Lessons from Pagan Christianity part 1

As I said in the previous post, I am reading Pagan Christianity right now. The general premise of this book is to show the history of many of the practices that we are doing today and how many of them are not founded in Scripture or the New Testament church at all.

Keep in mind that I have only read about three chapters so far, but it is very provocative and has sparked a lot of imagination. Grant it, I haven't agreed with it completely. I think that because I am more generously orthodox, my beliefs on church form and structure is way more open. If that doesn't make any sense I apologize. Hopefully it will.

Frank Viola has already made his intention clear in pointing out that a church community needs to be an organic church that realizes a church is people not a building. He demonstrates that the early church was a community that met in homes. He believes that this is the correct way in which a church should function. Viola states that the church has become more concerned with emotions and feelings in worship.

This is only up until chapter three.

While some of what he says I read and have to keep myself from giving a hearty southern Baptist, "Amen!" other parts I am left with feelings of anger and frustration. So I have decided to write a blog about my beliefs on the issues that he has covered thus far, in an attempt to sort it all out in my own mind.

The Church

Like Viola, I agree that church is not and should not be defined as a building. A church is a group of people who follow and practice Christ teachings. When the church fails to follow and practice Christ teachings, the church ceases to be the church. In its simplest form church is without walls and maintains its "Churchiness" when Christ is the center of a group of individuals.

While I maintain that I have my own personal journey, I am not church alone. I think one of the problems with the Post-Enlightenment, is the idea of individuality which did not leave the church unscathed. Many believe that the faith journey is more individual and less communal. This is simply not the case. We as the followers of Christ need to live lives where community is vital and necessary to our faith journey.

The Building

The building or structure that a church meets in speaks volumes as to the beliefs of the church. Again, I agree with Viola. Rather a church has metal chairs, pews, or couches; sits in a round, semi-circle, or rows; has natural lighting, florescent lighting, or dimly lit candles: all of these states a theology. But is there a wrong way of communicating with structure in worship? I mean, wouldn't the apostles or Christ himself addressed this if there was a wrong way to communicate our beliefs in our space of gathering? I would believe that the only wrong way is to not think about how we use our space to worship.

The important thing here is for the church to find ways in which to be creative with their environment when speaking of the attributes of God. What I mean to say is this, if a church is taking a season in thinking about the mysteries of God, perhaps it would be a good idea to use candles to keep from illuminating an entire room with light. The reverse of this is also true when demonstrating that God is the illuminator of truth that a church would use a large amount of light.