While I havent exactly been a fan of Frank Viola this is a good article

The Postchurch Perspective

There is a growing phenomenon in the body of Christ today. Alongside of the missional church movement, the emerging church movement, and the house church movement, there is a mode of thinking that I call “postchurch Christianity.”

The postchurch brand of Christianity is built on the premise that institutional forms of church are ineffective, unbiblical, unworkable, and in some cases, dangerous. Institutionalization is not compatible with ekklesia. So say postchurch advocates.

But the postchurch view goes further saying, “any semblance of organization whatsoever … any semblance of leadership … is wrong and oppressive. Church is simply when two or three believers gather together in any format. Whenever this happens, church occurs.”

Here are some examples of what you might hear a postchurch advocate say:

• “Sally and I had coffee at Starbucks last week. That was church.”
• “I get together with two other men once a month at Sonny’s BBQ. That’s church for us.”"I travel a great deal and whenever I visit Christians in other cities, we’re having church together.”
• “I live in Dallas, TX. Last week, I talked to my friend on the phone for an hour. He lives in Miami, FL. The week before I talked with a friend who lives in Portland, OR. We were having church on the phone. I belong to the same church that they do.”
• “I don’t attend any Christian meetings. I have church on the Internet. I belong to several Christian discussion groups and social networks, and that’s church for me.”
• “I don’t understand how people can talk about church planting? How can a church be planted when we are already the church? I’m the church. You’re the church. So just be the church.”

To my mind, all of the above reflects a redefinition of ekklesia as it is found, used, and understood in the New Testament. No first-century Christian would have used “church” in this way. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with fellowshipping with Christians at Starbucks, on the phone, or through the Internet, the biblical meaning of ekklesia is something quite different.

The biblical text that postchurch advocates hang a great deal of their doctrine on is Matthew 18: 20:”For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

But it’s important to read this verse in context:

“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:15-20)

Here, Jesus is speaking of a local ekklesia, a community of Christ-followers who live in the same locale. The people in this ekklesia know one another. And what this passage has in view is an excommunication meeting. Therefore, it’s a horrifying text—a text that no Christian should ever want to use. It has to do with a person who is acting in a wayward manner and refuses to stop.

When this happens, the injured person must go to the offending person in private. If the offending person refuses to reconcile, two or three others from the local ekklesia must talk to him. If the offending person still refuses to stop his wayward conduct, he must be dis-fellowshipped from the ekklesia.

Note that Jesus says that the two or three should “tell it to the church” if the offending person doesn’t repent. Now think: If the two or three people are the church, then this text becomes incoherent. Consequently, the two or three cannot be the church. They are simply a part of it. The implication is that the two or three who went to the unrepentant person should be praying for him. And the Lord will be with them in a special way as they do. He will stand with them.

This context indicates that the ekklesia is an organic entity where a group of committed believers in a locality “bind and loose,” using the keys of the kingdom that Jesus has given to them. Consequently, Matthew 18 is not a text in which Jesus is trying to define the church for us. Rather it’s a text describing the awful process of excommunication.

Because this is the primary passage the postchurch viewpoint is founded on, I’m of the opinion that the position cannot stand up against the light of the New Testament.

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August 3, 2009

Frank Viola on Postchurch: Part 2

by Frank Viola

In my first post, I argued that the primary text used to support the postchurch viewpoint is not about the nature of the church at all. Instead, it’s about the process of excommunication. Now I have more evidence against the postchurch viewpoint. In my mind, it fails to pass six important tests.

The Original Language Test

New Testament scholarship agrees that the word ekklesia (translated “church”) meant a local community of people who assemble together regularly. The word was used for the Greek assembly whereby those in a city were “called forth” from their homes to meet (assemble) in the town forum to make decisions for the city. The Christian ekklesia is a community of people who gather together and possess a shared life in Christ.

As such, the ekklesia as used in New Testament literature is visible, touchable, locatable, and tangible. You can visit it. You can observe it. And you can live in it. Biblically speaking, you could not call anything an ekklesia unless it assembled regularly together.

—Frank Viola is the author of numerous books on the deeper Christian life and church reform, including From Eternity to Here. For more, visit www.FrankViola.com.

Battlestar Galactica

I finally got around to watching the last of the show. I had given up a bunch of entertainment stuff during Lent so I had to wait until Easter Sunday before I could resume watching the show.

This show has been one of the most interesting shows I’ve seen in a while, if not ever. Unlike Lost, this one ended while it was still good. However like Lost it was very character driven, and riddled with mystery, and of course every turn in the plot was one that you didnt see coming.

