Rising River Media
For the past 15 years, Gale and I have been very involved in serving the homeless and marginalized of our community. We have done neighborhood outreach in one of the toughest neighborhoods of our city. I co-founded a non-profit to rescue prepared foods from local area restaurants and place it in shelters and meal sites which feed those in need (Feed Spokane). Gale and I served on the board of a local men’s homeless shelter. And I spent two years (ending last December) on the four-person Leadership Team of the Spokane Homeless Coalition, coordinating the communication and networking of more than 700 individuals and 200 (+) agencies, churches and ministries serving the homeless and marginalized in our city.
The logical question at this point would be, “Why?” There are several answers to this question, including 1) because of our own journey through homelessness and marginalization nearly 20 years ago (long story for another time), 2) as a practical “incarnation” of our journey into organic church, 3) as a matter of simple obedience to Jesus commands in Matthew 25:31-46, and 4) as a matter of genuine discipleship in the Kingdom of God. But there’s more. With Jesus, there always is.
Several years ago I felt very strongly that I was hearing from the Lord that He wanted His Church to “take the Kingdom back to the streets.” And that deserves some reflection. The travails of the Evangelical Church in our Postmodern Culture are well documented (and in no small part self-inflicted). If you’re unaware of those travails, here’s a refresher; feel free to read Michael Gerson’s excellent article in The Atlantic (which I picked up in the Raleigh-Durham Airport on a recent trip to-and-from North Carolina) or the speech by Fuller Seminary President Dr. Mark Labberton at Wheaton College. There’s more, but hopefully, you get the point. If not, I can only assume you’ll ask to be removed from this email list . . . and that denial remains a river in Egypt in your world. We celebrate the growth of mega-churches and their expensive, resource-intensive programs while overall church involvement (note how I carefully avoided the “attendance” word) precipitously declines (meaning that we’re spending more and achieving less), the “NONES” phenomenon mushrooms and millennials walk away from the church and “Churchianity” as they have understood it. We celebrate small victories while experiencing stunning losses, often mistaking those losses for “victories” (see the two articles referenced above. In the interest of full disclosure, I did NOT vote for EITHER candidate in the last election). When you can’t tell the difference between a Pyrrhic Victory and an actual loss, you’re in trouble. We’re in trouble. And that trouble begins with our ability (or inability) to meaningfully define ourselves.
In lectures at Purdue University to Campus Crusade Staff (now Cru) in the early 1970s (think “the Jesus Movement” and the peak of Post-WW2 “Evangelicalism”) on the history of 20th Century Awakenings, Dr. J. Edwin Orr defined “Evangelicalism” as a Christian faith which has 1) a commitment to an evangelical authority (the Bible), 2) a commitment to an evangelical message (the necessity of salvation by grace through personal faith in Jesus Christ), and 3) a commitment to an evangelical impetus (the empowering and transforming work of the Holy Spirit). Needless to say, I believe these are “spot-on” and would be agreed upon by people ranging from John Wesley to Billy Graham (to you and me). But I also believe Orr missed a fourth one that is equally important: a commitment to good deeds and service to “the Least of These” on the part of every professing Christian laying claim to discipleship in the Kingdom of God.
There was a time when the Evangelical Church (i.e., those Christians and Churches characterized by Orr’s 3-fold description above) was known not only for the three characteristics given by Orr, but also for its deep – even sacrificial – commitment to embracing and serving the marginalized (i.e., “the least of these” as described in Matthew 25 and elsewhere). John Wesley and the early Methodists were legendary for their commitment to the poor and marginalized in 18th Century England, followed closely on by William and Catherine Booth (their son, Bramwell Booth, moved to America and founded the Volunteers Of America). That commitment among evangelicals began to change in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries during the polarizing debates between “liberals” and “fundamentalists.” I won’t bore you with a lot of history and explanation at this point. I’ve written about it in Chapter 2, “Whatever Happened To Incarnational Truth?” in my book, The Least Of These: The Role Of Good Deeds In A Jesus-Shaped Spirituality. If you want a scholarly account of what happened, see David O. Moberg’s 1977 book, The Great Reversal: Evangelism And Social Concern.
To oversimplify, in the years following World War Two, evangelicalism tried to keep Orr’s three defining characteristics while trading service to “the least of these” for politics and seeking “the greatest of these.” The capital of the Kingdom of Evangelicalism moved by default to Washington, D.C. (for believers in BOTH major political parties), and candidates for major political office became our new apostles, prophets and patron saints. We baptized our politics, politicized the Kingdom, doubled-down on our political agendas and marginalized Jesus and those who sought to be genuine disciples of the Kingdom (the one NOT headquartered in Washington, D.C.). Finally, the evangelical mountain of political activism labored and brought forth the two best candidates it could muster for the 2016 Presidential election and . . . well . . . you know the rest. And so does our Postmodern culture.
In one of his plays, British playwright and skeptic George Bernard Shaw put these words into the mouth of one of his characters, “You cannot build a marble mansion with a mixture of mud and manure.” He was right, and we should have listened. Our Postmodern culture has watched recent events – our political mud wrestling – and has posed the painful and obvious question: Is this what it means to be an “evangelical Christian” and a disciple of the Kingdom of God? No. No, it isn’t. But their confusion and wrong conclusion is understandable given what we have offered them. We promised them marble mansions; but we proceeded to build them with an unseemly mixture of Christianity, mud and manure. And to convince our generation, and those generations which may follow until Jesus returns, that what they have witnessed is a false vision of the Kingdom will require a profound re-boot.
“30 Days And 30 Ways Of Doing Good”
Returning to what I heard over a decade ago, I believe God is calling His available church to a profound re-boot. This re-boot will not come easily. It will cost us structures, programs, agendas and resources, forcing us into a complete reconsideration of our priorities and how we understand ourselves as a believing body of “disciples of the Kingdom” (in other words, a re-booted definition of what it means to be the church). This reboot will be organic in nature, Kingdom-oriented, discipleship focused and committed to living out our Kingdom values by seeking and serving the marginalized rather than by seeking and serving the politically powerful.
