A Good Example of Emergent, Postliberal Theology

books:

	• Who Stole My Church?: What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century Gordon MacDonald Thomas Nelson, 2008 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 50 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Good Example of Emergent, Postliberal Theology

MacDonald uses a simple topic to sneak in an emerging (pun intended) school of thought, postliberalism.

Postliberalism sets aside the history and objective understanding of Scripture and relies exclusively upon the text as a means of understnding God and Christian life. Good examples are given in the first couple of "Discovery Group" meetings in which the characters explore the Bible texts for themselves without any history or doctrinal background, or in which doctrine becomes secondary to the text itself. The Biblical narrative story becomes the (sole?) basis upon which the group understands Jesus, change in the church and Christian thought.

Secondly, the way the group interacts with each other, and with the younger church members in one meeting indicates an Emergent-Church philosophy that claims:

'it is diologue between Christians and the agreement within Christian Community that establishes and reveals truth,' not doctrine.

In the end, the one character who would not conform to the group transformation was labeled a non-believer because he held to a more traditional understanding of worship.

Watch out! This tripe is creeping into the church worldwide ever so gradually. On the surface this sounds reasonable (we believe the Bible narrative word-for-word, and we all agree together), but in the end, this can lead to some really wild stuff (group-think complete with labeling and ostracism for anyone who doesn't agree with their local 'emergent church' and its revived Social-Gospel leanings. Or something just as disturbing: disciples who also embrace Buddism, etc.). There are other passages in the Bible besides narratives, and Emergent Churches avoid them (e.g., escatological passages). Reader beware.

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Pleasant Propaganda for "Contemporary" Worship

I was initially drawn to this book because I thought it might present a balanced analysis of current trends toward "contemporary" worship styles that increasingly abandon traditional elements of church life as "inauthentic" and "irrelevant." However, from the book jacket it is plain that this book has an agenda: "Any church that has not turned its face toward the younger generation will simply cease to exist...We're not talking decades, we're talking just a few years." With that level of gravity, then, it follows that any reluctance on the part of older Christians to abandon ANYTHING in church life that purportedly "turns off" younger generations suggests that those older Christians may not even have true faith.

The book is an engaging story-like chronicle of a hypothetical pastor and his congregation in New England, as the pastor works to get the congregation to accept the necessity for changing the church's name and eliminating hymns, choir, Sunday school, etc., and allocating funds for a $150K "state of the art" audio/visual system for worship. The pastor gathers a number of older congregants for a weekly Bible-study like meeting called the "Discovery Group" to examine worship styles and reasons for change (ironically, this group epitomizes the old fuddy-duddy approaches of having regular meetings, an agenda, coffee and dessert, etc.). But it is not truly a dialogue, since the pastor is intent on convincing the group that their treasured worship elements are actively repellent to younger generations and so to insist on them is against the spirit of Christ.

I found the prose to be reminiscent of Jan Karon's Mitford series in evoking a small town congregation and pastor. But the overall story is camoflauge for a mindset that draws upon secular business-world fads and analogies, and peppers it throughout with inaccurate and selective history.

The title of the book is part of the argument - there is no MY church, only God's church, and it is indicative of our selfishness to think of "our" church. But that is a bit of a sham argument, because who speaks for God? Evidently it is those self-appointed individuals who have foreordained that the church has to transform itself into whatever market-driven media venues the secular world attracts the current generation into. It all just seems to be a bit of a self-serving argument. After all, hymns are in the public domain and no one makes money when they are sung - but "contemporary" artists get a royalty every time their arrangements are displayed on the Powerpoint screens of your local worship center. (I learned this from my local church's worship leader.) Is there then a little bit of bias involved in Christian media companies creating an imperative for churches to move to this format?

The book suggests that the destruction of the Jewish temple in AD 70 was due to God's abandonment of it because of "inauthentic" worship styles. This seems quite a stretch - in fact Christ condemned the Jews not because their worship style was inauthentic, but rather because they had "sold out" to the prevailing worldly authorities - having corrupt commerce in the church along with deals with Roman power. It in fact was the zealot resistance to this, which Jesus modeled when he made a whip of cords, which eventually resulted in Vespasian's suppression of Jewish revolt and destruction of the temple.

Similarly, the book suggests that the protestant reformation was based on changing worship styles. This also seems to be a bit of stretching one's history. While Luther was a skilled musician and later wrote a number of hymns, his reformation was not over worship styles but over basic doctrinal truth over the understanding and application of grace. Similarly, there is selective history (p. 95) suggesting that hymns were a 17th century invention of Isaac Watts (yet Luther wrote hymns in the 1500's).

