How flexible is our church?

How flexible is our church?

Posted on 01. Nov, 2009 by in Blog

Paul is one of the greatest theologians in history staunchly fighting for the truth in the face of false teaching.  Yet at the same time he displayed an extraordinary cultural flexibility:

Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

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There are 4 combinations of culture and theology that are seen in different types of churches.  Taking these one at a time…

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These are what you call ‘dying churches’.  And in a sense the sooner the better.  These are the churches that have lost their anchor in the great truths of the Bible.  They no longer teach hell, or judgment, they accept homosexuality as a valid form of loving relationship.  And they are still running church meetings with the organ in the corner exactly as they did 50 years ago. And its exactly the same congregation that were there 50 years ago except they’re all 50 years older.

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These are the ‘jellyfish churches’. They are flexible in every sense – no backbone! They embrace modern music, modern technology, they’re full of young people and they’re growing.  The problem is, their theology is just as flexible as their church culture.  They recognise that people can get offended by some of what the Bible says – so their message becomes self-affirming pop-pyschology – not unlike what you’d hear on Oprah.  One of the key questions to ask of these churches: are they really growing God’s kingdom?

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These are ‘air-raid shelter churches’.  These are churches which hold fast to the truths of the Bible.  But they are so afraid of compromise that they never change, they never engage with the culture round about.  They may still hold to the truth, but they still sing the same old hymns.  Over time they look more and more irrelevant to the society round about!  In the end this is one of those false categories.  What Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 8-10 is that if you have your theology strong and solid then it will drive to be culturally flexible.

Culturally flexible & Theologically rigid

slide1This is what Paul was like.  This is what Jesus was like.  And Paul calls on us to imitate their example:

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.  Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.  (1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1)

You can download the sermon on 1 Corinthians 9 here (Driving ambition).

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2 Responses to “How flexible is our church?”

  1. dsoede

    11. Jun, 2009

    I agree with this article, however, if expanded into a sermon I would be careful about defining rigidity and flexibility, particularly with regard to theology. For example, Christians within a church, including ministers should have the theological flexibility to re-align their beliefs, particularly in some areas which could be regarded as “non mission critical” eg A-millenial vs post-millenial vs (my favourite) pan-millenial. What would we have done as a “church” when confronted with Luther’s articles if we had been so theologically rigid? And then Calvin?
    You could even argue more broadly that we as a church were being theologically flexible when altering our mission statement a few years ago adding . . . so that God is glorified.
    Of course I think the church statement change is good, and probably tightened up our original mission statement (speaking of which, I can’t find it on the new site – why not? Shouldn’t it be proclaimed somewhere?) for the better, but my point is, you wouldn’t describe that change as an example of rigidity. Nor the Protestant reformation or shift to Calvin from Luther in some (prominent) areas of theology.

  2. Dave Sheath

    12. Jun, 2009

    At our newcomers suppers I always go through the following reformation slogan…

    In Essentials Unity
    In Non-Essentials Liberty
    In All Things Charity

    We need to work hard at what constitute Essentials and hold firmly to them. I agree with you Dave that some elevate what I would regard as Non-Essentials to the level of Essentials.

    But as we go about the task we need to show Charity (the word just means love but it has that nice ‘ity’ ending that rhymes with Liberty and Unity).

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