Contra Syncretism
I was standing in line at Walgreens. I noticed for the first time the close proximity of the cigarettes and the nicotine patches. The signage above these sections presented the juxtaposed message; “Tobacco” & “Smoking Cessation”. Here at Walgreens, “your neighborhood health store”, they cannot decide what is health, using tobacco or quitting tobacco. This paradox isn’t caused by a confusion in the medical community, nor is it born from an actual concern for health. Walgreens itself isn’t interested in health; its purpose is to increase its market share. This is why Walgreens bought Rite Aid. If they were interested in health, they would be excited other “health” stores existed.
The same paradox can be posed of the American Church. If we are interested in proclaiming and practicing the faith once delivered, why do all of our church websites list “our distinctives”? This is the insidious syncretism that has crept into the American Church. Our culture is dominated by marketing and a desire for a greater share of the market. We think in terms of products, and profits. Just think of the difference between books in the early church and books in the modern west. Saint Augustine didn’t copyright City of God, he wasn’t concerned about collecting royalties, or growing his audience. He wrote City of God as a natural extension of his teaching office as bishop. Similarly the Nicene Creed wasn’t composed as a “distinctive” of imperial churches, it was merely a confession of the catholic faith held since the apostles…at least according to Saint Athanasius.
The first generation of Protestant confessions, were not a pronouncement of “distinctives” either, they were consensus documents for the national churches in Europe to clarify the catholic faith in contrast to Medieval additions. The Medieval Church had made “distinctives” , purgatory, bodily assumption of Mary, the papacy, etc. that caused distinction from the apostolic church. The marketing impulse of American Capitalism has picked up the confessional habit and misapplied it to crafting individual “statements of faith”. They have taken the faith and practice handed down and innovated forms of worship to “appeal to a broader base”.
Most of these distinctives aren’t aimed at handing down the faith once delivered, these practices functionally are aimed at sheep swapping. When we say things like, “we are the church that takes eschatology seriously” who is the audience for this message? Not heathens, other Christians. There is such an ingrained impulse to make our share of the market more agreeable, that we don’t even realize the foot we lead with smells like mammon. That’s not to say these churches love money, it’s they are expending more time on being the church for “this kind of Christian” they don’t have time ensuring they are faithful to their calling to be one with the church universal.
I’m not just finger pointing, I would say there are similar problems in my own communion, the CREC. Too often when people in the CREC discuss what the Communion is about they lead with “cultural engagement”, “post-millennialism”, etc. Our messaging much of the time is toward other Christians, either to vindicate our legitimacy or to convince evangelicals to join us. Even the papists do this, there are Latin Mass distinctives, or Rad Trad distinctives, or Contemporary Mass distinctives. They market to other Romanists and to Protestants. What we should be concerned with is passing down the faith once delivered. There should be a reformational desire that our different localities would seek unity with one another and the church throughout the ages. This unity doesn’t just mean we are cordial in the grocery store. It means that we should not be so distinct that we can pitch our “brand” of church over and against the other “brand”. This is not an encouragement to non-denominationalism. Rather this is a plea that we examine ourselves and our motives behind how we communicate what our churches are doing. Paul makes very severe warnings toward those who innovate;
Galatians 1:8 “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”
Let us desire to be receivers of the faith. To hold the Nicene Creed as our prized summary of belief. Let us desire a unity of worship among the churches in Maine so the musical tastes of wandering sheep will no longer be snares for ecclesial marketing. Let there be a goal to full altar and pulpit fellowship among all the saints in Maine. These should be our hopes and ambitions, that true kingdom tendrils would be strengthened and nourished by the love of Christ and the teaching of the faith once delivered in all it’s beauty and majesty. If the church is the true hospital for the soul, let us clear away the option of “tobacco” or “smoking cessation” and rather offer simply the medicine of immortality.