There are elements of postmodern thought and business-world analogies applied to the church. It is suggested that the church should emulate the business world (p. 84) in "ruthlessly" cutting "unprofitable" programs - and church choir is held up as an example of an "unprofitable" program. On p. 86, there is a portrayal of the church as "...a church with a million programs, none of which is doing anything but keeping people busy." There is a monotone stereotype of the younger generation (p. 116) that "thinks that personal experience is everything" (in other words, no universal truth/meaning/fact). This is postmodern philosophy accepted as established reality. (P. 72) "During these last decades, relationships have become increasingly important in terms of what one might or might not believe. People do not trust words" (i.e., facts). The conclusion to be drawn from all this is placed in the mouth of one of the characters (p. 137): "...I have to give up my songs and sing theirs so that they will be strong [in Christ]." This is the main theme of the book distilled into one sentence.

This book pretends to portray a dialogue but it is really a foregone conclusion. One wonders where the proponents of "relevant" contemporary worship will find themselves in 10-20 years when the world's fads have shifted and the shoe is on the other foot. It is the fruit of a fundamental error in thinking to assert that God's church will "cease to exist" based on what we do or do not do. That is presuming too much significance on our part. God will never allow His church to cease to exist. It is a symptom of a narcissistic and self-centered generation attempting to remake the church into its own image, that suggests this. The church should provide a counter-cultural alternative to the world's images, not cater to or try to imitate them into fooling people to attend church. As in every age, people have a fundamental hunger for the God-shaped hole within them, that only God can fill. Their hunger will drive them to the church, if it remains true to its principles. While modern value-neutral society may have produced generations of ideologically feral children whose reality is totally self-referential, the fact remains that ultimately this will be the food that does not satisfy, and the church should stand ready to provide the spiritual food and drink that Christ provides when they come seeking, as surely they will.

In the end, it is not about worship styles. The book makes a good point that these have evolved over previous centuries. But this does not justify efforts to railroad whole congregations into accepting forms of worship which they do not find meaningful. If business-world numbers alone are to be the standard of justification, then the modernizers should not forget that in terms of sheer demographics, it is the seniors who are the most numerous mission field, and in general they are closer to their eternal destiny. By this book's own arguments, then, the church should be transforming itself into the external elements calibrated to appeal to the greatest numbers of potential converts, rather than driving them away with music and forms which they find actively repellent. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, thus undermining the validity of the book's basic assertion.

Jesus said "my kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). So why draw worship methods from the world's latest fads? The church should instead compose worship elements from the best and most excellent of all ages, and it stands to reason that the bulk of this consists of the cream of previous centuries, with a sprinkling of the best contemporary works. For the church is about eternal truths, not the silverflash of latest media trends which are here today and gone tomorrow. Worship should be calibrated to draw one's mind to otherworldly realms of peace, reflection, and God's glory, not immerse congregants into a faux rock concert jam session.

Notwithstanding this book's biased presentation, I do feel that it is an illuminating work that will inform older generations of the mindset of some younger media- and culture-driven factions, so that they can see in one presentation the full extent of the modernists' agenda for their church. As such, it is important for all to read, if only to clarify where they stand rather than be unsuspectingly and gradually led into a worship format that they feel does not facilitate expression of their genuine adoration of God.

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Thieves Among Us

All well-intentioned church workers encounter theft. Gordon MacDonald has written in an honest manner an open approach to recognizing this fact and to honestly combating it. His approach is both refreshing and eye-opening. If the reader is open-minded, they will find it humorous and convicting. Making use of the study guide provided at the end of the book is an excellent tool for churches to begin the intergenerataional healing. We have much to learn from each other about peaceful coexistentce while at the same time advancing the ministry of Jesus Christ in whose House we worship. Ownership is a wonderful thing when held in check but our sanctuaries were never intended to become our God.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Has your Church been Hijacked?

Millions of people in their fifties, sixties, and seventies feel their churches have been hijacked by church-growth movements characterized by loud praise bands, constant PowerPoint presentations, and cavernous megachurches devoid of any personal touch. They are bewildered by the changes, and are dropping out after thirty, forty, or fifty years in a congregation. It's a crisis!

In this fictional story, pastor and author Gordon MacDonald uses topical examples and all-too-familiar characters to reassure readers that it is possible to embrace change, and to demonstrate how that change can actually be a positive influence in their church. The church, he says, has always been in a state of change; it has been changing for the last two thousand years. It is time to embrace that change and use it further the Kingdom of God

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