Random pics and candid thoughts

Tonight we'd like to give you a window into what we're currently thinking and feeling about our future. We see this summer as a journey of discernment, so this stuff is obviously very important. For better or worse, we're putting pretty much everything out in the open in this post. To intersperse the serious with some lighter fare, a smattering of pictures are included, too. (Three cheers for visual aids!)

Kids: There are a lot of questions surrounding kids and living in a foreign culture. The first question for us is, when do we start trying for our first? There are a lot of factors at play in this decision, and we've gone back and forth from earlier to later a few times. Right now, we think we want to aim for our time in Wisconsin the year after we graduate from seminary. That comes with certain perks and other challenges, and our minds could change again, and the Lord could always surprise us... but that's where we sit right now. (Exciting! Scary! Life!)

Mission agencies: We've met with many Spaniards and missionaries thus far, and we'll continue to meet with more, but we feel a particular connection with two agencies - WorldVenture and OMS. We feel relationally connected to both of these missions, we believe we are philosophically aligned with each, and we would be happy to be a part of either of their teams. There is one particular advantage to feeling a connection to people in two agencies - wherever we land, we believe we will have a connection with mentor-figures from outside our own organization in addition to those within it. The obvious difficulty associated with this dual connection is that we have to choose who we will go with, and we're not yet sure how.

With this matter on her heart, Meggan was distracted this morning during the time she had planned to be reading her Bible. As the distraction stirred, she was prompted by the Holy Spirit to turn her focus to the reading she had purposed to do. She turned to Isaiah 30:
Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:18-21, ESV)
We believe the same God who spoke this word to his people some 2700 years ago desires to do an analogous work in our lives. So rather than worry about the choice before us, we will wait for him, and we believe he will answer us, and when we hear his voice, we will walk where he leads us.

On an unrelated note, they love Pope John Paul II here. This is a statue of him outside the Cathedral of Santa María Real de la Almudena. The same day Meggan and I were married in Madison - May 22, 2004 - Prince Felipe, heir apparent to the throne of Spain, married the woman now known as Princess Letizia at this cathedral. (How's all that for random?)



Ministry focus: At the moment, we think the following might accurately depict our ministry a few years from now. The big idea is relationships. We will be building relationships with the people in our community with the hope of earning their trust. From this platform of trust, we hope for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ with our friends, because people will not receive the truth when they hear it from a source they don't trust (no matter how deeply and universally true it is). We see ourselves meeting people through a handful of venues - our fellow parents in the neighborhood, our fellow artists, Meggan with her dance students, and I with a focus on teenagers (community contacts and/or the non-Christian friends of Christian youth). That last bit - me in what's called "youth ministry" in the U.S. - is the newest piece, and the one still more up in the air than the other ones.

Madrid (and its surrounding areas): We like this area. In spite of being a large international city, it has retained significant natural character. As for the non-natural, the history continues to fascinate us. (After all, we are from Wisconsin and Colorado, two places where the oldest man-made structures still standing are under 200 years old.) Also, you can get anywhere on the various train systems; depending on where we landed, we might not need a car (though I'm guessing we will have one). We have encountered a number of neighborhoods we would enjoy. One of our great desires for a neighborhood would be a natural congregating place where the people get together in the evenings and get to know each other. In one neighborhood we've visited, this place was a park that the backyards of scores of row houses faced; elsewhere, it was a central courtyard in an apartment complex. One neighborhood where this kind of connection does not naturally occur is where we're currently staying. We definitely like staying here right now, but gates, walls, fences, vines, trees, and bushes set us off from our neighbors. The effect is aesthetically pleasing, but it makes relationships harder to foster.
Here's the courtyard of one apartment complex where the community really does come together.

This is the beautiful backyard garden at our current residence - a pleasure to enjoy, but one of a handful of barriers separating us from our neighbors.

You know a city is advanced when even its lawyers are worthy of their own statue...















...though the presence of a museum devoted to ham across the street brings that conclusion into question. (Actually, this is a chain of restaurants called "Museum of Ham." The U.S. thinks up Planet Hollywood, and Spain gives us this. As they say, "Spain is different!")












