Decadence and the Word Part IV

I fear that this series on decadence has become repetitive, so this entry will be brief.

In Decadence and the Word Part II I ended by suggesting that the antidote to the Protestant propensity to schism is Paul’s teaching on mutual giftedness in Ephesians chapter 4. Such a view of the church is inclusive rather than exclusive, in fact, the more inclusive the better. The more a Christian opens himself to the gifts and perceptions of others, the broader and deeper is his own experience of Christ. Exclusion implies perpetual immaturity. This is true at the corporate as well as the individual level.

I have written previously that history may be viewed as the succession of God’s three special symbols—sacraments, Word, and man himself. If that pattern is true, we may be transitioning into the time of man as symbol. I do not means humanistic man, but Christian man, filled with the presence of Christ and manifesting him—Christian man who knows how his gifts fit within the church, and how his own needs and weaknesses are met by his fellows.

This means that the church needs to do renewed exegesis of the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit outside traditional Pentecostal/ Charismatic interpretations.

Also, a renewed emphasis on man as symbol opens the door to communicate with post-modern man, who places relationship over abstract thought, inclusiveness over exclusiveness, and connectedness over authority.