Barnabas File

Chapter 24 of Matthew's gospel begins with Jesus responding to his disciples' comments about the grandiose nature of the Temple with these words: "Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down." His comments remind us of the transitory nature of all man-made institutions, even those built to attest to the Holy. November is a good time to think about the evanescence of institutional relationships in Baptist life. State Baptist conventions have been meeting and many continue the process of renegotiating their relationships with institutions such as colleges, hospitals, and charitable entities. When the interim president of Carson-Newman College was asked if he could foresee a time when the college might want to sever its relation to the Tennessee Baptist Convention, he responded, "No, but a time may come when the convention will want to leave the college." Although he did not spell out the circumstances, we ...

Church membership and participation are very fluid for young adults. I often find myself in discussions about the future of the church, especially at it relates to reaching and engaging young adults. As we watch our committed church members grow older, it is natural to ask the questions, "Who is next? Who is stepping in to take their places? Who is willing to serve?" I could probably make a case that these are the wrong questions and ones that speak more to our desire to maintain an institution that build a community. At any rate, I think there are some questions that the church must answer if it is to be viable for anyone in the 21st century. First, what is the church? We have been tied to buildings, trained professional staff members, and programs for so long that we have come to think of these things as the church. These things represent the church, especially in a modern American context, but we must remind ourselves that the church is actually an organism that mu...