Of Paradigms, Parrots and Prophets

 

A paradigm is an unquestioned belief, tradition or way of doing things.

A parrot, no offence intended, is one who assumes, believes, repeats and practices paradigms unquestioningly.

A prophet (always small p) is one who questions paradigms.

The value - and danger - of paradigms

Everyone runs their lives by paradigms or traditions. Habits of mind or customs of practice that have been assumed over time or borrowed from communities.

We often imbibe paradigms by osmosis, from the assumptions of our families or core communities.

A few examples...

Much of the western "church" in the middle ages accepted the Aristotlelian view of nature. Largely without question they welcomed the natural philosophies of their secular peers: that everything was made up of air, wind, fire and water for example. And as further example, that the earth was the centre of the universe.

Those good men Luther and Calvin assumed that church and state should be inextricably connected - of course! It had been going on for so long.

John Wesley believed that you should only preach in a church building (until George Whitfield challenged his paradigm).  

For many years I personally assumed there was only one 1500s reformation - the one Luther, Calvin and the likes were involved in. It was the paradigm taught by my tribe. And then I discovered a hidden Reformation, just as significant, if not more so, made up of little known despised saints who were given derogatory titles designed to write them off, such as 'anabaptist' or 'radical.'

Such are paradigms. 

The value of paradigms is that we need them: we have to assume something or we would be all at sea about everything. We all need working models. 

The danger of paradigms is that they very easily assume the status of The Truth, with few people prepared to question them.

Since they are so deeply entrenched, for the sake of peace, most people parrot paradigms. 

The necessity of prophets

This is where prophets come in. A prophet sees through paradigms. A prophet discerns. A prophet sees what only the school of prophets can see.

And because a prophet questions what everyone else assumes is Ze Truth, a prophet is annoying.

In Scriptural categories, a prophet is only prepared to accept something that is in the Word. No matter what famous preacher pushes it, prominent movement pronounces upon it or illustrious publishing house prints it. 

If it ain't in the Bible, it needs calling out.

And more, a prophet does not give a hoot what others think of them. Including those in his own tribe. Faithfulness to truth trumps all other considerations. (Therefore, as I say, prophets are rather annoying.)

Without prophets the church easily goes astray.

Here are a few examples of prophets (small p, always small p) in the history of the church.

Martin Luther for sure - unable to accept the nonsense that passed as commonsense in the Roman Catholic church.

Anabaptists Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz - men who were unable to accept the erroneous connection between church and state that the otherwise good reformer Huldrich Zwingli refused to shed.

AW Tozer - An American prophet of the last century who was able to see that so much of the apparently 'successful' American evangelical scene of his day was mere hay and stubble.

Today's False Evangelical Paradigms

False paradigms will always plague the church. Here are four examples that need deconstructing.

1. "To be a proper church you really need a church building."  We find as a prime example of this evangelical paradigm, church plants who begin life in rented premises yearning for a building.  And only when they acquire one do they believe they've finally arrived and become a 'proper church.'

What complete nonsense, this paradigm! The New Testament church met - with no exceptions - in homes, not "church" buildings. The brief early meetings in the temple forecourts were a temporary bridge from Judaism to its true fulfilment. After the stoning of Stephen the use of the temple as a meeting place came to an abrupt divine end.

The very nature of the New Testament church - as a people called out of the world - necessitated the end of special-buildings for worship; the end of brick synagogue and stone temple worship. 

We, the redeemed people,  are now the flesh-and-blood temple of the Holy Spirit. 

Church buildings are simply irrelevant to the work of God's eternal kingdom. 

2. "Tie 'em up in Legalese." There is a drift in the UK, at least, encouraging the church to tie itself up in legal knots. Don't do anything unless you have first consulted a lawyer, or have a legal document to protect yourself.

This trend arises from two sources, first an aping of the ways of the world: Legalese is how the present world works (and boy is it a jolly lucrative business for lawyers.) 

The deeper spring of this trend is a lack of faith in God: we are terrified of taking any risks and Bible-wash our fears with the sugary sound-bite, 'it could jeopardise the Gospel if things go wrong.'

One result of this judicial trend is that few Christians or churches take the sort of risks that are just standard fare in the book of Acts - and in the 2000 year history of the church. 

Can you imagine the amount of legal stuff Paul would be encouraged to get done before embarking on a 21st century missionary tour if he followed the legislative habits of today's churches? 

Insurance for ship-wrecks and beatings, a solicitor for slander, a lawyer in waiting for imprisonments, etc., etc.  

We're always to obey the law, but we need to take bold Gospel risks. 

3. "You can only reach university students through the Christian Unions." You may not have heard this one, but it is received wisdom in many churches who won't share the Gospel  with a student apart from the CU. 

There's not a line of Scripture that remotely supports such a foolish paradigm. 

The world is our parish, and if a church worships in an area filled with students it should reach out to them. While CUs often do a grand job reaching students, their resources and numbers are normally far too limited to reach the whole campus.

This binding evangelical paradigm could be one of the cleverest deceptions of the Evil One, by restricting evangelistic outreach to the small group of Christian students that happen to belong to a Christian Union. 

4. "Big churches are more important than small ones." One of the fastest drifts in the early church away from the Scriptures was the race towards the office of bishop which happened scarce before the first century was out.

Aping the standard thinking of the world, that bigger (whether militarily, financially or numerically) is better / more important / etc.,  big churches, especially in significant cities, came to assume authority over smaller ones, and the blokes who led these larger churches were given the jazzy title 'Bishop.' 

(In New Testament terms the interchangeable words Bishop, Elder and Pastor describe the same office, a male church leader, but the word Bishop was hijacked by High Jacks to denote a new extra-biblical superior office).

Wearisome pyramid structure stuff. See it everywhere...

In Scripture there is no indication that big is best. Indeed hints to just the opposite are profuesly given. The Old Testament is full of examples where God rebukes trusting in numbers and commands armies to whittle down numbers - so that God himself can do the winning.

And the only big church in the New Testament, the church in Jerusalem, is by God's design scattered to the four winds after its big-size-purpose has been fulfilled (which purpose was to demonstrate the supernatural origin of the Church.)

Let us honour small church leaders and their congregations, and give no greater weight or honour to large church leaders or their congregations - even though they may wish to be regarded as superior 'bishops.' 

(Or increasingly in our day as 'Apostles.")

The role of pastor-preachers

Paradigms must be examined. We are exhorted to test all things.

One aspect of all genuine preaching is the prophetic. Questioning the received paradigms that blind and bind the church. 

The preacher who is weekly imbibing the Word by the Spirit will see the world in a different light, and that altered light is the prophetic. 

Such divine visions must affect his preaching if he is to be a genuine pastor and preacher instead of a mere parrot.

AI Image:

"DeepAi draw a picture of traditions, prophets and parrots."

(DeepAi doesn't have a clue how to incorporate paradigms into a painting. But then, neither do I.)