Rouge River Community Church

Friday, September 26, 2008

Why I am a post-Protestant

Note: This is part two of a three part series.

A few weeks ago, I led a leadership development time with the River Leadership Team.   We discussed the differences between the Roman Catholic, the Protestant, and what-ever the heck we are (emerging). Here is a breakdown of some of our comparisons.

What is the nature of the Church?
Roman- Catholicism:    church=culture
Protestantism:               church vs culture
Emerging:                   church in culture

Summary: Traditional "RCism" has the church dictating the culture of any given society. While this has stepped back a little since Vatican II, it is still their essential answer to the Nature of the Church.

Protestant churches seem to define themselves by where they are on the accepting/ rejecting current culture paradigm. For many protestant churches, a sense of holiness is derived through the rejection of societal norms. "We do not own a TV because it is a tool of the Devil."   The other side of protestantism is the churches that embrace culture and begin to mimic it. Both views can be defined by 'church vs culture'. Just as a note, protestant churches can also be defined by how closely they resemble, or how strongly they reject, the Roman Catholic church.

On the emerging front, the church is viewed as in the culture. This really is a missional attitude borrowed from the foreign mission field. The church is unique, and perfectly suited to care for the community in which God has placed it.

What is the authority in the life of the Christian? In the Church?

RC:                 Bible + Tradition + Papal Decree
Protestantism:   In theory: Bible. In Practice: Bible + denominational or congregational tradition.

Emerging:           Bible. Practice established by local congregation.

Summary: I'm not naive enough to think that the emerging church is the only group to have Biblical practice figured out. I am sure there are some emerging churches out there with other spiritual authorities other than the Bible. Maybe some emerging churches would answer the question, "Bible + Brian McLaren". At least that's honest.

I have bounced around the protestant church long enough now to realize that while the Bible is held up to be the authoritative document in the life of the church, often the church's constitution and by-laws have more say. I have served in churches where the constitution clearly contradicted the plain teaching of the Bible; people got cranky when that was pointed out. The RC's are honest about it, anyway, even if I happen to disagree with their approach.

What are the essential practices of the church?

RC:                   7 sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, Marriage)

Protestantism:      2 ordinances (Communion, Baptism)
Emerging:            3 Ordinances (Communion, Baptism, Social Justice)

Summary: OK, a bit of my theological persuasion is coming through here. Foundationally, I reject the concept of sacramental ministry because it conveys the idea that God's grace can be administrated by humans. On the protestant side, the idea of an ordinance appeals to me. I just think there are not enough ordinances. We need one more: social justice. To try to reflect the life and ministry of Jesus without including the social justice side of what he did is to miss a big chunk of what he came to do, me thinks. In this area, I seem to lean to an RC understanding of the term (see Wikipedia article on social justice).

How is one saved?

RC:                     Faith + Works
Protestantism:      We are saved from something (sin, hell, ourselves). Focus is on eternity. My salvation is primarily for my benefit.

Emerging:            We are saved unto something (mission ). This salvation is lived out in the present.   My salvation is primarily for the benefit of others. Faith, then works.

Summary: I know some people may say that the difference here between protestant and emerging is just two sides of the same coin. Maybe. But an attitudinal shift in regards to salvation is not a bad thing. Especially in evangelicalism (see previous blog entry ), the pendulum has been way over to the "me, myself and I" side for a long time! A shift back towards a corporate view of things can bring about a measure of balance.

Some final thoughts: Five hundred years ago, an earthquake shook the western world. It was the earthquake of a major shift in worldview. The modern mindset prevailed out of those tremors. So did the reformation. The church splintered into a few major schools of thought- RCism, The Anglican school, the Anabaptists, the German or Lutheran school, and the Swiss or Refromed school. The major effect of all this was that the Bible was put (back) into the hands of the common person. We are going through another major worldview earthquake right now-the move from the modern to the post-modern.

This really is a new reformation. That is why I see myself as post-protestant. We've come out of the protestant traditions, yet we are something new. It happened when the reformers led the church away from Rome's influence. New practices; new doctrine. And Rome's response was to declare them all heretics, and to burn a few at the stake. Take time to google the term 'emerging church', and you'll see the same thing now. New practices, new doctrines, and a whole lot of people talking about the emerging church as a bunch of heretics; burning them at the stakes of their blogs and books.

In part three, we'll look at the definition of orthodoxy, and how it affects our practices within the church.

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 12:55 PM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Guest Blogger Today!

Today we have a guest blogger- Tom McLagan, a highly committed volunteer and board member here at the River, and a Development Professional with Partners International . The topic of Tom's article is stewardship, and originally appeared in Partners International's Dispatches from the Ends of the Earth (September 2008). Enjoy! Thanks Tom!
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One day, addressing the crowds of people that followed him, Jesus lists the qualities required of one of his ‘learners’ (or ‘disciples’). A disciple must prefer this rabbi over his own family, he must carry a cross of testing and he must “renounce all that he has.”