One of my contributions to this re-boot (in addition to my 3-Volume set on discipleship and the Kingdom of God), is a book we’ve just completed, entitled “30 Days And 30 Ways Of Doing Good.” As I mentioned earlier, Gale and I have been working among te homeless and marginalized for nearly 15 years. It simply embodies the practical out-working of our commitment to organic church. I spent the last two years (ending last December) on the four-person Leadership Team of the Spokane Homeless Coalition, working with an amazing network of ministries, shelters and social service agencies which serve the homeless and marginalized in our community. Last fall (October) I began soliciting articles on a wide variety of issues (homelessness, at-risk youth, hunger, poverty, marginalization, sex trafficking, foster care, and more) from some of the amazing people I worked with in the Coalition.
The result is a 31 Day guide through critical community issues with articles and suggested action items offered by people who do this work 24/7. In addition, I wrote a daily “Reflection” (think “devotional”) to accompany each Day’s reading. Think about a Church that decides to focus on important community issues for a season. The congregation could go through the book as a daily individual exercise; it could be discussed in Sunday School classes or small groups (something for your “Rooted” groups to do); and the Pastor could deliver a series of messages to highlight biblical commands to serve “the least of these” while encouraging everyone to find an issue that speaks to them and a ministry where they could get actively involved serving others and demonstrating the values of the Kingdom.
The stated goal of “30 Days And 30 Ways” is to “educate, motivate and inspire” people throughout our community to get involved in addressing the issues which affect our community. As I say in the book, “We cannot change what we do not love; we cannot love what we do not know; and cannot know what we are unwilling to invest the time required to educate ourselves about.” This book embodies my modest contribution toward educating, motivating and inspiring our community to “greater love and good deeds.”
But there’s more . . .
Looking forward, we are thinking of “30 Days And 30 Ways” as an on-going “work-in-progress” that can be revised with either an updated version (“The 2019 Spokane Edition”) or with a “Volume 2.” There are additional important issues, great stories of impacted lives, opportunities to serve and practical action items that could be shared with our community.
In addition, I believe Spokane has a positive story to tell about how a community can come together and collaborate to address critical issues which affect us all. For this reason, we’re looking at how to turn “30 Days And 30 Ways” into a template that can be taken to other communities, utilizing locally-produced articles, action items, etc. You can help us turn what is happening here in Spokane into an example of what could be done in other communities (Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, etc.) through cooperation, collaboration, and community involvement.
And, yes, there is an important place and role here for organic church. In the Kingdom of God, discipleship represents our daily embodiment of the values of the Kingdom, and of what we claim to believe about Jesus and the Kingdom. For example, as disciples of the Kingdom, do we genuinely believe that Jesus calls us to serve “the least of these” (Matthew 25:31-46), and that doing so (or failing to do so) has eternal consequences? It’s time for organic church practitioners (like you and me) to get out of our “house boxes” and sow the seed of the Kingdom out in the field of our communities. And, yes, it’s O.K. to sow the seed of the Kingdom and to simply allow God to be sovereign over how, when and where it all sprouts, grows and bears fruit. “And he said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.'” (Mark 4:26-29) As disciples of the Kingdom, our calling is obedience to the clear commands of Jesus to sow. It isn’t within our calling to control the outcome. God’s role is to be sovereign over the outcome of our obedience. He knows what He is doing in the Kingdom, especially when we don’t.
Learn more about the 30 Days And 30 Ways project on our website, 30DaysAnd30Ways.org
Reflection On Spiritual Awakening
Finally, some brief personal reflections on spiritual awakening. I’ve spent the past 20 years as an observer and amateur historian of spiritual awakenings, having written a book on the great Welsh Revival of 1904. I’m not a professional historian, just an amateur with 20 years of practice. During that time, I’ve discovered that prophesying the next “revival” or spiritual awakening has become somewhat of a cottage industry, ranking second in volume only to predicting the rapture (which I’ve observed for over 40 years). My observation of God’s dealings in spiritual awakenings tells me that His modus operandi is to begin some of His most profound visitations “outside the camp” among the marginalized. The Evangelical Awakening under Wesley began among coal miners and the lowest end of English society. The spiritual awakening under William and Katherine Booth (The Salvation Army) began among the poor and marginalized of London’s east end. The 2nd Great Awakening in America began on the frontier, initially led by a Presbyterian pastor named James McGready, whose claim to fame was being so ugly that children ran away in fear when they met him on the street. The Manhattan Prayer Revival began under the ministry of a lay businessman (Jeremiah Lamphere) in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan. The Welsh Revival of 1904 began under a 26-year old former coal miner and first-year bible school student named Evan Roberts and caught fire among the coal miners of South Wales. I could go on, but hopefully, you get the point. God’s visitations often – even usually – begin “outside the camp.” From Moses to us, God loves to meet hungry hearts “outside the camp” (Exodus 33:7).
My point is simple. If you’re expecting the fire of God to fall on our carefully crafted and controlled camp meetings, broadcast live and nightly on GodTV, you might want to prepare yourself for disappointment. I believe the history of God’s dealings offers us important signs of what He may intend to do in our own day. If we truly want to cry out with Isaiah for a divine visitation, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence – as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil – to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!” (Isaiah 64:1-2), then we shouldn’t be surprised or disappointed when He answers that prayer “outside the camp”; when His chosen landing spot for this coming visitation is a homeless shelter or a shelter for women fleeing abuse or sex trafficking, or among marginalized refugees. If the coming spiritual awakening finds Jesus walking the streets of your community in search of “the least of these,” will He find you serving among them?
And if not, what excuse will you offer to explain your absence?
One of the seminal literary figures of the 20th century was T. S. Eliot. Born in 1888 he studied at Harvard and Oxford and eventually won the Nobel Prize for Literature early in his career. But he was an unfulfilled soul who saw the vanity of contemporary life. His search for meaning led him through Hinduism and Buddhism, and finally to Christianity. In 1927 he converted to Christianity. In the same year he penned a poem entitled “The Journey of the Magi” which came to be regarded as autobiographical of Eliot himself. In it he described the search of the Magi for the Christ child as seen and narrated through the eyes of one of the Magi.
