Oh what a tangled web is weaved in the Church.
My bishop posted this article on Facebook: Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?
Another response to this article was written by Diana Butler Bass: Can Christianity Be Saved?
Finally, another post on Facebook gave the perspective of a betweener: Liberal Christianity, Conservative Christianity, and the Caught-In-Between
Mind numbing in one regard as the Church in the U.S. tries to get its head around its steady decline. Liberal/Progressive Christianity has been on the decline for quite some time. Conservative Christianity has recently joined the party. The Roman Catholic Church would be in the same boat except for Latino immigration.
What is going on?
From my perspective, the Church in the U.S. mirrors the culture. The culture has been severely divided by the Media Complex which seeks to purposely drive a wedge between people. Red state/Blue state is the norm. Republican/Democrat. Liberal/Conservative. Tea Party/Occupy Movement.
Honestly, most folks find themselves somewhere in between all that garbage; yet, when it comes to our politics, we can't find a middle ground because of the extremes. The Church has come to mirror the society.
As Rachel Evans said in her blog: But the reason I struggle to go to church on Sunday mornings is because I generally feel like I have to choose between two non-negotiable “packages.” There are things I really love about evangelicalism and there are things I really love about progressive Protestantism, but because these two groups tend to forge their identities in reaction to one another— by the degree to which they are not like those “other Christians”—Sunday morning can feel an awful lot like an exercise in picking sides.
In a little discussion about this matter, I posted these words: IMO...it's not about conservative/ultra conservative but about orthodoxy. Bishop (Shelby) Spong [cited in the first NYT article] in a very real way declared war against Christian orthodoxy, and we see the results. Orthodox churches welcome a democrat with a gay child just as... they welcome a republican who has been divorced six times. Why? Because even in their adherence to the understanding of sin and human nature, they practice the humility of Jesus.
I think my quote deserves a bit of expansion.
I'll begin by drawing from Timothy Keller's introduction to his book, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. He talks at length about starting a new congregation in metropolitan New York :
Many of my early contacts said that the few congregations that had maintained a following had done so by adapting traditional Christian teaching to the more pluralistic ethos of the city. [Relativism] "Don't tell people they have to believe in Jesus--that's considered narrow minded here." They were incredulous when I explained that the beliefs of the new church would be the orthodox, historic tenets of Christianity--the infallibility of the Bible, the deity of Christ, the necessity of spiritual regeneration (the new birth)--all doctrines considered hopelessly dated by the majority of New Yorkers. Nobody ever said "fuggedaboutit" out loud, but it always hung in the air. p. xiv
Keller started the congregation anyway, and by the end of 2007, it had more than 5000 attendees and had spawned over a dozen other congregations in the surrounding area. The average age of these worshipers is 30, and 2/3 of them are single. (p. xiv)
Now, I am sure that those readers who are more leftward leaning at this point will jump up and say, "Ah, just another conservative, fundamentalist congregation that is using feel good gimmicks to make people attend."
You haven't read Keller. He describes just what is happening among these folks and how the congregations provide an alternative to the surrounding, bipolar culture. He calls it a "spiritual third way."
...these younger Christians are the vanguard of some major new religious, social, and political arrangements that could make the older form of culture wars obsolete. After they wrestle with doubts and objections to Christianity many come out on the other side with an orthodox faith that doesn't fit the current categories of liberal Democrat or conservative Republican. Many see both sides in the "culture war" making individual freedom and personal happiness the ultimate value rather than God and the common good. Liberals' individualism comes in their views of abortion, sex, and marriage. Conservatives' individualism comes out in their deep distrust of the public sector and in their understanding of poverty as simply a failure of personal responsibility. The new, fast-spreading, multiethnic orthodox Christianity in the cities is much more concerned about the poor and social justice than Republicans have been, and at the same time much more concerned about upholding classic Christian moral and sexual ethics than Democrats have been. (p. xix-xx)
For someone like myself, such thought is refreshing, nourishing, and right on the money since I have never felt comfortable with so called "liberal Christianity" nor "fundamentalist Christianity." Orthodox. The title fits, and it works.
If one considers oneself orthodox, there is no getting around the concept of justice and care and concern for the poor.
If one considers oneself orthodox, there is no getting lax about sexual ethics and morality.
If one considers oneself orthodox, one finds both of these areas central to the transformed Christian's life. And, as an extra added kick in the gut, one also finds the impossibility of perfection in these areas.
Orthodox Christians know the reality of sin, not just in the things we do, but in who we are as people. As I explain to parents who are getting their children baptized, "We baptize infants not because of what they have or haven't done. For goodness sakes, they don't know the difference between right and wrong. How could they? We baptize them because of what they are. They are born selfish. Everything in that child's mind revolves around him. He is the center of his universe right now. When he's uncomfortable, he expects you to take care of him. When he is hungry, he cries and expects you to take care of him. When he is dirty, he cries and expects you to take care of him. You are there to serve his every need. Now, you could call this selfish trait a survivalist thing that evolution has put into us. I won't dispute that, but the fact remains, that child is the center of his own universe. And when you believe you are the center of the universe, who is God?"
Sin isn't just about what we do--it's about who we are. In Lutheran terms, we say we are both saint and sinner. It's a state of being, not just about what we do--and there is no escaping it this side of eternity.
Such a realization does not or should not allow us to become arrogant in what we accomplish in our works. Such a realization does not or should not allow us to come across as holier than another person. Such a realization does not or should not allow us to become conceited or to think we somehow completely have the right beliefs, right thoughts, and right actions. All of these things get warped by the selfishness which resides within us, and try as we might, we can never overcome our selfish nature. All one need to do is try. A colleague of mine once invited his confirmation students to go five minutes without sinning. Some of them tried by locking themselves in a closet in the dark. Things might go well for a few moments, but then a thought would pop into their heads--a thought driven by human nature, and it was back to the drawing board.
This knowledge of self--the knowledge of our own sinfulness brings us to our knees. We know we do not have a leg to stand on when it comes to being judged by God. We know we stand convicted by Him. This is why, when we see someone else acting on his or her sinful nature, we have compassion. We recognize someone who is in the same boat as we are. We know something is wrong in that person's actions as well as our own, but we do not set out to offer correction as if we are somehow doing better than that person. We offer the same thing that has been offered to us: forgiveness and a chance to try to do things differently next time. And knowing we have failed and continue to fail at that second and third and fourth chance, we approach another with the utmost of humility.
I get the sense that much of this humility is severely lacking in "liberal" and "fundamentalist" Christianity today, and yes, I am aware of the judgment I am rendering. I suffer from that human nature stuff too. Yet, I do not wish ill to happen to either "side." Enough has already befallen as it is. What I hope for is a realization that each is right and each is wrong just as I am right and I am wrong. We must be able to humbly engage one another and engage the world around us knowing our shortcomings and knowing the One who gives us strength to love despite those shortcomings.
Orthodox Christianity confronts sin with no apologies, but it seeks to do so in a manner of humility and compassion. It's a tough path to walk.
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