Missional Canadian

Left, Right or Radical Middle?

A few years a ago a small group of us within the Christian & Missionary Alliance family of Churches began to describe ourselves as being in the “radical middle,” of the theological and philosophical spectrum of church life. But after reading Adam Hamilton’s “Seeing Gray in World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics,” I realized that my definition of “middle,”  was bound by a much narrower spectrum of “the church,” than that held by Adam Hamilton, pastor of the 14,000 strong United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, in Leawood, Kansas.  Cleary our “radical middle” is a bit to the right of what Hamilton calls the “radical center.”

Hamilton is promoting what he calls a middle path between the fundamentalism of Jerry Falwell and the liberalism of John Shelby Spong. Truth is, typical of so many from evangelical backgrounds, I’ve never included John Shelby Spong along with those of the Jesus Seminar ilk, within the spectrum of what I understand to be the broader church family. I figure you need to at least be able to affirm the historic creeds such as the Apostles and Nicene creeds to make any claim to be authentically Christian. Some would call that an “evangelical bias,” but many of my Catholic and Orthodox friends also hold to that bias.

And on the other-side, while Jerry Falwell lies clearly to the right of where I land, his life and ministry was far more moderate than that of many fundamentalists. Making it even more interesting, while that small group of Alliance friends see ourselves as being in the “radical middle,” others within our own church family might describe us being a bit to the left. It does all depend on where you draw your lines.  

And while my “middle” lands to the right of Hamilton’s “middle,” I found his overarching theme of the need to bring the social gospel and the personal evangelical gospel together, understanding that neither is complete apart from the other, as a much needed corrective for the church today. On the issue of holiness, his call to find the “sweet spot” between legalism and libertinism is critical for any church desirous of having lasting impact in our culture.

My sense is that he aligns with Brian McLaren and McLaren’s views of “Generous Orthodoxy,” and in the process arrives at a few conclusions related to an understanding of the bible and salvation that are quite left of where I’m comfortable. However unlike some of my friends who land to the right of myself, I don’t see these guys so much as dangerous heretics, as much as I see them as sincere Christ followers who have allowed themselves to drift further than what I believe is biblically warranted. I see them as brothers in Christ with whom I do not see eye to eye. That doesn’t prevent me from appreciating them and learning from them.

 Back in the late 70’s when I attended what is now Tyndale Seminary in Toronto, the ethos my professors impressed on me was the well known quotation of unknown origins, “In essentials, unity, in doubtful matters, liberty, in all things, charity.” Even if my middle lands to the right of a guy like Adam Hamilton, I’m reminded of the need to remain charitable and to be willing to listen and dialogue and learn from those like Hamilton to the left of me, or those to the right of me who align with the theology and philosophy of a Jerry Falwell. 

So I do like the idea of “generous orthodoxy,” even if I don’t appear to be as generous in my orthodoxy as some. I like the idea of seeing gray in a world of black and white, even if I don’t see gray in quite the same places.  In my passion to uphold the Jesus ethic of love of God and love of neighbour, I will choose remain charitable towards those who draw their lines differently than myself, especially those who hold tenaciously to a personally relationship with Jesus as their forgiver and leader.  

March 23, 2009 Posted by Doug Doyle | Reflecting Theologically, The Canadian Scene | 4 Comments