Reinventing the Reinvented

In a previous post, "A Child Shall Lead Them", I talked about mid-life (crisis) analysis we all go through after our first 20+ years of adult life. Apparently, organizations, even churches of God, go through such periods in their existence.

In the latest UCG "Update From the President", Victor Kubik reminds us all that UCG is coming up on their 25th anniversary. Titling this update, "Reinventing Ourselves", he opens with this:

"The United Church of God is nearing its 25th anniversary. This time is proving to be one of critical reflection. In recent months, this milestone has led many at the home office, on the Council of Elders and elsewhere to ponder and consider: Where have we been? Where are we now? And perhaps most importantly, where are we going?"

 "Reflecting these questions in a general way, Donald Ward, the chairman of the Council of Elders, recently made some insightful and remarkable comments. He openly emphasized in his recent summary comments to the Council of Elders that the United Church of God needs to consider “reinventing ourselves.” This comment fit squarely with the many discussions that have recently been taking place around our upcoming 25th anniversary."

I find it interesting that the response to analyzing their first 25 years is one of "reinventing." What does that mean?

1. Reinvent can mean to change the appearance of something old so much that it looks like something new.

2. Reinvent can mean to change a person or organizations, goals, purpose, functionality or persona.

3. Reinvent can mean to duplicate something old in a wasted effort...an exercise in futility.

In order to successfully reinvent ones self, one must begin by humbling the self and openly addressing flaws and mistakes. Then, start the learning process again.

"When we talk about “reinventing ourselves,” we are not talking about what we believe. For certain, the biblical truth of God is eternal and unchangeable . The magnificent truths of the Sabbath, of the Holy Days that we are about to observe, the true understanding of the role of Jesus Christ, the knowledge of the insightful Royal Law that daily guides our behavior, and the plan of God for humanity all represent precious hard-won truths that make up the core of who we are. We must never part with these."

OK...maybe the churches of God can continue to skip self examination, addressing the past and revisiting doctrines derived from Armstrong eisegesis. So...I'm thinking they are leaning toward the third definition to "reinvent" mentioned above.

He goes on to show that what he really means is that the church needs to change its gospel message in a way that will have an impact on a generation that is increasingly more hostile toward the Bible. This increased hostility is  a threat to our young people as they transition from high school to college.

"Society today increasingly tramples on and rejects biblical authority, putting our young people to hard tests. Dr. Ward noted that with the incredible experience of the Church’s youth camps, young people in the Church “may be so excited through their teen years” about biblical truth, but then comes a challenging “transitional period between high school and college and the first year of college” that often proves to be a difficult time to stay grounded and committed to the truth of God. It is during this critical transition time that young people can be in danger of slipping away. The Church, he emphasized, needs to reinvent itself to address these critical societal changes and provide highly relevant spiritual tools for young people to survive and thrive. This includes opportunities for them to be together, like at Ambassador Bible College and church-sponsored young adult gatherings."

A few years ago, I watched a friend struggle with his teenagers. In the end, he could not answer satisfactorily, their questions and they both left the church and Christianity altogether. I can tell you this: They did not leave because of societal pressures to accept transgender lifestyles and marijuana. It was not because there was not enough church social events to keep their carnal needs satisfied or in check. They did not lack spiritual tools only Ambassador College alumni could provide...in the next 25 years, of course.

His free-thinking adult children researched the church and its history on the internet and asked why all the splinter churches refuse to address the sins of the past and the hypocrisy that continues. They asked how the churches think they can continue to hide all of the documented errors and never have to answer to the next generation. They asked why the churches feel no need to re-examine any of their doctrines or practices when some of them are easily challenged by the latest science and  technology or "mainstream" Christian  scholars. They asked why the leadership demands we all "speak the same thing" and inundate our time reading church literature and sermons instead of the Bible. In the end, their father looked to be a cruel hypocrite imaged after the organization itself at worse or a mindless kool-aid drinker to be felt sorry for at best.

"These Thursday conferences, as Dr. Ward mentioned to the Council, are open and honest discussions, even to the point of admitting that sometimes the weekly church presentations in our congregations are “stale.” To build more energy and excitement into our weekly church meetings, Dr. Ward noted that “some of those things we could do—shorter sermons and more focused sermons and improving our messages—we really need to focus on…we really need more excitement and energy in the local churches.”

Shorter sermons would certainly be a step in the right direction but if that is your solution to achieve energy and excitement, then this shows the comprehension level of a mouth-breather with no self awareness. Your organization is stale because all the splinters of Armstrong refuse to relinquish power to the brethren. They all quench the working of the Holy Spirit in the body. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are completely absent because a top down hierarchical cult structure is the exact opposite of what Jesus Himself told the disciples how His church was to function in Matthew 20:20-28

Jesus juxtaposes two opposing ideas against one another to make his point very clear and He does so by doing it twice. He compares exercising lordship to being a servant and exercising authority to being a slave. These opposing concepts cannot exist as one in the same. A lord cannot be a servant and an authoritarian cannot be a slave. Jesus is saying if you want to be a lord, your only option in the body is to be a servant and if you want be first in rank, the only opportunity that exists in its’ stead is to actually have no rank at all as a slave. What Jesus is showing is that there is no place to be a lord in the body and there is no position of chief in the body. If you want to be those things, the only position that can be given you is a servant and a slave with no rank at all. What you seek in the body as it appears in carnal human governance simply does not exist in the governance of the church.

His final statement makes it even more plain by comparing it to His own role in the flesh among them. He truly did not come to be served. He was not there as King of kings and Lord of lords. That will be at His second coming. He was there among them in the flesh as a teacher. Jesus Christ literally takes the gentile concept of top-down government and turns it on its head! It is imperative that He do that for His body, the church, because He is the head and there is no other head. The body is knit together by the workings of the Holy Spirit.You have to go back to the beginning of the exchange. It all started when two among them were seeking high rank in the Kingdom of God. Jesus answer to them in a nutshell was if you want to rank high in the Kingdom of God, (which is possible!) you must first practice being servants with no rank and no elevation in the church body.

“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  -Matthew 23:12

If you exalt yourself within the models used in this world by oppressors, you will have no place in the Kingdom. If you become a servant and slave among the brethren in the body with no exaltation or rank in the church today, you will be exalted in the Kingdom.

The only way any of the churches of God will be able to inspire real excitement and energy in the local churches is to be honest about their history, admit to sins, re-examine doctrine and practices, and reject Roman suppression and replace it with congregationalism. This will produce a firestorm of excitement and energy among brethren and we will see the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit unleashed in ways never seen before among the churches of God.

If you really want to reinvent yourselves, then I suggest you start by patterning yourself after the New Testament church. But all I hear you saying is you want to reinvent the reinvented in the worse kind of way.

V