| A Theory of Sacrament Progression |
| My introduction to post-modern Christianity has led me to reflect some on the idea of sacraments and rituals, and their place in the Christian tradition, and, more importantly, in Christian faith and practice. Being a Friend, I believe I have a somewhat unique view of this subject (or at the very least, not a “mainstream” view), and that influences my interpretation. But, as I think about sacraments (and, specifically, the introduction of new ones), I think that they tend to follow a progression throughout the life of the sacrament. (Note: here, by “sacrament” I mean any outward ritual meant to portray or symbolize an inward reality. This may be distinguished from the term “ordinances” which is the usual Protestant term for speaking of Water Baptism and the Bread and Wine of Communion. The ordinances are a subset of the sacraments, in my opinion, and also have experienced a similar cycle, I believe.)
Step 1: Introduction Every sacrament must be introduced by someone at some time. This holds for every tradition or ritual from the ancient (such as the Lord’s Supper) to the modern (such as Altar Calls). The existence of this step requires that someone invests the symbol with some spiritual meaning, whether it be Christ’s declaration of “this is my body”, or a youth leader’s declaration that “as the paper boat you made with float away to be forgotten, so God will remove your sin from you as far as the East is from the West.” Naturally, some sacraments hold together better than others as far as the strength of the symbol, but each of them requires that, at the point of introduction, there is a firm tie between symbol and reality in the minds of the participants. Step 2: Proliferation Over time, a sacrament may “catch on” with other Christians. Often, gatherings drawn from several local churches will be the way in which this occurs. For example, a youth leader may have an idea that they implement at youth camp, where several other churches are present. Then, the other youth leaders carry the idea home with them. In addition, pastoral conferences, denomination-wide meetings, and even such things are Christian periodicals, books, and websites, can also aid in proliferation of a sacrament throughout the church writ large. Naturally, not ALL Christians need to accept a sacrament for it to be a sacrament. It need not even be repeated. But, in many cases, if it was a good symbol, it will proliferate and be repeated. This leads to Step 3. Step 3: Ritualization During this process, the sacrament becomes familiar to people, and begins to occur on a regular basis. It is often seen as a natural part of worship (or at least of a particular kind of worship. For example, “youth retreat worship”, “Sunday School worship”, etc.). The sacrament becomes fully integrated, and, at least in some minds, is considered a necessary (or at least “very important”) act or event in worship. Step 4: Materialization (Not a good term, I know, and I apologize.) During this stage, there arises a separation between the act and spiritual reality it is meant to communicate. This occurs in a couple ways. One is that the meaning is simply forgotten, and that the ritual itself has become “part of being a Christian”. That is, one recites the Lord’s Prayer in church not because it really means anything, but rather because it is “what one does in church”. Now, ultimately, few would actually say “I don’t care about the meaning of the ritual”, but, in reality, very few consciously think about the meaning of the ritual while it is being undergone. It has become rote. Another way that this separation can occur is if the ritual itself acquires an importance independent of the subject being symbolized. At this point, people will declare that it is, in fact, against the will of God to give up the ritual, while, at the same time, they will be living against the inward reality that the ritual is meant to symbolize. In short, the ritual, though originally with good purpose and intent, has become exalted as an idol that has value in itself. (Note: as a Christian, I believe that Christians must recognize that NOTHING has value in itself except God. Inherent human value actually derives from God’s value, as we bear the admittedly marred image of God.) Step 5: Dissent At this point, some of the faithful will recognize what has occurred and will cry out against the sacrament in some way. They may (like the iconoclasts) seek to drive the sacrament out of worship entirely, or separate from the established church in order to establish a purer worship without the corrupted sacrament. Or, they may seek to reestablish the sacrament on some right ground by providing the original meaning. Either way, they will find opposition as many value the sacrament as a good in itself or with its corrupted meaning. In-fighting occurs as both seek to protect “true faith”. Step 6: Reintroduction This step obviously does not apply to those who never gave up the sacrament. But, rather, after time (perhaps significant time!), it is very possible that in the purifiers may “rediscover” the sacrament and its meaning, and may decide that it may be reintroduced. Here, once again, there will be opposition, as many will fear that the cycle will begin again and that the sacrament will inevitably become corrupted. The step is far from necessary, but it does occur. As I sit back, I think that in postmodern post-Protestant Christianity, we are in Steps 6 and 1. On the one hand, there is a growing appreciation of the ancient aspects of the Faith. I myself have found images to be quite helpful in achieving a worshipping or prayerful attitude. In addition, we will add new sacraments that further help in our spiritual walk. However, I think that we will find step 6 being more common. Ultimately, it was modernism that rejected tradition in favor of the “continuously improving world based on science”. And it was the modern Christianity known as Protestantism (and also Counter-Reformation Catholicism) that rejected much of Christian tradition in an effort to purify the church (Step 5). Postmodernism, at least in part, will seek to regain what was lost during the modernist period. Of course, it will acquire its own “flavor” so to speak, but I expect to see a lot of the things that Protestantism drove out of Christianity come back. Among them, the reintroduction of religious imagery (note: this is occurring to some degree already. The mass acceptance of The