Social Evolution and the Church

One of the most prominent distinctives of 21th century American culture is our rugged individualism. Our relative wealth and political freedom has given us the luxury of having to rely little on others. Give me a cell phone and a Visa card and I can accomplish the impossible! This attitude has permeated nearly every aspect of American life, the church being no exception.

As a result we have stratified our social interactions. We have our church friends, our work friends, friends from the gym, and friends from our children's activities. Then it seems we try as much as possible to segregate each group. Our lives are arranged around our life's "programs", and we dare not try to mix them. Why is this so?

This paradigm for social interaction and daily living stands in stark contrast to 1st century Palestine. The cultural fabric of that time was interwoven; religious life, rather in Judaism or early Christianity was integrated with secular life. We see a history of interdependence, not independence. Community was vital as opposed to optional.

Do we as a society embrace our social evolution or do we just accept it? What effect does this have on the Church? Should we try to change anything? If so, what?

The New Testament Church

Well, I've been searching for the New Testament church and I found her. I think. Maybe. Perhaps. However, you will need a time machine to find her. Or a Bible. She is firmly embedded in the time and culture of the 1st century. I just do not believe it is possible to re-create the New Testament church that we find in Scripture.

To actually recreate the New Testament church, we would have to re-create 1st century culture. I don't believe you can separate the Biblical record from the time and culture in which it was written. That is not to say we should not take the principals and elements we see in Scripture and incorporate them into our church experience. In fact, I believe that is precisely what we must do. But in actual practice, how is that going to look?

We need to build personal, one on one relationships. We also need to rebuild our sense of community and service. We need to practice all the ''one anothers'' of Scripture . I could go on and on...

I am just starting to unpack some of these ideas which I hope to attempt to explore further in subsequent posts. Happy New Year!

Community, are you sure?

A friend of mine today was relating a story of how when he was divorced back in the mid-70's he was ostracized by the very church he helped start. He went on to say that non-Christians were supportive and friendly when his pleas for support and friendship fell on deaf ears from the "Christian community". He said that even after 35 years, he still remembers that experience vividly. I can't say as I blame him.

He continued that indeed he was proud of his faith but that even today he found many Christians that were less than friendly and intolerant of alternate opinions. He still was convinced in his heart that tolerant, friendly warm Christian community existed. I think my friend just got involved with the wrong folks.

But this got me thinking: I wonder how many others have had similar circumstances? What if someone was convinced that true Christian community did not exist? What if anything does this say about Christianity?