Fighting man or his methods?
Posted on : 31-03-2009 | By : Dan | In : Christianity 2.0, Church, Living Your Faith
Tags: Christianity, Church, Deconstruction, Methodism, Methodist, methods, sinful nature, tradition, Wesley
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This post is the product of a series of conversations with Mike Baker and a recent post by Daniel and Heather Cosby entitled “Demolition of the Heart…”. In Daniel and Heather’s post, they wrote:
“Over the last year or two, we have spent considerable energy trying to expose and dismantle the beliefs surrounding this worldly-derived system which identifies itself as “the Church”. To a large degree, this has been driven by the assumption that it is this system which is holding so many people back from experiencing true, authentic, unfettered Life. . . .
But these assumptions have proven to be pretty short-sighted. They forget what lies at the core of everything that diverges from God’s intentions. They neglect the underlying reality of sin. . . .
While it is true that so many of the practices embraced by religious legalism today were borrowed from a combination of pagan influences and Old Testament Law, it is also true that these practices are adopted and preserved essentially because they provide an appealing alternative to simply finding oneself standing naked and condemned before a Holy God. They are safe. They are convenient. They appeal to our flesh. And though they do provide a platform on which pride and self-reliance can flourish, they are not the cause of these ugly human traits. They are a symptom, but not the disease, a manifestation of what lies at the root, an unintended showcase of our fallen nature, which always tends to value ingenuity over dependence, and personal achievement over brokenness…
If we simply focus on knocking down the religious edifices that have been built by those who would trust human wisdom more than God’s, we can easily ignore the reasons why these systems were ever formed at all… We can strive to live as “organically” as possible, and yet in our hearts be just as cold and dead as the bricks in the church buildings we’ve left…
Is it the institutions which enslave people, or is it sin itself?“
I think that is a profound question, and one I’ve been considering a lot lately. Perhaps the issues we have with the institutional church can’t be resolved by merely a new approach. Perhaps the issues are there because of our sinful nature, regardless of our methodical approach to church (or deconstruction of it)? This can be seen clearly in the history of modern day Methodism (hence the name “Methodist”).
John Wesley emphasized a conversion experience and personal holiness and began making many practical reforms to the way church was done, especially how people lived throughout the week and interacted with other believers. He was discontent with the apathy and dead tradition he saw all around him. Wesley never intended to invent a new church, he merely formed small groups known as “United Societies.” It didn’t take long for the Church of England to ban them from speaking in any pulpits, so John Wesley and his brother Charles soon began preaching in homes and other non-church settings. Today Methodism is not much different in practice than most mainstream evangelical denominations, nor is it faring any better. Clearly a new “method” didn’t help – human nature prevails.
Perhaps the reasons we tend to form traditions and hierarchy are because of embedded sin, not because our initial approach was bad. This is really making me reconsider how I approach a lot of issues concerning church practice. I still think things could be a lot better than they are, but I’m becoming much more forgiving of many different traditions and how they came to be.
What do you think? Are we just fighting man and his sinful nature, or are we legitimately fighting corrupt man-made methods? Which is it: fighting man or his methods?






Or at least that’s the message I seem to be hearing from a lot of America’s largest churches and most popular preachers. What ever happened to denying ourselves? What ever happened to the (gulp) offensive teaching that we don’t have the ability in our flesh to discern right from wrong? Whatever happened to keeping the central focus of EVERYTHING on Jesus?
I cited Titus 2 because it is crucial for older and more mature believers to embrace the Christianity 2.0 community so that they can mold and help mature it. If the only people who embrace this cultural shift are young adults, then we will look to each other’s input to grow and mature. Wouldn’t it be so great if older and more mature individuals were contributing valuable input to the community? Not only is this a great idea, it’s necessary for optimal growth!
