Movement
of the true Church?
Donald Sage, William Hog, and John
Kennedy all looked to the working of God in the people of their fold.
The paradox we see in these and
other great godly men, they prayed for revival and awakening, but
were knowingly or unknowingly locked into a restricted framework, of
a Calvinistic form, designed by humans to hold things in place. This
framework was not conducive to the change they desired.
In Dallas Willard's book "The
Divine Conspiracy" he notices that on examination of local
gatherings of Christian believers .... it seems a general law of
social and historical development, that institutions tend to distort
and destroy the central function that brought it into existence.
Clyde Reid, in his law of religious
evasion, states "we structure our churches and maintain them, so
as to shield us from God, and to protect us from genuine religious
experience". Adult members of Churches today, rarely raise
serious religious questions for fear of revealing their doubts, or
being thought of as strange. There is a conspiracy of silence on
religious matters in the Church. This conspiracy covers up the fact
that Churches do not change lives or influence conduct to any
appreciable degree. It was the case, in the 18th and
19th century and still is the case in the 20th
and 21st.[The Divine Conspiracy][Great omission]
In the 17th century James
Morison, on his way to preach at Cabrach, read Charles Finney's
"Revivals of Religion". Moved by what he read, he put to
one side his sermon notes prepared and preached from the heart. As
we look to the Church in Scotland, it is dogged with separations. Why
so many? Is it really due to a particular doctrine or theology or is
it something else? We, after some separations from the Church,
because of State Intervention or of Church government or of the use
of Communion or Church practise, may see it of no real consequence.
I am convinced that the difficulties
of the Church in Scotland, no matter what denomination, is one of
trust. If the Church is to revive the nation, it needs to be
prayerful – yes, it needs to be:
encompassing
- it needs to be alive
- it needs to be accommodating
- This means that it cannot afford to have Victorian methods, or indeed Victorian double values.
- It needs to be in the culture
Those who rediscovered truth were
people who were back searching in the Word of God and praying. They
were not reviewing Confessions of Faith, or Constitutions, or
Covenants. It is a recurring observation that when there is a moving
of God's Spirit in His people, they are moved back to reading the
Word of God and not a secondary document, Creed or Catechism.
Unlike England, or indeed any other
country, Scotland is shaped by the particular Scottish
characteristics of its people. How would some of these past people of
God look upon the nation of Scotland and the Church in the 21st
century? Surprised probably yes, but in some ways they might have
seen the writing on the wall for they surely lived and breathed in
the same nature as we do today. The adage “that time moves faster”
and we are “more sophisticated and successful” does not hold
water. The new technology helps in efficiency but does not clean the
heart. The political correctness looks more like one-one-upmanship
than care for the underdog or the weak without true-rights. There is
also a unequal right to those who wish to practise a faith based life
style. There is an imbalance, which will grow if not addressed, by
the focal minority against any faith based people.
Tell me that God will not be moved
by thousands of praying people in this nation. Many called for less
interference from State in Church. Now its in a subtle way become
interference imposed by a few supposedly under the banner of equal
rights.
But its not doom and gloom These
praying few will be heard. God still wants to rescue the nation from
all that is not worthy of Him.
Non
Presbyterian alternative
1 Promotion
of Baptists thinking, and past heritage – “not a sect”
Set out
as something to consider as opposed to come and take on our
theology.
2
Instigate localised prayer/reading groups LYFE groups see
Biblesociety.org.uk website
3 Seek,
encourage, create, groups who may plan to constitute in the future
4
Profile to existing Ministry – Additional supporting work not
competition
5 Instigate
alternative worship not based in same site!
6 Consider
a purpose built organisation for potential members across the
considerable distance which does not negate other church
memberships.
The
Sutherland and attached area is considerably sparse, and the
resulting work needs to combat, certainly initially, the difficulty
of distance and lack of resources. An awareness of not putting “all
eggs in one basket” or of spreading too thin needs to be in the
forefront. Nevertheless a flexible approach will be required to find
like minded people where a blessing is forthcoming.
The
staffing of any work needs to be flexible in geography and focussed
on aims and objectives.
The work
should look for those who have moved to the area with a wider church
experience and those who have discovered either on their own or
previously a Baptist perspective. (i.e. Not specifically sheep
stealing)
Consideration
Is there
a link to Youth for Christ who are starting an “emerging”
community in the Highlands and Islands?
God is certainly at work in the North of Scotland and it is not just
in one denomination or with one leader. Baptists would not want to
miss out on a future blessing coming South!
Worship
In the USA there are many pastors
who have tried “seeker services” and turned back and made
services more of a hurdle for newcomers rather than a friendly,
socially magnetic, meeting. They discovered that churches within
churches or twenty-thirty something churches work for a few years but
the real way forward is “Seeking the kingdom” and the life is
expressed in all things and not for a “time sandwich” on Sundays
and if you are really good midweek as well!
For the Scots this seems hard to
digest simply because the culture is so different and in particular
in the Highlands. The reaction is most probably nothing. The danger
of this reaction is relevant. The established churches, including so
called modern churches, needs to take stock.
The church grew in past ages with
the printing press. The church led the culture as it taught people
and the masses to read and write. Therefore the reading and text were
educating the people. The sermons, as we know them, were used to
advance the teaching style and help engage the masses.
SPCK (Society Promotion of Christian
Knowledge) by 1846 was in decline. The Court of Session decided all
agents must belong to the church established by law. At that time
funds that had been allocated for education were now being moved to
mission work. - a sign that the masses were now educated.[Memorabilia
Dom]
The SPCK was popular and efficient
with progressive good school and mission work but saddled with not so
progressive management according to Donald Sage.
Today's culture is leading the
Church. With Multi media be it film clips or blogs etc how will the
church address this new situation? The church needs to waken up and
see that it will be even more marginalised if it does not address how
it will be in the community of the culture of this post-modern
post-Christendom era. It has lost its place as leader of change and
it is in danger of losing credibility in the very near future. Being
marginalised means that no seeker service will be near touching those
who have no Christian experience. The Boys' Brigade in 1970 had no
signs of closing but in a few years it was struggling to maintain
basic cover for boys.
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