For the Joy of the Journey

THE CHURCH (5) One True Church

George May 31, 2021 THE CHURCH 0 Comments

The expression “one true church” refers to an ecclesiological position asserting that Jesus gave his authority in the Great Commission solely to a particular Christian institutional church— what others would call a denomination, believers of this doctrine consider pre-denominational. This view is maintained by the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox communion, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East and the Churches of Christ.Each of them maintains that their own specific institutional church (denomination) exclusively represents the one and only original church.
Wikipedia

“It is our firm conviction that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is, as the revelations state, “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth.”
https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1985/10/the-only-true-church?lang=eng

The existence of so many varied denominations, most claiming to be the church, testifies to the fact that, somewhere, there is, or was a true original. Even counterfeit money is evidence there is a real thing – and that it is valuable. There is only one place to go for answers about the church. The Bible, the word of God, tells all about God’s church, and it clearly presents one church!
httphttp://www.thebible.net/introchurch/ch3.html

Many Christians believe there is “one true church”. The problem is that each of us want to believe our church is the one. Searching for “the one true church” wasn’t a problem for me, because we were the one true church. Eventually, that myth was unmasked.

Asserting a particular church (denomination) is the “one true church” is like declaring your family to be the “perfect family”; they are family, but they aren’t perfect. A perfect family only exists as an idealistic abstraction. Encountering someone who insist their family is perfect, is a huge red flag. That is no less true of those who declare they are “the one true church”.

I am convinced there is no “one true church” today. Every church in existence is in someway, as Kung describes, — “a prisoner of its own theories and prejudices, its own forms and laws, rather than being a prisoner of its Lord.” For those who believe the church is headed in the wrong direction, finding the right (true?) church is like searching for the Holy Grail. If deciding “where to go from here” , means searching for the “true church”, it will be a cold day in hell when we find it.

Although Alexander Campbell’s 1809 statement: …the series of events which have taken place in the churches for many years past, especially in this Western country, as well as from what we know in general of the present state of things in the Christian world, we are persuaded that it is high time for us not only to think, but also to act… is relevant to the present day, contemporary response is different. For Campbell, to act, meant restore the New Testament church. In today’s individualistic consumer culture, to act means shopping for, or building, a church that fits my idealized, abstract conception of church. If not shopping or building, people are leaving, ergo Gallup’s declining church attendance data. In the mean time, competition is fierce. Marketing is the new evangelism. The one true church is, indeed, “my church”.

Where do I go from here? I do not have a clear answer. I do agree with Campbell — “it is high time to think..” (…act comes later). What I want to think about is, as Kung calls it, is …the real church. The next post will wrestle with Kung’s thoughts on the real church.

Still on the journey.

So Much to Think About

George May 24, 2021 Notes Anthology 0 Comments

My “So much to Think About” posts are, as you know, usually an anthology of notes I have saved to share in “Tweeter-ish” fashion. Occasionally I come across thoughts worthy of more than a “Tweet”. Today’s post is such an occasion.

Mark Manson, a blogger I follow, wrote some thoughts in answer to the question: “What stuff should we pay attention to?” This is personally relevant to me. I am inundated with information. There really is —”So Much to Think About” Much of what I read, and I read a lot, is good stuff , creating a nagging frustration that I need to write, talk, or even pray about it. Manson is helpful: “What stuff should I pay attention to?”

[The following excerpt is from Manson’s article entitled “Attention Diet”, (btw Manson uses adult language)]

…the name of the game is quality over quantity. Because in a world with infinite information and opportunity, you don’t grow by knowing or doing more, you grow by the ability to correctly focus on less.

There are three steps to the Attention Diet:

Correctly identify nutritious information and relationships.
Cut out the junk information and relationships.
Cultivate habits of deeper focus and a longer attention span.

So, how do we define “junk” information and relationships and “nutritious” information and relationships?

Well, without getting all philosophical, let’s keep it simple.

Junk information is information that is unreliable, unhelpful, or unimportant (i.e., it affects few to no people in any significant way). Junk information is short-form, flashy, and emotionally charged, encouraging addictive consumption patterns.
Nutritious information is information that is reliable, helpful, and likely important (i.e., it affects you and others in significant ways). Nutritious information is long-form, analytical, and encourages deep engagement and extended thought.
Junk relationships are people/groups who you have little face-to-face contact with and/or little mutual trust, who bring out your insecurities and consistently make you feel worse about yourself or the world.
Nutritious connections are people/groups who you have frequent face-to-face contact with and/or a lot of mutual trust who make you feel better and help you grow.