That little speech seems sure to empty any discipleship class in a hurry, but for those that haven’t figured it out yet, being one of Jesus’ followers is not a small calling. Jesus expects everything of his disciples that he did of himself. He surrendered everything in obedience to the Father for the sake of those he loves.

Perhaps the most astounding thing about these statements, found in Luke 14, is that Jesus speaks them to those ‘in the crowd.’ Many of these people have not even decided to follow him yet, which implies that he is communicating ‘first steps’ of discipleship. He doesn’t say, “build up your faith until you're strong enough to put God first.” He says, “You say you want to follow me? Alright, then you must give up everything you have — just as I have done — as step one.”

It’s a radical call, but then we serve a God who raises the dead, who will renew Heaven and Earth with a word and who sacrificed his very self to be our Saviour. Perhaps, giving up everything is the least we can do.

-Tom McLagan

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 8:53 AM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Punditry and Powerplays

Note: This is part one of a three part series on church foundations.

During this double election season- the short Canadian federal election, and the seemingly never-ending US elections- we seem awash in pundits. I was watching a TV panel of these sage commentators discuss the impact "the evangelicals" would have on the outcome of the election. What I find so odd is the assumption that every one of the 'evangelicals' is of a kind. I think, especially in North America, we cannot refer to this group as a single entity anymore. Let me show you what I mean.

The Fundamentalists

My first church was from this tradition. Fundamentalists purport to be Biblically based, interpreting the Scripture literally. Often their main faith expression is focused around Sunday morning service. The use of historic hymns, Bible translations, and approaches to ministry defines this group. Fundamentalists will in practice be reactive to changes in society. They are referred to as having a "fortress church" mentality. Many have chosen to try to freeze their church culture in a bygone era. In some ways, Fundamentalists are "Amish-in-embryo", simply choosing a different time period to 'live' in.

The Old Evangelicals

These Christians look and act a lot like the Fundamentalists, but hold evangelism higher in their values structure. A challenge for converts is the requirement to adopt the culture of the church as part of the coming to Jesus process.

The New Evangelicals

This is the movement associated with mega churches like Willow Creek and Saddleback. The Sunday service is still a key focus, but with a high value given to evangelism called seeker-sensitive. The music is contemporary, as is the Bible translation used. The dress is often more casual that old evangelicals or fundamentalists. The atmosphere is theatrical, with highly polished performances and programs. These are the, 'What can we do for you?" churches.

Emerging Churches

Many a sentence has been written trying to define this movement. It is hard to pin down because the emerging church culture takes a grass-roots up approach. Each local congregation defines their beliefs and practices from within their culture. Often, a process of deconstructing and reconstructing Christianity, based on first sources (the Bible), has occurred or is occurring. This means a wide ranging rethink of how narrow or wide to define orthodoxy (more on this in part three), and a retooling of how to approach ministry. Emerging churches are primarily holistic in outreach approach, and missional in behaviour. These churches are less Sunday-centric, and approach corporate meeting times as an essential part of one's spiritual life journey.

Why all the ~~anger~~ fear?

Recently I had lunch with a representative from a solid evangelical Bible college. As he was asking me about about the River and what made us tick, I was surprised by his strong reaction when I described this church as emerging. It seems that the college has been receiving a lot of pressure from financial supporters. The gist was, "If you even teach about the emerging church, we will pull our funding from your school." Wow. Wow.

I have been trying to process all of this in light of being a pastor in an emerging church. Sometimes my experiences here come into conflict with my modern training, and my experiences pastoring in fundamentalist and new evangelical situations. I find myself identifying less and less with other protestants. In the next blog post, we'll be looking at a little church history, and what the term 'post-protestant' means.

Peace.

Posted By Default Admin At 7:58 AM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Personal Mission Statement Link

As part of the message on Sunday September 21, we discussed the need for a personal mission statement. Here is a link that can help you develop your personal mission statement. Blessings! Andre
Posted By Default Admin At 10:50 AM • Comments (29) Trackbacks (0)

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Road Ahead

On my first trip driving from Ontario to western Canada, I took the Trans-Canada highway along the shores of Lake Superior. The terrain was treed and rocky, and the road twisted with the shoreline and sudden hills. From my eastern-Ontario perspective, that trip between Sault Ste Marie and Thunder Bay seemed long and isolated. Somewhere up there north of Superior, I hit a stretch of highway that afforded a glorious view of the lake, as well as the road ahead. In the ten or fifteen seconds it took to go down that particular hill, I saw the twists and curves of my route for miles. I knew the road would be more of the same- lots of ups and downs, twist and turns, rocks and trees, and plenty of shoreline. It was beautiful and just a little bit scary. I felt small in a good way.

The road ahead for the River is really similar to that stretch of highway ringing Lake Superior. As we embark on a new Fall journey of faith and community, I can see ahead of us a road much the same as what we have travelled already. A few hills, a lot of beauty, twists and turns, and more than our fair share of anxious moments. If we have the right attitude, it will be a lot fun.

