St Mark’s Centre for Radical Christianity, Broomhill, Sheffield invites you to a library and discussion evening on Whatever happened to Sin? The word 'SIN' crops up a lot in the bible, especially in the Old Testament. But nowadays the only place you hear it mentioned is in church! Does this mean we are better people than folk who lived two thousand years ago? Or is it that we now have different language for dealing with the whole business of right and wrong. What about moral choices and personal responsibility? Or are more and more people just not bothered anymore?
The fact that St Mark's, on this occasion at least, is having the moral courage to address such a counter-cultural subject got Cranmer's Curate thinking. A liberal church that went orthodox would be one very much worth joining.
Free of the social elitism, empire building and creaming off effect that unfortunately can characterise ministry in cc's own Conservative Evangelical constituency, it could be a really welcoming place and an excitingly diverse, in a social sense, Christian community. Also, aspects of liberal acceptance and generosity of spirit could make it an environment in which hell-deserving sinners like Cranmer's Curate would be free to be honest about their sins and, now that the church has become orthodox, discover the reality of repentance.
The best of its liberal culture, combined with its new-found biblical orthodoxy, could make it a win-win church for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who we believe 'came to seek and to save the lost' (Luke 19v10).
Orthodox Christians should believe that the living Christ of the Bible is powerful enough to recapture liberal churches. The humbling thought is that they could be spiritually healthier places to be than many of our churches.
"social elitism, empire building and creaming off effect" I have never witnessed any of this in the evangelical chuches I have been a part of. Can you give any examples?
ReplyDeleteThis is an observation based on 30 years' involvement, but obviously I don't want to name names! In this region there is the phenomenon of Evangelicals driving past the door of a small church where Evangelical ministry is underway in order to commute to the suburban megachurches.
ReplyDeleteI am quite taken by this. I have felt something similar for a long time, attempting the challenge of trying to introduce "liberal" values (which are actually the values of the Jesus of the Gospels) while retaining evangelical doctrine.
ReplyDeleteI don't always agree with your opinions (this being the exception), but I do appreciate your blog as an independent-minded evangelical voice. Thanks for being honest.
Thank you for this Charlie. The liberal church would change radically as a result of becoming biblically orthodox. Eg unbiblical patterns of women's ministry would change and male headship would be established. On moral issues there would also be a radical change of emphasis. Core doctrines set forth in the Prayer Book such as God's wrath on sin and its propitiation by the death of Christ would also become central. Still taken by this post?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply. I have therefore certainly seen the creaming off that you speak of, and empire building is obviously in quite a few places. What about social elitism?
ReplyDelete>still taken by this post?
ReplyDeleteOf course. As a regular reader, I already know where you stand on these things. Some of them I agree with you on, some I don't.
Honestly, there's no point writing a post commending the liberals for their inclusivity if you're going to get all defensive when someone from outside your core audience pays you a compliment. :)
Thank you Charlie - compliments are way out of my comfort zone!
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Anon - John Richardson has written eloquently about this aspect of English Conservative Evangelicalism. If you go on the Ugley Vicar, you can contact him there.
Surely, you need to start with a clear distinction between TRULY liberal and liberating (the Gospel) and "Liberal" as used as a label (the former Middle-of-the-Road, or Broad Church), and also "liberal" as revisionist or post-Christian. Often the second and third of these involve the same people. (It's a but like "Humanist" - which I call in-humanist).
ReplyDeleteThank you John - that is really helpful. I suppose what it boils down to is the sort of people who gravitate culturally towards certain sorts of churches. Often in English Conservative Evangelicalism we are quite 'institutional' in terms of educational background and therefore can be hierarchical in outlook and socially unadventurous. Arguably, we need to become more 'liberal' in your first sense of the term.
ReplyDelete"social elitism, empire building and creaming off effect" ... I am sorry to say that I agree ... again naming no names!
ReplyDeleteImogen, Derby