If God is guiding, molding his church as we believe we have seen him do in the past, then he is in the midst of transforming it into what it will need to be in the future.
Life used to be more simple. Ignorance may be harsh and painful, but it is seldom complicated. We make smooth, convenient inferences from whatever information and understanding we have.
Before the explosion of travel and communication, there was a huge diversity of understanding of the world, but local or regional pockets maintained local uniformity. Generally speaking, conflict between them resulted in winner-take-all war, followed by a new uniformity. When information, teaching, was available only from the ruling hierarchy, there was less opportunity for contention.
New communications, travel and printing, undercut the credibility of all competing claims based only on appeals to authority. The enlightenment and the application of the scientific method opened the door for individuals to discover objective truth independently.
What was the church to do?
What to do when the newly discovered truth conflicts with what we understood from the Bible and tradition?
a. Dismiss the Bible as archaic; trust only objective truth.
b. Value the Bible as inspiring, though fuzzy, moral teaching.
c. Wrestle with gaining a bigger picture that harmonizes revealed and objective truth, sacrificing tradition as necessary.
d. Define distinct secular and religious domains. Attribute to God anything mysterious, uncontrolled or unknowable. (God-of-the-gaps) Otherwise, live as rational independent individuals without concern for God.
e. Defend as unquestionable our understanding of the plain truth of the Bible, dismissing automatically anything counter to this as a pollution by Satan.
f. ?
What is the church in the age of
KMart, Profitt's, RVs, the Web, telecommuting, LA Law, the Washington Red Skins, genetic engineering, quarks, residue of life from 3.5 billion years ago from Greenland, CDs, sailboats, and instant global communications?
Some Models of the Church
Servant - showing mercy, caring, serving the weak
Prophet - challenging power systems to honor God
Confessing - creating and living freshly its foundational claims
Storyteller - propagating God's story and living the story
First fruit - living in trust as God's workmanship (self assurance not required)
At the heart of all we believe, do, and trust as Christians is the amazing good news that God in Jesus Christ reaches out to the world in love.