Post by philiprosenthal on Jul 21, 2006 9:34:54 GMT
Triumphalism: Is it blinding EN leaders to reality?
Most organisations faced with multiple scandals and abuses complaints would take time off for sober reflection, seeking God, repentance, committees of investigation to determine the whole truth etc. But in this circumstance, EveryNation just seems to have papered over the cracks, put on a brave face, blame it on a few individuals and try to carry on as if nothing systematically serious is going wrong. Many congregation members and junior leaders sadly have accepted this approach. Why? Why do those who want to paper over the cracks and put a plaster to cover a gangrenous wound get continued support from the rank and file?
A core reason I feel is an unbalanced Triumphalist theology. Now there are some good benefits to having a positive attitude provided that it is balanced with realism. But when realism is abandoned in favour of loyalty to a theology that is unrealistic - then it is counter productive.
The first theological deficiency is that almost all areas of Christian theology can be related either to the cross (the negative) or the resurrection (the positive). For example, in fasting, giving and suffering persecution we relate to the cross of Christ. In healing and prosperity we relate to the resurrection of Christ. Some Christian traditions (e.g. Roman Catholicism emphaise mostly the cross (thats why in a RC church you will always see Jesus hanging on the cross) and why they emphasise self-sacrifice etc. But in our stream of theology the emphasis is mostly on the other side - the resurrection. All the theological themes which are positive and relate to Jesus resurection are emphasised.
Now then a second theological deficiency in EveryNation adds to the confusion. The scriptures refer to the Kingdom of God as being something that is partly here and partly not here. i.e. it is partly now, partly future, partly almost here. The result is that people sometimes experience kingdom benefits such as healing and sometimes not. Is this because people lack faith? Not always. Problem is that we still live in a falling world and suffer the consequence of the curse of sin - we all eventually decay and die. People who don't grasp this biblical truth are going to struggle to make sense of reality and may end up living in self condemnation for not living in blessing all the time or alternatively live in denial. EveryNation often tries to pretend that the kingdom is all here now and thus raises expectations of abundant blessing - wheras actually this is only half true. We are still in a fallen world under God's curse.
Where does this unbalanced theology come from? Well, it is common in the Charismatic movement with its emphasis on healing and revival. It is a particular problem in the Word of Faith movement as applied to healing and prosperity. It is also a problem in the Reconstructionist movement as applied to politics. It is a problem with very young enthusiastic Christians who don't know too much Bible or Church history. It is often a problem in times of revival, when there is a greater expression of the kingdom of God and thus people tend to grab hold of all the biblical promises - and think they are applicable as if we were already in heaven. It is often a problem amongst post-millenialists who see the kingdom takeover of the world as imminent. It is also a problem amongst powerful nations e.g. Britain a century and a half ago. America superpower now.
Now fuse all these things together in EveryNation: Charismatic, Word of Faith, Reconstructionism, young people, revival breakthroughs and post-millenialism and American superpower culture. You have just mixed together all the strongest components needed for triumphalism. This is about the most dangerous combination you could find for getting unbalanced. Not that I would attack all the above. Some of these things are really good - but they need balance of other aspects of Christianity like the cross - repentance, fasting, understanding the sinfulness of human nature etc.
Thus, when scandals hit, instead of dealing with the situation soberly and trying to figure out what went wrong and how to avoid it next time, do disciple, and seek God's face there is a superficial response. There is no proper conversation. Its just 'The problems are in the past. Lets keep the flag raised and forward march.'
I feel this approach is completely naive, dishonest to everyone - and a formula for more scandal. Lets try fill the theological gaps - about the cross - the other side of Christianity. Teach on the fear of God, self denial, standing up under persecution, the judgement of God, giving sacrificially, the sinfulness of man and the need for structures to keep him in check, putting to death our sinful desires, repentance for sin etc.
Otherwise EveryNation will just stumble on in one form or another in deluded triumphalism never learning from its mistakes.
It may be helpful for this discussion to explain 'Word of faith' triumphalist unreality theology. Basically, they divide the world into two separate realities: 'spiritual' and 'physical'. Thus, it is possible to be both 'sick' and 'healed' at the same time. You can be sick in your body, but 'healed in Jesus'. If you go around telling people you are healed (spiritually), eventually, you will become healed (physically). Thus in this theology, God rewards denial of reality with blessing. Refusing to go into denial of reality shows a 'lack of faith'. This understanding of faith is completely divorced from that of the theology of most of the rest of Christianity. It is really more closely linked with Gnosticism, heresy which was popular in Biblical times, but has now been resurrected in a new form.
EveryNation has been strongly influenced by Word of Faith theology. Paul Daniel received his pastoral education at a Word of Faith church in Welkom, although he later abandoned much of this theology in favour of the reformed view. I think Rice Broocks has a similar story, although I will leave my American friends to fill that in for me.
To counter this, read 'The spiritual spider web' by Derek Morphew downloadable as an ebook at www.vineyardbi.org
Now EveryNation is not really Word of Faith, but it has been influenced by the movement. EveryNation is actually a bit of a jumble of lots of different theologies tacked together, which don't actually fit properly together into a coherent system like Reformed theology does. Maybe as the movement matures, the more academic types will help decide what they do and don't believe and develop a systematic theology to explain it. At present, however, this will have to wait, because the hyper-authoritarian elitist structure basically squashes any intelligent intellectual discussion in favour of 'Believe this or get out' attitude.
