Are we nearing the end of the era of the institutional church? This seems to be a prevalent question, floating around in many different places. You see the question being raised on blogs, message boards, and certainly in private conversations all around the Christian world. I don't really read the mainstream Christian publications, but as far as I know, they are not addressing this issue. So why is it the word on the street?

The church has always served a certain purpose in whatever era it has been present in. Obviously, during the New Testament times the church was a radical new phenomenon. Many people talk about returning to the early church way of doing things, but that is simply impossible. That incarnation of the church is no longer appropriate for today's society. Of course there are elements that we can take and learn from. But simply defering to the past is not the answer.

The early church became irrelevant when church and state became partners. Some see this as a great apostasy. I believe it was simply a movement appropriate to the situation. Of course, the imperial church experience points both high and low, and the state church remained in power for many years. But once again, society changed and the pendulum had to swing.

I don't think I need to recount the entire course of church history here. Suffice it to say, in recent history there was a great movement that I will call the "evangelical era." This is just for classification purposes, by the way. Anyway, the force by which this movement drove forward is beginning to wane, and the cautious observer can see it quite clearly. Why is this happening?

One only needs to look at the rest of society to see why. The postmoderns, Gen-X or whatever you want to call them are taking their places in the major roles in society. They (meaning us as I include myself) are essentially inheriting a world without hope, a world without direction. We are bombarded with messages from all sides, yet have learned through painful experience to trust no one. We no longer believe in the power of institutions to positively affect the world around us. We would like it to be that way, but recognize the futility of this suggestion in a chaotic and often senseless world. Rationality, the crown jewel of previous generations, has left us a world of pollution, violence and injustice. We have been stabbed in the back by the people we trusted, plain and simple.

Therefore, an institution that offers a simple solution to the problems of the world hold little attraction. Some rally around other causes: politics, the environment, social justice. The world is so desperately hurting and we want to see the hurt go away. We just simply don't know where to begin.

Does the pendulum need to start swinging again? It certainly needs to. Our society today will no longer accept a neatly arranged identity, a complete paradigm guaranteed to cure our ills. Ours is a hermeneutics of suspicion, galvanized by years of deceit and broken promises. We are not longer looking for answers, we are just looking for a starting point. After we find it, we'll take it from there.

If there is a paralell need between us and the early church, it is the need for hope. Christianity is a faith based on hope, communicated through love. But if we believe that, are we willing to live out its incarnation in a broken and suspicious society? That is the challenge that awaits us, a challenge many miles beyond the simple days of yore, beyond the frivolous concerns of church growth.

Prepare for the rapture everyone...the Red Sox have beaten the Yanks in the playoffs. Of course if they win the World Series, we will all be instantly called up to meet the Lord in the air.

Come on folks, don't you see it??? First Mt St. Helens, now the Red Sox, its only a matter of time.

BTW I am a lifelong Red Sox fan, and I am positively elated. Today is a beautiful day. I never realized how much something as stupid as professional sports can affect your life, but I feel as if justice has finally been accomplished in this world. The Lord has given me a glimmer of eschatological hope!

November 2nd is approaching at a rapid pace, and the battle lines are already clearly drawn. As an astute friend of mine pointed out, the candidates have essentially given up on the undecided voter, and have decided to preach to the choir for the home stretch. I feel like composing a lament as I view the effects of this election taking place. Yes, I realize that whoever is elected, the world will continue to turn. The grass will not become blue and the sky green on January 20th. But this election is a significant event in American history and will be remembered and analyzed for some time to come. I see great societal implications from this mess we have allowed ourselves to get into.

First, I want to lament the lack of critical thinking on the part of the electorate. I think that the few undedided voters remaining shows that this election was decided a long time ago. This is more of a culture war than an election, and it demonstrates the increasing polarization that is taking place in our society. The candidates are merely icons for a certain ideology, which I truly believe neither of them really support. Many "progressives" and disenfranchised radical-types have chosen to rally behind John Kerry. The "progressive" radio station in Portland broadcasts nothing but Kerry stumps all day long. I ask, why? Social contract liberalism seems to be rooted in very different philosophy than radical libertarianism. And then we see the "Christians" backing Bush (further drawing the line between the Christian culture and everyone else). But Bush's "compassionate conservativism" is pretty liberal in my eyes -- not just from a tax-and-spend perspective, but from the stance that one group of thinkers believes they have found the solution to everyone else's problems. Christians want to rally around this because they see it like the gospel -- but this is a very different beast. Bush administration policy is not the gospel and I fear that many have been duped into thinking it is due to the personal identification with the man himself and his faith.

To summarize, it seems that people from both sides of the coin have found figureheads in these two candidates, who seem to represent their views but under close scrutiny fall far short of the mark. Can we not think critically, and examine the platforms for what they are? And can we truly vote our consciences? I simply cannot accept the status quo acceptance mentality. "At the end of the day, either Bush or Kerry will end up in the White House, so you might as well pick the one you hate the least." What a defeatist statement! At the end of the day, my conscience and my decisions are a matter of significance between no one save God and myself. God will remain soveriegn despite the results of any election -- don't play to the status quo simply because it seems the logical thing to do. Such logic was engineered by partisan politicans.