The Journey of the Magi
by T.S. Eliot
“A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The snow was deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.”
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
Eliot has used the story of the Magi to make a point – how difficult and painful it is to be confronted with a radical change of paradigms. A change of paradigm often, if not usually, feels like death – our death, because we hold to the old paradigm so tenaciously. Dying to self and our traditional ways of doing things (what I am referring to here as “paradigms”) is a painful process, which most people spend their lives trying to avoid.
Reflecting on Eliot’s poem this Christmas season, I found myself thinking about how the various groups of people involved in the Christmas story responded to the radical change of paradigm which confronted them in the birth of Christ. I hope my thoughts and reflections will stimulate you to think about how we in the house church (or simple church, or whatever moniker you are operating under) movement are understanding and responding to the dramatic shift in spiritual paradigms which is taking place today. The nativity stories are found in Matthew 2:1-12 (the Magi), and Luke 2:1-20 (the shepherds & angels). For the sake of space, I’ll let you read them on your own. I want to talk briefly about those five groups of people who were involved.
The Magi – Often referred to as “wise men” or “kings” in Christmas tradition, the Magi were, in fact, a hereditary Zoroastrian priesthood, often wielding great religious and political power in the Median, Babylonian, Persian and Parthian empires (right up to the time of Christ). During Israel’s Babylonian captivity Daniel, as a reward for services rendered and in recognition of his profound spiritual gifts was promoted by the King to the position of Chief of the Magi. As such, Daniel was in a unique position to impart to the magi the prophecies of a coming Messiah (which they remembered, passed on and studied for the next 500 years). But as D.W. Jayne points out, the visit of the magi wasn’t simply a courtesy call from old friends. In the world of the first century, the Magi functioned in both a priestly and a governmental role. The early church father Tertullian’s description of them as “wellnigh kings” (fere reges) is close to the truth. They were, in the words of Jayne, “a group of Persian-Parthian kingmakers.” Jayne goes on to describe how their visit might have been perceived: “In Jerusalem the sudden appearance of the Magi, probably traveling in force with all imaginable oriental pomp, and accompanied by adequate cavalry escort to ensure their safe penetration of Roman territory, certainly alarmed Herod and the populace of Jerusalem, as is recorded by Matthew. It would seem as if these Magi were attempting to perpetrate a border incident which could bring swift reprisal from Parthian armies. Their request of Herod regarding him who “has been born king of the Jews” was a calculated insult to him who had contrived and bribed his way into that office.” These Magi, strangers to the Kingdom of God yet spiritually perceptive, saw the signs better than anyone else and somehow understood that a profound change of paradigms was underway. Although their understanding was somewhat flawed due to reasons unique to their own situations, they took the time and the considerable risk of traveling great distances to confirm what they already suspected – that a sign in the heavens signaled the fulfillment of great prophecies and portended profound changes here on earth. The paradigms of this world were about to change. The magi understood. Do we?
The Political Establishment – The story of the Magi leads to the story of the existing political/power structure as embodied in Caesar Augustus and Herod the Great. We can safely say that Caesar Augustus (real name Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar) had no idea that a simple decree to enumerate his empire (i.e., probably to prepare accurate tax rolls) would set the stage for the fulfillment of biblical prophecy and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The heathen rage and the princes of men devise a vain thing, but God uses the wrath of men to praise Him, simply because He so seldom gets their active cooperation. Caesar was clueless as to God’s dealings (in other words, situation unchanged in 2000 years), although Augustus probably eventually received reports of the Magi and their visit to Jerusalem. What Augustus Caesar could not know (although the Magi probably suspected) was that among the many prophecies being fulfilled that Christmas night was one which declared that the kingdoms of this world would one day become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ (see Daniel 2:31-45).
The paradigms of this world had profoundly changed due not to events in the halls of power but due to events in a stable, and Caesar Augustus was clueless, reminding us once again that profound change seldom originates in the seats of political power. When the powers-that-be finally do become aware of a profound change of paradigms they resist it, even violently, just as Herod the Great did. Herod the Great was many things, but a naive political fool was not one of them. His 35+ year rule over the Jews of Judea was coming to an end. He would be dead in a few short years. His hold on power was slipping and the visit of the Magi confirmed what he already feared – that his paradigm of power was being challenged. The paradigm was indeed changing, beyond Herod’s ability to resist or stop it, but he was still willing to extract a terrible price from those around him in a vain attempt to maintain what could not be maintained. In that respect, was Herod all that much different from us? He fought and resisted what God was doing because it threatened everything he had spent his life to build and achieve. Don’t we do the same?
The Religious Establishment – Like the Magi, for some 500 years the religious establishment of Israel had known and studied the prophecies of a coming Messiah. But during those same intervening years, they had also become experts in answering obscure religious questions and turning the 613 requirements of the Law into more than 5,000 religious requirements which held the people of God in practical bondage. They had all the right answers to all the wrong questions. In addition, the Pharisees who controlled the synagogues and the Sadducees who controlled the temple & the governing Sanhedrin, along with the scribes who served both, had made their accommodation with the prevailing power of Rome. The prevailing religious establishment was in no mood for anything that might upset their carefully crafted status quo. The result was spiritual stagnation, religious legalism, and blindness even to new stars in the sky announcing the Messiah’s birth. When the Magi arrived looking for a king, Herod gathered together the religious establishment and “began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born.” They had an immediate answer: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet.” They, too, had probably seen the new star in the sky. They, too, like all Jerusalem, had probably learned of the visit of the Magi searching for a new-born king. But despite knowing all the correct religious answers, they lacked the passion, the curiosity or the spiritual integrity to make the short 5-mile journey to nearby Bethlehem to discover if “The Desire of Ages” had indeed finally arrived. Is our religious establishment (ourselves included) much different today? Profound, God-breathed changes in our spiritual paradigms are underway. And yet, isn’t much, if not most, of the church today bogged down in giving warmed over answers to questions which few in our post-Christian post-Modern culture are even asking? And are we in the organic church movement doing anything substantially different than the religious establishment around us, other than changing our meeting place and taking over the local Starbucks?
