I've upgraded to
Windows 8. I've upgraded to Google Chrome. I've updated every recommended
upgrade. And now stuff that worked just fine in 1998 won't work at all.
… There's a point at which the constant need for upgrades makes companies richer but regular folks like you and me more miserable.
… There's a point at which the constant need for upgrades makes companies richer but regular folks like you and me more miserable.
Soon after that one of my friends
shared an article about Church 3.0. Church
3.0 according to author Rev. Dr. John C.
Walker is the 3rd historical era Christianity. Church 3.0 revises and upgrades Reformation era Christianity to
fit the needs and wants of people in a postmodern society.
I was excited about this upgrade because
Rev. Dr. Walker wrote, “Postmodern communities of faith aren’t investing in
buildings. …
I minister and organize in the
poorest and most crime-ridden communities in my area, and those neighborhoods
are also home to the largest concentration of new and frequently renovated
churches in my area. I was excited about
the upgrade to Church 3.0 because institutional Christianity today (Church 2.0) spends far too much time,
money, and attention on spaces meant to make us look impressive. Church 3.0 says, “If property doesn’t
directly impact mission, it is a waste.”
But, as I scrolled through and
learned more about this upgrades my excitement turned to concern.
The article went on
to say that the Church 3.0’s postmodern communities of faith “doubt universally
applied truths. They practice situational ethics. Your truth is your truth –
but I live my life differently.” These
communities “are flexible in every way imaginable. Statues of Buddha sit
alongside crosses. The Koran is read and explored beside the Bible. Groups
self-select and identify according to perceived need and according to the value
of the experience.”
I let out a sigh. Dang!
Another bad upgrade.
The church as originally installed (authored)
and intended (finished) by Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12: 2) is NOT BUILDINGS. The church is not a system of rituals. The church is not a hierarchy of titles and
bureaucracies.
The church is our faith, but not faith in the airy emotional sense of randomly
believing vaguely in some generic higher something, kind of associated with
Jesus. Christian faith is specific and in
some ways exclusionary.
The original church was not over
burdened with ritual and overhead but the original church (Church 1.0) did carefully articulate a specific and in some ways
non-inclusive DOCTRINE.
In the story of Church 1.0’s
initial public offering, scripture says that after the Day of Pentecost, they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2: 42)
Knowledge of Buddha, Mohammed,
Joseph Smith, Krishna, and other faiths can help postmodern Christians comprehend
the world and our fellow citizens of it; but knowing and respecting other
faiths must not turn into believing those faiths or holding those traditions
equal in authority to the Bible.
Church 3.0 may place Buddha on equal
footing with the cross, but Church 1.0 says: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope
of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in you all. ( Ephesians 4:4-6)
But in fairness to the architects of
version 3.0 the next upgrade can reflect Jesus’ intent for His church.
GCCWestminster.com
is a Church 3.0. They list their core beliefs beginning with
these 3 principles:
- There is only One God
- Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and
salvation is only available through Him!
- The Bible is the complete and only inspired Word of
God, and contains all Truth.
It’s possible to upgrade in this
postmodern era while remaining true to Jesus’ original plan. In fact, that’s really the only upgrade we
need.
The problem with Church 2.0 isn’t
that we’re overly burdened with Biblical doctrine. The problem is that we don’t adhere to the
totality of Biblical doctrine. We
utilize certain applications and ignore others all together. Our overhead is burdensome. Our orthodoxy
is not.
For
My yoke is easy and My burden
is light.” (Matthew 11: 30)
We need to go back to God’s Word and
learn how to live according to the whole thing, not just the sound bites we
have been repeating for the past 500 years
Take
My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew
11: 29)
The church does not need an “upgrade”
that takes us from the Word of God and into false faiths.
And when they say to you, “Seek those who are
mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their
God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the
living? (Isaiah 8: 19)
We need an upgrade that frees us from the useless bells and whistles we’ve
patched onto Jesus’ original church. We
need an update that returns us to the setting of Church 1.0.
We need an upgrade back to the Bible.
To the law and to the testimony! (Isaiah 8: 20a)
If Church 3.0 leads the church out of our mortgages and back to the Word
of God then it will be an upgrade worth installing.
If Church 3.0 leads us away from God’s Word then it isn’t really an
upgrade at all.
It’s a virus.
If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no
light in them.
---Anderson T. Graves II is a writer, community organizer and
consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of
the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership
development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves
To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry
at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .
You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .
If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry.
Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
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