What I love about Christian friendships is that Christians can be friends and still disagree with each other. Paul himself said in Ephesians that there will ALWAYS be differences of opinion within the Christian church. That's what Paul said. And I agree. The problem is when those disagreements divide the church... and THAT is a big no-no in God's eyes.

So while I sometimes disagree with my brothers and sisters in Christ, I NEVER...NEVER allow those disagreements to divide us. If for one moment I thought a disagreement of mine divided the church, I would just rather shut up and say nothing at all.

I wanted to say all of this because I do disagree with Barna's viewpoint as expressed in "Pagan Christainity". So please read whatever I say on this blog as just a humble opinion from a Christian who may not be all that bright, but she certainly loves Christ with all of her heart, soul, and mind.

First of all, the New Testament does not give us a blueprint on the "right way to do church" beyond sincere devotion to Christ... lifting Him up and glorifying Him... and doing this with respect for those around us... and with some sembelance of order (structure) in place to prevent complete chaos. But you see, isn't that nothing more than common sense and common decency anyway? Of course it is.

Barna attempts to name a couple of verses which he says demonstrates that the "rituals" (liturgy) done in many churches today are actually pagan in origin, and thus unbiblical... and therefore somehow intrinsically bad!

Well, I have the book and read the passages cited by Barna... and when I use over 30 different translations to read those verses, I just don't see what Barna is talking about. To me, and i'm no biblical scholar, the verses Barna cites are taken completely out of context... and intellectually, this is the worst thing any scholar can do.

It is extremely clear that the verses Barna cites were INTENDED for only a particular church who had written to Paul in the first place because they were having UNIQUE problems that the other churches were not having.

You can't read Paul's different letters to the different churches and not help but see that Paul was addressing different issues in different churches. In fact, the REASON Paul had to address many of these issues in the early church was because JESUS NEVER DID address them. Jesus NEVER did. No where does Jesus ever tell us what is the "proper" or "right" way to do church. He doesn't.

I invite all Christians to read this book and judge for yourself.

And keep this in mind, Barna in his other books even admitted that the NT doesn't tell us what is the "right" way to do church. And yet he conveniently forgets that he said that. Not only that, Barna himself uses "pagan" techniques to make a success of his own career, and yet he will say that Christians shouldn't use "pagan" techniques in church because they are somehow intrinsically bad.

But you see, Paul had a different opinion than Barna about this very issue. If you remember, Paul himself said that he will be all things to all people to reach as many as he can for Christ. And indeed, we see Paul using "pagan" techniques and strategies to reach the Greeks and others who were lost.

In our age of GRACE, I don't think Jesus gives a hoot about what rituals or form or liturgy we use to worship Him in our churches... just as long as it is done sincerely and done in a respectful manner.

I think a far more accurate book about what life and worship was like during the early church is by Joe Hellerman who wrote: "The Ancient Church As Family". This book is far more unbiased and scholarly than "Pagan Christianity".

But I could be wrong. I have been before.

BTW, Barna does have some good points. It's just that I don't think he is intellectualy correct on some of his main issues.

amen

Pagan is an excellent book.

By and large, the way we do church in America is not the "right" way. It is a mix of corporate business, politics, entertainment and direct marketing get rick quick schemes. There are exceptions, thank God, but not enough.