The Attention Diet should be emotionally difficult to implement. Ultimately, junk information hooks us because it is pleasing and easy. We develop low-level addictions to it and end up using it to numb a lot of our day-to-day stresses and insecurities. Therefore, getting rid of the junk information will expose a lot of uncomfortable emotions, trigger cravings, and compulsions, and generally suck for the first few days or weeks.
The goal here is to push yourself to stay more focused on what adds value to your life. If it’s not difficult, then you’re probably not really cutting out all of the junk.

I think this is good advice. I plant to adopt an “Attention Diet” in consuming information that comes my way.

Afterword:
Ruminating on the idea of Attention Diet” I am wondering what would happen in churches
—if leaders vetted information to determine if it is junk or nutritious, before sharing it?
— if congregants vetted their relationships in the same way, junk or nutritious?

So much to think about…

Still on the journey…

THE CHURCH (4) – Restoration

George May 20, 2021 THE CHURCH 1 Comment

What looks like a serious crisis may mark the moment of new life; what looks a sinister threat may in reality be a great opportunity.
Han Kung —THE CHURCH

The restoration plea is an earnest entreaty to bring back the church of our Lord into its original state. A plea to restore assumes that an original existed and was lost. The restoration plea assumes a pattern existed and could and should be restored.
G K Wallace (church of Christ evangelist)

My church history came in a Restoration Movement context. A movement that sought to restore the whole Christian church based on visible patterns set forth in the New Testament; its momentum came from a conviction that the Church of that day, divided and contentious, was no longer the New Testament church. Unity and peace could only achieved by restoring the the one true Church.

Aspirations of the Restoration Movement, though commendable, were misguided and ultimately failed to build unity or restore an idealized New Testament Church in Acts.

Today’s angst about church is similar, in many ways, to Alexander Campbell’s 18th/19th century days. The opening words of his Declaration and Address are eerily familiar:

FROM the series of events which have taken place in the churches for many years past, especially in this Western country, as well as from what we know in general of the present state of things in the Christian world, we are persuaded that it is high time for us not only to think, but also to act…
Alexander Campbell — Declaration and Address 1809

As I wrote earlier, I share an opinion that the church is headed in the wrong direction. Hopefully, that conclusion has been reached by thoughtful examination of proper criterion as suggested by Kung.
If leadership becomes convinced the church is headed in the wrong direction, what should they do? Any answer will be formulated around perceptions of “wrong direction”.

If the measure of church health is attendance and growth, Gallup’s report on church membership decline, most likely,will be met with “turn around” strategies — doubling down on what has worked in the past, blaming culture influence and expounding on the need to get back to “the basics”.
In my past, the meeting would have concluded with either, plans for an extended Gospel Meeting, or in later years, a new class or conference on church growth. In the most desperate circumstances there would be a change in Preacher / Pastor. Of course, no elders would resign or be fired.

Little or no consideration is given to the possibility that the existing church had become misdirected. As Kung points out: “All too easily the Church can become the prisoner of the image it has made for itself at one particular period in history.” The restoration movement became a prisoner of the image of the church in the book of Acts, most specifically, Acts 2:38 -47

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

From that, an abstract and idealistic ecclesiology developed which described an ideal rather than the real church. As Kung observed, such an ecclesiology might attract unthinking admirers, but it would fail to move, even repulse, a thoughtful critic.
Kung continued: “Only a realistic and concrete view of the church, as opposed to an idealistic and abstract one, will enable us to point out to the critic who only sees the negative side of the Church that the faults, whether real or imagined, do not touch the most profound and essential in the Church.”

In my limited view and experience, contemporary efforts to restore, renew, renovate, et al, are centered in idealistic and abstract, rather than realistic and concrete views of the church. Like the Restoration Movement and similar movements in church history, relying on idealistic and abstract ecclesiology they are destined to fail.

A troubling questions to be addressed: “What make me think I can grasp the vital fundamental dimensions of the Church?”
Kung’s declaration is even more troubling. “Only the believing Christian can do that.”
More to come.

Still on the journey.