The Shepherds – Throughout Scripture God has a fascinating love for shepherds. Many notable biblical saints were shepherds. The children of Israel were shepherds in the land of Goshen. Moses was a shepherd in the land of Midian. David was a shepherd, as was the prophet Amos. And it is the image of the good shepherd which Jesus used to describe himself in John 10:11 & 14. God seems to be partial toward shepherds. But as well as being a biblical and honorable occupation, it is also a dirty one. It was, for the most part, rugged outdoors work. Shepherds lived with their sheep 24/7. And before long they began to smell like their sheep. For reasons both practical and snobbish, this made them “social outcasts” to be numbered among “the least of these”. There are many aspects of God’s economy and dealings which I don’t understand (that’s an understatement). For example, why didn’t the angels appear to Caesar or Herod? Why didn’t they appear to the religious leaders? That would have been interesting since the Pharisees believed in angels but the Sadducees did not (would such a visitation have ended their intra-mural theological rivalry or have simply fed the fire of controversy? Hmmm). Why shepherds? Perhaps it was because God wanted to ignite a spiritual fire in the minds of ordinary men – the least of these – and ignite a revolution, a spiritual wildfire. He didn’t particularly want to bless either religious or political institutions, which often pride themselves in their ability to put out wildfires, lest they “get out of control” and threaten existing structures & paradigms. Religious leaders (and their secular counterparts) often walk in a sense of “entitlement” which says “God owes us an epiphany, after all, we’re leaders”. Yet for some reason, God seems to have a heart for the least among us who walk in no such sense of entitlement. Interesting that the Shepherds did not disappoint. They can be counted among the few who had the personal curiosity and spiritual integrity to leave their comfort zones and make the trip to Bethlehem to actually see what God was doing. And for their efforts they received the blessing: “And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”
Joseph & Mary – It’s difficult to think or write any new ideas concerning these two ordinary people (essentially a carpenter and a peasant girl) called upon by the God of their fathers through angelic messengers to play a role in this divine drama that the most learned religious leader would have found impossible. Nothing in their religious background could have prepared them for what God now called upon them to do. Could the Pharisaical Judaism of the Synagogues prepare Mary to willingly and joyously accept the role of an unwed-mother-to-be in a culture where such behavior was punishable by the religious establishment with death by stoning? Or could it prepare Joseph for his divine call to obedience in marrying Mary and embracing a lifetime of questions, rumors, and innuendos regarding Mary’s faithfulness or Jesus’ legitimacy? It is safe to say that the comfortable religious paradigm in which they, their friends and their families had spent their lives thus far was now being shaken to its very foundation as they were now visited by angels and commanded by God to take steps of faith and obedience outside of any religious “box” they had ever known. The shaking of our religious paradigms today is in small what theirs must have been in large. God is once again calling His people out of their comfortable religious boxes. Are you prepared to respond in faith and obedience, knowing that if you do so your world will profoundly change and that you will probably never be able to go back to what you knew before? Changing paradigms have a way of doing that to us.
The Inn Keeper – One of my first jobs after seminary when Gale & I moved to Spokane was at a local airport hotel. Yep, I was an “innkeeper.” Well, actually, I was a desk clerk on the 3-to-11 pm shift. Late one November evening an elderly gentleman came to the desk looking somewhat disheveled and asking for a room. He explained to me that he had no money or credit cards, but did have a “Money Market Account” draft book and asked if we could accept that in payment (our general policy was no because such accounts at that time were unreliable). He told me that he had just had eye surgery (one of his eyes was bandaged) and was to catch a flight to go and be with his family for the holidays the following day. The rest of the staff urged me to say no – bad risk. But, as the manager on duty at the time, I decided in favor of taking a risk and giving him a room. It was just the right thing to do, I felt. I got him settled in his room, my shift ended and I went home. The next morning I received an early morning phone call from the hotel staff announcing (even celebrating) that the bookkeeper had called the bank and the check was good. Word of my risky good deed had spread. When I went to work later that day I was gently chided by the general manager (a good fellow) for placing the hotel at risk, but the tone of his voice and the expression on his face told me we had done the right thing. I have occasionally thought of that elderly gentleman over the years, even musing as to whether he was an angel unaware (with a bank account?!) who had paid us a visit and tested all of our hearts. In the Gospel account, Luke simply tells us that Mary “gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.” We should neither vilify nor idolize the innkeeper (or innkeepers) who turned Joseph and Mary away. They weren’t heartless or cruel people. They were probably just a family business run by ordinary people trying to earn a living, and they were full to capacity (even overflowing) for the evening. How could they know that God Himself was homeless that night at their door, that Angels stood ready to proclaim a birth, that Magi from the east would soon be arriving in search of a King and that political and religious paradigms would be forever changed by events that would now take place in a cattle stall within earshot of a baby’s cry. What a night to be an innkeeper and to have no room! Allow me to use this story to stretch the boundaries of your paradigm. The message of the house church movement is similar and profound. God wants to visit your house. Are you prepared to have your paradigm radically changed? Are you ready to invite Him in?
Conclusion & Personal Application
Where are you in this season of the significant paradigm shift in God’s dealings in and through His church today? Do you see a reflection of yourself in the mirror of the five groups of people who participated in the Christmas drama? I would dare to say that, in the midst of this present shaking of existing religious paradigms, there are many believers who feel somewhat like the Magi of T.S. Eliot’s poem:
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
If you are one of those who is “no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation” then allow me to make a suggestion during this Christmas season. Take some time to get alone and stand as an involved observer at the manger of Christ. Consider the participants in this divine drama as it unfolds around you. And ask yourself some simple questions. If I had been at the stable that Christmas night, what would my response have been to the paradigm change unfolding before me? How is my paradigm being shaken, challenged and changed today by God’s unfolding plan for the Ages? And how is my response different from (and hopefully better than) the responses of those around me?
