I have been reading the book "Deep Church" by Jim Belcher. It is a wonderful book on the difference between "Emerging" and "Traditional" churches in Christianity. Even though I have not completely finished the book, it seems that he is trying to find ways and solutions to gaping the gulf between the different camps. How can we reach both groups in one congregation? This book has made me think of several things concerning our denomination and churches.
1. If you may be wondering, Seventh-day Adventism would be considered a traditional church/denomination. We are a group of people built on theology. However, that is what most of us are proud of. And that is what I'm proud of: truth revealed through the Bible. However, what we are missing is the attraction to any postmoderns or those attracted to emerging churches. We may all be postmodern to some degree. And for those who don't understand that word, postmodernism usually refers to those who don't believe in "absolute truth," or that truth is "relevant" to what you want it to be. And that easily fits emerging churches. They usually place a higher emphasis on mission, rather than theology. However, we "SDA's" are automatically disclaiming postmodernism to some degree by saying we know absolute truth in the doctrines we hold. That does not float with the majority of people today. Maybe we need to teach methods of understanding truth and how we can know truth exist before we say you need to keep the commandments? What good is it to tell someone to keep God's commandments, if they don't believe there is absolute truth to follow?
2. It seems that people are not attracted to traditional churches that are centered on their "theology" rather than "mission." Even though a SDA church can have a mission, it is still built on it's theology. A SDA church may have a mission to reach out to the community, help the poor, feed the hungry, or whatever, but it still wants to convert them to the theology our church has. This is different from an emerging church who is not usually built on an exclusive theology. They at times are more welcoming to people of all walks and religions, and are more relevant to their idea of church. When people come to an emerging church, they are not usually bombarded with theology, or overlooked/dismissed as if they were not welcomed. Adventist churches are good at sharing our theology with visitors, or going to the other extreme and acting like we don't know what to do when a visitor comes in the door. The traditional church, for most postmoderns has no relevant purpose or reason for them. Usually, they have a hard time joining or becoming involved simply because truth is not as important as finding a place they connect with. As Belcher puts it, do we focus on "believing" or "belonging" first?
3. I pondered this question while I was reading: With the trends of postmodernism and the growth of emerging churches, can SDA/traditional churches attract the constant growth in the movable pastor/vision castor system that it has? Don't get me wrong, as a pastor, I truly love the system we have. I believe it was set up through God's guidance to our church leaders years ago. I love the support the conferences give their pastors. The pastors grow through experiences at different churches, locations, and positions. Pastors grow stronger becasue of the diverse experiences they have. In the SDA denomination, pastors usually move every 5 to 10 years. And this is good for the pastor. It is a system that works well with traditional churches. It is also good for pastors who don't fit well with a church. Some pastors need to be moved because the church, culture, or situation is not best for them. However, emerging churches have a pastor that usually is the life of that church (and that can be a downfall in itself). They, with a core group, have usually formed the vision of what they want to be about. The church grows with the mission it has, and the pastor is apart of until they retire. I'm sure there are some emerging churches that are successful, and others that are not. So, I'm not saying this is automatically a better system. But, there is something about starting a church with a clean white board. There is no tradition or preconceived notions of how the church should run. The mission is clear for God's guidance. However, I do not want to say this and undermine the mission God has given the SDA church. We have a message and mission encompassed in the 3 angels of Rev 14. However, I don't know if most SDA churches incorporate it. Maybe our goal should not be to compete with emerging churches, but working to fulfill the mission of our denomination, which is ultimately from God's Word. With all this said, I still think there is a lot we can learn from each other.
4. The challenges of relevant religion is difficult, yet the responsibility for all of us is to remain faithful to God. Though we could look at ways other churches have been successful in this culture and society, I believe it is our responsibility to remain faithful to Jesus, and do the will of God. I know emerging churches believe that as well. However, keeping the commandments is apart of that. Doing what God's Word teaches is apart of that. It is a challenge every pastor and laymen struggle with. We should never compromise who we are or what God desires from us. It is something we must seek God's guidance on as we see the Day approaching. We need to remember, God is above any system or model in our current culture. They Bible sets a direction. 1. Patience endurance. 2. Keeping the commandments 3.Faithfull to Jesus. Rev 14:12. This is a picture of God's people in the end.
