A lot of the books that I’ve been reading over the last year or so seem to see that the Church has become a place where legalism is one of the biggest problems. It seems as if the authors feel that much of Christianity is forcing a Pharisaical view of our faith onto the people who attend. The expectation therefore is that the ‘faithful’ must therefore stick to a rigid set of rules that, while mimicking God’s Law, are man-made.
My problem with this is that it doesn’t really seem to describe the Church that I see here in the UK. Whilst it might describe a certain section of the more extreme wings of US evangelicalism, it doesn’t really reflect the situation here. The problem is though that many people may be blindly reading the books that are pushed by the publishing giants of the Christian world, forgetting that the industry is actually publishing for its largest market, the US, and therefore uses authors who speak best to the North American culture.
So who is speaking to the UK churches? Who is speaking to the tired out Christians who I’ve seen are living faithful lives but have lost their drive? Who is speaking to the apathetic church that simply doesn’t see the need to evangelise? Who is speaking to the ancient geriatric church that is too weak to do anything and to out of touch with post-modern Britain to attract new blood?
Hey Graeme! I am in complete agreement. Every time I read about how churches are too legalistic, I think WHAT? If anything we are far too far the other way! Where are all the books from UK based authors speaking in our context in our time. If you know of any, I would love some ideas for my book club!
Yes please send me suggested reading, as I will market books via Amazon from Cornwall Church Health website, going up hopefully this week.
I will also happily include articles in the resources section that are relevant, so feel free to write.
Otherwise my best suggestion is to move from Appreciative Inquiry (which will hopefully draw out of the congregation the understanding they need to move toward understanding younger people’s mindsets) toward some form of cafe conversations. Intercession is also key to bridgebuilding between generations, getting the older people as involved as possible in praying for the younger ones and v.v. That’s the best I can offer.
Incidentally the anti-legalism emphasis in US Christian scene makes life very difficult for Jewish Christians, who see gentile Christians as having entirely missed the point! :0)
Warmest blessings,
Eleanor
Sister under private vows
Penzance
Sorry for not responding sooner but I’ve been at Officer’s Councils so have been away from the computer.
The best books I’ve seen so far are the Mission-Shaped series, although I haven’t read any of them yet. I have Mission-Shaped Spirituality to read on my shelf and my flicking through suggests it shows some promise! The other excellent work on the mission of the church is Ann Morisy’s ‘Journeying Out’. Everything else I’ve seen so far is looking at the end of ‘Christendom’.
I’ve got a few thoughts myself, although having been away for so long its going to be a case of testing my thoughts before writing anything in depth.