When I think about the shifting stance of a leader like John McArthur a plate of spaghetti comes to mind. There are strands running in all kinds of directions. Some of the strands are bible verses - in come cases pulled out of context. Some strands are related to religious liberty and government tyranny - others to a premise of "church above all else". Yet they are all intertwined and convoluted, and then you throw the "sauce" of emotion, politics, and tribal agendas on top and now you can't even really trace any cogent arguments anymore.
I commend straighter, and more accurate (less driven by tribal agenda) paths. For example a church gathering is when two or three are gathered in Jesus name, right? Not just when the mega-churches gather to hear the celebrity pastor preach. And there is no real biblical/theological basis that physical distance to a Christian has anything to do with the practice of Christianity, or even the experience of fellowship. Granted it is nice for everyone, follower of Jesus or otherwise, to enjoy phyisical closeness, appropirate hugs, etc., but that is trumped (sorry for the possible political inference) by the command to love our neighbor/others. In a pandemic we love them by staying far enough away so that we will not spread germs.
This is a time when the chuch can show the world that it is not first and foremost an organization, but a MOVEMENT of followers, and not a gathering of people in a building, but an organic work of the Spirit. We can also show the world that the beauty of the church is that the presence of God is with the worshippers - even in a backyard - so no stress if we need to meet in our houses for now or long term. And both tribes are welcome.
Thank you for thinking this through and sending it out, Brad. Always good to reflect and repent when needed...a daily occurrence for me. I hear you on political tribalism...blech! The whole Coronavirus pandemic has got me thinking less about religious freedom vs. civic duty and more about God's higher ways. The LORD has clearly allowed this thing to rip across the globe and many are suffering. Let’s not waste our suffering but rather allow God to gouge out of our lives things that don’t belong there and yield to His Kingdom purposes. Could God’s purposes be for us to move away from large central church gatherings and toward smaller house churches? Not sure (I guess this is where the discernment comes in), but if this is what He wants, then I really want to get on board with HIS agenda.
my heart and a source of frustration for some time. The desire to be drawn into the partisan camp is strong and it has been difficult to always have words to explain my convictions due to the overload of information/misinformation. I appreciate your heart for the Church and our witness for Christ.
It has been interesting watching the "coronavirus is a political and religious freedom issue" narrative play out from outside the U.S. You can take those Rome/U.S. analogies in so many different directions. I have been thinking about lot American exceptionalism and the extent to which Americans have exported Evangelicalism to the rest of the world and still view themselves as, to borrow your phrasing "the most influential teachers, preachers, and writers in the Evangelical Protestant world." Certainly Americans have played a huge role in the planting and nurturing of the global Evangelical church, but their influence on the world stage and in international Evangelical para-church organizations and denominations has been dwindling over the last couple decades. And now this. Of all the times in history for American Evangelical leadership to realize they could learn from leaders elsewhere, now would be a good time. Believe it or not, the global Evangelical church has valuable experience with epidemics, disaster management, trauma healing, and ministering in the midst of ACTUAL political oppression. And it would be good to recognize that no one else in the world thinks the U.S. or the U.S. church is performing "exceptionally" at the moment, no matter how many charts get held up to cameras or how many people like GCC's tweets and YouTube videos. (BTW, Hi, Brad. Glad you started this blog, because I've missed discussing things with you. And now that Facebook is a cesspool of ignorance that makes me hate everyone, it's good timing :) )
When I think about the shifting stance of a leader like John McArthur a plate of spaghetti comes to mind. There are strands running in all kinds of directions. Some of the strands are bible verses - in come cases pulled out of context. Some strands are related to religious liberty and government tyranny - others to a premise of "church above all else". Yet they are all intertwined and convoluted, and then you throw the "sauce" of emotion, politics, and tribal agendas on top and now you can't even really trace any cogent arguments anymore.
I commend straighter, and more accurate (less driven by tribal agenda) paths. For example a church gathering is when two or three are gathered in Jesus name, right? Not just when the mega-churches gather to hear the celebrity pastor preach. And there is no real biblical/theological basis that physical distance to a Christian has anything to do with the practice of Christianity, or even the experience of fellowship. Granted it is nice for everyone, follower of Jesus or otherwise, to enjoy phyisical closeness, appropirate hugs, etc., but that is trumped (sorry for the possible political inference) by the command to love our neighbor/others. In a pandemic we love them by staying far enough away so that we will not spread germs.
This is a time when the chuch can show the world that it is not first and foremost an organization, but a MOVEMENT of followers, and not a gathering of people in a building, but an organic work of the Spirit. We can also show the world that the beauty of the church is that the presence of God is with the worshippers - even in a backyard - so no stress if we need to meet in our houses for now or long term. And both tribes are welcome.
Thank you for thinking this through and sending it out, Brad. Always good to reflect and repent when needed...a daily occurrence for me. I hear you on political tribalism...blech! The whole Coronavirus pandemic has got me thinking less about religious freedom vs. civic duty and more about God's higher ways. The LORD has clearly allowed this thing to rip across the globe and many are suffering. Let’s not waste our suffering but rather allow God to gouge out of our lives things that don’t belong there and yield to His Kingdom purposes. Could God’s purposes be for us to move away from large central church gatherings and toward smaller house churches? Not sure (I guess this is where the discernment comes in), but if this is what He wants, then I really want to get on board with HIS agenda.
Well written! These issues have been close to
my heart and a source of frustration for some time. The desire to be drawn into the partisan camp is strong and it has been difficult to always have words to explain my convictions due to the overload of information/misinformation. I appreciate your heart for the Church and our witness for Christ.
It has been interesting watching the "coronavirus is a political and religious freedom issue" narrative play out from outside the U.S. You can take those Rome/U.S. analogies in so many different directions. I have been thinking about lot American exceptionalism and the extent to which Americans have exported Evangelicalism to the rest of the world and still view themselves as, to borrow your phrasing "the most influential teachers, preachers, and writers in the Evangelical Protestant world." Certainly Americans have played a huge role in the planting and nurturing of the global Evangelical church, but their influence on the world stage and in international Evangelical para-church organizations and denominations has been dwindling over the last couple decades. And now this. Of all the times in history for American Evangelical leadership to realize they could learn from leaders elsewhere, now would be a good time. Believe it or not, the global Evangelical church has valuable experience with epidemics, disaster management, trauma healing, and ministering in the midst of ACTUAL political oppression. And it would be good to recognize that no one else in the world thinks the U.S. or the U.S. church is performing "exceptionally" at the moment, no matter how many charts get held up to cameras or how many people like GCC's tweets and YouTube videos. (BTW, Hi, Brad. Glad you started this blog, because I've missed discussing things with you. And now that Facebook is a cesspool of ignorance that makes me hate everyone, it's good timing :) )