I received a postcard advertisement in the mail today from Warner Press promoting the second edition of their Basics for Belief book that will be published this year. It is a book designed to answer the question, "What do Church of God people believe?", especially because "newcomers want to know how our beliefs compare to those of other Christians".
I haven't seen this book, but I'm sure it is a fine writing. It appears to be an updated, edited compilation of some previous doctrinal writings by noteworthy Church of God leaders.
My question, however, is: Why is Warner Press not publishing books pertaining to HOW we should be living as followers of Christ? For a praxis movement emphasizing holiness would it not be important for us to present teachings on what holiness looks like in today's world?
It's much easier to churn out doctrinal writings than thoughtful, engaging discussions on the implications of our doctrines.
I haven't seen this book, but I'm sure it is a fine writing. It appears to be an updated, edited compilation of some previous doctrinal writings by noteworthy Church of God leaders.
My question, however, is: Why is Warner Press not publishing books pertaining to HOW we should be living as followers of Christ? For a praxis movement emphasizing holiness would it not be important for us to present teachings on what holiness looks like in today's world?
It's much easier to churn out doctrinal writings than thoughtful, engaging discussions on the implications of our doctrines.
7 comments:
One of the many reasons why Warner Press is not publishing material which emphasizes the how of holiness living is because to the early writers of the Church of God the how was summed up in a long list of things to be shunned - drinking, smoking, movies, dancing, etc. (People who did these things were also shunned.) Holiness living was equated with legalism, and it was assumed that if one followed the "list" well enough one would be holy. Daily holiness living was written about from the mindset of the "list," and it has little to do with modern life. This leaves Warner Press with nothing to publish that would be of interest to modern readers. (Afterall, their real goal is to sell books and make a profit.)
To make matters worse, when a generation of questioners looked at the "list" more closely they realized that much of the "list" could not be supported through scriptures and began shunning the "list." This resulted in a generation of people leaving the Church of God to find a place where grace was applied, a generation which might have written about holiness in daily living. This again leaves Warner Press with nothing to publish.
To the modern pastor, Warner Press is the last place to look for anything of value for the daily life. They have not published anything, because they have nothing. Again, that is unfortunate because the beliefs of the Church of God really have many applications to the daily life of modern people.
Hmm, maybe I should write a book, but would Warner Press publish it? I don't know.
I think we have truly become scared of the HOW question. It's easy to list doctrines or say what we believe. However, are we willing to take a stand on divorce? How about homosexuality? How about war? How about abortion? (This list could go on and on.) Again, it's easy to say, "We must act in love" for each of these situations, but when we draw a definite line and say, "Our doctrine means that we will do this or will not do this," we offend and exclude some people. Churches just don't seem very willing to do that anymore.
Also, there are plenty of other companies and organizations that are printing praxis. Much of the message of the Church of God is not unique to us anymore. Talking about our own history and beliefs is one of the few unique things we have left to do.
-kls
it is indeed an interesting paradox we are in. just this morning i was suggesting that my pastor gear his sermons more toward an applicable and personal response to the Bible instead of just information or food for thought. it seems like people are hungry for instruction in how to live more than how to believe. if the chog would produce such a book who would even get a say in it? i mean the target demographic is certainly not twentysomethings. could a book on basics for living be written across generational lines? tought to say...
Well, why don't we do that? How about starting a praxis discussion either here or on another blog forum? I am up to hear and discuss along these lines. I think what you will see is that this inner holiness becomes expressed/lived out very differently in different people.
Some great comments here.
Following up on Jonathan's suggestion I will keep this discussion alive in this blog.
I'm in, keep it rolling Lloyd.
whoever left that first comment is right on.
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