One of the abiding assertions I hear among Missional Church theologians and practitioners is the idea that the American church is somehow following in the footsteps of the European Church. European Christianity has ebbed and the stats on European church involvement are ugly. The logic is that the North American church will not be far behind. This line of thinking is a popular rationale for the development of a new church paradigm, and is often used by those working in the area of missional church theology and praxis.\n
In this short segment from a Q&A; after a lecture at Yale,\u00a0Miroslav Volf suggests that there is another way to look at the data. He suggests that current scholarship indicates that since there are many ways for nations to modernize, including how the church adapts and responds to a society\u2019s modernization, it is actually now assumed that Europe is the\u00a0anomaly, and American church development through modernity is the more paradigmatic model.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an interesting idea, and strikes at the heart of the narrative to which so many mission church leaders have hitched their wagons \u2013 especially the ones selling strategies, new models, & pragmatic solutions. They simply assume that Europe is the paradigm and the U.S. is simply lagging behind about 40 years. Volf is suggesting that \u2013 on the basis of watching how other religious cultures continue to modernize \u2013 there may be good reason to see European church as the anomaly, and the U.S. church as the paradigm. This means that the U.S. Church is not necessarily destined to move along the same path as Europe, but rather it is actually on the leading edge of how religion and societies interact with one another.<\/p>\n
I think there is some merit to at least examining our own assumptions here. What if Europe is the anomaly and North America is the paradigm? How might the narrative of the Missional Church movement need to change if the rationale many of its leaders seem so dependent upon suddenly disappeared? I think that at the very least, this should push our quest for rationale farther away from pragmatics <\/i>and more toward theology<\/i>.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Lx0RrRZGu04?version=3<\/a><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the abiding assertions I hear among Missional Church theologians and practitioners is the idea that the American church is somehow following in the footsteps of the European Church. European Christianity has ebbed and the stats on European church involvement are ugly. The logic is that the North American church will not be far […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Miroslav Volf Challenges an Important Part of the Pragmatic Missional Church Narrative<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the abiding assertions I hear among Missional Church theologians and practitioners is the idea that the American church is somehow following in the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Miroslav Volf Challenges an Important Part of the Pragmatic Missional Church Narrative\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the abiding assertions I hear among Missional Church theologians and practitioners is the idea that the American church is somehow following in the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Paperback Theology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-08T09:23:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Suttle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Tim_Suttle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Suttle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html\",\"name\":\"Miroslav Volf Challenges an Important Part of the Pragmatic Missional Church Narrative\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-08T09:23:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-06-08T09:23:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6\"},\"description\":\"One of the abiding assertions I hear among Missional Church theologians and practitioners is the idea that the American church is somehow following in the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Miroslav Volf Challenges an Important Part of the Pragmatic Missional Church Narrative\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/\",\"name\":\"Paperback Theology\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6\",\"name\":\"Tim Suttle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tim Suttle\"},\"description\":\"Find out more about Tim at TimSuttle.com Tim Suttle is the senior pastor of RedemptionChurchkc.com. He is the author of several books including his most recent - Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church Growth Culture (Zondervan 2014), Public Jesus (The House Studio, 2012), & An Evangelical Social Gospel? (Cascade, 2011). Tim's work has been featured at The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, Sojourners, and other magazines and journals. Tim is also the founder and front-man of the popular Christian band Satellite Soul, with whom he toured for nearly a decade. The band's most recent album is \\\"Straight Back to Kansas.\\\" He helped to plant three thriving churches over the past 13 years and is the Senior Pastor of Redemption Church in Olathe, Kan. Tim's blog, Paperback Theology, is hosted at Patheos.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/@Tim_Suttle\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/author\/timsuttle\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Miroslav Volf Challenges an Important Part of the Pragmatic Missional Church Narrative","description":"One of the abiding assertions I hear among Missional Church theologians and practitioners is the idea that the American church is somehow following in the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Miroslav Volf Challenges an Important Part of the Pragmatic Missional Church Narrative","og_description":"One of the abiding assertions I hear among Missional Church theologians and practitioners is the idea that the American church is somehow following in the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html","og_site_name":"Paperback Theology","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438","article_published_time":"2012-06-08T09:23:00+00:00","author":"Tim Suttle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Tim_Suttle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tim Suttle","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html","name":"Miroslav Volf Challenges an Important Part of the Pragmatic Missional Church Narrative","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-08T09:23:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-08T09:23:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6"},"description":"One of the abiding assertions I hear among Missional Church theologians and practitioners is the idea that the American church is somehow following in the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2012\/06\/miroslav-volf-challenges-an-important-part-of-the-pragmatic-missional-church-narrative.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Miroslav Volf Challenges an Important Part of the Pragmatic Missional Church Narrative"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/","name":"Paperback Theology","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/63a7ffe567a014f809abae15ebfc44a6","name":"Tim Suttle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ce6d230b7d3a7d50e5fc4b6c265691fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tim Suttle"},"description":"Find out more about Tim at TimSuttle.com Tim Suttle is the senior pastor of RedemptionChurchkc.com. He is the author of several books including his most recent - Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church Growth Culture (Zondervan 2014), Public Jesus (The House Studio, 2012), & An Evangelical Social Gospel? (Cascade, 2011). Tim's work has been featured at The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, Sojourners, and other magazines and journals. Tim is also the founder and front-man of the popular Christian band Satellite Soul, with whom he toured for nearly a decade. The band's most recent album is \"Straight Back to Kansas.\" He helped to plant three thriving churches over the past 13 years and is the Senior Pastor of Redemption Church in Olathe, Kan. Tim's blog, Paperback Theology, is hosted at Patheos.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=654515438","https:\/\/twitter.com\/@Tim_Suttle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/author\/timsuttle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}