From Pyromaniacs: Thoughts on today's scandal:
...evangelicalism right now is at least as much in need of Reformation as Medieval Roman Catholicism was before Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church. We need to face that squarely, rather than reflexively defending our "movement" in the wake of a scandal like this.
I've been working through 1 Peter 2:11-12 this week which essentially says that our biggest challenge in a world that is cynical of Christians is not them. The biggest challenge is us.
Lord, have mercy.
I've recognized this for some time now. Looking forward to hearing the sermon; will be praying for conviction and awakening for God's people.
(We can't effectively be engaging our world for Christ, when we're full of problems and blindspots that we're not even aware of or acknowledging.)
Yes Lord -- we need, badly, awakening mercies.
Of course the problem is us. And one of the greatest outworkings of the problem is the palpable self righteousness of evangelicals. Our task is to know God and progress in knowing Him better. We need to live the Gospel. Perhaps the scandal in the NAE will wake us up into focusing on being the aroma of Christ to the saved and the lost. But I doubt it.
I wrote the following the other day in answer to your question about what needs to be nailed to a door today. Still seems appropriate, sadly.
What we need to nail to the door today is the battle cry of the Reformation. Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone according to the Scriptures alone to the glory of God alone. What the church had forgotten and forsaken in Luther's day is forgotten and forsaken again today, at least in the west... there is a constant need for reformation, because there is a constant threat of forsaking the only Gospel there is for a human counterfeit. To insist that we stick to the principles of the reformation is not to be stuck in the 16th century. It is to insist that the biblical truths that the reformers rediscovered not be undiscovered again.
The Gospel is always fresh and always new and invigorating. We only think we need to find something new because we have lost the wonder of the "light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ". We can never grow beyond the wonder of the cross.
I still can't believe this happened ! Haggard was at the top of what's supposed to be evangelicalism in the States. If the allegations are true, a) gayness, b) drug abuse then he's disqualified from the pastorate altogether.
Shakespeare comes to mind:
"...the [right wing evangelicals] doth protest too much, methinks."
Steve Irwin comes to mind:
"Hey mate, I could handle snakes and crocodiles, crikey why protest against swimming with stingrays."
Ken-- I wholeheartedly agree with your call to us to, in essence, love the Gospel, know the Gospel, cling to the Gospel, and esteem the Gospel--and largely, we don't. Even within the Church.
But along with this 'rediscovery', if we don't address the environment and culture of the church (i.e. 'come a few times a week; audience style -- and have our spirituality measured by and large by our commitment to 'the church' rather than 'to Christ') we will continue to perpetuate creating environments that will make it all too easy for us to be passive assenters to the real Gospel, without ever having to have our lives held up under the light--and weight--of this Gospel.
The Gospel is an immensely weighty thing--I'm sure you'd agree (repentance, holiness, purity, charity, submission, sacrifice, etc etc). We need to find ways to substantiate its weightiness in our midst, when we're together (and perhaps especially even in how we come together) or else we're unintentionally creating environments where we can nod our heads to all the good theology and doctrine imagineable, while continuing on to live lives of light-weight transformation or even non-regeneration.
The way we 'do church' simply provides too much room to hide and be untested and unknown in our real faith and our real life.
The results? Welcome to aenimic Christianity. It can be fostered from the environment/culture of our churches, just as easily as from the doctrine/pulpit content.
When people like Crabb suggest we need a second reformation: this one dealing with sanctification as the first one dealt with justification, he's getting at the heart and soul of the plight of modern day Christianity.
We need a theology that 'thinks well', and grasps the real message. We also need a community that 'dies well' and embodies the real Life.
In the process, we'll likely have to die to loving the church, or at least to the way we've become accustomed to doing things.