Instead, we are more likely to see more what is occurring today -- what John Allen Jr. of the National Catholic Register (one of the most astute observers of Catholic Christianity, and global Christianity in general) calls "the ecumenism of daily life" -- detailed here in his recent column, "Springtime for Ecumenists: A Realistic Assessment." From Allen:
The great irony is...the ecumenical movement is actually among the most phenomenally successful currents in global Christianity in at least the last 100 years. It may not have achieved full, visible communion, but it has swept away centuries of prejudice and broken down denominational ghettoes in what can only seem historically like the blink of an eye.
Today, for example, Catholics and Protestants around the world pray together, work together, celebrate when their kids marry one another, and in general no longer see one another as bogeymen. While anti-ecumenical attitudes certainly persist (for example, in some sectors of the surging Pentecostal movement across the global south), the few remaining places where Catholics and Protestants are at one another's throats strike mainstream believers on both sides as not only anachronistic but almost incomprehensible. Much the same point could be made about Catholic/Orthodox relations.
If proof is needed, I offer the case of Hill City, Kansas, the tiny western Kansas town where my 93-year-old grandmother resides. Grandma, if prompted, tells stories about the time Protestants tried to stop construction of a Catholic church in town, not wanting the papists to get a toehold. (I have no idea how much truth there is to that memory, but the point is that reflects an era not so long ago in which such things were common.) Today, by way of contrast, her greatest point of pride about her pastor, Fr. Don McCarthy, is that he's well-liked by the Protestants too. There's almost no religious initiative of consequence in town that isn't ecumenical, such as the time in 2004 that the Ministerial Alliance, a coalition of the various Christian denominations, pooled $1,800 to rent the local cinema for free showings of "The Passion of the Christ." For three nights, Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals and Lutherans sat shoulder by shoulder, then went out for coffee, pie, and conversation.
In microcosm, that tells the story of the runaway success of what experts have come to call the "ecumenism of daily life."
Our not-so-distant ancestors would be utterly shocked by the level of harmony among Christians today. For those of us who desire to see a more united Body, our current assessment reads like a GAO report: "Some Progress Has Been Made, but Much Remains to Be Done." (By far the best treatment of discerning a road to Christian unity is Peter Kreeft's message "Ecumenism Without Compromise").But even after all the "ecumenism of daily life" you can handle, what is the dirty little secret behind greater Christian ecumenism? What will bring Christ-following Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox together irrevocably?
Persecution. And I'm not talking about having to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." I'm talking about hard persecution, not soft.
I think TC's comment in the previous post is very relevant, because he highlights the trend of many young Christians ignoring fixed church buildings altogether, and meeting in homes, or gyms, or whatever structure they can find. The early Church did this because they had to in order to avoid imminent arrest, or death. Why are young people doing it today?
At least one (and many other) Christian leaders are predicting difficult times ahead, and preparing for a small, dedicated Body living in the world as a "Creative Minority."
BC
2 comments:
Great post, BC. As I read it, I was reflecting that this sort of ecumenism also appears in the workplace. For example, the weekly lunchtime Bible Study I attend consists not only of non-denominational Evangelicals (who arranged the meetings), but also more than one Charismatic, Catholic, or Methodist Christian.
In this Advent season as we await celebration of Christ's first coming, this sort of blog post reflects the other reason we join together ecumenically: for those of us who believe, we know He is coming back. And so we join together, and we wait, and we watch. -EC
I think you're right, BC, persecution would bring a more focused unity to the Church. If/when that will happen here in the U.S., I don't know. I do think that an ease of life (lack of persecution) gives us, as believers, too much time to sit around and make up doctrines and beliefs that deviate from the Truth. Persecution brings an acute focus on what is important, which can/will result in unity.
As to why young people today are meeting in homes, gyms, etc., I can't speak for all, but I'll speak for some that would say they are fed up with the traditional idea of, go to "church" on Sunday, listen to the sermon, sing a few songs, say a prayer or two, and then it's back to the rest of my 6.5 days this week. They are tired of the system, the unauthenticity of it. They want a faith that is integrated into their daily lives, and some are finding it in these non-traditional venues.
BTW - Anybody that says, "We have to do church just like they did during those first years of the church" or "Church must be done in a temple, synagogue, or building," must be crazy. Both are snapshots of what the Church has looked like over the years. She's changing, growing, evolving (oops, dangerous word to use in this context). I certainly hope I don't look the same as when I was 2 years old. I'm still me, I just look different. Same goes for the Church.
tkc
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