Stephen Barkley
Here is one of the best theological rants I’ve ever heard. Believe it or not, in After Our Likeness: The Church As the Image of the Trinity, Volf is defending a Free Church ecclesiology!
Whether they want to or not, Free Churches often function as “homogeneous units” specializing in the specific needs of specific social classes and cultural circles, and then in mutual competition try to sell their commodity at dumping prices to the religious consumer in the supermarket of life projects; the customer is king and the one best suited to evaluate his or her own religious needs and from whom nothing more is required than a bit of loyalty and as much money as possible. If the Free Churches want to contribute to the salvation of Christendom, they themselves must first be healed.
Many parallels can be seen in ‘the church’ and the culture in which it exists. As we have seen in the present global economic market, things that use to work are no longer working. In the consumer based market in the west, we rely on the consumer to keep buying whatever we have to sell, if they are not willing or cannot afford to buy the system falls apart. What are we trying to sell, is the product not good enough that it can’t sell itself? We just have to get the word out that the product exists and is free for all and stop trying to promote the store. I often wonder what kind of promotion am i? If Jesus is in me, would anybody else want what i have?