Toto, we're not in North America anymore.

Thank you for your continued prayers; you bless us.

Doing life in/from Coslada

On Monday we said goodbye to the Cox family and navigated the Metro (subway) to Coslada, a near eastern suburb. We will be staying here for almost three weeks total at the home of Peg and Jerry Schweitzer. Peg and Jerry are WorldVenture missionaries who teach at Evangelical Christian Academy (an English-language school primarily for MKs). We spent two evenings with them, but now they've returned to the U.S. for a wedding and other family time, so we have the place to ourselves. Thanks for your hospitality and the gift of your home, Peg & Jerry! Besides this space, Peg has also passed along another piece of herself to us - she taught Meggan how to make a pie shell from scratch. Yesterday Meggan turned that shell into a peach glacé pie (yummy!).

The peach pie brings us to another interesting note - grocery shopping. Tuesday we introduced ourselves to the three stores in the neighborhood, then returned to the first (AhorraMás, which means “SaveMore”) to do our shopping. Meggan successfully navigated the meat counter for two LARGE chicken breasts, while I miserably attempted to ask for help finding something they didn’t carry. But, hey - we’re here to learn, and you can’t learn if you don’t try! We went back to the store yesterday for milk and fresh fruit, but we had to go to all three stores to find what we wanted, because there’s a truckers’ strike going on in Spain right now. The Portuguese strike has recently been resolved; pray for a quick resolution here as well.

Yesterday was also our day to discover the Cercanías (regional train network - a little faster and more expensive than the Metro, with a broader reach). We walked about 20 minutes to the station, then rode about 25 minutes to Atocha, the main train station in Madrid (the station that was bombed by terrorists in 2004). From there we walked around a lot of central Madrid - through Retiro Park, into El Corte Inglés (“The English Court,” kind of like Macy’s), past the Royal Palace and Royal Theatre, and through the Plaza Mayor. We had lunch in a small place off a side street - our second meal out, and our first on our own.

So, how are we doing? We’re okay; it’s an adjustment to be on our own. Some of that is nice, of course, and some of it is naturally intimidating but necessary. The piece that’s a bit surprising is that we were less prepared to feel the absence of having hosts focusing on our goals and needs. Our first three families gave a lot of energy toward helping us along our journey of discerning what God has for us in the future, which was very beautiful and served us deeply. Without their presence, we feel more out of place than we did earlier. If you ask Meggan and me, we’re so thankful things were arranged in the order they were; we needed the extra support at the beginning! So, praise God for that, and pray for God’s presence in our ongoing adjustment to life on our own.

Hopefully our activity in the next few days will help with that adjustment. This afternoon we are meeting with a Spanish pastor named Andrés, tomorrow we are having lunch with a team of missionaries from the agency WEC, and Saturday night we are going to a secular event against human trafficking hosted by Aslan (the performing arts ministry we will be working with in July).

Teología en Piedra, Madera, y Tapices: Theology in Stone, Wood, and Tapestries

On Saturday, our gracious host Paul and his son Ben (aka: Be-Bo) took Ben and I to Valle de los Caídos: Valley of the Fallen. The official name of the monument is actually The Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen. It is monument, cathedral, and crypt in one. The monument was conceived by Francisco Franco, following the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939, to honor those who had served and died in the war. Construction began in 1941 and ended in 1959, and the monument is absolutely breath-taking as well as haunting.

While I could go into great detail describing the enormous cross outside (150 meters, or just under 500 feet high), the ominous archangels which call all who enter to solemnity, and the two crypts which house those who died in the war, as well as the tomb of Franco himself, I will focus on that which most caught my attention: a series of 8 tapestries hung in the torch-lit hall which served as entry-way into the cathedral itself. From the entry-way to the back of the nave, the entire length is 260 meters (over 800 feet). The vaulted ceiling contrasts polished marble with raw rock-face.

