When Do Denominational Movements Cease to Be Authentically Christian?
And Who Decides?
When Do Denominational Movements Cease to Be Authentically Christian?
A month or so ago I wrote a blog post—on my other blog—with the title Drifting Echo Chambers Polarize Denominations Long After They Split. This was posted HERE on the blog—George Bullard’s Journal.
Here is the first section of that post:
“Conflicting echo chambers within denominations—when strident views and actions cause them to split—launch a process by which they drift farther apart for decades. They reach a point where it is difficult to understand how these two denominations could ever have been one.
Differences that were not huge, radicalize over time. The distance between the denominations becomes so great that dialogue between them on core issues becomes improbable.
This is caused by the continual drift of their echo chambers towards opposite ideological, theological, ecclesiological, and missional polarities.
The We-Are-Not-Them Syndrome pushes them apart. Each year the distance widens. They become polar opposites which they did not see happening before the split.
Influencers, groups, and causes—once considered radical—work their way into the mainstream. They advocate for a drift in core values to the left or the right on a continuum.
Creating an increasingly larger middle.”
The Issue Addressed
The issue addressed was the size of the middle that emerges between the left and the right. Denominations continually move more liberal or more conservative following a split. I suggested the middle can become big enough that room exists for a robust centrist denomination to emerge.
This is true in my denominational family—Baptist.
The same is true for other denominations who have experienced a split and the drift that follows. In the case of Southern Baptists, it has taken more than 30 years for the large middle to become this obvious.
Pondering My Own Post
The next month my wife and I were on a very leisurely driving vacation. We rode the full length of the Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive and the complete Blue Ridge Parkway. These roads travel through the mountains in Virginia and North Carolina. A total of 574 miles.
This journey was on my bucket list. We took five days to travel this distance to have plenty of time to stop and see various sights.
While driving and relaxing, I began to think about this post, and what I should consider next. Here is what occurred to me.
If denominational echo chambers—following a split—drift more liberal or more conservative, increasing the distance between them as they keep moving, then the following questions need answers.
First, is there a hard stop on the left and the right of the continuum between them that represents the ending of their drifting? Or do they keep moving away from one another until one or both are no longer authentically Christian?
Second, do the radical causes and groups they embrace after they split define them in increasingly polarizing terms until the broad center they may have previously represented can no longer be seen?
Third, what does it look like to be a religious and cultural movement which is no longer authentically Christian? Is that possible? Probable? Unlikely?
Fourth, who decides a denominational movement is no longer authentically Christian? Certainly not one of the denominations involved in the split. They may see the other group as an anti-Christ organization.
Fifth, what are the doctrinal criteria for no longer being authentically Christian? What are the ministry engagements that move away from the character and nature of Jesus? Can they move too far away from what might be called missional and lack compatibility with both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment?
Sixth, is the character, nature, and inspiration of scripture a key issue? I say this suggesting that both a more radically liberal perspective and a more radically conservative perspective of scripture can dismantle what the Word of God means in the midst of multiple interpretations.
On the last night of our journey through the mountains, we had the pleasure of being in the home of a clergy couple who were friends during our college days and have become deeper friends over the past 53 years.
The husband is a good doctrinal and ministry thinker. We spent an hour or so pursuing this issue. No conclusions. Just more questions. A deeper desire for more prayerful consideration of this subject.
Reactions: Would You Help Me Think Through This Issue?
This is where you come in. Would you ponder this issue also? Would you offer your perspective on this?
If so, we will all be the benefactors, and if I get some new insights because of your ponderings and my ongoing thinking about this, I will provide updates on this blog.
I invite you to consider the following questions and add your insights to this dialogue:
1. When do denominational movements cease to be authentically Christian as they move to the left or the right along a theological, missiological, and ethical continuum?
2. What does it look like to be a religious and cultural movement which is no longer authentically Christian?
3. What are the doctrinal criteria for no longer being authentically Christian?
4. What are the ministry engagements that move away from the character and nature of Jesus? Can they move too far away from what might be called missional and lack compatibility with both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment?
5. How is the character, nature, and inspiration of scripture a key issue?
6. Who decides?
OR . . .
From a long-term friend and colleague who wrote me an email: "The broad middle "thought and practices", whether religious, political, or cultural, has narrowed significantly, and in my opinion, the "ends", namely the left and the right grew as the broad middle shrank. As the broad middle shrank, then the extremes of the left and right became more pronounced. The more pronounced the extremes become, then their authenticity as a christian movement seems to be built upon a different "bedrock" (scripture interpretations; political involvement; lower toleration of the diversity of people in regards to race, ethnicity, social status)
So I raise another question, namely, what will be considered as the "center" of the left and the "center" of the right IF the broad center that held denominations together has indeed fractured and is not likely to be re-established? Even more thought-provoking is the possibility that viewpoints on human sexuality may become the "center"...of both the left and the right. Or even scarier to think about, the "center" of both the left and the right denominations of the present and future may rest upon the inclusiveness (or lack thereof) of the various races, cultures, and ethnic peoples. Or will the "center" of the left and right in denominations become enmeshed with the issue of what should and should not be legally criminalized....? "
Doctrine and Missiology should move in concurrence with one another. What normally happens, be it to the left or to the right or so far removed that it truthfully has no resemblence of biblical theology, is that doctrine trumps missions. Case in point, is the nationalism that is so much a part of our American Christianity. The ones who carry this nationalistic theme do so under the banner of conservatism but it is not biblical conservatism. It is a beloved tradition that is more important than the gospel. We carry that banner proudly in many places and to criticize that parade draws the ire of the powers that be. The gospel is minimized when this occurs. When this movement is part of the denominational apparatus then the denomination has lost all relevance and is on the road to demise.
I am speaking from Southern Baptist experience because that is what I know. I believe the broad center subscribes to this mode of thought but there is so much of it spread out into so many places that their is a loud cry and those who do the crying own the denomination. This makes it hard for a movement among the broad center to arise and either change the existing denomination or forma new one that represents the core values of the center. Then the question is if that broad center denomination did arise how long would it be before movements on the fringes would again infiltrate the whole.