A Compelling Message? A Cohesive Community?

I am a pastor of a Disciples of Christ church. We take pride in being non-creedal. When someone joins our congregation we simply ask that they affirm the good confession -- "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and my Lord and Savior." This simple confession that goes back to Peter's confession in Matthew 16, was later picked up by others, including John Locke, who saw it as a simple formula that all Christians could embrace. Alexander Campbell, influenced by Locke picked it up and passed it on down the line. Now Campbell and later partner Barton Stone sought to ground their faith in the teachings of the New Testament. Unfortunately, some of their assumptions were simplistic. And as time went on, many of our churches began to espouse a sort of "anything goes" mentality. I've heard it said on many an occasion that you can be a Disciple and believe what ever you want. I cringe when I hear this, because that is pushing non-creedalism to the extreme.

I write this as a prelude to another question about how we live faithfully and openly as Christians -- if you're of some other religious community, I expect the questions posed would apply to your communities as well.

Wesley Wildman and Stephen Garner in Lost in the Middle? (Alban, 2009) are arguing for a moderate (liberal-evangelical) position within Christianity. They note that a "compelling core message," something evangelicals find easier to develop and proclaim, makes for a "better glue" for social cohesion. They note that Diana Butler Bass [Christianity for the Rest of Us, (HarperOne, 2007)], has given evidence of flourishing inclusive mainline congregations, but they suggest that many of these communities are both evangelical and liberal -- that is, they have a compelling core message, even if it is colored by a more open and inclusive setting.

One of the reasons why evangelicals and other conservative religious communities hold together is that their message is incisive and simple. When asked what they believe, they have a handy answer. Ask a more liberal congregation and you might get a cacophony of answers. Now that works for some, but for most people it doesn't work. So, here is what they say:

The core message must make a convincing story, one that captures imaginations with its grandeur and richness, its historic boldness and prophetic edge. It must make sense to children and yet unfold onto endlessly fascinating details. It must be practical and immediately relevant to the existential struggles of our lives. (p. 138).

Moderate to liberal Christians, and I place myself in this category, want to affirm what they call "core message pluralism," something that complicates this compelling message and also undermines the social glue. I think one of the reasons why we're more likely to find multi-racial churches among evangelicals is that the social glue is doctrinal rather than economics, class, or ethnicity.

So, they suggest that the middle way requires us to provide a "socially realistic way that creates excitement and changes lives without committing the social sins of suppressing diversity and boring people witless. It needs to be a spiritually vital way that rejects the dual sins of avoiding spiritual depth through compassionate social outreach and neglecting the world in the name of individualistic salvation" (p. 139).

So, what is the message?