The North American Church in a Post-Christian Society

A blog is, in my view, a kind of open, public conversation. I normally use my blog to stimulate reactions, poke at and flag issues which I believe are important in the life of the church. My blog should not be taken as a kind of formal position paper, or as an academic address. This is why I (with one exception) have never allowed any of my blogs to be “published” in print.
As one who writes and publishes across a broad spectrum of mediums, I have a certain view of the genre of blogging. I believe the medium enables one to be more provocative at times. It can “shake the tree” a little bit if necessary. I have no idea how many “followers” my blog has, so I can’t be too optimistic with alluring speculations about the the breadth of its influence. I don’t think any of us knows – or can know – what really carries weight and influence in the church. Only God knows about things like “influence” and “weight.”
Occasionally one of my blog posts will get forwarded or copied to someone who gets really angry and becomes agitated alleging I am a dangerous voice which should be stopped, or that I am clearly out of step with the “church,” or obstructing the clear “signs of the time” or, even worse, standing against “God’s will.”
I have learned from Thomas Aquinas to not listen too much to either praises or criticisms. This is not because I am so confident that I am right in whatever I say in blogs, or sermons, or books, etc. Quite the contrary, one of the things I am sure about is that when I stand before the Lord on Judgment Day, there will be plenty of things which I thought I was right about, which will turn out to be wrong. There will, likewise, surely be quite a few examples of issues which I should have spoken up about, but I was silent. There will probably be endless examples where I may have been right, but my motivation was skewed in some way.
When St. Paul tells us in I Cor. 3:13 that all our works will be tested by fire to see if they were true to Jesus Christ and the Word of God, I can only imagine that my life will be engulfed in a bright blaze as mountains of chaff and stubble are being burned away. However, I pray that once that purification takes place, He will find in me true faith in Jesus Christ. That is my prayer.
In the big picture, little else matters (Rom. 14:23). I am confident, in Christ, that once all is said and done, God’s Word will be found to be true, “though every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). So, I must keep on seeking to be true to Christ and His Word as best I can, knowing that He alone will finally judge me.
I remain convinced that we live at a time in history when the denomination I belong to (United Methodism) has not successfully made the transition to a prophetic witness in a post-Christian society. Many still seem to believe that with a few changes we can, once again, return to those days when the United Methodist church was at the center of North American culture. Those days are gone. (We are good at knowing where the culture is, but very poor at articulating where the culture should be)
The current strategy seems to be about more and more cultural accommodation with whatever happens to be blowing through the culture at the moment and this so that the society will, once again, embrace us and sing our praises. This strikes me as ecclesiastical insanity. The church cannot be co-terminous with society, or the church ceases to exist. At some point, boundaries must be drawn. The doctrinal innovations which are rampant today will continue to impair our communion with one another. The gap between the cultural mainstream and the prophetic margins will continue to grow in unimaginable ways. We are actually in a situation which is emerging to look more like the first century than the 21st century.
A number of our churches have nobly led the way in making this transition, sometimes with the help of some brave leaders, sometimes with precious little support from those in authority over them. In the end, God will sort the whole thing out. But, in the meantime, we must act with robust faith knowing that one of the great promises of Scripture comes from Jesus himself who said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Denominations come and go. Movements which were once vibrant falter and are replaced by new ones. Some groups experience a renewed touch from God and live for another generation (e.g. Anglicanism in early Methodism or Anglicanism in the ACNA today). Others will lose the faith, even though finely clothed in robes and stoles. The great eschatological fire of Jesus Christ will alone separate the gold from all the wood, hay and stubble. In the meantime, let us all eagerly await the “blessed hope” of His glorious return.


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