The deliciously intricate tapestries depict the events of the book of Revelation. As I just concluded a course on this book, I darted from tapestry to tapestry, making particular note of the beasts of Revelation 12-13 (The Red Dragon - though it wasn't red in the tapestries - the Beast from the Sea, and the Beast from the Earth). The tapestries which hang there today are actually copies made from 1966-1975. The originals, created in the 16th century by Guillermo Pannemaker, could not withstand the humidity of the dark crypt. When purchased by Felipe II in 1553, 6 were lost in a shipwreck. Thus, the King ordered for the re-making of 6. The collection of 8 was complete in 1562.

Each tapestry is 5.5 meters tall and 8.7 meters wide. Obviously, pictures were forbidden inside the crypt, so the following will have to suffice. Each is jam-packed full of Revelation's narrative and symbolism.

The experience was rather ironic. The crypt focused on an elevated and illuminated, crucified Christ. The ambiance was solemn, and it was an eerie place, emphasized by 8 statues of mourners which led to the cross and 4 mourning angels which surround it, cautioning those who approach. Yet, the hall leading to the cross contained these tapestries, depicting the Parousia - the glorious and triumphant return of Christ at the end of the age! It would seem that the theology of wood and stone has trumped that depicted in tapestry in this dark place.

I was so taken by these tapestries that I sought out the gift shop afterwards and ambitiously bought the guide book for the monument in Spanish. Alas, I may have been too ambitious as the book is filled with terminology with which I am unfamiliar.

Today (Sunday), we attended our second church service in Spain and were again blessed by the warmth of the people, our brothers and sisters in Christ. We also visited The Prado this afternoon, perhaps the topic of another post: Theology in Painting and Sculpture?

Movin' right along

Quick update before I go to sleep here...

Our two days with the Moroccan couple were lovely. They minister to North Africans through (a) radio programming in Arabic broadcast to reach Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and much of Europe; (b) correspondence courses for those who hear the programs and want to learn about the Bible; and (c) a community center predominantly serving Moroccan immigrants in Málaga. Two favorite moments - walking along the beach with Habiba, and having Ab drive us to the airport in the aggressive Spanish style.

So, here we are in Madrid, where we will spend the next seven weeks. We are staying with the Cox family (Paul, Dawn, Samuel, and Benjamin) for three nights. They're Texans serving as missionaries with OMS. Again, the third family to open not only their guest rooms but also their hearts to us.

A fun tidbit of trivia that is very appropriate for myself and my new friend Benjamin Cox - here in Spain, the youngest child in the family is known as the Benjamin, apparently after the youngest of Jacob's sons in Genesis.

3 places, 2 nieces, and 1 prayer request

Things continue to go very well for us. We are loving our time with the Andersons; they've been very hospitable (and fun!). They bring a wealth of experiences and perspectives to the table from which we are having the privilege of learning; Eva is a native Spaniard, while Dan is an American MK who grew up in Papua New Guinea. We've talked a lot about different ministry approaches in Spain, cultural stuff, hobbies, movies, current events - you name it. Tomorrow we will move to another home here in Málaga, and if all our hosts are this great to us, we will have a phenomenal summer, and we will meet our objective of discerning where God is calling us.

Okay - on to today's theme: three places...
1. Málaga - what variety! The docks, beaches, hills; the cathedral, the old city, newer neighborhoods, touristy areas, beautiful plant life; Spaniards, Moroccans, Romanians.

2. Almogía - an enchanting small town in the hills a half hour north of Málaga.
3. El Torcal - limestone rock formations at the top of a mountain with a beautiful view.

Two nieces...
Emily has a little sister! Addison Meril Knox was born at 10:15am today in Indy by C-section. Kim and Addy are both doing great. Praise God! We can't wait to meet our new niece come August.
One prayer request...
Pray for Andrés, a friend of Davíd, the younger of the Andersons' boys. Andrés' single dad is an alcoholic who provides a less-than-ideal home environment. As you might expect, Andrés is not exactly the easiest kid to have as your son's friend, but he needs a lot of love, and he finds that when he's here at the Anderson home (even if he doesn't know how to receive it). At the same time, the Andersons will move to Madrid in a few weeks, so it's not as if this will be around for him for long. I don't know anything else about Andrés - does he have other positive influences in his life? what exactly is his home like? - but I know your prayers for him would fall on the ears of a Father who cares deeply for him.

