Paul's Passing Thoughts

I am presently reading Houses That Change the World by Wolfgang Simson. First, let me say that those whom I disagree with on theological issues while still recommending them in regard to important contributions of thought is a very short list as far as I am concerned. It’s maybe one hand, in regard to fingers. At this point, I am not ready to add Wolfgang Simson to the list, but I still feel that this book is must reading for every Christian living today.

A revised version, by what means unclear, titled The House Church Book, completely rewrites chapter two (according to my Kindle version) and edits out Simpson’s historical account of persecution suffered by house churches via the Reformers. I have ordered a hardcopy to confirm this interesting edit. According to Simpson on pages 67 and 68, the Reformers were responsible for civil laws banning home fellowships (especially in regard to the Anabaptists) and were directly and indirectly responsible for at least 30,000 Anabaptist deaths.

We must remember that the Western institutional church is a product of the Reformation, and the level of denial regarding its bad fruit never ceases to amaze. How can those who put people to death for disagreeing with them on theological issues be our heroes? The Fox Book of Martyrs, considered a classic among Evangelicals, shamelessly excludes the historical Protestant inquisition.

So far, and from everything I have seen from a cursory perusal through the rest of the book, it is a profound form of thinking out of the box in regard to Western tradition. I pause here as I work through the book to add thoughts to his idea of a wedding ceremony versus married life (p. 19).

A wedding is a formal ceremony that marks a commitment to sharing a life together. It is a formal public confession. It takes much planning and proper execution. Married couples do not repeat the ceremony on a weekly basis. Married life is much different from the ceremony—it moves on from symbolism to substance. It moves on to The Way (the initial term for Christianity) from the what.

Is church a weekly ceremony? A weekly celebration? Is life imparted by the living out of life, or something symbolic of that life? Do marriages grow by the initial ceremony? Do we have a marriage ceremony every week in order to grow in our marriage? Listen to Protestant pastors (especially those of the Neo-Reformed bent) carefully; in essence, life does come by celebrating our initial conversion. “Grace” is imparted by coming to the “worship service.” They openly admit that church is all about “the gospel.” One pastor told me that they cancelled children’s church so that the children would be in adult church and therefore, “under the gospel.”

Rather than a less formal, less structured fellowship that equips and encourages, life is imparted by a ceremony. Consider the following statement by Neo-Calvinist Michael Horton:

God gathers his people together in a covenantal event to judge and to justify, to kill and to make alive. The emphasis is on God’s work for us – the Father’s gracious plan, the Son’s saving life, death, and resurrection, and the Spirit’s work of bringing life to the valley of dry bones through the proclamation of Christ. The preaching focuses on God’s work in the history of redemption from Genesis through Revelation, and sinners are swept into this unfolding drama. Trained and ordained to mine the riches of Scripture for the benefit of God’s people, ministers try to push their own agendas, opinions, and personalities to the background so that God’s Word will be clearly proclaimed. In this preaching the people once again are simply receivers – recipients of grace. Similarly, in baptism, they do not baptize themselves; they are baptized. In the Lord’s Supper, they do not prepare and cook the meal; they do not contribute to the fare; but they are guests who simply enjoy the bread of heaven. As this gospel creates, deepens, and inflames faith, a profound sense of praise and thanksgiving fills hearts, leading to good works among the saints and in the world throughout the week. Having been served by God in the public assembly, the people are then servants of each other and their neighbors in the world.

It’s like trying to obtain a deeper marriage by revisiting the original ceremony, instead of sharing the experience of obeying God’s word in real life:

The image of much contemporary Christianity could be summarized as holy people coming regularly to a holy place on a holy day at a holy hour to participate in a holy ritual led by a holy man dressed in holy cloths for a holy fee (Preface p.11).

paul