an extension of my post from yesterday<\/a> and an examination of the underlying theme of whether or not something is valid if it is not clearly articulated in the New Testament.<\/p>\nYesterday, I tried to make the point that I don\u2019t think the church is restricted to only the traditions, practices, and resources spelled out in the New Testament.<\/p>\n
Today, I want to take that bit further and argue that, contrary to what some like Viola and Barna have argued, the church\u2019s use of \u201coutside\u201d or \u201cpagan\u201d things is not something to be feared; it\u2019s something to celebrate.<\/p>\n
In fact, I would argue that the church\u2019s history of reclaiming,\u00a0redeeming, and re-purposing once pagan things is at the very heart of the gospel.<\/p>\n
Take for example the church\u2019s earliest confession of faith: \u201cJesus is Lord\u201d. This early creed wasn\u2019t produced in a\u00a0vacuum. In fact, its origins were very pagan. \u201cJesus is Lord\u201d was not simply a statement of faith, it was the church reclaiming,\u00a0redeeming, and re-purposing the pagan confession \u201cCaesar\u00a0is Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
This pagan\u00a0propaganda\u00a0was Roman orthodoxy in the first century. To reject it or worse, to supplant someone else\u2019s name in place of Caesar, was an act punishable by death. Yet, the church\u00a0re-purposed\u00a0this pagan creed anyway because this \u201ctouching\u201d and reclaiming of the \u201cunclean\u201d was exactly what their Lord was doing when he embraced lepers, talked with prostitutes, sat down for dinner with tax collectors, and welcomed sinners.<\/p>\n
In following this example, the first followers of Jesus not only began to change the world, they also set a precedent for the church for generations to come.<\/p>\n
The history of the church, as Viola and Barna correctly pointed out, is filled with instances in which the church has taken \u201cpagan\u201d things and reclaimed, redeemed, and repurposed them for use in the kingdom of God. However, I think those among us who see this as some sort of corrupting or tainting of the Christian faith demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of the church\u2019s mission in the world.<\/p>\n
In these sorts of audacious acts, the church was redirecting the false worship of the world and pointing it towards its Creator. In these acts of defiance, the church was declaring to the world that Jesus was truly Lord of everything<\/em><\/strong>. In these acts of rebellion, the church was taking seriously Paul\u2019s words that nothing, \u201cneither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,\u00a0<\/span>neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,\u00a0neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d<\/p>\nIn other words, the church has for centuries affirmed that there is nothing which cannot be redeemed and put to use for the kingdom of God, no matter what it\u2019s past history might be. This is the very heart of the gospel. The good news that Jesus declared was that all people, regardless of how sinful, evil, corrupt, or pagan they might be are now, through the grace afforded them through the cross and resurrection, able to become the very hands and feet of God in the world.<\/p>\n
When the church reclaims, redeems, and repurposes \u201cpagan\u201d people, places, and things, she is not embracing the associated pagan god or pagan theology, rather she is performing the very redemptive work God commissioned her to do.<\/p>\n
When \u201cpagan\u201d things like Christmas trees or rock music become part of church life, it\u2019s not because the church has lost her way. It\u2019s because the church is doing the reclaiming, redeeming, and repurposing she has been called to do as the Body of the One who came to redeem all of creation<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\nSo, fear not when someone cries out \u201cit\u2019s pagan\u201d or \u201cit\u2019s not in the Bible\u201d. Instead, learn to celebrate those moments as times in the church\u2019s life when the good news of the gospel is actually being lived out.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grace and peace,<\/p>\n
Zack Hunt<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 \u00a0 A few years ago Frank Viola and George Barna\u00a0collaborated\u00a0on a book called Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices. In the book, readers learn about the \u201cpagan roots\u201d of many of the church\u2019s long held traditions, practices, and resources. The authors take great\u00a0pains\u00a0to point out that many of the things the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3437,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/theamericanjesus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/pagan.png\" "\\"pagan\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n