Liberalism and Institutions

Recently commentator Bernard Goldberg remarked on the often-repeated statement about Keith Olberman's departure from MSNBC that Olberman had the most popular program on the network. Goldberg said that that statement was like saying that a midget was the tallest midget in a room of midgets. MSNBC was recently ranked #23 in viewership among cable networks. #1 was the USA Network, #2 was TNT, #3 was ESPN, and #4 was Fox News.

While MSNBC continues to carve out an albeit tiny niche as the liberal news network (in competition with CNN, by the way, which, like MSNBC, has seen a nosedive in ratings), Fox News continues to thrive as the most conservative news network. We've already seen the demise of Air America, a failed liberal attempt at competing with conservatives in talk radio. Why is liberalism so lacking in commercial viability? It is for the same reason that liberalism fails in other venues.

pecusa, that is, the protestant episcopal church in the United States of America, has seen precipitous declines in membership year after year like the declines in viewership at CNN and MSNBC as pecusa continues to move in the same liberal direction as the afore-mentioned cable networks. Alan Hirsch, a Christian missiologist, explains why this happens with reference to theological liberalism. Hirsch observes that theologically liberal Christianity seeks to minimize the tension between Christian belief and secular belief. He says,

"This is why liberalism is often called cultural Christianity. And that is why it is just about impossible to find a liberal movement that has made any significant missional impact on the world. Liberalism comes later in the life of a movement and usually is a clear sign of decline."

Alan Hirsh, The Forgotten Ways, p. 191.

Movements like Christianity begin with enthusiasm and verve as they take their founding beliefs (generally from a founder, but sometimes from a group) and translate them into strategies, goals and actions. Over time a movement becomes an institution, doubt sets in (Bishop Spong is an example of this), and decline begins to take place.

pecusa has replaced the original vision of Jesus with one that apes societal norms and values. An example of this is the Presiding Bishop and General Convention substituting the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations for the Great Commission of Jesus. Institutions like pecusa are about power and control rather than enthusiasm and organic growth. We see this in the way pecusa treats those who have decided that they no longer want to be a part of a declining institution that has lost nearly all connection with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The answer to decline is to return to the original vision and recasting it in a way that is attractive in the new mileau. This is why there is so much excitement around the goal of the Anglican Communion in North America (ACNA) to plant one thousand churches in five years. This is a Gospel goal. Alongside this goal is the work of the ACNA through Anglican Relief and Development (ARD). ARD funds the kind of work that the MGDs are about, but within the context of the full gospel mandate. pecusa has lost sight of the Great Commission and because of this pecusa is just another dying liberal institution.