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:10-14)
Joyeux Noël
Maurice Smith
Christmastide, 2017
© Copyright 2013 Rising River Media
“And Jesus answered them, See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:4-8)
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (Romans 8:20-22)
I find comfort and encouragement in the reality that biblical theology is consistent, comprehensive and prophetic. By consistent I mean that truth established in one place is carried through across time, history and Scripture, without contradiction, to its final conclusion. Consistency also means that biblical theology is faithful and reliable at all times and in all places. Whatever our circumstances may be, we can rely upon Scripture to be a faithful guide. Comprehensive means biblical truth is all inclusive on those subjects where it speaks. It enables us to understand life’s “particulars” by connecting them to Scripture’s larger (i.e., comprehensive) truths. And prophetic means biblical theology looks forward with authority to place our present circumstances into a future and ultimate context. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is more than a prayer. It is a prophetic declaration of what will one day be true. It is a prophetic truth consistent and comprehensive enough to hitch one’s life and faith to without fear. His Kingdom will come. His will shall be done. And when that day comes, all creation will be set free from its “birth pangs.”
“Birth Pangs”
What prompted my current musings on biblical theology is the recent natural disasters which have captured everyone’s attention: hurricane’s Harvey and Irma. Several questions inevitably arise when natural disasters like these strike. Why do such things happen? Why does God allow them? Where do such things fit in a biblical understanding of life? And are these events somehow related to Jesus’ return at the end of the age? Good questions (along with more that you might ask). Allow me to share some perspective.
The above passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome gives us a larger theological framework for understanding human events (and natural disasters) by relating them to the corruption resulting from the fall (yep, all the way back in Genesis 3). We live in a fallen and broken world. The catastrophe of mankind’s fall into sin not only corrupted the heart of mankind, it also corrupted the larger creation, subjecting it to “futility.” Not only does mankind stand in need of redemption and restoration, so does creation. Creation now “groans” under the corruption imposed upon it as a result of mankind’s fall into sin. When Jesus returns at the end of the age, not only will believers “obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God,” but creation itself will be set free from its bondage to sin and corruption.
But until that day arrives, Paul reminds us that “the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” Paul uses two Greek verbs to express the struggle of creation beneath the corruption of sin. The first verb (sustenazo) s) simply means “to groan together.” But the second verb is more interesting. The Greek verb sunodino means “to travail together in childbirth.” It is built upon a Greek root (odin) which, since classical times, referred to the travail of giving birth. Jesus uses the same root word (odin) ) in Matthew 24:8 to describe events and conditions prior to His return at the end of the age. And there are a couple of lessons here that we need to embrace.
Lesson 1 – From now until Jesus returns at the end of the age, the corrupted hearts of mankind will produce false messiahs, conflicts, wars and rumors of wars. And a corrupted creation will produce natural disasters, famines and earthquakes in various places. Biblically speaking, these “birth pangs” (along with many others) represent the daily price both we and creation pay for our collective fall into sin. But there’s more.
Lesson 2 – According to Jesus in Matthew 24:8, the wars and natural disasters which make up the on-going birth pangs we all experience as part of daily life in this fallen world will increase as the end of the age and His return draw closer. In an interesting anecdote reported by NBC News, the Geological Society of America, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, reported that the annual number of “great” earthquakes nearly tripled over the last decade. According to the GSA, “Between 2004 and 2014, 18 earthquakes with magnitudes of 8.0 or more rattled subduction zones around the globe. That’s an increase of 265 percent over the average rate of the previous century . . .” Does that mean Jesus is returning soon? No, not necessarily (nor does the alleged stellar alignment predicted for later this month on September 23. Read a good response here). But it does mean that we should pay attention and be “watchful.”
Lesson 3 – Finally, when creation groans it reminds us of our own brokenness, of our own dependency upon God’s grace, and of our ongoing need for redemption. Like creation around us, we groan under the load of things which only grace and redemption can fix. In the midst of creation’s birth pangs, the call of every disciple of the Kingdom is to embrace hopeful expectation as we remember the words of Jesus, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
I have never understood racism or racial bigotry. And that deserves an explanation.
You see, unlike most of my West Coast friends, I was born and raised in the American South. More specifically, in North Carolina. I grew up in the age of “Leave It To Beaver” and “Ozzie and Harriet.” But I also grew up in the age of racial segregation and discrimination. I remember separate bathrooms for blacks and whites. I remember the social trauma of integration at public facilities, such as parks, bathrooms, swimming pools and more. I remember the uproar over school integration that led to the creation of a private academy in my home town. I remember the controversy when upwardly mobile black families began moving into traditionally white neighborhoods, including a new family right across the street from where we lived. I remember these things and more. Not because I read about them in the newspaper or watched them on the evening news (there was no evening news as we know it, prior to the Kennedy assassination and Walter Cronkite). I remember them because, well, I went to school with them, played with them, called them my friends. For me, “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Help” are more like documentaries than entertainment. I remember because it was my life growing up.
But in all my years growing up, through high school and college, I never understood genuine racism, racial bigotry or racial hatred. Nor do I understand it today. Don’t get me wrong. I understand something of the history of racial slavery in America and the 100-year legacy of racial animosity slavery engendered. No, I don’t fully understand everything, or the full depth of pain and suffering of the African-American community over the 100+ years since slavery was abolished. I don’t fully understand, and I probably never will.
As a result, I do not understand events in Charlottesville. Why? Because they embody a racism and bigotry on steroids that defies rational understanding, even for someone who grew up with it. They embody a spectre of past dark moments in American history which most of us had hoped was part of our past, not our future. But, apparently not. And what is worse than the events themselves (which are tragic and reprehensible) are the polarized and agendized responses being served up by people who should know better.
