From "respectable religion" to "evangelical faith"

In his farewell address after 10 years of ministry, John Thomas, the outgoing General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, the denomination to which I belong, said that he is "anxious but still hopeful" about what he describes as the transition from "respectable religion" to "evangelical faith."

It was great hearing that from a leader in a mainline denomination. The truth is that most church folk, from the most "liberal" United Church of Christer to the "conservative" Southern Baptist is a defender of respectable religion. They only differ on what respectable religion looks like. Jesus, on the other hand in his teaching and ministry, revealed respectable religion for what it is--impotent, nauseating, dangerous.

For the church to survive, for the church to be involved in what God is doing in the world, we have to do more than transition. We have to oppose respectable religion with the passion of Jesus himself because respectable religion opposes evangelical faith (something else revealed by Jesus in his death). We must choose one or the other.

A couple of days ago I was pulling up to my church. I had stuff I had to take to my office (at the south end of the campus) and to the kitchen (the north end of the campus). As I was pulling in to the parking lot I got confused as to which I wanted to do first. I ended up pulling in to the middle, resulting in me walking to one end and then the other. I was reminded that compromise rarely works.

I want to live a vitalized, evangelical faith. There are too many people hurting and confused. There is too much injustice, fighting, hunger and sorrow to allow respectable religion to have even a toe-hold.