Considerations on Church-Renewing Movements 6
The end is near! Well, actually, the end of this series has finally arrived. We have thought about the assumed ecclesiology and sacramentology of renewal movements, the story of disease and diagnosis that renewal movements tell with regard to the church, and the pitfalls they stumble into. We come now to Abraham’s final concern in “ The Logic of Renewal ” that raises a sober-minded caution. “6. As a final, and as a first exercise of judgment, we should note that there is no necessity for renewal at all times in the history of the church. To put the matter bluntly, there are times when it is foolish and dangerous to call for ecclesial renewal. We all know that some Christians very easily develop a kind of listless foot-and-mouth disease. They are always on the run to hear some new grand scheme for the renewal of the church. They run from this speaker to that speaker, from this conference to that conference, from this book to that book, from this set of tapes to th...