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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