Of Our Time

Some years ago Sidney Ahlstrom wrote a monumental work entitled, A Religious History of the American People. In his introduction he addressed the need to be more aware of historical processes in a generation of American he described as “one-dimensional.” By that term he meant to describe us as living in the present only, to the extent that we are unconscious of the future effects of our actions and indifferent to the sources of our present state.

According to Ahlstrom, one of the strong factors in shaping the modern church in the United States has been the vast diversity of American religious life. In the United States, says Ahlstrom, we have been subject to “virtually every surviving heresy and schism” that has ever plagued the church. He quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said, “…it has been granted to the Americans, less than any other nation on earth, to realize the visible unity of the Church of God.”

Whether or not we recognize that our American religious history has had an effect on us, we need not look too far to identify a host of contradictory and demanding ideas that are presented as “true” experiences of religion. Most of these waves of religious influence have not led us to an authentic apostolic faith.

As we begin this summer season let us turn, and return, to the scriptures–free from the cloudiness of speculation, and rooted in authentic biblical scholarship and prayer. Let us take the best of our insights into life, the needs of our neighbors, near and far away, and let us strive in word and deed to conduct ourselves as the current stewards of God’s magnificent gospel in Christ.

We cannot escape being the children of our time. But we must never allow ourselves to be the captives of our time.

Go with God,

Pastor Jansen