Mitch Lewis

When I was in seminary way back when, I read Donald Dayton’s Discoveing an Evangelical Heritage. Dayton reminded evangelicals that their 19th century forebears were social activists that supported the abolition of slavery, women’s rights, labor reform and other causes now deemed “liberal” or “progressive”. Dayton’s thesis was that what became the “social gospel” movement was rooted firmly in an earlier form of evangelical piety.

I recently read D. G. Hart’s The Lost Soul of American Protestantism which makes a similar argument: the progressive liberalism of mainstream Christianity and the social conservatism of evangelicalism are both children of what he calls Anglo-American revivalism that began with the Great Awakenings. Revivalism itself was the child of continental pietism.

The sort of religion heralded by the revivals of the First Great Awakening is chiefly responsible for the triumph of a utilitarian view of faith. The itinerant evangelists of these revivals, as well as their successors, transformed Christianity from a churchly and routine affair into one that was intense and personal. The conversion experience marked the beginning of this new form of faith. But it was only the start. True converts were expected to prove the authenticity of their faith through lives that were visibly different from nonbelievers. Indeed, the demand for a clear distinction between the ways of the faithful and those of the world not only propelled many of the social reforms associated with evangelicalism but also provided the foundation for viewing Christianity in practical categories. If faith was supposed to make a difference in all areas of life, not just on Sunday but on every day of the week, it is no wonder that the emphasis in Protestant circles shifted from church forms of devotion to one that should be seen in personal affairs, community life and national purpose. In other words, the cycle of revivals throughout American religious history, inaugurated by the First Great Awakening, secured the victory of pietism within American Protestantism. Like its European antecedents, American pietism dismissed church creeds, structures and ceremonies as merely formal or external manifestations of religion that went only skin deep. In contrasts, pietists have insisted that genuine faith was one transformed individuals, starting with their heart and seeping into all walks of life.

Hart also argues, however, that historians have ignored a “third way” within American Christian history. Hart identifies this stream as confessionalism.

Confessional Protestants resisted revivals in large part because the methods of the evangelists and the piety expected of converts were generically Christian – sincerity, zeal and a moral life. As a result, revivalism did not respect but in fact undermined the importance of creedal subscription, ordination and liturgical order. In a word, confessionalists opposed revivalism because it spoke a different religious idiom, one that was individualistic, experiential, and perfectionistic, as opposed to the corporate, doctrinal and liturgical idiom of historic Protestantism.

The pietists, Hart says, won. Confessionalism lost and persevered primarily in small, ethnically based denominations.

One way to measure this defeat is to ask any American Protestant if the Apostle’s Creed, the real presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper or the ministry of the local pastor is as important as personal times of prayer and Bible study, meeting with other Christians in small groups, witnessing to non-Christians, or volunteering at the local shelter for the homeless.

Pietism fit America. Hart’s history of pietism and American culture is a great read.It's particularly interesting to discover that before 1960, it was the mainstream or progressive side of the aisle that most saw itself aligned with American history and values.

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There are not enough military chapels or chaplains to provide separate, distinctive worship opportunities for every member of every Protestant denomination in existence. By one count, there are over 8000 Protestant denominations.

In general, most military installations offer a number of non-denominational Christian services - sometimes called General Protestant or Collective Protestant - in a variety of worship styles.  By non-denominational, I don't mean "independent non-denominational," which itself describes one particular stream within Christianity. Ecumenical or multi-denominational might be a better way of describing them. Baptists, Pentecostals, independents and so-called "Mainline" Christians worship side-by-side. Individual Protestant congregations usually get tagged with labels like "traditional," "gospel," "contemporary," "multicultural"  or "liturgical." The distinctions are more stylistic than strictly theological, although there is some correlation between the participants' theology and the services they choose to attend. Some smaller installations might only be able to offer one or two styles of Protestant services; larger installations can offer more choices. Larger installations may also have a Lutheran congregation (mabye LCMS, maybe ELCA), an Episcopalian congregation and a lay-led LDS group. In general, all the other non-Catholic and non-Orthodox Christians attend one of the "Protestant" congregations (if, that is, they attend worship on post).

Anyway, that's all background for sharing with you the mission statement of one Protestant congregation that I served as senior pastor:

The mission of the Soldier Memorial Chapel Protestant Congregation is to be the church of Jesus Christ. Our congregation serves as the temporary spiritual home for a wide variety of Christians brought together in this place by military service. We welcome the diverse gifts that our constituents bring to our congregation from their various Christian traditions.

