Anyone who has followed my writings the past couple of years is aware that I am not optimistic about the future of the dominant expression of Christianity in America today. I fully expect denominational/institutional Christianity to follow the same course it has in Europe where it has largely become a relic of the past. That is not to say, however, that I think the message and way of Jesus Christ are in any sense in decline. To the contrary, I've never been more encouraged than I am right now with their future prospects.
There are a number of reasons for my hope. Among them are:
1) Widespread rejection of the political power seeking form of Christianity that sought to impose selected morality through legislative influence. The Moral Majority mentality has been a disaster and a distraction from serious Christ-following.
2) Emancipation of whole hearted God seeking from clergy and creed dominated forms. People everywhere are discovering God and his heart for compassion, justice and peace apart from excluding and controlling authority structures.
3) Serious and respected scholars and leaders who are rejecting gloomy doctrines that cultivate fear, cause people to cluster at the exit and assume most human beings are going to hell are gaining in number. Not because they are participating in some sinister plot to undermine God's truth, but because God's truth is setting us free just as Jesus said it would. Old superstitions and people regulating ploys can't stand up to enlightened scrutiny, as I indicated in my previous blog.
What I find myself longing for are established leaders who will be courageous enough to break ranks from the status quo and give voice to their attraction to and sympathy for the fresh ways God is working today. If even one or two significant institutional leaders would be willing to sacrifice role security for the sake of the greater good and declare the misguidedness of some of the old mindsets, I believe it would embolden many to break out into the light. It is long overdue for maintainers of the established to give way to the inevitable progress of the emerging.
C'mon church leaders, guide us out of the old gloomy perspectives of the past. How about some good news for a change--Christ's really good news.
