The humbled church...

Charles Ringma
"There is little point for Christians to pine for a return to the good old days when Christianity was more dominant in Western culture. Furthermore, there is little point in blaming the Enlightenment or science or technology or urbanization. The way forward is both to recognize that the church in the past has also failed and that the present difficulty may well be a blessing in disguise. There is a new opportunity for the church, stripped of a previous power and influence, to exercise the power of authentically living the gospel. A humbled church, like the humiliated Christ, may be able to be a greater witness in our world than the church as the guardian of Christendom."
No time to comment I'm afraid, but I'm not sure what more could be added!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great quote Gordon!

I for one do not want to go back the 'good old days' of Christian dominance. For me it seems that the church was more interested in controlling people rather than making disciples. This dominating attitude is more to blame than any of the things mentioned by Ringma.

Thanks for posting this as its sparked my thoughts in a new direction!

Graeme
9:15 AM
c said…
Yeah good quote...

I often hear of people longing for the good ole revival days. I guess the last big one in the western world would have been the birth of the Salvos, and now we realise that maybe the way we "run" church might be a little ineffective. Maybe we need a revolution...of humility?
12:43 PM
BrownEyedGirl said…
Simple yet very profound...."If my people will humble themselves before me than I will ....." So many verses, so many promises!
12:53 PM
Ross Garner said…
Hi Gordon

I love this quote. It seems to capture something that I have felt very strongly for a number of years. We cannot hanker back to the "good old days" when there was immense moral and social pressure to be good. That produced a religion of duty and hypocrisy.

The gospel as I read it is an invitation to participate in living the Life of the Kingdom with the author of Life himself. We do good because we are being made good by the one who is good.

May God continue to bless you and your family as you demonstrate this reality.
7:26 AM
Gordon said…
Thanks all!
8:39 AM
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