1. If you may be wondering, Seventh-day Adventism would be considered a traditional church/denomination. We are a group of people built on theology. However, that is what most of us are proud of. And that is what I'm proud of: truth revealed through the Bible. However, what we are missing is the attraction to any postmoderns or those attracted to emerging churches. We may all be postmodern to some degree. And for those who don't understand that word, postmodernism usually refers to those who don't believe in "absolute truth," or that truth is "relevant" to what you want it to be. And that easily fits emerging churches. They usually place a higher emphasis on mission, rather than theology. However, we "SDA's" are automatically disclaiming postmodernism to some degree by saying we know absolute truth in the doctrines we hold. That does not float with the majority of people today. Maybe we need to teach methods of understanding truth and how we can know truth exist before we say you need to keep the commandments? What good is it to tell someone to keep God's commandments, if they don't believe there is absolute truth to follow?
2. It seems that people are not attracted to traditional churches that are centered on their "theology" rather than "mission." Even though a SDA church can have a mission, it is still built on it's theology. A SDA church may have a mission to reach out to the community, help the poor, feed the hungry, or whatever, but it still wants to convert them to the theology our church has. This is different from an emerging church who is not usually built on an exclusive theology. They at times are more welcoming to people of all walks and religions, and are more relevant to their idea of church. When people come to an emerging church, they are not usually bombarded with theology, or overlooked/dismissed as if they were not welcomed. Adventist churches are good at sharing our theology with visitors, or going to the other extreme and acting like we don't know what to do when a visitor comes in the door. The traditional church, for most postmoderns has no relevant purpose or reason for them. Usually, they have a hard time joining or becoming involved simply because truth is not as important as finding a place they connect with. As Belcher puts it, do we focus on "believing" or "belonging" first?
3. I pondered this question while I was reading: With the trends of postmodernism and the growth of emerging churches, can SDA/traditional churches attract the constant growth in the movable pastor/vision castor system that it has? Don't get me wrong, as a pastor, I truly love the system we have. I believe it was set up through God's guidance to our church leaders years ago. I love the support the conferences give their pastors. The pastors grow through experiences at different churches, locations, and positions. Pastors grow stronger becasue of the diverse experiences they have. In the SDA denomination, pastors usually move every 5 to 10 years. And this is good for the pastor. It is a system that works well with traditional churches. It is also good for pastors who don't fit well with a church. Some pastors need to be moved because the church, culture, or situation is not best for them. However, emerging churches have a pastor that usually is the life of that church (and that can be a downfall in itself). They, with a core group, have usually formed the vision of what they want to be about. The church grows with the mission it has, and the pastor is apart of until they retire. I'm sure there are some emerging churches that are successful, and others that are not. So, I'm not saying this is automatically a better system. But, there is something about starting a church with a clean white board. There is no tradition or preconceived notions of how the church should run. The mission is clear for God's guidance. However, I do not want to say this and undermine the mission God has given the SDA church. We have a message and mission encompassed in the 3 angels of Rev 14. However, I don't know if most SDA churches incorporate it. Maybe our goal should not be to compete with emerging churches, but working to fulfill the mission of our denomination, which is ultimately from God's Word. With all this said, I still think there is a lot we can learn from each other.
4. The challenges of relevant religion is difficult, yet the responsibility for all of us is to remain faithful to God. Though we could look at ways other churches have been successful in this culture and society, I believe it is our responsibility to remain faithful to Jesus, and do the will of God. I know emerging churches believe that as well. However, keeping the commandments is apart of that. Doing what God's Word teaches is apart of that. It is a challenge every pastor and laymen struggle with. We should never compromise who we are or what God desires from us. It is something we must seek God's guidance on as we see the Day approaching. We need to remember, God is above any system or model in our current culture. They Bible sets a direction. 1. Patience endurance. 2. Keeping the commandments 3.Faithfull to Jesus. Rev 14:12. This is a picture of God's people in the end.
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