UPDATE:
It has been brought to my attention that Rachel has now updated her blog with a follow-up post called 15 Reasons I Returned to the Church. I wish I had seen it before I wrote my comments as she does address some of my concerns in her response. I think that it went up somewhere between when I started writing my comments and when I posted my comments so I'll leave the entry up here as reflective of my thoughts at the time.
Thanks to all of you who have been interacting with me on this issue - it really is something much bigger than what Rachel was blogging about but her post really struck a nerve so I felt the need to respond.
*************
Okay I’m finally going to say something.
I’ve sat on this with this blog post open in my browser for
two days now fighting a battle of "should I, or shouldn't I "within my soul,
struggling with whether engaging in this conversation is worth my time or
energy. In the end, although I probably don’t have the time and I certainly don’t
have the energy, it bothers me so much that I need to say something so here is
my best attempt at critiquing in a redemptive way. You can read the blog post I am responding to here. It's about why Rachel (among so many others in her, and my, generation) has left the church. And just so you know this is cut and paste from what I actually left in the comments section on her blog.
Rachel, I appreciate your blog. I appreciate the boldness with which you say things that need to be said. I often disagree with you on some of your theological presuppositions but I appreciate the dialogue you foster through your sometimes controversial posts. I know that Jesus loves you and I can tell that you really love Jesus so as a brother in Christ I’m coming to you concerned.
You have assumed a place of great influence within the online Christian community – especially within the Church of the emergent generations. You represent to us a needed counterpoint to the dominant conservative (theologically and politically) narrative that is being taught and disseminated by many other high profile Christian bloggers. I often strongly disagree with what you say – but I’m glad you’re saying it. I’ve been able to get past what I see as serious theological problems with many of your positions because I can also see the heart behind those positions and I’ve always tried to assume the best of people, including yourself, that they are teachable and submissive to the voice of God – and as such – in the end He will correct your misunderstandings (and mine!) if you continue to earnestly seek Him. My concern with this post though is not with any of the theological positions you take in your list of reasons that you left the church (small c), although I do disagree with several of them, but with the revelation in the post that you for the last several years have not been under the authority and guidance of a local assembly – while you have continued to serve as a voice of leadership to the online community.
Please understand – this is nothing to do with you being a woman – that is actually one area where you and I generally agree theologically – this is to do with you being a leader.
One of the greatest dangers in Christian leadership is that we start to formulate our opinions, theologies, and priorities in a vacuum. We begin to put too much faith in our own understanding, calling and leading without hearing and heeding the voices of the community of faith that has the function of pulling us back from the brink of heresy when we venture out into unfamiliar waters. One of the things I’ve appreciated about your philosophical sparring partner, Mark Driscoll, is that he is under the authority of his Board of Elders with what he says –and while I along with you still disagree with much of it, there have been several well publicized instances where they have corrected him on some of his more extreme teaching and theology. I have the same concerns about congregations that place themselves outside of denominational, or association based authority. I am a pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance and while my denomination is not perfect – I know that the fellowship and accountability between congregations in our family of churches keeps churches from being led astray by leaders with a lot of charisma but a dearth of biblical understanding.
Please read this with the heart is intended with. I’m sure as a mature Christian you have sought the counsel and advice of others in formulating your opinions and doctrine – but counsel without teeth is not accountability. It’s not enough to seek advice if there are no consequences to ignoring it. I would strongly urge you to find a congregation (of whatever stripe you feel most comfortable with) and place yourself under their authority. There are no perfect churches out there – but don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I honestly believe that your ministry (as fruitful as it has been) will be better for it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I will continue to pray for you and your husband as you search for a community of faith to connect to.
In Christ,Christopher Smith
So there it is. In practicing what I preach I'm submitting myself to you all out there for critique. Have I missed the mark? Was I too soft on the issue? Please feel free to engage with me in your comments as well.
Happy Lenting.
Yeah the annoying thing about this is that the one who leaves the church often claims to become a church unto themselves, rewarding institutional Pharisaism with a personalized Pharisaism which -- surprise surprise -- fits quite nicely with the consumerist approach to volunteering and joining groups. I'd be happier if they left the church and called it a struggle over whether to even be Christians anymore. At least then there wouldn't be this rise of self-righteous judgement on the Church being left.
ReplyDeleteAs much sympathy as I have with all the reasons to leave a church that has basically pushed you out, this sort of culture of presumption is very annoying. To be fair, however, the fact is that there are many people on a journey between churches, or on their way to a fresh discovery of Christianity, and there needs to be grace and understanding engagement in that process. But the problem with this online ethos of back-patting is that it can tend to stall out that important impulse to find a Christian community. This online ethos is fed by both the exclusivist hardliners back in those churches they left and the individualist consumerism of those who've claimed to found contentment with Jesus in their own spiritual lives.
In as much as you are pushing against that, good stuff! I'd go so far as to say the issue is not only one of mutual accountability but Christianity itself. How on earth can we say we are Christians and then opt out of local expression of Christian community? I'm not calling people's salvation into question, but the character of the act. Leaving the church for Jesus is more like leaving it for stoicism or gnosticism. Of course, the complicating factor is that many local churches have also left Jesus' call to Christian community by the wayside, and so in that sense we must applaud the resistance. But the answer is simply not going to be found in online communities of reassured individualism.