¡Hemos llegado!

We made it! Our flights were smooth and pleasant, jet lag is mostly behind us, and the Andersons (Dan, Eva, Manuel, y Davíd) are lovely hosts. Dan took us to el rastrillo (market) today. The market moves around the city, but on Sundays, it is at its largest (and busiest), right across the street from La Rosaleda, el estadio de fútbol (soccer stadium).

El rastrillo, with La Rosaleda in the background.

The view from our bedroom window.

El Dia ha llegado: The Day has arrived!

(Part of the role of a short-term missionary is to serve the full-time missionaries any way we can. This is me with two of the Gudemans' 60-lb. bags. I'm strong!)

The big day is finally here. Today at 4:30pm we'll leave for the Denver International Airport to fly through London to Málaga. Then one week later, we're off to Madrid for 7 weeks. Obviously, we're having a lot of emotions: excitement, impatience, nervousness, etc. Over the past few days, I (Meggan) have felt the Holy Spirit reminding me of God's abiding presence and his promise to never leave me or forsake me.

I was talking to my parents last night and told my dad a little memory that has been on my mind lately. When I was pretty young (maybe 7 or 8), my parents told me that they thought my brother might have a call to missions on his life. Indignant that John should be called to something that I was not, I replied that perhaps I, too, had that call. Somewhere along the line, I conveniently forgot that incident and the idea of being a missionary flew from my mind. More than just flew - it became something that I thought I'd never do. Maybe I'd marry a pastor or work myself in the church, but my love for family would always keep me close to home.

Yet, God was preparing me all my life for this, as I see now, looking back on what has been a beautiful, though difficult and often painful journey. I fell in love with Spanish from the first day of class in middle school. I have always been fascinated with other cultures, loving books and movies about other countries. And my love for the Lord and the Lord's love have colored and influenced every decision of my life. To many of my high school classmates who doubtless saw me as a crazy Christian girl, the fact that I might be a vocational missionary probably isn't that surprising.

But, it certainly was to me! Ben and I had very different views of our future life during our engagement and the first six months of marriage: Ben saw us as lifetime missionaries, while I saw us spending a maximum of 3 years overseas and then becoming occasional summer-mission-trip people. We have recently come to the conclusion that God may have intentionally hid these differences from us because we couldn't have handled the truth. Perhaps if we'd realized all this during our engagement, we wouldn't have gotten married! But, by God's grace, here we are, despite the painful first year of marriage in which these differences came to light.

I, in particular, walked through what I have come to call a "Dark night of the soul," though that term actually designates a slightly different process of spiritual formation. I was ruled by fear, tormented by horrific dreams that depicted violence and death. I came to the conclusion that God was asking me to die for him; and how could I refuse - he had died for me! I was angry at God. I remember thinking to myself, "After all I've done for you, now you're going to kill me?!" Of course, how foolish that thought was on many levels. What had I done for God? And never would my Father kill me. His gift is eternal life which has destroyed death's power.

I could not see these truths at that time, however. I was blinded by fear and mistrust. I was tormented by my imagination and the possible scenarios of death I might have to endure. I was literally at a crossroads: would I remain faithful or turn my back on God? While I will not delve into the theological issue of perseverance of the saints here, I will say that I now know 100% that the Holy Spirit living in me as a deposit simply would not allow me to turn away. I felt completely alone, misunderstood by my friends and even my family. I believe that these people in my life were blinded from the reality of the struggle I faced so that I would have no other reliance but God alone.

