Come October, I will have been ordained for 3 years (seems like only yesterday when it happened actually). At my three year mark, I am now qualified to pursue my doctoral studies in ministry. This is something I have been giving much thought to and am presently investigating different seminaries as I hope to make my decision by the end of the year.
Doing my doctorate also requires me to think about an area of study I want to concentrate on. For several months I've been thinking about pursuing an evangelical liberalism. While those two words may sound like an oxymoron, that only depends on how a person might define the two. I believe they are not mutually exclusive and am working out how those two words might help motivate and drive the United Church of Christ, the denomination in which I am called to serve in.
So- after much more thought, I have been beginning my pilgrimage into developing an evangelical liberalism that I feel comfortable with and one that speaks to my faith. In seminary, I developed a working model for a new gay theology that spoke to my faith journey- this time, my development won't be all that new, only it'll speak to how and why a liberal Christian can and should go about sharing their faith.
In my coming sermon this Sunday morning, I am preaching from the lectionary text found in Luke 14:25 where Jesus says those mighty tough words, "Unless a person hates his mom and dad, he cannot follow me." Here is a snip-it of my sermon:
If we tell Jesus that we want to take up our cross and follow Him as His disciple, then He wants us to know exactly what we are getting into. He wants no false expectancy, no illusions, no bargains. He wants to use us as stones for building His church, soldiers for battling His enemies, and salt for bettering His world; and He is looking for quality.
After all, He was on His way to Jerusalem when He spoke these words, and look what happened to Him there! He does not ask us to do anything for Him that He has not already done for us.
You can read the sermon in its entirety by going to my church's website at www.bwayucc.org and selecting the Sermons webpage. While you might think the sermon is exclusive in my faith tradition, it really isn't- it's not about telling others what they must believe, but rather, telling them that if they want to pursue a deeper relationship with God, then they will have to make (and can expect to make) some pretty serious adjustments in their lives.
Friday, September 03, 2004
An Evangelical Liberalism
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3 comments:
Ever consider using the word "post" to describe an "evangelical liberalism"?
How about something on "a post-evangelical/post-liberalism"?
You ask an interesting question, one that truly is thought-provoking. The United Church of Christ is putting together its own evangelical pursuit called the God Is Still Speaking campaign, you can find out more about it by visiting, http://stillspeaking.com. One of the tough questions many of us who are preparing for this outreach effort, is what exactly is the message(s) we're proclaiming (besides that of inclusivisity and ecumenism). You will probably see a comercial or two in the next two months by the UCC. The first one is amazing (and you can see it on the stillspeaking.com website). The second one is nice but is a bit more lame (which is probably a good thing).
Your comment does seem right on target with me- I do think there is a need to reinvent evangelism, or at least, the methods in which how we say what we say is performed. But before this can be accomplished, I think a re-examination of liberalism (or how the United Church of Christ understands it) is necessary. Certainly from my theological position, I probably represent the mainstream of UCCers who find the absolutes of theological experience too often to be trite and not nearly as important as the historical church (within congregationalism) has made it out to be. Examining our God-talk and what it is we want our neighbors to know, will be a key factor in our (post)evangelical approach to outreach.
But you know, after saying all that, I wonder if applying the word 'post' to both evangelism and liberalism is what the post modern church movement is all about. You have several connections in this area, Todd, what similarities do you see between the post-modern church movement and a similar pursuit from within a mainline liberal denomination, or from your understanding of what I am seeking? What are your thoughts?
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