I’ve just finished up Steve Rabey’s In Search of Authentic Faith, and I have to admit it has changed the way I see things. Or at the very least, gotten me thinking in a different direction.
I have long been skeptical of the American church.
In fact, in my observation, I have thought we are dying, and at a dreadful pace. I have often likened it to a scene in The Patriot, where the militia’s lines have broken in battle, and Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) has to fight the wave of his people, waving the American flag and screaming, “Hold the line!” Our lines at the center of the battle have broken, as we’re on the retreat while still concerning ourselves with irrelevant cursory battles in the realms of politics and social influence.
This book, though, has shown me that I am by no means the first to see this trend. In describing what appears to be the beginnings of the emergent church, Rabey shows that many believers in this nation have not only noticed the trend, but want to distance themselves from it (In Search was published in 2001, thus its “emergent” terminology is rustic, at best, but I believe that’s what he was beginning to notice).
Now, there’s a lot of controversy and discussion about the emergent church, and I think some of the critiques are valid; and some of the things the emergent church is doing are not only good, but are absolutely necessary. I find myself quite in the middle: fully supportive of the emergent “conversation” (they seem to refuse to call it a movement), while at the same time, not quite ready to take a step into it myself.
It only takes a first glance at any recent writings by social scientists and observers to see that we are on the verge of a major paradigm shift in culture, perhaps the largest and most rapid one since the Renaissance. If you don’t believe me, just google postmodernism and read a bit. Things are changing, and changing fast. We (generation X) do not see the world the way our parents do. And according to at least four public high school teachers I’ve talked to, there is a dramatic difference between kids five years ago, and the students they have now, which precisely marks the generally accepted transition point between “generation X” and “generation Y.”
I’ve been thinking about it all a lot lately, and this is my observation: a new Church is emerging. Now, I don’t necessarily mean the “emergent church.” That may well only be the first signs of change, the transition to something new. Just as postmodernism is only defined as being “after modernism” and isn’t yet its own organism. But it is a change.
The church has seen this twice before in history: the Great Schism at the turn of the first milennium, and the Reformation in the 16th century. And you’ll note that both of these align very clearly with major shifts in the course of history and social thought.
The Great Schism came to a head when when Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael I effectively excommunicated one other. I think it is no coincidence that this split also falls in the same period of history that the Roman Empire began crumbling and a new way of thinking, leading into the Middle Ages, began emerging. It is more difficult to nail down for sure, because this shift was a long one, over the course of centuries, but it seems to me to line up, at least in part.
Then, as the system of hierarchy began to dissolve and individualism sufaced—a strain of thought ultimately leading to the Enlightenment—a third Church emerged: Protestantism.
Obviously, there were theological and political reasons behind these two splits. But now I’m beginning to wonder if there is not more to it. The church exists in a world in flux; it always has. And it is always a topic of great debate as to how the church will adapt to these changes. It seems to me that when this shift is as dramatic as it has been in these two points in history, the church has split with it: one side unwilling to compromise something they hold dear, the other unwilling to lose relevancy with the culture and the world around them.
The Eastern Orthodox Church is tailored to reach a culture of paganism, within the Roman Empire. The Roman Catholic Church is tailored to reach a culture of the middle ages, for those who see the world in a hierarchical way and believe in the authority of those over them. The Protestant Church is tailored to a modern mindset, where the individual is his own person, and logic and the supremacy of Truth rule. Were these churches right to stay true to the form in which they were founded, in the culture in which they were founded? Or were they right to adapt their form, to change the way the message of Christ is presented in order to reach a new and emerging worldview?
That may be a whole other debate, but my observation is that both have happened in each point in history. And I presume both will happen this time around, as well. The Protestant Church will probably live on. But something else will emerge alongside it; in fact, it already is doing so.
And here’s something more that gives me hope: Though both of these splits have brought division, I can’t see it having nearly the same effect today; the church is already splintered into hundreds of denominations. In fact, part of the mindset of the emergent church is ecuminism. Not in the truth-abandoning way that is often discussed, but simply in seeking true, genuine fellowship with other believers. In seeking Christ-like love before all else. If this split is coming, it may be the first to bring all four Churches back together for the first time. Only God knows what is coming, but I look forward to it in expectation.
The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
- John 17:22-23
Disclaimer: I said it once, but I suppose I should re-iterate. I am merely hypothesizing. I am making broad sweeping generalizations about the course of history in century-long spurts. And like any hypothesis, I could be way off my rocker. But I’m a thinker, and this is fun and mind-blowing to think about.
This is a good album. A very solid, good worship album. Which is a terrible disappointment. After all, this is the band who recently released Share the Well, proving that despite losing two key songwriters (including singer and guitarist Derek Webb), they can still achieve excellence.