Somehow, that time ended. I have been on the road of healing ever since. While the struggle was a time of solitude between God and me, the healing has been wrought slowly and surely by many figures in my life. My parents and members of Faith Bible Church in Waupun have prayed for me through minor recurrences of these fears, clearly recognizing their demonic origin. Again, they were kept unaware for a time, but now saw clearly. My mentors at Denver Seminary, Nancy and Joyce, have played huge roles in the redemption of the imagination (a phrase of Nancy's) and the journey and joy of serving God overseas. And it is always a journey of trust.

It is so fitting that today of all days I reminisce about the faithfulness of God to bring me from a place of total fear into a place of baby steps of trust. Though, this trip hardly seems like a baby step. It is a baby step as I am a child walking in step with the Father, following where he leads.

Thank you for your continual love, prayers, and support.
all our love,
Meggan and Ben

T-minus seven days, and counting...

We leave for Spain in exactly one week! We've got lots of odds and ends to take care of before we head out, but overall, we're pretty excited. Nervous, too, but excited.

Yesterday was our fourth anniversary! I am loved, and I love my wife. Somehow, thinking of where we'll be four years from now is more reassuring than thinking of where we'll be four days, weeks, or months from now! So, anyhow, we slept in, went to brunch at The Original Pancake House (sooooo delicious!), and then saw an early matinee of Prince Caspian (good flick; worth seeing).

Here we are four years ago...

Why I am not theologically liberal

The semester is over - yippee!!! There is always a sense of accomplishment that accompanies this time of the year. How does one celebrate such an occasion? In my case... with a blog posting of the theological variety. (What a party animal I am.)

Recently I heard a friend of a friend describe themselves as "theologically liberal." They referred to this website as a concise summary of their beliefs. I've read it, and I'd like to respond in this space, even if nobody cares but me and my mom. (If you genuinely feel like reading on, you will probably want to read that page first.) (Is my self-deprecating humor getting old, or is it a nice touch?) I would not describe myself as theologically liberal - I am an Evangelical (though perhaps a moderate liberal within that camp).

First, a few brief caveats. In this space I will be using "liberal" as a theological category, not a political category. Also, it should be said that I am generally quite fond of my liberal Christian friends and family members, and I am in no way trying to say that they are all "unsaved." Finally, just as my thoughts do not reflect the thoughts of all Evangelicals, I'm responding to one person's picture of liberal Christianity. (Really, most of what I say won't make much sense apart from the context of that article, so if you've made it this far and haven't read that page yet, go ahead & do it, then come back to me. I promise it won't take long.) (FYI, Vegas odds on me having no parenthetical comments for the rest of the post are about 10,000:1, which, as Kevin from "The Office" would say, are such great odds that you've gotta take 'em...)

So, let's get started. I can affirm a lot of liberal thought, including:
--the freedom to think.
--the importance of diversity.
--the equality of men and women - in society, marriage, and ministry roles. Contrary to what some would say, this viewpoint is entirely consistent with an Evangelical view of the Bible.
--not necessarily a thoroughly non-literal view of Scripture, but definitely a literary view of Scripture - when the intent of a passage is figurative and theological, I interpret it as such (against, say, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins & the Left Behind series); when the intent of a passage is both theological and historical (for example, Exodus and the gospels), I consider it to be both theologically and historically accurate. For instance, if someone were to write a historically-accurate biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., they might say, "he was a prophetic figure sent by God for the correction of a sinful nation." Does this value judgment mean they cannot present the truth about the man? I don't think so; consider Luke 1:1-4. Also, yes, the Bible is a thoroughly human book in addition to being a divine book; it was not, as Muslims claim of the Qur'an, dictated by God, but was written through the full exercise of human personalities. I believe higher criticism - literary criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism, historical criticism, canon criticism - are tools that can be used profitably for understanding the text. (They can also be abused, but that's beside the point here.)
--the importance and coherence of Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience (though I would not put them on equal footing - Scripture has a one-up on the rest when adjudication is needed).
--the consistency of evolution with Christian faith. I think it's possible to hold an Evangelical view of the Bible and affirm evolution. As a non-biologist, I consider myself ill-equipped to judge the arguments, but I am open to the input of both ID proponents and proponents of evolution. Contrary to the majority of secular scientists today, I think more open dialogue and debate in this arena would be good for the scientific community.
--the immanence of God (in addition to his transcendence).
--social justice as absolutely essential in the kingdom of God.
--the essential value of Christian community, too - our faith is not just about individualistic quiet times.