Fools And Consequences
We have become a politically agendized a and polarized society. If that comes as news to you, where have you been? We no longer have common issues. Our once-common issues have become partisan polarized agendas. We no longer vote for people of ability and character, but for the shrillest voice we think can further our agenda. We no longer talk. We engage in shouting matches at town halls and city parks. And we seem to do it mainly for the benefit of the news media we hope will come and give us our 30 seconds of fame and help us go viral on Facebook and Twitter. We offer carefully prepared sound bites rather than meaningful conversations. And our agendas require politically correct verbiage. We immediately attack anyone who is naive or foolish enough to say “sibboleth” rather than “shibboleth” (O.K., you can read all about that sordid episode in Judges 12:5-6). We have become “rhetorical reactionaries,” guilty of “verbal violence” and of attacking anyone who doesn’t react with the appropriate verbiage demanded by our agenda. If you don’t embrace my agenda, use my polarized verbiage, and do it all on my schedule (Now! Not later!), then you are a racist bigot. Any hesitation at describing an event like Charlottesville as “terrorism” or a “hate crime” – even a pause to reflect and think on what has happened – means instant political condemnation. Our agendas demand that we be unthinking “rhetorical reactionaries.” Whether such non-thinking is the cause or the result, our polarization is increasing, not decreasing. No society can survive such polarization for very long. And the fault lies with each of us; you and me, and no one else. And that includes Donald Trump.
O.K., I need to take a moment for some political clarity. I did not vote for Donald Trump (or Hillary Clinton) for reasons I have explained elsewhere. I didn’t vote for him then, and I wouldn’t vote for him (or her) now. I have no interest in either blaming or excusing him. But I am interested in challenging the growing polarization of our shared culture, lest we become a nation of “fools” and their followers.
The Biblical definition of a “fool” is someone who acts without regard for the consequences of his (or her) actions. In other words, they don’t THINK about what they are doing or saying. Such “fools” are willing to sow the seed of anger, bitterness, and hatred without any thought to the harvest of hate, anger and bitterness it will inevitably produce. The leaders of the Charlottesville demonstration, such as the infamous David Duke, are not simply racist bigots promoting an aberrant philosophy of “white nationalism.” They certainly are those things, but it’s actually worse than that. They and their followers embody the Biblical definition of “fools,” people who act without any regard for the consequences of their actions. The consequence of their “foolishness” is the perpetuation of a racial bigotry and hatred that many of us had hoped was in its death-throes. Such “foolishness” breathes fresh life into the almost-dead specters of the past.
But David Duke and his racist ilk are not the only biblical “fools” on the current stage. They share the stage with “foolish” politicians and activists who use such tragedies to behave as “rhetorical reactionaries,” galvanizing their base, furthering their political agendas and deepening the polarized divide in our common social fabric. A biblical plague on both their houses.
Racism, Discipleship And The Kingdom of God
From a biblical perspective, racial bigotry, and the evils which flow from it, including various forms of racial discrimination, is a sin. . The sin of racism embodies an attack on the image of God which we all share in common. Race is NOT a privilege, but a gift. It is a gift from the God Who created us in His image. By sharing that image we share a both an equality and a common dignity. No person, race or ethnicity, is more (or less) equal than any other. To discriminate against any person because of their race or ethnicity is to not only question their dignity and equality, but to question our own. We diminish ourselves by diminishing others. All lives matter, because all lives share a common equality and dignity by virtue of a shared image of God. If you are searching for a true and lasting basis for racial and ethnic unity, that’s where you’ll find it. No where else. The English Poet, John Donne was right 400 years ago when he wrote, “any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee” (John Donne, c.1572, Meditation 17). Bells will soon toll in memorial services in Charlottesville. But they won’t toll only for the three victims of that senseless violence. They’ll toll for us. For you and me. A haunting reminder of the price paid for allowing “fools” to guide our thoughts and actions.
But, there’s more. In the Kingdom of God, faith and redemption are the great equalizers of all people and races. According to the Gospel of the Kingdom, everyone of every race and ethnicity enters the Kingdom of God the same way and on the same equal terms: by faith in God’s redeeming work in the person of Jesus, the Christ. As a result of that redemption and inclusion in the body of believers, all traditional distinctions of race and ethnicity disappear, as the Apostle Paul declares:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
“Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11)
In the highly stratified and segregated social structure of the 1st Century, where social, racial and ethnic hatred and bigotry were common, such inclusiveness and equality practiced by the early Christians was nothing short of radical. Apparently, it still is.
But there’s more. In the Kingdom of God, there always is.
In the Kingdom of God, race and ethnicity represent gifts from the One who created us. In the words of the Psalmist, each of us is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). For a Christian and disciple of the Kingdom to declare that he (or she) is “ashamed” of their race (as I have seen posted on social media recently) is be a “rhetorical reactionary,” a biblical “fool” who is willing to deny both the gift God has given you and the purpose for which He gave it in the false hope of scoring some misguided political point. Our race embodies a gift, but not a purpose. And as disciples of the Kingdom, God will hold us accountable for how we use the gift he has given each of us. Our purpose is to use the gift of our race to glorify the God Who created us in His image, to manifest the values of His Kingdom (including radical equality), and to love and serve others as Jesus demonstrated and commanded.
About Those Confederate Statues
As a disciple of the Kingdom, I am not called to adopt the agendas of this world. The Kingdom of God is its own agenda, and it judges all competing agendas. To uncritically adopt the agendas of this world is to risk being a biblical fool; engaging in activity without regard for the consequences of what I am doing. As a disciple of the Kingdom, I haven’t been called to defend (or destroy) Civil War Statues. But as a Christian and a “son of the South” I think it is time for them to go to museums, warehouses and private property or collections. But remember. Unresolved anger and bitterness live on a constant search for objects to attack without ever resolving the underlying cause. Today, that unresolved anger and bitterness are expressing themselves through attacks on monuments. Let me know when that solves your anger issue.
