We can no longer afford our historical sentimentality, even addiction, to the past. Christendom is not the biblical mode of the church. It is/was merely one way in which the church has conceived of itself. In enshrining it as the sole form of the church, we have made it into an idol that has captivated our imaginations and enslaved us to a historical-cultural expression of the church. We have not answered the challenges of our time precisely because we refuse to let go of the idol. This must change! The answer to the problem of mission in the West requires something far more radical than reworking a dated and untenable model. It will require that we adopt something that looks far more like the early church in terms of its conception of the church (ecclesiology) and its core task in the world (missiology).
pretty cool brad. i'm reading the same thing. it's a really good book. hope your well!
kelly
of course, if this guy was really into what he is saying, then he'd realize that his own disposition toward the historical bent of the restoration movement would also need to be thrown out--who says the church today is suppose to look like it did 2000 freakin years ago?
I may be wrong, but I don't think he has any bent towards the ideas of the Restoration Movement. Rather, I think he has a bent towards the postmodern context which may need an expression of the church that looks more like the era of Peter and Paul than anything in the last 200 years.