I have been musing over something that the 18th century Scottish moral philosopher and economist Adam Smith said: to paraphrase, an established clergy is not willing to fight very hard to leave their church buildings and to go out to declare what it believes in.
It has been given as one of the reasons why we are seeing church attendance decline in this country, compared to the vibrant Christian faith that abounds elsewhere in the world.
Where Christianity has had competition it has been forced to reflect what it actually does believe and work out whether it is worth dying for. It makes a good reason why the Church of England may have a better future ultimately becoming disestablished.
Coming from the Church of England, I have seen how people like 'mild Anglicanism'.It keeps things pleasant and not too challenging. I have had conversations with people who have said to me, in so many words, ‘have a conscience by all means, but don’t put your convictions in my face please.’ And that is just fellow Christians!
Of course, every denomination has its struggles, including my own tribe Vineyard, but it does need us to think movement, not establishment. Having said that, I recognise that 'established' is another word for rooted. And to be rooted is not such a bad thing, just along as we plant as well.
Or to use another analogy with a Western theme, we can identify that there are two types of Christian: the pioneer and the settler.
The pioneer loves to go out and do new things, they enjoy the frontier experience, the adventure, moving into uncharted territory. It’s what makes them feel alive and sharpens their faith in Jesus.
The settler, on the other hand, likes to arrive when things are established and when it feels safe enough to bring the family with them. They aren’t necessarily starters of new ministries, but they know how to manage them and are hugely important in bringing stability to church life. They can share the vision for a missional church just as much as the pioneer type.
Interestingly, I was talking to another pastor recently and we were discussing how church planters (pioneers) can often feel rootless. They have no compunction about moving around. Home is spiritual and relational, not necessarily geographical. The only consideration for not moving more is probably the pressure of a spouse saying, ‘Hey, honey, think about the children!’
The truth is, whether we recognise ourselves as a pioneer or settler, we all have to get out and ‘fight the good fight with all of our might’. We need to be outward-focused and allow ourselves to be continually challenged by the competition, whether it is secularism, atheism, Islam or plain and simple apathy.
However, importantly, we need to remember that our enemy is not a person, but a spiritual being.
God is love. Our weapon is not judgement, it is mercy. We are called to love all, be generous to all, but it does require us to leave our pews and come out fighting to do it.
ASD
