...most people attending worship services in a church sanctuary leave feeling that God was not present and that they did not personally connect with the living God through that experience.
So therefore a Revolution is needed!! Viva Revolucion!!
There is a new breed of Christ-follower in America today. These are people who are more interested in being the Church than in going to church. ...These people are Revolutionaries.
So, tell me, is this new breed thoroughbred? I guess that is impossible as “new breed” implies innovation...just something to think about, however... Personally I would rather follow the ‘old breed’ of “Christ-follower” such as St. John Maximovitch for just one example.
The defining attribute of a Revolutionary is not whether they attend church, but whether they place God first in their lives and are willing to do whatever it takes to facilitate a deeper and growing relationship with Him and other believers.
I think it’s the attraction of people to be able to call themselves “Revolutionary”. The protestation of protestantism has worn off so a new moniker is needed—one that will catch the eye and ear and communicate that these people are “different” and “serious”. Revolution, yet more, will imply that these people aren’t like those stick-in-the-mud christians that just have their normal little church.
They have decided to get serious about their faith by piecing together a more robust faith experience. Instead of going to church, they have chosen to be the Church, in a way that harkens back to the Church detailed in the Book of Acts.
Maybe they should realize that the “Church detailed in the Book of Acts” did not disappear into nothingness…I guess their ‘revolutionary’ spirit would be too much to submit to the ancient authority of the Church… It seems like taking ‘spirituality’ piecemeal from various and sundry sources is much more in the ‘revolutionary’ spirit. “Experience”...I don’t even need to say anything about that...
...the Revolution brings great challenges to those who choose that pathway. ...There is the danger of exposure to unbiblical or heretical teaching. ...It could become easier to hoard one’s treasures rather than giving generously. We find plentiful evidence of unbiblical teaching in small groups, Sunday school classes and other local church venues. We know that few churched Christians give 4% of their income back to God, much less 10%.
I find it very telling that the first “exposure to unbiblical or heretical teaching” mentioned has nothing to do with any actual theology, doctrine or even statement of faith but is something ‘under the law’ like titheing...
One of the hallmarks of the Revolution of faith is how different it is for each person.
“Come, get your very own, unique, personal experience of the Revolution!”
How do most Revolutionaries justify calling themselves devoted disciples of Christ while distancing themselves from a local church? 'Many of them realize that someday they will stand before a holy God who will examine their devotion to Him. They could take the safe and easy route of staying in a local church and doing the expected programs and practices, but they also recognize that they will not be able to use a lackluster church experience as an excuse for a mediocre or unfulfilled spiritual life. Their spiritual depth is not the responsibility of a local church; it is their own responsibility. As a result, they decide to either get into a local church that enhances their zeal for God or else they create alternatives that ignite such a life of obedience and service. In essence, these are people who have stopped going to church so they can be the Church.'
So it all comes down to personal preference then? If you want to ‘get to heaven’ you can take the “safe and easy route”, but if you really want an experience you need to go beyond, to take your ‘spirituality’ into your own hands and “create alternatives”...
From those wiser than I:
According to the Fathers of the Church, the Orthodox dogma is never separated from spirituality. Where there is erroneous dogma, there also exists an erroneous spirituality and vice versa. Many individuals divide dogma from piety, but this is an error. When Christ says, 'become perfect ... as the Father...,' he implies that one should know what is meant by perfection. Thus, for the Orthodox, the criterion of the validity of the Sacraments is the Orthodox dogma. Piety and dogma are one identity and cannot be split up from each other.
Fr. John Romanides
It may be true that the modern crisis can be formally traced back to the loss of convictions. It would be disastrous, however, if people rallied around a false banner and pledged allegiance to a wrong faith. The real root of the modern tragedy does not lie only in the fact that people lost convictions, but that they deserted Christ.
Fr. Georges Florovsky
A new reality came into the world, a body more perfect than the world—the Church, founded on a two-fold divine economy: the work of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, the two persons of the Trinity sent into the world. ...The Church is body in so far as Christ is her head; she is fullness in so far as the Holy Spirit quickens her and fills her with divinity, for the Godhead dwells within her bodily as it dwelt in the deified humanity of Christ.
Vladimir Lossky
Pertinent websites:
Revolution!
Beyond the "church"
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