I’ve been thinking about writing a series called “The Future of Churches of Christ.” Whether I’ll get around to that or not — who knows? Maybe I can get Doug Foster to let me do a blog interview. His guess is probably much better than mine.
I remember two articles we had in Wineskins in the ’90s. One was by Joe Beam — one of the most requested articles we ever had. Joe talked about the growing, yet-unnamed divide in the denomination (he may not have used that language) between the “progressives” and the “conservatives.” Let’s pause here to all say we hate labels. Of course we do. But you still need some way to describe what you’re talking about. But, he said, there is also a declining middle group that doesn’t yet know which way it is leaning.
Another article — actually a series, as I recall — was by Randy Harris. He was asking if the future for Churches of Christ is hopeful. His answers, in true Randy style, were “no,” “yes,” and “maybe.”
Today the picture is fuzzier. There is still an uneasiness between many churches over issues like, “Are we the only ones faithful to God?” For some, the answer is “yes.” Others of us can’t even fathom asking the question.
But there are other ways in which diversity is manifesting itself, too. Such as these:
Are the leaders reading scripture as fundamentalists or not? (I personally think this will, fifty years from now, wind up having been the most significant question.)
How does the church understand the kingdom of God?
What does it see as its purpose?
How important are the traditions of the church in a rapidly changing world? (Do traditions hold back or do they anchor?)
We’ll look quite different in twenty years. I’m pretty sure of that. Already — and this is such a small example — people who print the official C of C directory are having to figure out how they indicate that a church considers itself a part of Churches of Christ but uses instrumental music (Richland Hills, Farmer’s Branch, . . . ).
And I purposefully didn’t include style of music as one of the central defining questions!
Should be interesting times ahead.