Evening Light - 2
Mon/13/Oct 2008
As I’ve thought through some of the exciting reasons why I am hopeful that the Church of God has a great future, I’m aware that to some, my words could sound condescending. I want to be very careful to point out that the Church of God is not doing very well in America right now. Most of our churches are stagnant. We have done a very poor job of planting new and vibrant congregations. And in most circles, we do not project a lot of passion and hope for a bright future. There is a lot of negativity in our ranks. So, please understand that I in no way want to paint the Church of God as the only hope for christianity in America. I am only attempting to point out some reasons for optimism for the Church that I have grown to love so much. It bothers me to see us be content to complain about our present state, and lament the fact that yesterday is gone. I want to focus on tomorrow. Hopefully that clarifies where I’m coming from.
Reason #2 for why I believe the Church of God has a bright future. (Click here for Reason #1).
We are an anti-institutional Church for an anti-institutional culture-
The Church of God was founded upon a principle of non-denominationalism. The founders of our movement were adamantly against the name-branding and rivalry that existed among christian denominations in late 19th Century frontier America. They called themselves “come-outers” because they believed they had responded to God’s call to come out of the detrimental man-made church structures of their day, and had united under a banner of inclusiveness. They developed statements such as: “We reach our hand in fellowship to every blood-washed one” to describe their guiding principle of unity. They also strongly resisted any attempt to categorize themselves, or to even develop any semblance of a church covenant, creed, or doctrinal statement. Their mantra was “No creed but Christ, no law but love, no book but the bible.”
One can argue that these early leaders eventually created that which they so strongly resisted. Regardless, we can all see that the people who flocked to the Church of God, did so in large part because they were sick of the denominational hierarchy, and limitations that it entailed. Admittedly, this is an issue that has been a subject of great struggle from the beginning of our days as a movement. Most observers see us as “just another denomination.” In our zeal to set ourselves apart from denominationalism, we created a brand of our own, which in many ways acts much like any other denomination. There are important nuances that make us different, but in many ways we are not.
All that being said, I believe this can serve as a strength as we look toward the future. Post-modern society resists labels and embraces freedom. The 21st century world has shown a distaste for coloring within the lines. There is a prevalent distrust for institutionalism of all kinds, especially religious. Research shows that denominational loyalty is a non-factor when people choose or reject a particular church.
This is a trend that I believe the Church of God should embrace. We are a church that was, in a sense, formed from this mindset. We were formed as an anti-institutional church when society as a whole was very much pro-institution. 130 years later, our society has in a sense, followed our lead, or at least gone in the same direction. I believe we have a message that will resonate with a post-modern generation. A message of unity, accountable congregationalism, and authentic spirituality (holiness) is exactly what this emerging generation is searching for.
Now, there are some huge issues that need to be addressed if we are going to take advantage of this proverbial open door. We need to address the fact that our actions regarding unity haven’t always matched our message. We need to make sure that our congregationalism is accountable, and that we are not autonomous, but interdependent. We need to clarify that authentic spirituality or holiness is not defined by what you abstain from, but what you engage in. All this being said, I believe we are in a great position to reach an anti-institutional society with the gospel by being the body of Christ in our day and time.