We proclaim the good news of Christ crucified and risen for the salvation of the world. We expect to experience the grace and power of God in our common life. We challenge each other to live lives of deeply committed discipleship. We humbly covenant together to hear God’s word in Holy Scripture. We seek to grow in faith - and in Christian love for each other and for the community in which we live.

I grew up in a neighborhood of St. Louis County that then included a large number of people from a non-Christian religion. At that point in my life, my best friends literally belonged to another faith. We sometimes talked about religion and I attended their house of worship with them on occasion. We were as straightforward in our religious discussions as sixth graders could be. I said something rather basic like, 'We believe Jesus is the Son of God' and they told me something like 'We don't believe in him.' Somehow we managed to say these things to each other without hating each other, much less hitting each other. We'd sit on the stairwell and talk, and then we'd run off to the playground to play.

That wonderful experience has shaped the way that I understand inter-religious dialog. I believe the purpose of talking to each other is to understand each other, not to gloss over our religious differences or focus solely on what we have in common. I see no reason why we should have to do this in a spirit of animosity. We should recognize from the outset that religious claims bite both ways. If I assert 'A is true' and you assert 'A is not true,' you don't get to add a 'How dare you' to your reply. Your assertion is every bit as exclusive as mine. We can either choose to let these differences of belief divide our communities and tear us apart as a civil society, or we can choose to 'think and let think.'

As a Christian, I have no need to compel others to submit to my beliefs. In my current position, in fact, I provide for the free exercise of religion for all, and I do it gladly. I believe the gospel is best served in an environment of religious freedom, and I do my best to maintain that environment. If a member of the military community I serve doesn't invite me to share my faith with them by attending a chapel service or by opening the door to a religious conversation in some other manner, I'm not going to push myself on them. The National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces (to which the United Methodist Endorsing Agency belongs) has a Code of Ethics that says I will not proselytize from other religious bodies, but that I am free to share my faith with those who are open to it.

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May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me. John 17:21

The World Council of Churches in Geneva and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome have jointly declared that January 18-25 is the Week for Prayer for Christian Unity.

In principle, there is a small but valid role for the sort of bureaucratic ecumenism attempted by the World Council, even if that organization is tragically flawed in its current form. For anyone interested in Christian Unity, however, I would point them not to Geneva, but to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together (Gemeinsames Leben).

UPDATE: To read excerpts from the first chapter of Bonhoeffer' Life Together, see the related post, Bonhoeffer on Community.  Chapter one of Life Together should be required reading for every seminarian.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called (Ephesians 4:1)

Lectionary Pentecost 9B Ephesians 4:1-16

With Ephesians 4, we come to the "therefore" section of Paul's letter. In the first three chapters, he wrote about God's work in creating a church in which the barrier between Jew and Gentile has been broken down.

Context

Chapter one rehearses God's cosmic plan in Jesus Christ: "a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (1:10). This plan reaches its fulfillment in Jesus' resurrection, by which God "put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all" (1:22-23). This uniting of all things takes visible form in the church, in which Jew and Gentile now stand on equal footing before God. Equality before God is a result of the Gentiles having "been brought near by the blood of Christ (2:13)."

The salvation of the Gentiles is a visible example of salvation by grace through faith, which God has revealed in Christ to be the one way of salvation.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV)

The inclusion of the Gentiles, however, is not merely tangential to the gospel. It is essential to the gospel. It is one aspect of the core of the gospel.

? the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:4-6 ESV)

? and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord ... (Ephesians 3:9-11 ESV)

Therefore ...

Although there is only "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all" (4:5-6), divisions still exist between within the church. Paul distinguishes among the divisions that exist based on sinful egoism, those that result from God's differing gifts and those that result from the fact that we are still maturing in our faith.

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But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. Ephesians 2:13-16

Lectionary Pentecost 7B Ephesians 2:11-22

Peace. The news tells us of war. Paul speaks of peace, and the word captures our attention.

For those of us living without peace in this world, there are a number of recognizable words in Paul's letter. Gentiles are the ethnos, the nations or peoples of the world. Paul talks about citizens (polites) of a commonwealth (politeia). He speaks of foreigners (xenos) and strangers. He talks about enemies and killing. And with this language, Paul proclaims the peace of Christ. We err, however, if we jump directly from Paul's world to ours. With our hopes for the guns to fall silent, it is easy for us to read into Paul's words ideas that he did not intend.

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