[Vision2020] Public Service, Princesses, and Puffery

[Larson Hicks]

Sushiwhatever,

I submit to you that we can see much of the individualism within American
culture manifested in it's most beloved pastimes, sports.  A sport like
rugby, for example, is a wonderful dance of sacrfice, teamwork, submission,
communication, etc.  Many of these elements can be found in other sports as
well, but I choose rugby because of it's unique position as a sport
origniating outside of America and immediately changed once it came to
America.

In 1906 (I believe) the forward lateral was introduced to rugby in America
and "football" was born.  As it developed industrialism seemed to have a
massive influence on the nature of the game.  A game that was once very
selfless and organic became the Henry Ford model applied to sport.  Every
cog has it's highly specialized task (route/block) and has very little
interaction with his teamates (aside from QBs).  This has lead to the draft
and the combine and all of the ridiculousness involved with finding the most
finely-tuned cogs to outfit your football machine with.

I think we can see a very similar phenomena with another of our beloved
American sports, basketball.  It doesn't take a kirker to see that there are
some folks with who don't give a rip about anybody but themselves in the
NBA.

Deacon, of course, will argue that baseball is the supremely covenantal, and
perhaps Christian, of all sports, but we'll just have to agree to disagree
there.  Although I do enjoy hearing him talk about the imagery of a single
batter/pitcher representing the entire team relating to husbandry and
ecclessiology.

At any rate, just thought I'd toss some ideas out there for you,
Sushipants.  By the way, what's your real name?  Taro?  Maybe just respond
to this post with a different account that has your real name (though I've
already got you pegged as a young or aspiring NSA student or Kirker).  When
talking about sports, you can go by the real you and then when talking about
important things like theology and God - you can go back to Sushisocks.
Just an idea.

