Dr. Timothy Tennent: Ecclesiastical Provincialism Syndrome
A Scottish nun was there at the consistory when the Pope elevated several bishops to the high office of cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. She couldn’t help being a bit patriotic as she was there celebrating her very own Scottish bishop being elevated to such a high office, that elite group of priests known as Cardinals, from which all future Popes are chosen. After all, she was from Ayr Scotland, the home of Robert Burns (the great poet of Scotland who wrote such classics as Auld Lang Syne and A Red, Red, Rose), and arguably the heart of Scottish nationalism. In fact, she was quite a sight as she stood there in full habit, waving – not the British Union Jack – but a small blue and white St. Andrews flag, the national flag of Scotland.
After the high ceremony, she was interviewed by someone from the Boston Globe who was there covering the event. She was asked about the future of Christianity. “I’m very worried about the prospects of Christianity,” she said woefully; “the churches are getting emptier and emptier and they just aren’t any young people anymore.” Now, this nun was speaking from the perspective of someone who was born and raised in Western Europe, the purported heartland of Christianity. Things, from her point of view, looked fairly bleak in Western Europe. Having lived in Scotland for several years myself, I can fully understand the source of her pessimism. From her perspective, if it is this bad in Western Europe, then the state of the church in the rest of the world must be bleak, indeed. The whole emotion of her response assumed that the western world was the representative heartland of the Christian faith.
This nun was experiencing what we might call a case of the spiritual virus, EPS: ecclesiastical provincialism syndrome. It is, as I understand it, usually caught from mouth to mouth transmission—not through kissing, mind you, but through how we talk about the church and our place in it. The first symptom is normally statements which come from our lips which assume that our denomination is the center of the Christian movement and we fail to see it within the context of the whole.
To be a Christian assumes a western Christian embedded in a particular denomination. That is the first sign of trouble. However, the sure sign that we are dealing with an acute case of EPS is when we find ourselves moving from our primary identity being Christian to our primary identity being that of some particular denominational franchise. For example, we mistake Christianity with United Methodism or Roman Catholicism.
It is important to be rooted in a particular tradition. I love being a part of the Wesleyan family of Christians. However, we must never view the church solely through that lens. You do not, for example, look at the church through the lens of United Methodism; you always look at United Methodism through the lens of the historic Church of Jesus Christ. The same could be said of Free Methodists, Wesleyans, Salvation Army, Christian Missionary Alliance, or any other. Speaking candidly, I am only mildly interested in the faith of the average United Methodist or the average Presbyterian, but I am very interested in the faith of the Apostles, because it is the faith of the latter which is standard for the faith of the former, not the other way around.
In the last few months, I have been with Christians in Tanzania in East Africa as well as Christians in Brazil in South America. I have been with Christians in Taiwan, as well as Christians in India. Meeting Christians around the world gives you a wider perspective on the church and what it means to be a part of the Body of Christ. The moment we start losing our connection with the Apostolic faith and our global communion with brothers and sisters throughout the world, then we are in danger of thinking our squabbles and debates are normative.
In 2019, may we all have a rebirth of ecclesiology—the gift of seeing the true church of Jesus Christ, which stretches back through space and time. It is that church which proclaims the gospel, serves the poor, plants new churches, and extends the New Creation to the very gates of hell. As Christians, never forget that it is this global community of believers around the world which stretches back to those original eye and ear witnesses of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ which is our primary identity. Never forget that.
Even the smallest little church on the edge of some unknown outpost shares in all the dignity of the whole, because Christ Himself is the Head of His Church. We will not be known in eternity as Methodists or Pentecostals or Baptists or Roman Catholics, but as those seated together joyfully at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb as the Bride of Christ. Thanks be to God.
Appreciate and agree with the writer and the insights he shared. I am a Nazarene pastor in Tucson, AZ. God led us to a church that was about ready to close it’s doors. No vision, no passion, etc… great people however, who wanted God’s very best. We have been there 13 months and have almost tripled in size. I say all that to brag on God and give HIM all of the credit and praise, but I too, have found that we identify as Christians who love Christ and preach His word and love on others. Let us continue to bring hope and answers to the lost and those who need HIM.
That is a good advise for 2019.
Your student,