Coming from the Reformed world I cannot help but be
interested in the discussions and trends. Though I would no longer identify
with that camp and depart from it on several key points I nevertheless do
resonate with these folks in many ways.
This episode represents an exception. At first I wasn't even
inclined to listen to it, but then I acquiesced and in a way I'm glad. It was
something of a flashback, a trip down memory lane, and brought on a flood of
memories regarding my own days in seminary. I attended a conservative Confessional
Presbyterian school and quickly found myself in a bit of crisis. I was
thankfully forced to question not only the theological and historical
methodology of that faction, but on a more practical level the very nature of
their polity...how they defined and viewed the church and how it was to be
organized on earth.
I realized not only would I not be able to function within
their denominational system of church government, I didn't want to. While undoubtedly
to many this was my abandoning of the ministry, it was in fact for me a watershed,
a moment I can look back on as a rebirth or renewal. While I'll never function
within their circles and make a nice salary with benefits, my departure in many
ways was for me a form of liberation...freedom to serve the Lord.
Listening to this discussion I'm struck by the whole
clerical tone, the reveling in office and titles and the immature joking about
it. Those types of exchanges were pretty typical and while others were giggling
about it, I was repulsed. The lack of sobriety such as is exhibited here wasn't
just a momentary failing but indicative of a mindset....climbing the career ladder,
gaining accolades and titles...prestige and within their world...power.
For all their talk of 'calling' the reality is most of these
people are pursuing a professional career. It's about acquiring the right
credentials, meeting the right people. It functions in many ways like the business
world. It's about shaking hands and dropping the right little catchphrases.
It's very political. You don't want to be seen with the wrong book under your
arm or talking to the wrong people. It's about trying to outdo everyone else,
clamouring to show you're the most zealous and devoted to the party...or the
denomination if you will.
Not only was shocked to find this to be the case in and out
of seminary, I was also really put off by the whole approach to
homiletics...the study of preaching and rhetoric.
So much of the modern church is about creating an atmosphere,
an experience. This encompasses the building, the pews, the carpet, the way
people are dressed, the musical presentation...it's all just that,
presentation. I knew that going into seminary and lamented it, but then I also
found the lesson, the teaching, the sermon, in fact their whole concept of
ministry was more or less the same.
By the way this presentation aspect is just as true among
those who market themselves as deliberately trying to reject it. The guy
preaching in shorts and flip-flops and carrying a coffee cup...that's
presentation too. He's just approaching the issue from a different standpoint
vis-a-vis the culture.
The Reformed have
often been a bit more constrained due to their insistence on following the
Biblical pattern. Their worship is more in line with Scriptural guidelines but
often the totality of what they're doing, the tone, and again the presentation
aspect...smacks of the same marketing going on everywhere else.
In preaching, it's all about sermon craft and the
presentation. The focus is on your rhetorical ability. I remember us reading
through Spurgeon's 'Lectures to my Students' and though I admire much about
Spurgeon, this book I find to be less than helpful. Rather than teach through
the Biblical text, this was about composing sermons as works of art, even in
the presentation. He focuses on how to stand, how to gesture, how to inflect
your voice. It reminded me of learning how to sell cars or insurance and it did
not agree with what I saw in the New Testament. Preaching wasn't about oratory
and salesmanship or even presentation or sermon-craft. It's proclamation and
that doesn't have to be something dramatic, it doesn't even have to be the
traditional monologue.
I think New Testament gatherings were orderly and reverent
and yet not regimented, ritualistic or ceremonial. It wasn't about getting a
feeling or an experience whether through casual emotional song or some kind of
high liturgy. As I've written before, in my flesh I love all the 'high' church
stuff. I'm very happy to sit an Eastern Orthodox service and let it wash over
me. I feel connected to history and love the high mystery.
But it's not Biblical and thus I cannot go down that road.
Protestantism greatly improved the situation but by no means
have they dealt with the heart of the matter.
Very few churches have really consistently wrestled with the
issue of worship, why we gather and what our gatherings are all about. Too
often it's about presentation and marketing and I contend, strenuously contend,
the early Church knew nothing of this way of thinking.
Today the presentation and power mindset is so accepted it's
hard to get people to think outside that box. The vast majority of books,
Christian radio shows, after church discussions and sermons dealing with the
state of the church and issues regarding worship are in reality a waste of
time. Few even touch on the real issues. Few seem to even grasp what we're
doing there.
With Presbyterianism this is not so. They know why they're
there and have a specific understanding of the nature of the Church. For them the
heart of the church, it's soul on earth as it were, lies with the clerical
presbytery, the regional grouping of clerics who preside over the
congregations. This combination of presentation and power overshadows this
entire discussion.
I found it very telling that seminary preparation includes
getting your bachelor's degree and a host of other things...and oh yes, we must
not forget Bible literacy!
It took them 30 minutes or so to get to that point. And then
they rightly lamented the ignorance of incoming students . I can also testify
to witnessing this at seminary. Or notice the parents calling for their high
school student who wants to go into the ministry. What's wrong with that? It's
not a profession, you don't go shopping colleges or craft your career.
This is institutionalism taking over the church.
Institutions create bureaucracies which manage and guard the power. To get in
you have to dot the right 'i' and cross the right 't' and you must commit
yourself to the institution.
This world creates its own culture. It reminds me of the
military, a self contained little world with its own culture, rules and lingo. You
have to know the right names and terms. You have to know the little
games...Robert's Rules or when preaching isn't preaching, but 'exhorting'. You
have to learn about committees, standing committees, licenses, transfers, and
whether you need a ThM or a MDiv.
It would all be okay if it were Biblical. As Christians we
certainly do have our own Kingdom culture...but this isn't it. Paul knew
nothing of their world, their qualifications, aspirations, or even
expectations.
I suppose I'm just the bitter failure, the quitter who
didn't finish the programme. I found some of the academics to be challenging
but in many classes I wouldn't call it an education at all. You were forced to
operate within a small circle. You were there to learn the party line.
In these circles, knowing your Bible isn't enough, sometimes
not even that important. For many of the 21-22 year olds it was the fact that
you had a bachelor's degree and financial backing. If you're a go-getter, look
sharp, sign on, have the money, and say the right things...you've got a future.
This podcast reminded of some of these things which I
haven't thought about for a long time. My road has not been a particularly easy
one and there are times I lament the fact that I didn't just finish the
programme and get myself out into a church somewhere. I could still be kidding
myself that I was making a difference.
I turned my back on all that. My conscience couldn't be a
part of it. I can't pretend to like something I detest and I can't look the
other way. In all likelihood my 'career' would have been short. They would have
forced me out if I had ever really been allowed in. I am by no means opposed to
teaching in a church context but I will never sign on as a hired gun, a
mercenary pastor who's made a career...often a pretty nice one... of being the
manager and presenter in chief, the cleric of a local congregation.
The Church of the New Testament consists of a congregation
led by a plurality of elders. They're not clerics or trained professionals.
They're not hired. They're not lords in a denomination. They're not there for
the health benefits, pension, retirement, perks and tax free living. It isn't
about being respectable in the community or walking around wearing distinctive
clothing. It's not about civil or denominational politics or academic
respectability. It's not about controlling other people. It's a calling, a
rough one, a humble one... something far different from what I heard in this
episode.
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