quietpilgrim wrote:That said, I'm not particularly convinced at this point that Anabaptism, especially as it is practiced here in the 21st century is a perfect restoration of early Christianity either. Show me a congregation that practices the tenets of the Schleitheim Confession today, and then I might be a bit more persuaded. But for now, the conservative Anabaptist camp is where I muddle along.
I don't think any modern church is a perfect restoration of early Christianity, and I think we each tend to see ourselves in the early Church, which often says more about us than it does about the early Church. But I think we have to try, looking primarily to the Bible, learning from what some churches have done right at various times in history. And I think Mennonites / Anabaptists have gotten some things very right.
But we have also gotten some things very wrong. MC-USA's current problems are blatantly obvious, but I think there are certain plain groups that also have gotten some things wrong. We need to keep trying, by God's grace, doing what he reveals to us, with enough humility to realize we are probably getting some of it wrong.
And some people we criticize loudly get an awful lot of things right. There are Reformed Christians and Catholics who live exemplary lives, and Mennonites of all persuasions who do not. There are things we can learn from other traditions that may be missing in our own. Sometimes we seem to have a partisan zeal to proclaim that our tribe is the best. I think that gets in the way.
quietpilgrim wrote:Recent discussions on the Anabaptist theology forum, in particular the threads on penance and church standards, revealed the disconnect I feel in my own heart. I sometimes feel like we're all talking past each other and not really listening to what each other is saying. We all are on a journey, and I wish there was a way we could respect each other's journey a bit more without being so reactionary. I'm not picking on anyone in particular, only making a general observation.
I'm sure I sometimes contribute to that disconnect.
I suspect that part of this is that we rarely share much about our personal journeys. Maybe we don't want to be that vulnerable to each other. I don't even share much about what I am doing teaching English to Syrian refugees. This isn't a place where I would normally talk about how we live out our faith in home and marriage and career choices and everyday life, what I struggle with in prayer, concerns for my children, etc. So it often misses the heart of how I live.
On the flip side, we spend so much time and effort on things that are not at the heart of our journey. In the penance thread, I don't think many of us who see ourselves as Mennonites or Anabaptists are going to use the term "do penance" to describe what we do, and we won't do it the same way Catholics do. I thought Josh's thread was more promising - how do we overcome sin in our lives and move on?
quietpilgrim wrote:So I'm on the fence. And others here are on that fence for for a variety of reasons. Hopefully there's enough grace here at Mennonet for those of us stradling the fence for us to have some sense of belonging here.
A lot of the threads that I find alienating have one thing in common: they tell you who the good people and the bad people are, imply that the person posting is one of the good people and some others here are not, and use a standard that is not central in the teachings of Jesus. When I read these threads, I often feel like they are saying, "I thank God that I am not like that tax collector over there".
In my church, my fellowship, and my Sunday School, we are generally asking for God's grace to help us see clearly and follow more closely, very aware that we are not 100% there yet. To me, that kind of conversation feels closer to God's grace.