 |
| The non-Lutherans have been much better than the Lutherans in discerning what is wrong with Church Growth. Wayne Mueller, WELS, denied any CGM in his sect. Meanwhile, CG Enthusiasts were promoted and CG critics were given the Left Foot of Fellowship, sent behind The Ice Curtain. |
Intrepid Lutherans:
Mr. Chris Rosebrough, Cap’n of the Pirate Christian Radio network and host of the daily show “Fighting for the Faith,” has been doing yeoman’s work identifying the tendril root of fascism in the post-modern church leadership movement. Understandably, readers may recoil at the word fascism, since it is misused in modern discourse. However, Rosebrough’s context is deliberate and accurate, highlighting America's founding on the Enlightenment ("we are endowed by our Creator") and contrasting with the subsequent Anti-Enlightenment (e.g. Kant: reality is unknowable; Hegel: truth is synthetic; Rousseau: individuals don’t exit, only society; Nietzsche: morals determined by community.)
Social engineer and management guru Peter Drucker, explains Rosebrough, adopted the former worldview at weekly dinner parties held by his father for Vienna intellectuals between the World Wars. (To put it in the Martin Luther College vernacular, that was Drucker’s “ministry crockpot.”) Drucker’s 1933 essay, “The Unfashionable Kierkegaard,” — to be read only after three cups of coffee — identifies social responsibility as man’s path between the hopelessness of mortal life and the hope of eternity. Drucker presses forward in the 2nd half of the 20th Century by shaping social organizations to fill the duality (eternal & mortal) of man. In this 1989 interview, Drucker explains that people desire communities, and that churches should deliver what the market demands, but without worrying about doctrine or theology.
So where does the Church Growth Movement fit in here? There’s a thick black thread beginning from Drucker’s mentorship of Bob Buford’s Leadership Network, Bill Hybel’s Willow Creek, and Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven trainwreck. From that hydra, prominent names developed: Modalist TD Jakes, homosexual-affirming Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Mark Driscoll and others in the post-modern Emergent Church. It isn't merely the adoption of management, marketing, and endless consulting and conferences which Drucker fostered into the megachurch movement. It is the abandonment of Sola Scriptura.
The following links are to outside sources for background reading. Proper Christian discernment is encouraged. Below is the podcast of the presentation by Mr. Rosebrough, and the second link includes additional source material.
***
GJ - I suggest going to their site to find all the material linked.
'via Blog this'