Well, that’s not completely true. I think the writers would pick your most dreaded course and go for it. However when the show ended you are left with a bitter satisfaction

If you followed the series from the beginning the characters you hated you loved at the end. Take for instance Gaius Baltar . This guy was a sniveling weasel of a character at the beginning. But his evolution was amazing to watch. Of course he stayed self centered most of the time. I absolutely loved the irony in that he and Caprica Six , who were responsible for the destruction of Caprica, were the saviors in the end.

What struck me hard was the way the show ended. When you really think about it, it really couldnt have ended any other way. Anything else would have felt incomplete.

The journey of humanity through space in derelict spacecraft, living in fear and poverty, sickness and death, greed and loneliness, would end on another planet they would call Earth.

At one point in their sojourn they had stopped on a livable planet and tried to start a civilization reminiscent of Caprica, they even called it New Caprica . This turned out to be a huge mistake and they were almost destroyed in the process.

On Earth (150,000 years ago), they would abandon everything and start over as farmers. They settled around the planet in colonies and distributed their supplies evenly among themselves.

This is a very thought provoking picture for me. As I walk outside and look around my yard I wonder how it would be to abandon everything and start over with nothing.

Honestly I know there would be lots of things I would miss initially, perhaps computers, AC, iPods, my electric guitar and amp and effects. I would miss being able to watch sci-fi shows on tv or the movies, and being able to drive where ever I wanted to go in my truck.

And I wonder if our economy ever crashed totally, or if China or Russia or some terrorist were to take down our electrical grid, or if for some reason our standard of living were to somehow be reduced to that of a third world country or worse, how would I take it? How would I react? How would I live?

Somehow I dont think our Quality of Life is dependent on our Standard of Living. What a joy it would be to have dinner with my family everyday, to not have all the distractions of cell phones and emails, and text messages.

This coming from a guy who is constantly looking at his phone, checking texts and Facebook, and Tweeting on Twitter. A guy who loves electric guitars and all the myriads of effects. A guy who loves the internet as an instant portal into peoples thoughts and lives around the world.

Dont get me wrong, I love life as it is. But I wonder if it will keep going on like it is. I wonder if there will ever be a “reset ” button that will be pushed. Would we welcome the chance to start our world anew? What foundations would you lay that would be different? Would you enjoy the wind and the rain?

I really dont do justice to the show and it’s ending and the thoughts going through my mind. I’m sad to see it end, but it’s a bitter sweet closing. I dont expect to see another show like it again.

Easter is all about the resurrection of Jesus.  Easter is the greatest holiday of the Christian year.  It is the single most important event in history.  But because of our culture and some of our traditions, this fact has often obstructed me from seeing Easter as the greatest day of the year.

However once I learned that many of our traditions, The Easter Bunny, and Easter Egg, even wearing new white clothes, were actually at one time symbols of the new life in Christ and the Resurrection, then my eyes were more clearly able to focus on Jesus and his mission.

Let me explain, but first a bit of history.

The Easter Hare first appears in history in the 1500’s in Germany.  Painted eggs were first recorded in the 13th century, also around Germany.  Cultures around the world and throughout history have always been excited to celebrate the new life of Springtime.  Many have used these and similar symbols in artistic ways to show their love for life.

In the 6th century Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) sent missionaries into northern Europe and the British Isles who were trained to find cultural symbols and traditions that could be used in preaching the gospel and thus winning the lost.  He wrote, “Since the people are accustomed, when they assemble for sacrifice, to kill many oxen in sacrifice to the devils, it seems reasonable to appoint a festival for the people by way of exchange. The people must learn to slay their cattle not in honor of the devil, but in honor of God and for their own food…”

In a sense this is what we do today.  We have taken guitars, drums, and keyboards, that have been used to glorify man and sin, and we use them as vehicles of worship to glorify God.  Not only has God redeemed instruments but you and I.  Don’t forget that we were once lost.  We were once self serving, self pleasing, and by doing so we were serving Satan, God’s enemy, and destined for wrath.  God is in the redeeming business.

And to early cultures that were more in tune with nature and the seasons, eggs and hares were symbols of joy and life.  They were symbols that represented Winter was over, the sun was out, trees were budding, grass was growing, flowers blooming, the earth was being warmed and life was everywhere.  Naturally missionaries saw these symbols and festivals that coincided with the Christian Passover and adapted them in order to relate more fully to the cultures around them.  It’s almost as if God had ingrained those ancient cultures with seeds of the Gospel.

Of course these symbols have lost their meaning to us today because of historical and cultural differences in with they were first used, and today’s marketing ploys.  And although these symbols and traditions may not speak to us today of the Gospel or the Resurrection, we can see them as remnants of efforts to reach the lost.  Relics of the past, tools that were once used to reach people right where they were, stuck in their ways, stuck in their culture, stuck in their sin, serving themselves and Satan.