I have a suggestion. I want to suggest that the statue of Robert E. Lee in the public park Charlottesville be moved to a new public location: Arlington National Cemetery. You see, the original 200 acres of Arlington National Cemetery (since expanded to 600 acres) was the property of Robert E. Lee’s wife, Mary Custis. The Custis Lee Mansion (now Arlington House) was their home until it was seized by the Union at the outbreak of the war (the property was designated a cemetery for Union soldiers in 1864). I would suggest that the statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville be moved to a prominent location by the Mansion, on the hill overlooking Arlington Cemetery. Why? As a reminder. There are over 16,000 Civil War graves at Arlington, 2.1% of the estimated 750,000 (+) casualties (as estimated by Dr. J. David Hacker) from that terrible bloodletting. Lee’s statue can serve as a visual reminder of the terrible price we as a nation once paid for the same kind of unresolved racial bigotry, anger, hatred, and bitterness we are witnessing today. Standing on the hill at the Custis Lee Mansion, and alongside Lee’s statue, visitors can survey the 600 acres holding over 300,000 graves. Increase that number by 150% and you’ll only begin to approach the number of lives already lost to racial hatred and bigotry in America. Maybe, just maybe, when the reality of those numbers begins to sink in we’ll be ready to say, “No more. No more.”
The late Chuck Colson, redeemed Watergate figure and founder of Prison Fellowship, once did a Breakpoint Commentary about (of all things) Gregorian Chants. You know, the contemporary Christian music of the Dark Ages (think 9th and 10th Century Europe). Yep, those monks of the Dark Ages really knew how to rock the house, er, abbey. While I can’t recite everything Colson had to say, his point was simple. The music of the Gregorian Chant represented a disciplined musicology for a time in the Church’s life when discipline was what it needed in order to survive the cultural chaos resulting from the collapse of Rome and Western Civilization. Now, don’t go getting ahead of me. My low view of most contemporary Christian music is somewhat well known, summed up in my favorite phrase, “Skippy And The Worship Crickets.” No, I’m not prepared to return to the age of the Gregorian Chant (and neither was Colson), but a few minutes in a local contemporary Christian worship service and I find myself sympathizing with the Emperor Charlemagne who required the Chant to be used throughout his domains, on pain of death. Apparently, “Skippy and the Worship Crickets” didn’t impress Charlemagne either. One sympathizes.
My medieval musings of late have been prompted by something more than my low view of much contemporary Christian music. They have been prodded by my choice of summer reading material, namely, my newly acquired copy of Rod Dreher’s book, The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians In a post-Christian Nation. Dreher is a conservative Catholic-turned-Orthodox Christian who also writes on-line for The American Conservative. It was in his on-line writings during the recent Presidential contest (not a Trump fan, and even less a fan of Hillary) that I began to familiarize myself with his thoughts, which both challenged and mirrored my own. His book, The Benedict Option, was written during that time and published earlier this year. I was able to read several reviews of the book, and Dreher’s responses to those reviews, before buying the book. Understanding where an author is coming from often helps us appreciate where he is going. That was certainly true in my reading of The Benedict Option.
As a young Christian emerging from the Jesus Movement, I cut my teeth on thinkers like Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer. If Dr. Schaeffer had been Catholic, rather than Reformed, The Benedict Option might well have been the kind of book he would have written. Dreher even uses one of Dr. Schaeffer’s favorite phrases, “Post-Christian,” to describe the current state of Western Culture, a phrase Dr. Schaeffer used nearly 50 years ago. In a very real sense, Dreher picks up Schaeffer’s Post-Christian apologetic where Dr. Schaeffer left off 35 years ago. Dreher’s underlying thesis for The Benedict Option is summed up in the following paragraph:
“We Christians in the West are facing our own thousand-year flood – or if you believe Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a fifteen-hundred-year flood: in 2012 the then-pontiff said that the spiritual crisis overtaking the West is the most serious since the fall of the Roman Empire near the end of the fifth century. The light of Christianity is flickering out all over the West. There are people alive today who may live to see the effective death of Christianity within our civilization. By God’s mercy, the faith may continue to flourish in the Global South and China, but barring a dramatic reversal of current trends, it will all but disappear entirely from Europe and North America. This may not be the end of the world, but it is the end of a world, and only the willfully blind would deny it. For a long time we have downplayed or ignored the sign. Now the floodwaters are upon us – and we are not ready.” (Dreher, page 8)
Dreher devotes several well-written chapters (The Great Flood, The Roots of the Crisis, and A New Kind Of Christian Politics) to making the case for his premise of a collapsing Western Civilization, and for his sub-premise that this collapse threatens religious liberty at its most basic level. Dreher’s ability to turn a phrase and to summarize complex thoughts is often impressive and reflects the author’s depth of thought regarding his topic. He bolsters his argument by drawing on the works of other significant philosophers, politicians, and theologians. His chapter on the history of thought that has brought us to this precipice (Chapter 2, The Root of the Crisis) is “Schaeffer-esque.” It is a rare gift to be able to cover large swaths of history and philosophy with genuine insight which leaves the reader wanting more. Dreher ends Chapter 2 with a summary that is worth quoting at length:
“The long journey from a medieval world wracked with suffering but pregnant with meaning has delivered us to a place of once unimaginable comfort but emptied of significance and connection. The West has lost the golden thread that binds us to God, Creation and each other. Unless we find it again, there is no hope of halting our dissolution. Indeed, it is unlikely that the West will see this lifeline for a very long time. It is not looking for it and may no longer have the capability of seeing it. We have been loosed, but we do not know how to bind.”
There is much more to Dreher’s book, but by now you should be getting the flavor.
