The Church
and the Fiddler on the Roof.
by Tim Suttle
On Sunday at h.k10 we explored the metaphor of the Fiddler on the Roof. In this old Broadway musical, the proud Jewish father struggles when each of his 5 daughters come to ask his blessing for their marriage. As he tries to decide whether or not to bless the union, he actually considers what this will do to their family…will it change them? enhance them? ruin them? He is really trying to balance TRADITION with RELEVANCE.
This is not unlike what the church is asked to do. We must deal with the question: “How do we balance the traditions of our heritage/scripture with the need to be relevant to our current culture without breaking continuity with historic Christianity?” If we fall too far toward traditions and begin to embrace them merely for tradition’s sake, we fall into traditionalism & no longer embody the kingdom ideal. If we fall too far toward relevance, then we break continuity and start a brand new religion. How can we balance?
This question is made even more important by the realization that we live in a time of great change. We explored Phyllis Tickle’s claim that we are in a great transition which is just one in a long succession of transitions which come every 500 years:
- Reformation (1500 AD)
- Great Schism (1054 AD)
- Fall of Rome & Monasticism born (476 AD)
- Time of Christ (33 AD)
- Babylonian Captivity of the Jews (550 BCE)
- End of Judges/beginning of Dynasty (1030 BCE)
Her point is that we are living at the end of an old era and the beginning of a new one. In this new era we’re considering the old models of church which we’ve inherited.
The Reformation gave us the view of church as “a place where certain things happen.” This view brought with it some baggage. First, it created the expectation that church will be a “vendor of religious goods & services.” In this model parishioners become consumers, pastors become professionals, and members become volunteers who are deployed to meet consumer needs much like a workforce. Second, it forced churches to compete in the marketplace with the primary focus being brand loyalty and acquiring market share.
The Enlightenment gave us a view of church which was dominated by “Reason.” This view also brought with it some baggage. First, faith became largely a rational thing. Second, faith became largely a personal thing. Thirdly, it required faith to stand up to “reason” as the only legitimate way of “knowing.”
The Church Today is splintered and divided almost equally between Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Mainline Denominations, and Liturgicals, each offering different ideas about what it means to be a church. We talked about the possibility that in the biblical teaching about the Kingdom of God, we might actually find one unifying theme.
Jurgen Moltmann teaches us that the church doesn’t have a mission, but Christ has a mission. It is the mission of Christ which calls the church into existence. Our mission is to follow Christ in pursuit of the kingdom of God. We learn from Darrell Guder three ways which we might do this:
BEING: the church can represent the kingdom of God in its community. The first job of the church, says Stanley Hauerwas, is to simply be the church. The church is to embody the reign of God before a watching world. In doing this the effects of the reformation are counteracted. Church is not seen as a place where certain things happen, but a people called to the mission of Christ who embody the reign and rule of Christ.
DOING: the church can represent the kingdom of God as its servant. In our times this might looks very different in differing contexts. In America, it will look less and less like imposing our moral will onto the social fabric and more and more like the church giving tangible experiences of the reign and rule of God through compassion, mercy and justice. This offsets the Enlightenment idea that religion is private & merely rational by proving that the truth can be incarnational.
SPEAKING: the church can represent the Kingdom of God as its messenger. By embracing the catholic nature of our faith and uniting by the proclamation that Jesus instituted the kingdom of God and that all are invited to join, the church can actually speak with one voice. This offsets the dis-unity and the current splintered factions which dominate the church.
This is not unlike what the church is asked to do. We must deal with the question: “How do we balance the traditions of our heritage/scripture with the need to be relevant to our current culture without breaking continuity with historic Christianity?” If we fall too far toward traditions and begin to embrace them merely for tradition’s sake, we fall into traditionalism & no longer embody the kingdom ideal. If we fall too far toward relevance, then we break continuity and start a brand new religion. How can we balance?
This question is made even more important by the realization that we live in a time of great change. We explored Phyllis Tickle’s claim that we are in a great transition which is just one in a long succession of transitions which come every 500 years:
- Reformation (1500 AD)
- Great Schism (1054 AD)
- Fall of Rome & Monasticism born (476 AD)
- Time of Christ (33 AD)
- Babylonian Captivity of the Jews (550 BCE)
- End of Judges/beginning of Dynasty (1030 BCE)
Her point is that we are living at the end of an old era and the beginning of a new one. In this new era we’re considering the old models of church which we’ve inherited.
The Reformation gave us the view of church as “a place where certain things happen.” This view brought with it some baggage. First, it created the expectation that church will be a “vendor of religious goods & services.” In this model parishioners become consumers, pastors become professionals, and members become volunteers who are deployed to meet consumer needs much like a workforce. Second, it forced churches to compete in the marketplace with the primary focus being brand loyalty and acquiring market share.
The Enlightenment gave us a view of church which was dominated by “Reason.” This view also brought with it some baggage. First, faith became largely a rational thing. Second, faith became largely a personal thing. Thirdly, it required faith to stand up to “reason” as the only legitimate way of “knowing.”
The Church Today is splintered and divided almost equally between Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Mainline Denominations, and Liturgicals, each offering different ideas about what it means to be a church. We talked about the possibility that in the biblical teaching about the Kingdom of God, we might actually find one unifying theme.
Jurgen Moltmann teaches us that the church doesn’t have a mission, but Christ has a mission. It is the mission of Christ which calls the church into existence. Our mission is to follow Christ in pursuit of the kingdom of God. We learn from Darrell Guder three ways which we might do this:
BEING: the church can represent the kingdom of God in its community. The first job of the church, says Stanley Hauerwas, is to simply be the church. The church is to embody the reign of God before a watching world. In doing this the effects of the reformation are counteracted. Church is not seen as a place where certain things happen, but a people called to the mission of Christ who embody the reign and rule of Christ.
DOING: the church can represent the kingdom of God as its servant. In our times this might looks very different in differing contexts. In America, it will look less and less like imposing our moral will onto the social fabric and more and more like the church giving tangible experiences of the reign and rule of God through compassion, mercy and justice. This offsets the Enlightenment idea that religion is private & merely rational by proving that the truth can be incarnational.
SPEAKING: the church can represent the Kingdom of God as its messenger. By embracing the catholic nature of our faith and uniting by the proclamation that Jesus instituted the kingdom of God and that all are invited to join, the church can actually speak with one voice. This offsets the dis-unity and the current splintered factions which dominate the church.
