When my generation was growing up in the 1940's, 50's and 60's, we knew exactly what to expect when we went to church. My town had perhaps a dozen expressions of the Church universal, each carrying forward its own traditions of thinking, speaking and doing. And if people from our town visited a church of their own variety somewhere else, they could anticipate in advance what they would find when they arrived. My group thought it was the only one that did things right, but most other Christian groups probably thought at some level that their ways were also best.
Today, to put it mildly, things are different. It is not uncommon now to see as many independent or nondenominational churches as churches with the old brand names. Also common are what I jokingly call "stealth churches" -- congregations affiliated with traditional denominations or fellowships which omit that association from their name. Within five miles of my house are
"stealth churches" that are really Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and Lutheran. Other churches use a location or community name, disclosing an affiliation in smaller print on a second line. It is not uncommon to hear people say, in all varieties of churches, "I think of myself as a Christian who happens to attend such-and-such church."
Things really get exciting when one moves about. Within my own tradition (non-instrumental Churches of Christ), one finds most churches singing without accompaniment but some that use instruments now and then. Most of our congregations still limit public functions (leading singing, praying, serving Communion, ushering, passing offering baskets) to the males but a growing number of churches make no distinction between men and women. Some use a song leader;
others feature a praise team. Some celebrate Christmas and Easter while many others do not. Many have fellowship halls, family centers or multipurpose facilities but a minority avoids them all. The issues vary with other denominations but the diversity is clearly present in most Christian groups.
One finds many different attitudes toward change. Any church usually contains an element of people who not only prefer the familiar old ways but believe that anything else is wrong. Another group seems to think that anything is better than what has always been. A larger group -- who perhaps did not grow up within the particular Christian tradition -- doesn't care either way and cannot quite understand what the fuss is all about. Meanwhile those charged with responsibility for leading the church try to balance old and new, to do the most good and the least harm, and to maintain unity while promoting progress.
If you would like to read the rest of the series, you can find it at his web site. Edward is one of those guys who began his spiritual journey with a very narrow spectrum of our very narrow fellowship. His walk with God has brought him among believers of all stripes, and his has been one of the clearest, gentlest and most relentless voices calling us to a wider fellowship within the kingdom of God.
1 comment:
I like Edward Fudge too, at least I like reading from his web site. As I reminisce about my younger days in the church, I recognize now that I was at least a little disturbed by the "Baptists are going the hell", type sermons. We all must be careful that we don’t take our personal preferences and let them subtly lead us into a prideful exaltation of “being right” or a determination of “others are wrong” therefore, Heaven is a certainty for us and doubtful for others. We can make ourselves so happy by focusing on what we like and dislike about congregations and our own services. Especially, if we perceive that our social status or our long “Christian” history gives us some perceived stature of importance and influence that warrants overriding consideration. Anger and resentment is bound to burn when things don’t go our way. We must not forget that change, no matter how it may be brought about, is one way that God builds character in his children. If our reaction to change is to use our perceived authority in an antagonistic way, it generates controversy. We should use our authority given to us by Christ, that is our freedom from the bonds of sin, to do as Christ does. Having authority over everything, he served, even to the point of washing the feet of his apostles. If we all had a mind to serve each other, as Christ did, we could understand that we to have different political, social, and economic viewpoints and yet agree on the same Lord puts the focus back in the right place – on God and not on us. Therefore: we can disagree on methodology and agree on Christ. Put it another way: There are many ways to worship him but only one Lord.
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