The Church's Demise

Alan Hirsch, in his book The Forgotten Ways, attributes the decline of the church in the West to the following three forces at work in society:

1. The rise of capitalism and of the free market as the mediator of value
2. The rise of the nation-state as the mediator of protection and provision
3. The rise of science as the mediator of truth and understanding

What do you think about this explanation?
Hirsch goes on to say:
On could hardly now doubt the almost total hegemonic power fo the economy, the state, and science in our lives. And the upshot is that these are precisely the places where the vast majority of people find their direction and meaning. And as we engage the twenty-first century, the most dominant force of all three --the one that pervades our lives totally--is that of global economy and the market...It has often been noted that in the postmodern condition we can consume new identities like new clothes...In this cultural situation everything, even personal identiy adn religious meaning, becomes a comodity that we can now trade in, depending on the latest fads, and by consuming the latest products--The Forgotten Ways p. 109.
If this is true, how should Christians regard "Capitalism" and "Free Market Economies"? Is there such a thing as "Benevolent Capitalism"? Can we have a "benevolent capitalism" with the belief in total depravity? Can the church begin to influence people for a "benevolent capitalism" or will it always sucomb to the darker-side of free markets and consumerism?
Just a few questions to chew on.

Benefits but No Commitment

As a youth pastor I tell students that the benefits of a sexual relationship must come in a committed relationship or elese the benefits are really not benefits at all. This is truly a counter-cultural message. It seems everywhere you look people want the benefits without commitment, and this phenominom is not just relegated to the world of dating relationships, it happens in all relationships, even relationships in the church. No wander it so hard for our students these days!

Imagining a Superior, More Compelling Better Church

What do you do when your system fall apart, because the new thing God is
doing is better, beyond, superior, more compelling.--Rob Bell in Jesus Wants
to Save Christians p. 101.

Great question in my book, because our "Church System" is falling apart. The church as we know it today was built during the dawn of the modern era out of the ash heap of the Dark Ages. The church made that transition because it imagined a new tomorrow--where it could be more of what God wanted it to be (more compelling, superior, beyond). This is why we had the Protestant Reformation--and the Catholic Counter-reformation.

Today we stand at the dawn of a new era that is rising out of the ashes of the failed promises of the modern era and the enlightenment project. People are imagining a new tomorrow and are out to transform the institutions of our society because they did not deliver what they promised. The church as an institution is no exception. It will either find itself increasingly irrelevant and continue to operate in a "modern" mode, or it will begin to realize that God has something better, beyond, superior, and more compelling and re-imagine a new way of doing and being the church.

What are your thoughts on church? Are you frustrated with it? Do you wonder why it just doesn't seem to get it? Do you want it to be much more than it is? Do you think it is falling apart? What do you do if you think it is falling apart? Do you think God has something better for the church than what it is today?

Which "Son of David" Does the Church Represent

"When the suffering, the sick, and the blind call out "Son of David," its as
much a question as it is a cry. Which kind of Son fo David are you,
Jesus?" The kind who maintains jsutice and righteousness, or the kind who
builds military bases?"--Rob Bell in Jesus Wants to Save Christians p.
79.

So my friend Chris copied a portion of Charle's Murray's In Pursuit of Happiness, which makes the case that the Govt. took over the churches responsibility to help the poor and needy and as a result, the church doesn't get or spend the money it once did to to help. See the following link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/note.php?note_id=214903110157&ref=mf

My questions are these:

1. Was the church too much a part of the state and the state too much a part of the church, so govt. and church activities were combined?

2. Is the religous right too much (or has been too much) a part of the state--so the church is seen as "building military bases"--Being a Solomon instead of Jesus?

3.  Is the religous left too much (or has been too much) a part of the state?

4. Is the church seen as worthless in the world's eyes because when it was a "part of the state" it gave its responsibility to the state--so the state gets credit for helping the poor and needy, doesn't do it well, but is at least seen as doing something and the church is seen as doing nothing?

5. Is the church seen as worthless in the world's eyes because it is percieved as building and supporting the building of "military bases"?

6. How can the church lament it percieved condition and envision a new and better tomorrow--where it makes a difference for Christ? See my blog on Hannah.

Tears, Persecution, Connecting with God

Yesterday, I went to Sr. Worship at Warsaw Community High School and the last speaker reminded me of something I read for my Journey (small) Group from Rob Bell's Jesus Wants to Save Christians. The speaker cried out in exile. He was living a barren life at IU for 4months, exiled from God's way. He cries out to God and begins to realize the fruitfulness of living God's way. His cry then goes from being personal to universal. He prays for and imagines more people living God's way--and begins to work with a college ministry at a local church in Warsaw, IN while on summer break. Here is what I was reminded of from Bell's book:

Crying out reminds us of our dependence. Weeping leads us to
reconnect with God. Our tears are sacred. They water the ground around our
feet so new things can grow--p. 53.

