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Post by Todd on Jan 23, 2017 14:37:11 GMT -6
Imperium, tradition, and papal or conciliar authority are Roman Catholic “add-ins” to Biblical truth that have resulted in incalculable harm to the Church. (Tradition is also a Mennonite crutch.) The new, improved, Protestant “add-in” (also exhibited in Mennonite circles) is “community.” It is a crutch used, both deliberately and accidentally, to deflect personal responsibility. One is not to be “a Lone Ranger Christian.” The problem is, that there is, by definition, and Biblical precept, no other kind of Christian. Biblically, you are a Lone Ranger Christian, or you are not a Christian at all. There are any number of nonsense statements floating around in Christian circles these days that have no business being there. The notion that you cannot be a "Lone Ranger Christian" is one of them.
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Post by Todd on Feb 4, 2017 10:01:56 GMT -6
Here is another little thought. Communities have no other way to form than around Lone Rangers.
Todd
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Post by denverdavid on Mar 14, 2017 16:51:16 GMT -6
It IS true that...each person becmes a Christian as a "lone ranger." By that, I mean, salvation is a very personal, individual act, when the individual hears and believes the gospel and receives Jesus Christ as his/her Savior. One does not become a Christian by joining a "community" of any kind. BUT...when one DOES become a Christian...that person is baptized (by the Holy Spirit) into the Body of Christ (I Cor. 12:13ff), and thereby becomes part of a "community"...the Church. That person becomes part of a family, with the brother/sister relationships that that implies. That person becomes part of a "nation," (I Peter 2:9)again, with the relationships that being a nation implies.
MY concern with the "lone ranger Christian," is that very often, that person who is defending that description is shirking the responsibilities that all of the "one another" commands in the New Testament imply. (Todd, I realize that YOU are not!)
I guess I would put it that: we BECOME Christians as "lone ranger Christians," but...we aren't supposed to stay that way.
(Although I also confess that...sometimes it would be a lot easier!)
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Post by Todd on Mar 14, 2017 19:34:03 GMT -6
Of course what you added is true. I do not deny that. But I have two problems, one a little more subjective that the other. First, it seems to me that many people, Rick Warren and his followers, as well as the Roman Catholic Church seem to me to put far too much emphasis on the community and may misinterpret what its function is. Second, I am very concerned with semantics, and the "politically Correct" jargon, buzz words, and "new speak. Just exactly what is wrong with calling the Church, rather than the community? What is wrong with Christian brothers and sisters that it needs to be replaced by community? I fear that this "new Speak" may simply be a nod to Madison Avenue Christianity, which at its very best appears to me to be but one more flavor of pop religion. I guess I would like to know the rationale for deliberately altering the vocabulary, especially when, as it seems to me, it comes at the same time that so many other aspects of Christianity are being lost or watered down. - Todd
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Post by Todd on Mar 15, 2017 9:38:57 GMT -6
Yet another thought. I am not speaking from solid facts, here, or from demonstrable assertions, but rather from an uneasy feeling I get when I hear the Lone Ranger Christian/Community dichotomy used. I am no judge as to how these terms are meant to be taken when they are spoken, but I often get the distinct feeling that the way they are heard and understood is in the sense of insecurity, like "there is safety in numbers," etc. It seems to me that there is often an implicit understanding of stasis, of maintaining the intellectual and spiritual status quo. My understanding of "community," (I mean CHURCH) is that it is a collective of Lone Rangers at various points of development. Tecumseh is reputed to have said, "a single twig will break, but a bundle of twigs is strong." Again, for those of you familiar with the HBO series "Band of Brothers," the name of the camp where the paratroopers took their training was Camp Curahee, which meant, in its original tribal dialect, "We stand alone together." This, to me is the perfect picture of the Church, with this addendum. The big brothers of the band of Lone Rangers, are to help the little brothers of the band to grow, to flower, to become strong. I guess I might say I am pro Church, but I have to wonder about any "community" that disparages "Lone Ranger Christians." I think we need to take I Cor 12 very seriously, without over emphasizing either the part or the whole. We, as individuals, are in the Church to edify (build up) one another, not cower in a conveniently "politically correct" corner.
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