How do we view Spiritual matters?

As you do, I hear alot about churches fighting the worship wars of "contemporary vs tradtional" or "progressive vs conservative". Some want to sing newer praise songs and others want to sing old songs. If you don't know a church where this discussion is going on, then you live in a bubble. It's not just our fellowhip, it's happening in most fellowships. I believe that this discussion is just the surface of a much deeper battle that is going on. It is a battle that people have fought for centuries, and it was the motivation for both the reformation and the restoration movements. One group of people realize that the institution has become the focus of the movement, and they want to return to God being the focus of the movement.
You can define it many ways, but a description I like and agree with is that it comes down to deciding if you want an institutional mindset or a relational one. Do you want the focus to be on "US" or God? Are your decisions made based on how the institution will accept them, or how the Father will accept them? Do you have an institutional filter or a God filter? Let's face it, we ALL have an institutional filter to some degree because of it's influence over a lifetime. But how thick is your filter? Is it a thicker or more important filter than the filter that has to do with your relationship with Christ?

To site an example, what was the motivation behind the Shepherds pulling support from the missionaries in Africa over the drums? It doesn't take a scholar or a PHD in Theology to figure that out. Some people think that was the right decision, others are appalled. Why do the two groups see it so differently? One group has an institutional mindset, the other has a relational one.

At a recent Lectureship, a speaker was assigned the topic of God's love for us. Would you agree that is a VERY relational subject to preach on? Here is a direct quote from that talk: "If we quit teaching those things that make us Biblically distinctive and unique, we might as well shut our doors. I mean that with all my heart. We have no right to exist if we don't have some Biblically distinctive and unique message". WOW! How did that quantum leap happen? The topic was relational, but the message ended up being institutional. By the way, I very strongly disagree with the quote, but that is another blog.

I hope all of you will read two books that really helped me see the difference in these two approaches to scripture, church, and relationships.....especially my relationship to the Father. They were both written by Rubel Shelly and John York. The first is "The Jesus Proposal" which deals more with individuals and how they see their relationship to God and others. The second, "The Jesus Community" looks at how churches choose which of these two mindsets they will choose to guide how they will function as a body of believers.
Both books will impact your life, I promise you that.