The road ahead takes us into an uncertain financial future. What makes it bearable is that we know the destination of the journey, and we know the route we must take. In general terms, the River is in the process of reinventing and redetermining ourselves. The transition from program oriented to emerging and missional has had a few bumps, but we have done remarkably well. Thank you God! These next steps for us take us to a faith expression unlike that which most of us have experienced before. The key elements of this transition are best described in the words of Sally Morganthaler, author of "Worship Evangelism". Church for us is moving from a destination to a conversation. We have grown from services to service. We are emerging from an organization to the realization of being an organism.

Church as Conversation

This is all about community with God and each other. Needs are recognized corporately, and responded to corporately, according to our gifts and talents. How the church should function is always 'on the table', with our paperwork- like constitution and partnership documents- being living documents that can be updated. The only document we don't edit is the Bible. Our life journey becomes a conversation with God through prayer and by recognizing the Bible as authoritative. Sundays are more about God shaping us through each other than one-way information transfers Sunday after Sunday. We strive to build into each others' lives one-on-one and in small groups. Ephesians 2:10 describes us as God's master-poems, our lives being sung aloud, not as a solo or even in a duet, but in a choir of community and service.

From Services to Service

Services speak to church happening- programs, meetings, organized worship times- rather than to helping. What is our place corporately in the town of Markham? The answer is service. What are the needs in our community? The answers are lack of affordable housing and loneliness. Our high value of serving takes us to a partnership with the Markham Food Bank, which means donating food, picking up donated food, and growing food for the needs. A recurring free ReUse Store has followed. Now we are about to dive into a free-use laundry facility. River Meals have started, to not only grow the community of the River, but to address the isolation so many of our neighbours tell us they feel. The key difference between services and service for the River is the expectation of going. We will go to the need. Our intent and our prayer is that faithfulness in carrying out the mission God has given us will result in opportunities to communicate the message He has entrusted to us.

From Organization to Organism

At its base, an organization is a well thought through functional chart with purpose. An organism is alive. It grows and multiplies and finds places to live others did not know existed. When I lived in western Canada, I visited a deserted town- a ghost town - in southern Saskatchewan. It was a little spooky! The main street was intact, as were most of the buildings and signs. The only living thing that we saw was the prairie grass that had grown everywhere. It was thriving in the midst of decay and abandonment. The church can grow and thrive in environments where organizations fail, because the church is alive. See what Romans 12:5 says about the church being the body of Jesus.

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So, the road ahead looks pretty good. Are you ready for the bumps, twists and turns? Don't worry - we know where we are going, and how to get there. Let's enjoy the journey together along the way!

Posted By Default Admin At 8:20 AM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Saturday, September 06, 2008

A Real and Present Sacrifice

One of my favorite actors of all time is Harrison Ford. From Han Solo, to Indiana Jones, to super-CIA agent, Ford has played them all.

His role of Jack Ryan, in both Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, had Ford playing not the typical action hero, but the reluctant action hero. Is that a role we are playing right now?

What motivates you? What compels you to action, despite yourself? For Ford's Jack Ryan, it was his tight moral code and commitment to ideals larger than himself that motivated him.

We, who make up The River, have been given an opportunity to make a difference right where we live. We have discovered need in our midst, and our moral code and high ideals cause us to do something about it. The need is clear: over 600 people rely on the Food Bank each month. That is about 150 families. We have learned that a big challenge facing many in our community is the lack of affordable housing.   This real and present need moves us to act.

We continue to collect food for the food bank each Sunday at our gathering. Many families volunteer to pick up donations for the food bank from local drop-off points. The River garden, planted and maintained by River volunteers, produced pounds of fresh vegetables for food bank patrons this summer. Our quarterly ReUse Store makes donated housewares, clothing and recreational items available at no cost to those who have need. And, this Fall we will be providing free-use laundry facilities to that same group of people.   This real and present need has moved us to respond.   Now comes the next challenge; our real and present sacrifice.

These missional steps to address a need in our community will require sacrifice. What kinds of sacrifice? A little more time, a little more money, and a lot more prayer.

This is where the reluctant action hero comes in.   We have established our moral code and ideals. We have clearly identified a real and present need. Do we have it in us to respond with real and present sacrifice? For some of us, putting more money into the offering box will be hard. That's why it's called sacrifice. For others, making time in an already busy schedule will be very hard. That's why it's called sacrifice. And for still others, taking a real and present need to God in much prayer will be extremely hard. That is why it's called sacrifice.

The book of James says it best:

14 ¶ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing,

16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

-James 2:14-17 (NLT)

Our moral code and high ideals, established by Jesus himself, lead us to sacrifice. It is time for us to be the action heroes God designed us to be. Seek God in what kind of sacrifice you can make for the mission ahead. Ask Him for clear guidance as you are moved to respond to the real and present need in our midst.

Posted By Default Admin At 11:25 AM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

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