10.03.08

toward a theology of public presence

Posted in culture, ekklesia, mission at 5:30 am by len

“When the Titanic hit an iceberg on April 15, 1912 she was the largest floating object ever built. She represented the state of the art in ocean liners… she was fast, luxurious, and unsinkable. It was the latter claim that would be severely tested on that cold, clear night.

“Similarly, western Christendom has been sailing along under full steam for most of the last century, and has made some remarkable progress. In the late sixties signs of stress began to appear. It seemed relatively easy to make course corrections, and it wasn’t long before large ministries were booming, following the model of the most successful seeker-sensitive ministries like Saddleback and Willow Creek.

“Unfortunately, the western church hit the iceberg, and the lifeboats, far too few, are being launched. Since 1991 the population in the United States has grown by 15%. During that same period of time the number of adults who do not attend church has grown from 38 million to 75 million…  a 92% increase!   This in spite of the fact that nearly 4 out of 5 evangelical pastors identify discipleship and evangelism as their top priorities. (Barna, State of the Church, 2005)  We are seeing a new diaspora and facing incredible challenges of translation. Our models are no longer working, but perhaps the Lord is engineering a reconnect with culture and we need to find ways to join Him in His work.”

“Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship. Then it moved to Greece and became a philosophy, then it went to Rome and became an institution, and then it went to Europe and became a government. Finally it came to America where we made it an enterprise.” (Richard Halverson, while he was Chaplain to the US Senate).

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1 Comment

  1. jonathan said,

    October 3, 2008 at 6:25 am

    i cannot read jeremiah nor lamentations without having this eerie feeling that it is way to similar to western christianity.
    i think it is imperative that followers of The Way join Him where they are. it’s much easier than you think to see where…the difficulty comes in believing enough to start walking.