An ethos is a tone, sentiment, or climate of a people or community. I like the word climate the best. Denominations and individual churches throughout history have had a myriad of climates; from war to greed, from gospel to legalism, from fundamentalism to 19th century Victorian acceptability etc. The question is not whether we should have an ethos; the question is which one, and who or what will give us this ethos.
When Dietrich Bonhoeffer traveled in America in 1930-31 he said this about the American church ethos. "The church is really no longer the place where the congregation hears and preaches God's word, but rather the place where one acquires secondary significance as a social entity for this or that purpose." Imagine coming to church only to hear about ourselves and our reason for having church!
No wonder people left the church from the 1950’s on. Why go when the climate is so bad or boring. Praise the Lord this is slowly changing.
God in Jesus Christ is true, challenging, divine, judging, holy, and world-changing. This is not bad or boring. To be in Christ and have him proclaimed in church is to be in an exciting environment, in a good climate.
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