This is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis

More Em Church Reflections

It seems my previous reflection on the "postmodern" embrace of the Em Churchers has gotten some attention I don't normally receive (and probably don't deserve). Reverend Mike offers up some gracious agreement on some points. BeChurch has two entries, here and here. And organic church also offers up some comments.

The comments touch nerves, so I wanted to be clear to the Em Churchers: I did not mean my comments in any way to be taken as mere rhetoric to score some Orthodox points. I meant them quite seriously, and sincerely await responses.

There is a part of my questioning that is also--assuming that I have the right understanding on the matter--meant to serve as a warning to my brothers and sisters who are, like me, in search of the genuine life of Christ in the Church.

When one looks at the history of the relationship between the Church and the surrounding culture, cautionary tales abound.

Though the Constantinian legitimization of the public presence of the Church did much to end the shedding of innocent blood and the ruthless oppression of Christians, the development of monasticism in response gives some credence to the understanding that public legitimization was not without its downside. St. John Chrysostom had much to say to his congregation about allowing the godlessness of the culture to infiltrate the purity of the Body of Christ.

The Pope's seeking after political hegemony during the reign of Charlemagne led, perhaps inevitably, to the abuses and sinful acts of the late medieval papal see and its schism. And, as well, to the Cistercian and Carthusian reforms in Benedictine (that is to say, western) monasticism.

Calvin's Geneva, though a major and important seat of the Reformation, was among the most oppressive states in its enforcement of Reformation doctrine.

In our own day, capitalist consumerism has so infiltrated the churches, that marketing often takes the place of substance. Witness the addition of ^TM to so many of the present day conferences and their jargon.

From the philosophical standpoint, the amalgamation that calls itself "posmodern" (to the extent that it can be spoken of generally) presumes a certain relativity and skepticism that cannot be used uncritically by any of us.

This is not to say that "postmodernist" thought is without benefit. It's focus on the particular, in opposition to the modernist universalizing paradigm, is quite welcome, and can be used to allow Christians a chance in the marketplace of ideas. But "postmodernism" is not, ultimately, fully commensurate with Christian conviction and so to the degree that we fail to utilize it with watchful attentiveness, so much more do we put ourselves and our churches in harm's way. The Episcopal Church, in its search for relevancy to our culture, is perhaps the most explicit example of what happens if we do not critically examine, from the standpoint of faith, the culture in which we live and move.

So, all I'm trying to say to my Em Church brothers and sisters is: be careful, and don't fail to turn the "postmodernist" critique back upon itself.

Posted by Clifton at January 17, 2004 01:46 PM | TrackBack