They can remind us to look for ways to relate, seeds of the Gospel, that have been planted beforehand in peoples lives.  Perhaps you know someone who engages in humanitarian work but doesn’t know Jesus.  And while many people do good for selfish reasons, at least part of this desire, even if it gets distorted, comes from God.  It’s not just bad situations that God uses to reach people.  My own testimony proves this.

In a time when evangelism is at record low, and we have silly examples of Christians on tv sitting in huge gold chairs, or that our greatest aspiration is to join the bless me club.  The lost see that stuff and think if Jesus could see that he’d roll over in his grave.  We need a fresh wave of missionaries, we need both you and I to go out and bring the Gospel to work, to our home, to school, the gym, our neighborhood, even the grocery store and the mall.  We are never on vacation.  Satan never takes a break.  The only break he took is when Jesus broke his skull with his foot, by going to the cross.

I want to encourage you to live as though you have a purpose, live as though you are here for a reason, not just to go to work and make a living, and raise a family.  Those are all awesome and fulfilling things in themselves.  But there’s more.

Live with your eyes open and aware, you might just find an Easter Egg

For the Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University.Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

Heres a song I wrote about Jesus appearing as the sun and overcoming darkness, based on the themes of Advent

Song

Lyrics and Chords (pdf)

For the Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University.Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

I have been tempted often to try to “reinvent the wheel” in regards to worship and ministry.  A part of this is simply pride.  Pride that says, I know what I’m doing, and those that came before me didn’t really know much about anything.

I remember the first time I lead a home group as a part of our church.  I was recommended a certain book to use to lead the group.  In my heart I thought I didn’t need it, I thought I could come up with stuff on my own.  I could just open the Bible, it’s a big book, and teach whatever popped out at me.  And in fact I did have this ability, but I kept asking myself why do I need to do this?  Was it because I could come up with something better than the book?  The answer I kept coming up with was, no.

In fact the book was very good, better than anything I could come up with on my own, especially in one week.  So what was my problem then?  Simply put, pride was my problem.  Sadly I see this same thing in many facets of Christianity today.  That instead of learning from the past, we would like to just figure it out for ourselves.  Meanwhile others have done all the hard work for us.  Others have trudged deeply through theology and doctrine in regards to everything under the sun.  Why not learn from them?

Sadly much of the anti-authority attitude in the church today, and especially the emergent types, was caused by abuses of power by others in the past.  We can all recall leaders falling into horrible sin and some that have gone into prison because of their crimes.  But we must not swing the opposite way.  We must stay the course, keep to the middle road… the humble road.

For the Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University.Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

Imagine if Handel tried to present his Messiah during mass.  Obviously his vision was too grand to be presented in Church.  He was a composer so he had an avenue for his inspiration.  And it’s a good thing he did, his composition is still touching people 266 years later.

I wonder if there are people in my church like that.  I wonder if I am one of them.  Maybe there are people in your Church like that, and maybe it’s you.  Is there a place and time that people like that can be creative and present their art and music to the Church?

In my worship team I have a 14 year old guitar player.  He’s extremely talented and loves Stryper .  He draws much of his musical inspiration from them.  However many of the songs we play don’t allow for him to express his musical talent the way he really wants too.  He always has a good attitude and keeps his playing down, but when he gets a chance he really takes it.

What if people like him were given a time and space, outside of the regular worship setting, yet still within the context of worship and Church, to present their offering, their hard work and talent before both God and the rest of us?

Traditionally we’ve held contadas, and pageants, and plays, so why not modern concerts, or art exhibitions?  This type of event would provide a great place and time for an artist or musician to express their creativity in ways far beyond a traditional worship setting.

This would give the artist freedom to experiment and develop their art in ways that are perhaps complex and inaccessible to some people.  Perhaps it would draw a completely different type of crowd.  It might draw some of the cool hipsters from the local community college or university, people that don’t normally go to Church

In my mind I imagine if a band like Mogwai were a Christian band, and what would they play for such an event?  The music would probably be much the same, maybe there would be a program handed out to everyone describing what is going on in each song, that this song was taken from this scripture, or this song is about this theme, etc, etc.  Just like a classical concert.

One of my favorite bands, British Sea Power, have written their own soundtrack to the old black and white movie Man Of Aran .  And it is both moving and compelling, if not tinted with sadness.

What if bands like these were given access to the Church.  I would love to do is to let our Church double as an all age music venue for both local and touring bands.  Sure this would produce more problems to deal with, but it would allow people who don’t normally go to Church to at least step inside one, and perhaps God will grip their hearts.