Because it's when we're fully present in our pain, when we're willing to sit in our tears, that we are ready to imagine a different kind of tomorrow--p.54.

It also reminded me of some reading I have been doing in 1 Samuel in preparation for a sermon on June 14. Hannah, who is barren, cries so hard in pray at the temple in Shiloh that the priest think she is drunk. The book starts with the contrast of the lush fruitful hill country of Ephraim and the barrenness of Hannah. Hannah in a real sense is in exile. She is socially/economically ostracized because she does not give her husband offspring, especially a son. She is exiled from her family in a sense, as her husband takes another wife Penninah to give him the children he needs. She is emotionally exiled as Penninah constantly makes fun of her barren condition and she cannot fully accept the tender love her husband shows her.

Hannah cries out and laments to God. In Hannah's barren exiled condition she imagines something new, a new life for herself with a son, from the God who orders chaos, creates life from nothing (barrenness), a God who leads and has lead his people out of exile and bondage. God hears her cry and remembers her--just like he did for the Israelites in their bondage in Egypt. Here we see a New Exodus to New Life!

And from this new life (Samuel) Hannah receives from God--God is magnified, praised and glorified-and her rescue from exile/barrenness is widened as all who are oppressed and in exile are envisioned as being rescued by the God who has rescued her-1 Samuel 2--Hannah's Song/Prayer. If you interested, you can read my comments on 1 Samuel 2 below to see who I arrive at this conclusion, but here are some questions to think about.

1. What are you going thru that makes you want to cry out to God for help?
2. Are you willing to be present in your pain/to dwell in it long enough to God to cry out to him, or do you try to cover up your pain with business, pleasure,...etc.
3. How do you mask or try to cover up your pain?
4. What is the connection between the Resurrection of the individual to a new life Christ and the pain of this world?
5. Do you long for the institutions of this world (politics, economy, family, church...etc.) care about the things God cares about? Give some examples.
6. Is the church in exile--not respected as it once was by the world?
7. If the church is in exile--what should its response be?
8. If the church is in exile--how does this passage demonstrate how it should envision a new future?

Vs. 1--My heart, My horn, My mouth, My Deliverance--Hannah has experienced God personally as God hears, remembers, ans answers her prayer.

Vs. 2--There is no one holy like the Lord...etc.--Hannah personal experience is immediately turned to praise/worship/recognition of the God that brings life from barrenness, orders chaos, liberates from bondage, and returns people from exile.

Vs. 3--Don't talk proudly...etc.--Hannah recognizes who she really amidst her new recognition of God

Vss. 4-5--Bows of warriors broken, those who stumble given strength; full become hungry, hungry full; others who are barren become fruitful...etc.--Hannah's prayer has moved from particular/personal/individual rescue from exile/bondage to universal.

Vss. 6-9--The highpoint of the song/prayer--mentions Resurrection (raises up, raises, lifts). Hannah has been resurrected (given life)because she recognizes who she is and her need for who God is. Additionally she prays that all humanity that is in exile/bondage/barren /oppressed will be resurrected to a full life while the oppressors will be humiliated at God's hand. A new exodus is envisioned here. An exodus from the oppression of fallen humanity and its institutions. Here we see not just the restoration of Hannah but the restoration/resurrection of all humanity and its institutions (politics, economy, family...etc.) thru the Lord who will reveal himself in the New Testament as the resurrected Christ.

Vs. 8b--The foundations of the earth are the Lord's--Creation provides the structure upon which the work of salvation (that will be accomplished in the resurrected Christ) is worked out. It is not just the individual who is redeemed and resurrected to new life but all creation!

Vss. 9b-10--It is not by strength that one prevails--Here the writer is foreshadowing the King Saul. God was to be the King for Israel. Saul is pictured as having it altogether--looks, strength, power...etc. But King Saul will not rely on God. Instead, he relies on himself. King Saul never really cries out to God. Then King David, although a man after God's own heart, doesn't fully rely on God as well. Although David is really the hero of 1 and 2 Samuel, he is the hero--not because of his strength; rather, it is because he recognizes his weakness. He cries out to God when he is exiled from him in his sin. Israel's King David recognizes his need for another King, a king that will not rely on his tremendous strength, rather on God's. That King is Jesus.

Vs. 10a--Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. King Saul--shattered. David--shattered then resurrected to new life as he recognizes his need. His kingdom is exalted--the low (a shepherd boy) has been raised up. But David's sin eventually shatters this Kingdom. His offspring King Solomon starts in recognition of his lowly position compared to God, recognizes the need for God. But eventually relies on self, doesn't follow God's way, oppresses the people, and the kingdom is shattered and divided. Hannah's prayer isn't realized in King Saul, King David, or King Solomon. It looks forward to another Son of David--Jesus Christ. It
is only in this King individuals, humanity, and humanities institutions can be resurrected to new life.