by Jim » Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:17 pm
The notion that changing theologies in order to preserve mainline (dying) or conservative (stagnating) churches/denominations is a non-starter if in the process securing converts (saving souls) is a main consideration. That there are theologies instead of a theology is a turn-off for many, so changing them simply compounds the problem (one mess for another) inducing disgust or laughter or distrust, the kind preserved for most other institutions/entities such as government or even a mother-in-law. Opposing views in this forum prove the point, and prospects would not be interested in the theology, in the first place. Most church members aren’t, either. Actually, the theology-changers usually mean changing the PR of the church in a vain effort to compete with especially entertainment venues, thus the accent on turning what are billed as “worship services” into a rock concert or Saturday Night Live, with the silly emphasis on what sells to the immature, whether teens or up to 30-somethings. This is not to disparage changing one’s personal theology, which can be the result of serious study and prayer. I’m amazed at how much my personal approach to doctrines has changed over my many years but these changes do not involve PR, just my connection to God and as relative to serious discussions with others. Billions have been squandered in building everything from gymnasiums to state-of-the-art electronic broadcast systems in sanctuaries to seduce the public while concomitantly losing membership and dialing everything down to just “come as you are” (including ministers), treating worship with less tangible respect than accorded the everyday job. In the mix has been more than a generation totally unacquainted with the great music of the church, especially its congregational hymns.
A check of Mark 4:10, Luke 4:4 and Exodus 34:14 gets at the root of the problem. The key element is worship of God and absolutely nothing else. This is what people want, the necessarily abstract introduction to the “higher power,” but not without tangible evidence...something to hang onto that makes sense. This would seem to be what God wants, as well. Raised in the SBC and a full-time SBC-church employee during the entire decade of the 1960s, when the nation went off the rails and has stayed off, I finally took stock of what I had been taught and tried to teach, finding that much of it made no sense. I wrote down some conclusions regarding thorny subjects and published it, A Layman's Theology. In the process, my faith deepened as I realized the theologically wrought need not be the illogically wrought. For instance, I think God, of his own volition, does not know what I'll be doing tomorrow if I'm still here. The book is available on Amazon and Barnes/Noble or Lulu Press, though I don't expect any takers; however I'm attaching the preliminary pages and Foreward with the suggestion that the Foreward will provoke thought. This is not a commercial. As can be imagined, I've made no money from my writings. Getting back to the actual worship of God both personally and collectively without the extraneous mind-numbing PR and senseless activities will do more good than worrying about theologies. Actual worship will eventuate in attention to all other areas of existence.
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