Passion is simply incredible, and many Protestants now have portraits of Jesus in their homes.), the observance of Saints days (I have yet to actually see this, but I think that a re-emphasis on relationships over pure theology will rekindle an interest in the stories of Christians who have come before), the acceptance of multiple authorities of Truth (sola Scriptura was never a very good model, honestly. Post-Protestants realize this, and are embracing direct revelation from God and everyday experience to be methods of learning Truth in addition to Scripture), and the embrace of an ecumenical, catholic church. Truth be told, the very early church was far from monolithic. Rather, there were a number of diverse approaches to Christianity held by various Christians, but they were all bound together by a common relationship with Christ and descent from the apostles, and later from a common Creed. Overall, I have great hope for the postmodern church. Why? Simple. Modernism is finishing its course in the Western world. The modern model has hit a wall, and people realize it, whether they actually know what they realize or not. Either way, the next generation is extremely skeptical of the last 50 years or so. Trust in authority structures has eroded significantly in recent years. Huge numbers of young people are simply choosing not to participate in some of the old authority structures. Voter turnout is abysmal, corporations are seen more often as “evil bullies” than as “demanding fathers putting the food on the table”, and paganism and Eastern mysticism are more common than atheism. Ultimately, the modern faith in State, Company, and Science is failing. Now, that’s not to say that postmoderns want to get rid of them all (this is far from true!), but rather, they are seen as inadequate. We don’t deny science and technology as important and significant. But, we do deny that it provides a complete worldview. We don’t deny that the State can do some good. But, we do see that it is more often out for its own good than anyone else’s. We don’t deny that Corporations are efficient methods of providing for people’s wants. We simply questions whether all these wants should be provided for, when there are actual needs that AREN’T being provided for. (Of course, when I say “we” I don’t necessarily include myself… I’m speaking as a member of postmodern Christianity, and at times my dissent is being suppressed to communicate what I feel is the consensus among the new generation.) This is the time for the church to rise up and show itself! We must humbly admit our weaknesses (despite having special revelation, we still don’t know all the answers! Nor do we fully understand the ones we have!), but share our strengths. We have a lot to offer. We have reconciliation with God, and deliverance from the greed of the modernist world, and also deliverance from the wounds that that individualistic selfishness caused. If we follow Jesus, we have great concern for those that are conned by governments and forgotten by corporations. We offer a more complete view which does not require rejecting science, but DOES require believing that science is incomplete, and that knowledge of the natural must be supplemented with knowledge of the supernatural. And, above all this knowledge, we offer love. God’s love shining through us to each other and to the world. Ultimately, our greatest apologetic will be our love. (Francis Schaeffer said something like that.) If we have not love, we are resounding gongs and clanging cymbals. But, if we have love, people will listen, hear, and understand (not just mentally, but experientially) the love of God. The church does not exist for the good of its members (though its members will certainly be blessed, if they are faithful!). It does not exist for the good of God (for what does the Almighty need that we who are dust can provide?). It exists for the good of the world. Through the church, the Holy Spirit communicates God’s love to the world. We must not become inbred. We must be ever reaching out, not only to increase our numbers (which is certainly a good thing!), but even more to build the Kingdom of God on earth. The Kingdom of God is at hand. It is in our hearts, and we are to show it to the world. Jesus said that the purpose of Christianity is simply to clone Christ (my paraphrase). We are each to become not Christians, but Christ. We are to emulate Him, and those who emulate Him. And, if we do, we will find some surprising things. We will answer questions with questions to expose hypocrisy. We will not condemn the “underclass” and sinners, for they have already condemned themselves in their own minds. They need not condemnation, but reconciliation, healing, and hope. We will heal the wounds of the hurting. We will exalt the humble. We will teach those who listen. We will not rest until our work is done. We will not isolate ourselves, except for a season. We will speak to people where they are. We will speak to philosophers with philosophy, and to the common folk with common stories. We will follow God, even to our deaths. We will rise again in power and glory. We will forsake sin. We will recognize our own value, but humble ourselves, recognizing the importance of others. We will have patience with the weak. We will be more concerned with living righteously and encouraging others to live righteously than we will be with keeping our soul out of hell. (Remember, Christ came to the earth so that He could go to Hell for you and me!) We will pray for our enemies. We will ever fight injustice, except when it is aimed at us. We will send others out to spread God’s Kingdom. We will understand that sin is a heart problem, and that the most outwardly righteous may be like white-washed tombs. We will understand the power of symbols and parables. If we are like Jesus, we will be forgiving, loving, and self-sacrificing. Ever calling people to follow, but never willing to make following easier to the detriment of those who choose to follow. Praise God for those Christians who look out not only for their own good, but also for the good of others! Praise Him for those that are more concerned with being righteous than being right! Praise Him for those that are more concerned about being freed from the bondage of sin than from the consequences! For these are the kind of people that the church needs, because these are kind of people the world needs. |
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