The Benedict Option
It really is impossible to do justice to or critique a significant book like Dreher’s in a short article like this. I believe Dreher’s book is both significant and thought provoking. I’ve attempted to express similar thoughts, but on a more pedestrian level, in my book Secret Church. Dreher’s response to the collapse of Western Civilization and its disastrous impact on Christianity is both a warning and an appeal. His warning is clear. Church life and Christian witness as we have known it is quickly coming to an end, and we are unprepared for what’s coming next. His appeal is both clear and broad. Christians need to begin creating alternative forms of Christian community and witness. Dreher advocates for a return to those values which enabled early monasticism (and the Church) to survive the upheaval the Dark Ages while waiting for better, brighter days. Drawing inspiration from early monastic disciplines, Dreher argues for a re-ordering of Church life, teaching and practice, which he labels “The Benedict Option.” The reference, of course, is to the monastic pattern established by Benedict of Nursia (a village in central Italy), a young 6th Century Roman who abandoned a life of privilege to pursue a life of simplicity, piety and discipline, which came to be known as The Rule Of St. Benedict (see Chapter 3, A Rule For Living). In a very genuine sense, Benedict gave birth to the monastic movement of the medieval Church, and the monastic movement created spiritual communities which preserved and passed on spiritual truth through centuries of Europe’s darkest days.
In many ways, Dreher’s Benedict Option represents an attempt by the institutional church to come to terms with the simple but profound question of “What’s Next?” Church history suggests that whenever the Catholic or Orthodox tradition feels threatened by contemporary culture, the go-to response is to form a monastery and another monastic movement. It is an honest response of withdrawal and self-preservation. But, while that might have been the right response to Rome’s collapse and the ensuing Dark Ages which engulfed Medieval Europe, is it the right response for the Church in our day?
Dreher argues that we need to create new institutions. He strongly favors Christians removing their children from public schools and opting for home schooling, Classical Christian Academies, and other forms of alternative biblical education (see Chapter 7, Education as Christian Formation). He also warns believers to prepare themselves to lose job and career opportunities over their faith and to strongly consider becoming job creating entrepreneurs (see Chapter 8, Preparing For Hard Labor).
These are great ideas, but I have cautionary questions which cannot be answered today, but need to be asked anyway. If existing church institutions are going to be co-opted and even destroyed by the architects of our collapsing Postmodern culture, what will prevent them from doing the same to any new institutions which Christians establish? And how will those new institutions fund themselves if Christian institutions are denied their tax-favored status due to beliefs and practices considered “contrary to public policy”?
In addition, I would argue that the true model for the future-church isn’t monastic Europe, but the early church under the Roman Imperial persecution in the 250 years prior to Constantine, as well as Post World War 2 China under the Communists. The early church under Roman persecution, along with the Chinese church under the Communists, quickly suffered the material loss of everything they possessed. But such persecution and loss have an amazing effect upon genuine disciples of the Kingdom. First, they “clear the sinuses” and force a personal re-evaluation of the times in which we live. Second, such a personal re-evaluation gives the believer a different perspective on life and faith. Third, persecution and loss tend to free the believer from the entanglement of “things,” and in a materialistic culture such as ours today, such freedom is both rare and liberating. Finally, these three effects of persecution and loss force the believer to decide between what’s important and what’s not. Welcome to what it means to be a disciple of the Kingdom.
But there’s more. In the Kingdom of God, there always is.
The Discipleship Option
“We faithful Orthodox Christians didn’t ask for internal exile from a country we thought was our own, but that’s where we find ourselves. We are a minority now, so let’s be a creative one, offering warm, living, light-filled alternatives to a world growing cold, dead, and dark. We will be increasingly without influence, but let’s be guided by monastic wisdom and welcome this humbly as an opportunity sent by God for our purification and sanctification. Losing political power might just be the thing that saves the church’s soul. Ceasing to believe that the fate of the American Empire is in our hands frees us to put them to work for the Kingdom of God in our own little shires.” -Dreher, 99
I genuinely believe that The Benedict Option represents a significant contribution to an important discussion: The future of biblical, evangelical Christianity in our Postmodern culture and what shape the faith once delivered to the saints will take in the days, months and years ahead. Where ever this discussion eventually leads, I think it safe to say that the future of the Church will not look like its past. And I must agree with Dreher that the organized church as it now exists in America and the West is woefully unprepared for what’s coming. A radical re-thinking and re-ordering of contemporary church life, teaching and practice is absolutely required if we are to weather the breaking storm and survive the days which lie ahead.
Dreher’s assessment of where we find ourselves today, as expressed in the above quote, is sobering, to say the least. But in a very real and genuine sense, it is also profoundly liberating . . . and even hopeful. Consider the last two sentences of the above quote: “Losing political power might just be the thing that saves the church’s soul. Ceasing to believe that the fate of the American Empire is in our hands frees us to put them to work for the Kingdom of God in our own little shires.”
This is where we need to be very clear-headed: The Kingdom of God is NOT in retreat. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is a prayer God fully intends to answer. For this reason alone, having our hands freed up from other things in order to put them to work for the Kingdom is a good thing. But in the days ahead we are ALL going to be challenged, even forced, to re-focus ourselves on the Kingdom of God as proclaimed by Jesus and the New Testament Church. In the process, we will need to form organic “Kingdom Communities” (what Scripture calls ekklesia) made up of disciples of the Kingdom who have made a genuine commitment to live out the values of the Kingdom, whatever the cost. And that leads us to what I’ll call “The Discipleship Option.” In the days ahead, the Church is going to be forced to return to its primary calling: to make disciples. The age of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (see Dreher, page 10) will come crashing down, along with the crowds of religious consumers and followers who attend what they think is Church in the hope of having a “positive religious experience,” but who have little or no understanding of what Jesus meant when He said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
I believe the future of the Church is going to be organic rather than organizational (think house churches and other organic manifestations). The message of the Church is going to be the message of the Kingdom, just as Jesus and the New Testament Church proclaimed it. And the focus of the Church is going to be making disciples of the Kingdom, just as Jesus commanded. Other things will take place in the process of those three. Organic churches will find themselves needing to create “Kingdom Communities” by networking together in order to support families in such activities as home schooling, business and job creation, serving “the least of these” and much more.
Is there more? Of course. In the Kingdom of God, there always is. But we’ll save that for another day. In the meantime, read The Benedict Option. You’ll be glad you did.
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