts of lines are drawn around all sorts of practices from seeker-sensitive, to purpose-driven, to G12, to cell, to megachurch, to house church, to prosperity etc. These distinctives all too easily become lines of division. The point was made that the nature of the breadth of the catholic church is that renewal comes to the whole church through difference at the fringe. The pithy phrase goes: "the fringe innovates and the core imitates". Those on the fringe try all sorts of new stuff, some which works, some which doesn't [with the support and encouragement and 'room' given by the core]; the core watches with fascinated interest, and picks out of the innovations that can then be brought into the core. This seems to me to be a great model. The trouble as protestant protesters we tend to see people doing things differently on the fringe and then chuck them out as heretics!!! I guess I kinda see that working in the Charismatic movement. Late 60s all sorts of charismatic groups are forming, many of them kicked out by the denominations because of it. As time goes on this charismatic things developes establishes itself, maybe even 'settles' a little to the point where the treasures brought by the charismatic movement start to feed their way back into denominational churches. In many parts of the country you will find very little difference between a charismatic church and the local Anglican church, apart from the building they meet in. If we can take this long-term view of things, born out by experience, maybe, in this time of cultural transition, we can encourage innovation, even things we have 'concerns' about and wait excitedly to see what God is doing on the fringe and anticipate the life that will soon be fed back to the core. Posted by: Mark | 10:38 am |
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