Cheers,
Larson


On 6/27/06, Taro Tanaka <taro_tanaka at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> First, let me apologize for the condescending and insulting tone of my
> last
> set of posts. I cannot deny I have some character flaws that I need to
> keep
> working on, and lack of humility and patience toward people with whom I
> have
> disagreements are among the most obvious.
>
> But since I blasted folks here as "ignorami," although I gladly take back
> the blasting -- which was totally uncalled for and stupid on my part -
> there
> is still the reality that V2020 has some serious ignorance masquerading as
> understanding on the issue of the necessity of church membership. I shall
> attempt to rectify that, as presumably we all want to be corrected and
> instructed in areas where our understanding is weak.
>
> Part of the problem is that modern American society is highly
> individualistic, with a pronounced tendency to reject the notion that
> others
> have authority over us. Although I have not studied every society and
> every
> age in history, I think it can be safely concluded that this is a
> distinctive feature of modern American society. Certainly I am far from
> the
> only person to have observed this. This modern American perspective is
> much
> different from the perspective of the Bible, where individuals are
> presented
> as being simultaneously under the authority of family government,
> ecclesiastical government, and civil government institutions, as well as
> directly answerable to God (thus a person cannot sin whether commanded to
> do
> so by civil, church, or family leaders).
>
> Joan's comment is somewhat understandable given her Talmudic Jewish
> background, which is largely a family-oriented and in many ways "private"
> religion. (By the way, that "private" aspect largely post-dates the
> destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 and the subsequent diaspora of the
> Jews: until the destruction of the Temple, all adult male Israelites were
> required to gather in Jerusalem thrice yearly for congregational worship,
> and weekly congregational worship in the synagogues goes back to the time
> of
> David. Furthermore, the sacrificial system shows that originally the
> Jewish
> religion did not have any concept of individuals having direct access to
> God: the Mediator was always in view.) However, Joan's understanding of
> Jesus' teaching is in error. Jesus Himself worshipped in the Temple and
> the
> synagogues. The clear thrust of his teaching at this point is to avoid
> ostentatious displays of piety in public.
>
> The biblical perspective on congregational worship is expressed well by
> David in his psalms:
>
> "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."
>
> "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth, yea,
> even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out
> for the living God . . . For a day in thy courts is better than a
> thousand."
>
> In passing I need to address what Keely said: "most Protestant churches do
> not hold to the life-giving nature of the individual partaking of
> communion
> that he does, believing instead that trust in Christ, not mode of
> communion,
> brings salvation."
>
> While there is a kernel of truth in what Keely says, it is nevertheless a
> misrepresentation of my views as well as the views of most Protestant
> churches, and it falsely posits a contradiction between inward faith and
> outward behavior. This is a manifestation of the sort of "gnostic"
> tendency
> to which I referred earlier.
>
> So to set the record straight: I take note of the thief on the cross as an
> example proving that we are saved by trust in Christ rather than by mode
> of
> communion. Nevertheless, Jesus did say to his disciples -- at the time of
> the initiation of the Lord's Supper, by the way -- "If you love me, keep
> my
> commandments." That obviously includes the commandment to partake of the
> Lord's Supper (which can only be done in congregational worship) and His
> many commandments to submit to the authority of the church, for example,
> His
> words in Matthew 18:
>
> "And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he
> neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a
> publican. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall
> be
> bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
> heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as
> touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my
> Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in
> my name, there am I in the midst of them."
>
> Note that the church has a crucial role to play in settling disputes among
> fellow believers. This obviously presumes church membership, especially
> since part of the role that the church plays is the imposition of negative
> sanctions on incalcitrant members. Note that Jesus says that "where two or
> three are gathered together in my name" (i.e., in a formal ecclesiastical
> setting) "there am I in the midst of them." Note what He does NOT say:
> "When
> you are off alone, all by yourself, separate from the brethren and
> refusing
> to participate in congregational worship, and failing to partake of the
> Lord's Supper, there I am with you because I know you trust me." He does
> not
> say that at all. Rather, He says, "If you love me, keep my commandments."
> And the keeping of those commandments necessarily involves church
> membership
> and participation in congregational worship.
>
> Keely should consider whether "most Protestant churches" have a concept of
> excommunication. I concede there are a few that, for all intents and
> purposes, do not. However, it is clear that the vast majority do, however
> imperfectly they might practice it. The important thing is that
> excommunication is the cutting off of access to holy communion -- the
> Lord's
> Supper. And it is potentially an eternal death sentence. Whether it
> becomes
> an eternal death sentence or not depends on the person under
> excommunication. (As an aside, it also needs to be noted that churches,
> being collections of sinners, are capable of committing miscarriages of
> justice, and I do not think we need to worry about Jesus, in the last
> judgment, imposing the eternal death sentence on someone who was unjustly
> excommunicated, even if the excommunication was carried out by a
> legitimate
> church.)
>
> The Epistle to the Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey them that have the rule over
> you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that
> must
> give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that
> is
> unprofitable for you."
>
> Again, this obviously assumes that Christians are going to be members of
> churches -- churches that have rulers to whom we must submit. I know this
> is
> a hard saying for the modern American mind, which tends toward
> rebelliousness against authority, and toward extreme individualism, but
> there it is. Anyone who claims to be a Christian has to deal with it.
>
> The basic perspective of the church on ecclesiastical authority is carried
> over from the Hebrew scriptures, and never in the history of the church
> until the advent of modern America -- even among the major Protestant
> reformers -- has there been a notion that Christians can exist in
> isolation
> without being members of churches, subject to their authority and
> discipline. So if anyone reading this desires to submit to Christ and is
> not
> a member in good standing of a local church, submitting to its authority
> and
> partaking of the Eucharist in congregational worship, now you know what
> you
> need to do.
>
> If anyone has further questions or disagreements on this, I recommend
> doing
> a Google search on phrases like, "Is church membership optional" etc.
> There
> is too much information available online to necessitate re-inventing the
> wheel here.
>
> Again, please accept my apologies for the lack of an irenic spirit. I hope
> the above has been of some benefit.
>
> -- Princess Sushitushi
>
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