SoulWork
Andrew Sullivan Says Forget the Church. That's Like Saying Forget Grace.
Andrew Sullivan Says Forget the Church. That's Like Saying Forget Grace.
I recall with some embarrassment a conversation I had when I was a junior in college, as a young man full of anger at the church and brimming with idealism about the future. I was speaking with a friend who happened to think the institutional church was a pretty good idea, and that hymns in particular (the specific topic of conversation that day) were a rich source for theology and worship. I argued that they were too complex for the modern era, a perfect symbol of bygone and boring ways of doing church. Like the new music that broke out of what I thought was a stifling pattern of verses and rhyme, so the church of the future would free itself from the rigidity of bureaucracy and outmoded theology.
We say lots of silly things when we are immature, but the sentiments that drive the passions of youth often hang on stubbornly. Today, I favor hymns over contemporary music precisely because of their complexity and richness. But my favorite hymns still move in the direction of simplicity, like "What Wondrous Love Is," and "They Cast Their Nets in Galilee."
I have also come to appreciate, begrudgingly, the institutional church. But like most people, most weeks, the church remains a source of frustration and confusion for me. I do wish Jesus had thought of a better way to organize his followers.
Daily Beast uber-blogger Andrew Sullivan has written a cover story for Newsweek that expresses almost perfectly today's religious zeitgeist. As the title inside puts it, "Christianity in Crisis: Christianity has been destroyed by politics, priests, and get-rich evangelists." Who of us upon reading that would not say, "Exactly!"? And then the subtitle adds this: "Ignore them." To which I want to respond, "I wish!" And the cover copy expresses what many of us want to do: "Forget the church. Follow Jesus."
Sullivan's piece is an angry screed, full of overstatement, misstatement, and just plain misunderstanding. But that's the nature of screeds and what makes them fun to read. Especially when they tap into our own frustrations. In particular, Sullivan pines for a Christianity that would shake off the shackles of partisan politics and abstract theology, and most of all, one that would shed all vestiges of the institutional church and instead give itself to living the "simple ethics of Jesus." In fact, the whole essay is a yearning for simplicity—the word simple or one of its forms appears 21 times in the essay. In this complex and mystifying age, who doesn't yearn for simplicity?
'Complex' Theology and 'Simple' Ethics
For the sake of space, I'm going to have to skip talking about Sullivan's, and our, frustrations when religion and politics mix. It's an interesting topic that deserves a good hashing out. But let's begin with Sullivan's frustration with theology, or as he put it, "theological doctrines of immense complexity." He's an admirer of Thomas Jefferson, and deeply angry about "doctrines" about Jesus' incarnation or divinity, which he says are "supernatural claims that, fused with politics and power, gave successive generations wars, inquisitions, pogroms, reformations, and counterreformations."
Indeed. As a student of church history myself, my heart has sunk time and again when I've read how Christians have treated one another and those outside the faith in ways violent and cruel, and often in the name of some doctrine or "the truth." One can argue that political history since the Thirty Years War in the 17th century, the so-called "wars of religion," has been nothing but an international attempt to prevent people of faith from killing each other over doctrine.
SoulWork
In "SoulWork," Mark Galli brings news, Christian theology, and spiritual direction together to explore what it means to be formed spiritually in the image of Jesus Christ.
Mark Galli
Galli is editor of Christianity Today and author of God Wins, Chaos and Grace, A Great and Terrible Love, Jesus Mean and Wild, Francis of Assisi and His World, and other books.
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MATT BRANAUGH
Peter--Galli's only reference to Jefferson is to explain references that Sullivan makes to Jefferson in his Newsweek article. Galli uses no Jefferson quotes to reinforce his own points.
John Holecek
"What we are going to discover sooner or later, though, is something better: the faith Jesus offers us, one immensely rich and varied, as complex as a bottle of fine wine, as colorful as an impressionist landscape, as exasperating and wonderful as a family. It's a faith where forgiveness finally wins—Jesus' forgiveness of the church, Jesus' forgiveness of us, and our forgiveness of one another." Nice rhetoric but with no content. Even a careless reading of the NT reveals that the Church Jesus created on both the person of Peter and upon his faith doesn't need forgiveness. The gates of hell (i.e. sin) will not prevail against it, even though sinful persons (the wheat and the tares) may exisit within it. The Protestant experiment is an utter and complete failure. Come back to Rome dear friends. Both you and the Church will be immensely blessed.
Peter Fraedrich
First of all I would like to say that before today I was not a member of CT, but after reading this article I decided to register for the only reason of leaving this comment. The first thing that jumps out at me about Mr. Galli's article is the fact that he invokes the word of Thomas Jefferson as the reinforcement to his point on caring less for theology and more for the words of Jesus. But the simple fact is that this is no less analogous to invoking the words of Joseph Smith to reiterate a point. Both Smith and Jefferson believed in a wholly different religion than Christianity -- Smith a mormon and Jefferson a deist. While each share some tenants of morality and faith, foundationally they cannot be further from identical. Jefferson's reference to the teachings of Jesus refer to them as no more than wise sayings or sound advice, not the inerrant voice of god as the author would have his readers believe.... Continued on http://peterfraedrich.wordpress.com due to CT character limits.
Brennan Doherty
Hi Rick, I agree that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever which is why His teachings can't change over time. So any church or denomination that would claim to teach the teachings of Jesus and yet alter those teachings disqualify themselves as the Church Jesus founded. This goes for teachings on contraception, homosexual sin, divorce and remarriage, etc. Second, I agree miracles can be a sign of the true Church. Thus I believe the miracles at Lourdes, Eucharistic miracles such as the one at Lanciano, Italy, the miracle of the sun at Fatima, or the lives of Saints like Padre Pio all do attest to the fact that miracles can and do point to the one true Church. Plus, almost all these miracles, and many more, are scientifically and/or medically verified which to my mind put them a solid notch above hearsay.
RICK DALBEY
Brennan, is there any church that would NOT claim to “teach the teachings of Jesus?” As it says, “all politics is local”. I would look for a local church that shows signs of the resurrection, not just teaching or a denomination. For example, “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever” and he still heals. When Paul met the 12 Ephesian in Acts, he asked, “Have you recieved the Holy Spirit since you believed?” He recognized them as God worshippers with the fruit of belief. He then laid hands on them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and all spoke in tongues. Jesus taught signs and wonders were supposed to follow believers. The Samaritans in Acts were saved, baptized, had repented, delivered of demons and filled with Joy. Yet Philip sent for the brothers to lay hands on them and pray that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit. Look for churches that have a culture of faith, a strong respect for the Bible. I know some Episcopal churches like that as well as pentecostal.