Comments on: Lamentation, Nostalgia and Walking Into The Future: Thoughts on Denominational Decline

By: Ron

Ron — Sun, 24 May 2009 07:28:01 +0000

Great stuff, imonk! Connecting O’Connor and the decline of denominationalism is pretty “out there”, but you did it very well and very insightfully. Perhaps what denominational Christianity needs is for someone to shoot it every day of its life.

By: Mich

Mich — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:52:21 +0000

Just stumbled upon this and I’m wondering if you’ve seen or heard of it. Thought it kinda pertained.

http://www.illuminatedworld.com/

By: Mich

Mich — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:40:56 +0000

Another good one, IM. Those psalms sure are beautiful poetry. Yeah, nostalgia can certainly wear rose-coloured glasses. I suppose in the case of childbirth that can be a good thing….maybe there’s a metaphor in there somewhere. Interesting how sometimes we forget the bad stuff and other times, we can’t let it go. We humans are strange creatures.

By: Robert Witham

Robert Witham — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:49:03 +0000

You share some insightful thoughts in this post. I have not read any of O’Connor’s works but perhaps I should! I do appreciate both your insights on nostalgia and the connection to Biblical lamentation.

I was nearly beginning to think I was the only person in evangelicalism who did not uncritically and unconditionally embrace the nostalgic version of the “good old days”. LOL

Thanks for sharing these thoughts are reminding us of the distinction.

By: Giovanni

Giovanni — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:46:13 +0000

All these things you are talking about are cultural things, the Church by its very nature is transcendent. The society is not suppose to shape it as much as it is suppose to shape the society.

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:20:02 +0000

Scriptures and secular history indicates that God has purposed an opposite to every experience (ECL.7:14/prosperity vs adversity), emotion (Matt.6:24/love vs hate), physical attribute (male-female, light-dark),spatial characteristics(ascend vs descend), as well as outcomes (saved vs lost, redeemed vs condemned, and so forth. These opposites are purposed by God to give us understanding as opposites reveal each other. The extremes run a horizontal continuum and represent, in many cases, the choices available to us (e.g…I set before you ..blessing vs curse). We are spiritually naive when we don’t understand that in the ‘world’ we experience all of these extremes. To the end purpose that we will choose love over hate, good over evil, spirit man over the fleshly man, life over death, eternal life over eternal damnation, …..God over Satan.

By: Jason R

Jason R — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:34:04 +0000

“Examples are the KKK, the Afrocentrists, and the Palestinians….”

Um, I’m not even sure who the Afrocentrists are, but could we not equate the population of an entire country (or diverse population living in and around Israel, if you prefer) with the KKK?

I’m not trying to start an Israel vs. Palestine debate by any means, but I have met plenty of Palestinians who would abhor the statement “It’s PAYBACK time!” For that matter, I could say some Israelis and Jews hold this mindset but of course most do not.

Peace,
Jason

By: Jeremiah Lawson

Jeremiah Lawson — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:19:05 +0000

What I find interesting about this psalm is that the psalmist’s response is to consider God’s goodness but this does not change his situation. That’s instructive, to me, because it tells us that neither the lament nor remembering the things the Lord has done will actually change the situation but the point of the psalm is to worship the Lord and express one’s heart. ONe needn’t even be in a denomination or an old church to take up this psalm.

This post also reminds me why Ecclesiastes 7:10 always needs to be in the Bible.

By: Headless Unicorn Guy

Headless Unicorn Guy — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:40:00 +0000

Whatever evangelicals and denominational churches did in those golden eras, it seems to have worked, especially in our recollection. The women were beautiful, the men were handsome, the children were above average and the church knew what it was doing. Our past is the era of cultural dominance in America, and we long for it.

i.e. The Fifties as The Godly Golden Age. Not even the real 1950s, but a mythic version filtered through Ozzie, Harriet, and Donna Reed. (My writing partner — a burned-out country preacher in PA — has related some truly bizarre stories along these lines.)

Everything was going well, and then someone messed things up. The liberals. The gays. The Democrats. The Calvinists. The Emerging Church.

IMonk, that is the characteristic cultural myth of a “Grievance Culture”, i.e. a culture which defines itself entirely by getting even with someone else, usually with a Conspiracy Theory along the line. Examples are the KKK, the Afrocentrists, and the Palestinians. The myth goes like this:

1) Once Everything was Perfect, and We Were Lords of All Creation.
2) Then THEY came and Took It All Away From Us.
3) It’s PAYBACK Time!