Thursday, October 9, 2008

Post-Church Era?

Thank you Pastor Beane for reminding us that the Lord is in charge of His Church. Here is an excerpt from Pastor Beane's post "The Post-Church Era?"

I find the words "Post-Church Era" to be disturbing. I think Scripture is clear: the Church is an eternal entity. And while the culture is increasingly hostile to the Bride of Christ - especially the more the Church clings to ecclesiastical traditions that the world finds repugnant - we have the Lord's promise: "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt 16:18).

The word "post-church" is an oxymoron to the believer. Such language is the prattle of secular sociologists. When the Church stops talking like the Church, when she uses the language of something else - like a business in need of a bailout, or a social club in need of a marketing strategy to attract new members - it is indicative that she no longer sees herself as the supernatural bride of a supernatural God - but rather just another organization that can be analyzed and manipulated using the world's methodologies.

Instead of speaking of Christianity in the argot of the atheist analyst (from the perspective of the world) as "post-church", we should be describing the fallen world (from the perspective of Christ and his church) as that which is passing away.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What most people often mean by "post-church era" is that Christianity is losing its "prominence" in culture. Funny, that would make the time of the apostles a "post-church era." Which would mean that we should be doing the same things today that they did back then--properly dividing the Word of God and administering the sacraments.