Solid breakdown of how repackaging Christianity around cultural trends creates the same shallow result every time. The distinction between changing tactics and changing the ordering principle is really sharp - I've seen churches cycle through different aesthetics (seeker-sensitive, hipster, now masculine revival) but the core impulse to chase relevance stays the same. One thing that suprises me is how quickly these movements forget their own recent history and think they've discoverd something new.
This similar thing happened to the SBC. With the conservative resurgence, important reforms were made. However, the basic DNA did not change. That basic DNA was pragmatism. They claimed on paper to embrace the inerrancy and sufficiency of scripture. The problem was, they actually never abandoned the sufficiency of culture. The reforms they desired could only be had by operating on scripture alone. It’s one thing to embrace inerrancy. It is an entirely different thing to embrace the sufficiency of scripture. This is the heart and soul of a true reformation.
Solid breakdown of how repackaging Christianity around cultural trends creates the same shallow result every time. The distinction between changing tactics and changing the ordering principle is really sharp - I've seen churches cycle through different aesthetics (seeker-sensitive, hipster, now masculine revival) but the core impulse to chase relevance stays the same. One thing that suprises me is how quickly these movements forget their own recent history and think they've discoverd something new.
Amen
Coolness technicians in the church have always been the inlets for worldliness and progressivism…
This similar thing happened to the SBC. With the conservative resurgence, important reforms were made. However, the basic DNA did not change. That basic DNA was pragmatism. They claimed on paper to embrace the inerrancy and sufficiency of scripture. The problem was, they actually never abandoned the sufficiency of culture. The reforms they desired could only be had by operating on scripture alone. It’s one thing to embrace inerrancy. It is an entirely different thing to embrace the sufficiency of scripture. This is the heart and soul of a true reformation.