Reform, Reclaim, Renew

The following is a copy of in essay I did for class about a new concept I have I'm going to edit the essay into a more blog friendly format soon but until then I want to know what people think of the idea


Raymond “R.C.” Makris
Dr. Dave Ellingson
FOYM “Contemplative Youth Ministry”
November 5th 2007
Reform, Reclaim, Renew
After FOYM was over I tried to come up with a topic that really captured the topic of the event and what affect the conference had on me but I struggled to do so to no avail. One thing did stand out to me and I have chosen to write about it because its the FOYM event that really got me thinking about this. While Attending the FOYM I was struck by something Mark Yaconelli said but strangely when It came time to write this reflection I cant remember what he said exactly or even a summery of what his point was, what I can remember were the thoughts that followed. In-fact Mark’s words have had me thinking for days now. In the notes I was taking this is what I said For the church to be a Counter culture it must be ever Reforming, Reclaiming, and Renewing. This Idea struck me it made a lot of sense and I have been exploring it ever since. Over the length of this essay I will look at what each of these means and why there important to the church not just in the area of youth ministry but the church from top to bottom.
The first step in this top to bottom change is reformation, as Lutherans we know all about this our denomination was the first to reform and break away from the Roman Catholic Church and it all started with an essay nailed to a door in 1517 but since then the Lutheran Church has not really reformed all that much. This needs to change reformation has been a key element of the church since the beginning. We shouldn't even call this Reform because really the church is always reforming because the job is never done. Rob bell puts it like this in his book Velvet Elvis Protestants are always reforming because No-one can put God in a box. Throughout the scriptures humans try to put God in a box but then there is reform because God is always stirring up new ways for people to live, breaking down barriers, smashing the box till its nothing. It starts with Abraham and the new concept that there is only one God. Then God giving Moses the law, a law that creates a system designed to have people treated better but the people under this law decide to use it as a way to marginalize large groups of people and treat those people unfairly. In response to this God decides to take this a step further finally he gives the world the greatest of all reformations this time coming in the form-of a Rabbi named Jesus who calls for a new community, one that acts differently then the old. This community is counter cultural its all about reform and loving all peoples. New Oxford American Dictionary describes reform in this way Reform (rĭ-fôrm') verb 1.Make changes in (something) in-order to improve it. The key phrase they use in the dictionary is in-order to improve it. In a world that loves solid foundations how ever false the solidness may be the idea of change and reform scares many especially in the Church but it is necessary to remain relevant. Remaining the same holds comfort while reform causes struggles but my understanding is you never change everything and reforming is nothing without reclaiming the good things of the past.
Reclaiming is the next step in the process of making the Church counter cultural again. Reclaiming is the act of taking back the lost good things from the past. In the context of Church this could be a ritual that has stopped being used like the Passover meal or an old song that hasn’t been played in many years. The key to reclaiming is to only bring back things of value for example if you started singing a song that lyrics are in a style of English with wording that doesn’t make sense in the way we speak now the song wont be edifying. So in-order to reclaim we must discern if this thing should be restored by deciding if it will help the community understand God. Reclaiming may be as easy as explaining the meanings of rituals the still do but the people no longer know the meanings of such as the ritual of Advent each candle has a meaning and the colors all have significance but most members of the church do not know this. The Idea of Reclaiming is not new and has existed in biblical history from the very beginning. The whole biblical narrative is about God restoring humans back to what there intended to be after original sin bringing us back to Eden. Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God being near and what he meant by this was that Gods going to restore us to Eden and we can help to do this. God reclaims his people the Jews after there forced out of Israel several times throughout the old testament but goes a step forward and with Jesus’ death reclaims all people as his children and forgives there sins. We as the church have the duty and honor to aid God in good works reclaiming the kingdom for God and this needs to be done in the Church as well as outside. The Church cant only be about the past though it needs to be relevant in todays world.
For the church to remain relevant in todays world it must renew or update. If you heard someone talking in Old-English your reaction would most likely be something along the lines of what’s wrong with them? Then why does the church continue to act this way? Only in the last few decades has the church started to use modern translations of the bible even though the modern translations were more accurate and were written in todays language. Churches instead used the outdated King James Version because it had been the standard and the language sounded more “Holy” but the “Holy” language was just outdated speech patterns of the past. The Church not only needs to renew by using better translations but needs to think about renewing everything and discern what to keep and what to update. This update can be technological, architectural, and textual. Renewal and update is also a biblical concept one major example of this is Jesus’ death it gets rid of the old outdated ritual of animal sacrifice. I would go as far to say that this ritual that quickly grew outdated was in the old testament law was purely to make things right between humans that God doesnt require the shedding of blood. The author of Hebrews says it this way The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God.' " First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The author of Hebrews is talking about both reform and renewal here getting rid of a ritual that wasn't helpful and making the Church more reasonable to modern people. Imagine going into church and bringing an animal and killing it on the alter seems a little extreme I know i would personally come back to a Church that killed animals as part of the service. This is an extreme example but the Church needs to remain cultural up to-date.
This conference has inspired me to think about how to remain counter cultural and up to date as a member of a Church this should be done on a personal level as well as a systematic one. I was greatly surprised how much this event has changed me and made me think. It has changed me in ways far from the direct topic as you can tell from the past few pages. I would like to thank Mark and Trinity’s Youth and Family Ministry Department for this opportunity to learn a lot about the Church and myself.