However, I must reject many liberal conclusions. Here are some challenges I would raise:
--You can't say, "perhaps more so than evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians, liberal Christians see the teachings of Jesus as having a central place," and then, just a few paragraphs later, talk about universal salvation. Jesus teaches more about hell than any other figure in the Bible; you can't take it out of his teaching and still call it the teaching of the "historical Jesus." I'm not saying I particularly like the idea of hell (though I think we like justice very much and are slow to recognize the role hell plays in assuring final justice for the oppressed); I'm saying a follower of Jesus' teaching believes in hell.
--Sure, there are everyday "miracles" in the world, but we shouldn't discount truly miraculous occurrences (not just statistical anomalies) merely because we haven't experienced them ourselves. They're called miracles for a reason - they are abnormal. They also happen to be more common in churches that actively believe they're possible (as in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and many charismatic churches in the West).
--Jesus' bodily resurrection was a historical event. It is the most defensible miracle of human history. There is no alternative theory that stands up to scrutiny.
--We need both social justice and personal transformation; they MUST go hand in hand - you can't have one without the other.
--Liberal Christianity values global diversity, but global Christians do not value liberal theology. As many scholars have said of Liberationist thought in Latin America, "Liberation theology opted for the poor, and the poor opted for Pentecostalism." Liberal Christianity is in many ways elitist, and it robs the gospel of much of its power to help the downtrodden make it through everyday life.
--Homosexual behavior - indeed, any sexual behavior outside of heterosexual marriage - is one form of diversity the Christian faith cannot be bent to affirm. That doesn't give anyone the license to be a jerk to a practicing homosexual; it just means we can't endorse homosexual expression as another healthy alternative to celibacy and heterosexual marriage.
--To put it crassly, panentheism sucks; a non-transcendent god is useless.
--Liberal Christianity Oprah-fies Jesus. It takes those aspects of Christianity which are non-palatable to the Western conscience and tosses them out the window. That's not an improvement; that's individualism - a pick-and-choose approach to the Bible. Imagine that - the very things liberal theology downplays or rejects (hell, personal transformation, personal responsibility, sexual restraint, even miracles in a way) are the things that are most unpopular about Christianity in our country.

Bottom line, I find both liberal and Fundamentalist faith to be intellectually and existentially unsatisfying.

As our seminary's chancellor and co-founder, Dr. Vernon Grounds, has said:
Here is no unanchored liberalism,
freedom to think without commitment.
Here is no encrusted dogmatism,
commitment without freedom to think.
Here is a vibrant evangelicalism, commitment with freedom to think
within the limits laid down in Scripture.Having done my undergraduate studies in Madison, I think being associated with anything that could carry the label "liberal" has often seemed sexy to me - or, at the very least, I associated "liberal" with "open-minded." Much to my dismay, I have been surprised multiple times here in Denver to investigate an intellectual issue seriously - to open my mind, as it were - only to discover that the more "conservative" option better fits the evidence. How un-sexy. I guess the pursuit of truth is no respecter of one person's perception of what would be more exciting.

Two books to recommend for further reading:
--The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, by Craig Blomberg. What the title says it is. Craig is one of our professors, our boss (we grade papers and exams for his classes), and our friend... and a world-class New Testament scholar. (He also subscribes to Google updates that tell him anytime a new website is published with his name on it, so he'll be reading this eventually. Hi, Craig! Thanks for visiting.)
--Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals, by William Webb. Argues biblically for gender equality along with the enduring censure of homosexual behavior.

I apologize if I have used any technical vocabulary that is unfamiliar to anyone. Please don't be shy to leave a comment asking for clarification about some word or concept you're not sure about; you're probably not the only one with that question.

