Dearly Beloved in Christ,
Have you noticed the number of destructive earthquakes that have occurred around the world just since the beginning of January this year? It is almost as if the vibrations of one quake travel through the earth and cause another quake on the opposite side, with the most recent being in Mexico, just south of the US border. Not to establish a cause and effect relationship, but the religious world has been suffering from spiritual quakes as well.
The spiritual quakes and turmoil found in the Anglican Church world are rapidly being exported by The Episcopal Church (TEC) to dioceses all across the globe, and the fault lines don't stop at the Anglican front yard. The ELCA Lutherans have generally followed TEC in their theological innovation, and are now suffering a Synodical split, with many of the orthodox Lutherans in the ELCA pulling out and reforming as a new body. The Presbyterian Church USA is having tensions over spiritual innovation within their church as well, and most of the major Christian denominations report some degree of stress between those who would accommodate the culture into their present theology, and those who resist and hold to the traditional faith as they understand it.
The desire of TEC is to bring the "enlightenment of heresy" to the entire world, such that all see religion as inclusive of many (if not all) faith systems, a veritible smorgasbord of faith from which you can design your own personal and unique religion - add a little Jesus, a little Buddha, a little Mohammed, and push BLEND. Inclusive of many forms of sexual expression, TEC's boundaries of behavior are only for the present. In ten years or less, TEC having a partnered gay or lesbian bishop will be old hat, and it will require something much more novel and edgy to startle folks. Perhaps in 2020 or sooner someone who is multi-partnered or bi-sexual may be a bishop in TEC, or perhaps a transgendered individual. I would like to offer comfort to those still in TEC and be able to say, "it will go this far and no further," but such reassurance would have no basis in fact.
For those who stay in TEC, they will be called to live and witness in an increasingly disordered faith system, where they will have their religious beliefs frequently challenged - not so much in the outside world, but in church itself, perhaps at coffee hour or in the sermon. For those outside of TEC, we will have to deal with a church that calls itself both Anglican and Christian which is increasingly a parody of both, but nevertheless impacts our Christian witness to the spiritually needful world around us.
If we step back several paces, we will realize that we are actually in the midst of a spiritual war, not so much of flesh and blood (though we who wear flesh and blood are involved on both sides), but of spiritual powers which our natural eyes can't see, except upon occasion. We are asked to be faithful in this spiritual battle, and together with other humans, angels and archangels, we shall prevail.
But to begin, we have to stop playing the "ain't it awful" game, realize the nature of the conflict we are in, see that it is actually cosmic in scope, and understand that in the end, our God will have the victory. Realize that you, wherever God has placed you, are an important part of his army, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, excel in what you have been tasked with, to the glory of God.
Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus,
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
_________________
No comments:
Post a Comment