I hope the discussions on this message board will influence what is kept, what is modified and what is thrown out - as the movement matures.
Most organisations faced with multiple scandals and abuses complaints would take time off for sober reflection, seeking God, repentance, committees of investigation to determine the whole truth etc. But in this circumstance, EveryNation just seems to have papered over the cracks, put on a brave face, blame it on a few individuals and try to carry on as if nothing systematically serious is going wrong. Many congregation members and junior leaders sadly have accepted this approach. Why? Why do those who want to paper over the cracks and put a plaster to cover a gangrenous wound get continued support from the rank and file?
A core reason I feel is an unbalanced Triumphalist theology. Now there are some good benefits to having a positive attitude provided that it is balanced with realism. But when realism is abandoned in favour of loyalty to a theology that is unrealistic - then it is counter productive.
The first theological deficiency is that almost all areas of Christian theology can be related either to the cross (the negative) or the resurrection (the positive). For example, in fasting, giving and suffering persecution we relate to the cross of Christ. In healing and prosperity we relate to the resurrection of Christ. Some Christian traditions (e.g. Roman Catholicism emphaise mostly the cross (thats why in a RC church you will always see Jesus hanging on the cross) and why they emphasise self-sacrifice etc. But in our stream of theology the emphasis is mostly on the other side - the resurrection. All the theological themes which are positive and relate to Jesus resurection are emphasised.
Now then a second theological deficiency in EveryNation adds to the confusion. The scriptures refer to the Kingdom of God as being something that is partly here and partly not here. i.e. it is partly now, partly future, partly almost here. The result is that people sometimes experience kingdom benefits such as healing and sometimes not. Is this because people lack faith? Not always. Problem is that we still live in a falling world and suffer the consequence of the curse of sin - we all eventually decay and die. People who don't grasp this biblical truth are going to struggle to make sense of reality and may end up living in self condemnation for not living in blessing all the time or alternatively live in denial. EveryNation often tries to pretend that the kingdom is all here now and thus raises expectations of abundant blessing - wheras actually this is only half true. We are still in a fallen world under God's curse.
Where does this unbalanced theology come from? Well, it is common in the Charismatic movement with its emphasis on healing and revival. It is a particular problem in the Word of Faith movement as applied to healing and prosperity. It is also a problem in the Reconstructionist movement as applied to politics. It is a problem with very young enthusiastic Christians who don't know too much Bible or Church history. It is often a problem in times of revival, when there is a greater expression of the kingdom of God and thus people tend to grab hold of all the biblical promises - and think they are applicable as if we were already in heaven. It is often a problem amongst post-millenialists who see the kingdom takeover of the world as imminent. It is also a problem amongst powerful nations e.g. Britain a century and a half ago. America superpower now.
Now fuse all these things together in EveryNation: Charismatic, Word of Faith, Reconstructionism, young people, revival breakthroughs and post-millenialism and American superpower culture. You have just mixed together all the strongest components needed for triumphalism. This is about the most dangerous combination you could find for getting unbalanced. Not that I would attack all the above. Some of these things are really good - but they need balance of other aspects of Christianity like the cross - repentance, fasting, understanding the sinfulness of human nature etc.
Thus, when scandals hit, instead of dealing with the situation soberly and trying to figure out what went wrong and how to avoid it next time, do disciple, and seek God's face there is a superficial response. There is no proper conversation. Its just 'The problems are in the past. Lets keep the flag raised and forward march.'
I feel this approach is completely naive, dishonest to everyone - and a formula for more scandal. Lets try fill the theological gaps - about the cross - the other side of Christianity. Teach on the fear of God, self denial, standing up under persecution, the judgement of God, giving sacrificially, the sinfulness of man and the need for structures to keep him in check, putting to death our sinful desires, repentance for sin etc.
Otherwise EveryNation will just stumble on in one form or another in deluded triumphalism never learning from its mistakes.
It may be helpful for this discussion to explain 'Word of faith' triumphalist unreality theology. Basically, they divide the world into two separate realities: 'spiritual' and 'physical'. Thus, it is possible to be both 'sick' and 'healed' at the same time. You can be sick in your body, but 'healed in Jesus'. If you go around telling people you are healed (spiritually), eventually, you will become healed (physically). Thus in this theology, God rewards denial of reality with blessing. Refusing to go into denial of reality shows a 'lack of faith'. This understanding of faith is completely divorced from that of the theology of most of the rest of Christianity. It is really more closely linked with Gnosticism, heresy which was popular in Biblical times, but has now been resurrected in a new form.
EveryNation has been strongly influenced by Word of Faith theology. Paul Daniel received his pastoral education at a Word of Faith church in Welkom, although he later abandoned much of this theology in favour of the reformed view. I think Rice Broocks has a similar story, although I will leave my American friends to fill that in for me.
To counter this, read 'The spiritual spider web' by Derek Morphew downloadable as an ebook at www.vineyardbi.org
Now EveryNation is not really Word of Faith, but it has been influenced by the movement. EveryNation is actually a bit of a jumble of lots of different theologies tacked together, which don't actually fit properly together into a coherent system like Reformed theology does. Maybe as the movement matures, the more academic types will help decide what they do and don't believe and develop a systematic theology to explain it. At present, however, this will have to wait, because the hyper-authoritarian elitist structure basically squashes any intelligent intellectual discussion in favour of 'Believe this or get out' attitude.
I hope the discussions on this message board will influence what is kept, what is modified and what is thrown out - as the movement matures.