Lets find out if there are any great, moving, and compelling, artist or musicians among us by giving them an opportunity to express themselves.

For the Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University.Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

The Cross has been said to be the multi-faceted jewel that remains at the crux of all of Christan faith.  And in ignoring or over emphasizing even just one of these facets brings with it imbalance in our spiritual life and our community.  Likewise the Eucharist is a multifaceted jewel, and like the facets of the Cross, this jewel is best understood by examining the different aspects and perspectives that it emphasizes.

The Eucharist, ideally, should resonate with most (if not all) of specific instances it is used in the New Testament.  Dan Wilt puts it this way:

Obviously we dont have a full understanding of everything the Last Supper entails and the full meaning.  It is by applying and utilizing these various ideas put forth in scripture about the Eucharist that can help to bring people along in maturity and to get busy “doing the stuff”.

When I first came across this list of scripture references of the Eucharist I was a bit taken back.  In my experience with Communion there has been an emphasis on roughly half of what this list speaks of.  It is no wonder often I have had trouble focusing on the one or two aspects of it that were being stressed.

By seeing the ordinance of Communion as part of our worship we are free to experience Christ among us, just as when we sing worship and praises.  Also as worship we focus on the Holy Spirit and experience his power and love.

There is also an eschatological dimension which, although expressed in the last scripture, permeates and penetrates all the others.  It is this awareness of the ‘already, but not yet’ of the Kingdom of God that explains to us how a holy God can take a part in our unholy lives.  Somehow we are made holy in the present, even though we still continue to sin.

All in all, it is by embracing the multi-faceted jewel of the Eucharist that we can best appreciate it’s beauty.  What would a jewel be without its facets?  When light passes through it is refracted it breaks up into a spectral display of color and beauty.  In the same way we can see different aspects of Gods attributes and worship him appropriately through the Eucharist.

For the Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University.Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

What is it that makes a person a Christian? Merriam-Webster defines it as:  1 a: one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ b (1): disciple 2 (2): a member of one of the Churches of Christ separating from the Disciples of Christ in 1906 (3): a member of the Christian denomination having part in the union of the United Church of Christ concluded in 1961  2: the hero in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress

For the Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University. Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

When I think of worship I think of anything but a place.  I think of songs, music, a lifestyle devoted to God, acts of compassion and mercy, but I do not think of a place.  I think of a personal experiential act given to God.  However worship throughout history has been associated with time and space, and with community.  In the Old Testament, worship was associated with the Tabernacle and later on the Temple.  The feasts that the Jews celebrated were very time and community oriented.

As the Early Church evolved they maintained this attitude of time and space, and community.  The celebration of the birth of Christ, the death and resurrection, and later on other events were developed in order to commemorate the life, work and the return of Jesus.    Advent, Holy Week, The Great Triduum, Epiphany, and Pentecost, were some of these that were developed in order to celebrate Jesus within community.

It is this corporate nature of worship and response to the “divine call” that God loves, inhabits, and is enthroned by. This corporate nature lends strength and power to each other and to a lost and dying world.  It is in our love for each other that the Holy Spirit dwells and brings life, destroying darkness.

Our community is relegated to time and space.  Without time and space everything would be random and by accident.  We know that our worship event is at a certain place and a certain time, so we go there and it happens when we are together at the same place at the same time.

However, it is much more than that.  The place of worship in and of itself says nothing.  It is purely a material location, and a person of pure reason and logic would not be affected by any location, type of architecture, decor, etc.

But we are emotional creatures as well.  And emotion is part of our worship.  Our architecture speaks volumes of our philosophy and theology.

For example, to me the great cathedrals and chapels built by the Catholic Church and similar traditions speak of permanence.  They are usually well constructed, built to last a thousand years (if not more).  They take pride in architecture and design, often with some theological concept in mind as they build.  This to me, speaks of the permanence of the Gospel, of Jesus, and the mission of the Church.   The Church is here to stay, “we’ve been here a long time and we aren’t going anywhere soon”.

On the opposite side are the many Church’s of the Evangelical tradition.  Often built out of metal buildings with a brick facade, built fast and cheap when compared to the Catholics buildings.  This, to me, reflects a theology that says we are pilgrims in this world.  We are just passing through, we are here for only a short while, and like grass we are gone tomorrow.  It is one of mortality and temporal existence.

Growing up in a more of an Evangelical tradition I tend to long for the permanence of the great stone churches built by past traditions.  On one hand I live the emphasis on singing and praising together that evangelical, especially the charismatic/pentecostal, traditions have.  On the other hand, I love the other traditions that speak of permanence, as well as thousands of years of history.

My brother-in-law Nathan and I goofing around with my new webcam.  That’s me in the background with the purple shirt.