I am reading an intriguing book that came out last year. It’s The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch. It contrasts the church before 300 AD with the church after 300 AD. He believes that our current western culture is more like the culture before 300 AD (before Constantine made Christianity the official state religion.)
One of his early conclusions is that instead of being an institutional, “clergy-led,” “attractional” church, we should be the following as the early church was:
don’t need church buildings, often “underground”
recognizes more roles in leadership, not just the preacher
grassroots, decentralized
church is on the margins of society
church is about “sending out,” not just “bringing in”
(These categories are from page 64.)
As I’ve said before, hopefully this “missional” conversation will continue for us as we take the changes of postmodernism seriously. The days of “build it and they will come” are dying out for the megachurches and for us.