Denominations

Folks don't like denominations too much these days. They read the Bible & hear Jesus praying for the unity of his followers, and on the surface, the reality of thousands of denominations and church associations in our world today seems contradictory to this ideal. The idea of being Episcopal or Pentecostal appears to be a concept that should die to the idea of being "just plain Christian." As a result, many churches are taking the denominational label off their marquee and shying away from certain practices that would identify them as distinctively Baptist or Presbyterian. There are even those who avoid the labels "Christian" and "church" because of the baggage associated with such words.

I sympathize with this sentiment. There is a great deal of truth in what such people are saying - the body of believers around the globe are truly one body in Christ, and we should see ourselves as brothers and sisters, even across denominational lines. It can also be valuable to keep the denominational label off the marquee in situations (like ours in the U.S. today) where outsiders would be turned off from considering Christ and the church if they saw "Methodist" on the sign. (It can even be appropriate to avoid the personal label "Christian" in certain global contexts, like the Middle East, but that's a separate issue.) In addition, in our growing understanding of contextualization for our different localities, it is no longer accepted as a given that one should be able to enter a Lutheran church in New Jersey or Kansas and experience basically the same worship service; as a result, it may now be at least partially inappropriate to "brand" a particular church according to denomination in order to court those who move to town from another church of the same type (sorry, Mom).

At the same time, I believe denominations and/or church associations are healthy and necessary structures for the global Church today. Why, you say? (Humor me; pretend you're interested.) I'm glad you asked!

First, there are well-reasoned, well-intentioned believers who genuinely disagree in areas that are significant enough to make it unreasonable for them to join together under one ecclesiastical umbrella. For instance, take my friend Tony and me. We're both intelligent, educated, generally God-centered gentlemen. I believe in the relative autonomy of the local church and believer's baptism; he is committed to episcopal church government and infant baptism. As much as we might love to work together in a church, there would be some clear roadblocks. I also happen to believe that women can serve in the pastorate, whereas many friends I respect and love interpret certain biblical passages to say they should not. On the other end of the spectrum, there are Christians who hold to a lesser view of the Bible's authority than I do. There are circumstances in a local church where such differences as these can be too great to be overcome, and folks should feel the freedom to disagree agreeably through affiliation with churches in different denominations.

Another reaction I have against post-denominational churches is that they tend (not universally, but generally) to be ignorant of church history. We CANNOT be ignorant of church history. The way we choose to practice our faith, read the Bible, relate to our culture, and more finds the vast majority of its roots in historical development. The very fact that we are having this conversation about being for or against denominations means we are probably neither Roman Catholic nor Eastern Orthodox, and we need to know why. When a church identifies itself denominationally on some level, people are more likely to ask historical questions: "What does it mean that we're Congregational? Where did the UCC come from? What do we have in common with the Disciples of Christ church across town? What are our differences? Why do we believe the things we do?" Churches that know their place in history will more responsibly practice their distinctive incarnation of Christianity and more responsibly relate to the other churches in their area.

Speaking of lessons from history, denominations are a natural consequence of the separation of church and state. From the time of Constantine up until the Enlightenment, the Western world lived in a state of Christendom, where every citizen was supposed to be a Christian and each state (or, after the Reformation, each fiefdom) was aligned with a particular church. This mutual alignment came with certain conveniences for both organizations, but it also had its drawbacks, particularly for the church and especially for those Christians whose convictions varied from official church positions. The breakdown of this Christendom mindset gave way to denominationalism, giving churches the freedom to govern themselves apart from the interference of the state and giving believers the freedom to dissent from the church when it discerned a need for correction.

So even if there are imperfections in the denominational concept, it is better than any alternative the years have offered.

To conclude:
--a church should major on the majors (love God, love people) and minor in its distinctives
--it's okay to keep the label off the door
--but the denomination or association should be a vital component of the church's DNA, and we should embrace rather than apologize for those distinctives
--and we need to teach church history in our churches!

For a more eloquent exposition of these things and the historical rise of the denominational concept of the church, see Bruce Shelley's Church History in Plain Language, pp. 306-308.