Dig in Deep

I picked up a phenomenal book a couple of weeks ago, and it is taking a while for me to digest and work through. It’s called Rethinking The Wineskin by Frank Viola, and it is doing an incredible job bringing together a lot of what I’ve been working through over the last couple of years.

I’ll start this series out with a quote from the book. It’s a long one from the introduction, but it is a good summary of what the book is about.

Church history is rife with examples demonstrating that every past renewal has repackaged the new wine into old wineskins. By the old wineskin, I mean those traditional structures that are patterned after the old Judaic religious system. A system that separated God’s people into two separate classes; required the presence of human mediators; erected sacred buildings; and laid stress on outward forms.

The facets of the old wineskin are many. The clergy/laity distinction. The spectator-performer styled church meeting. The single pastor system. The program-driven worship service. The passive priesthood. The edifice complex. All of these features represent Old Covenant forms in NT garb!

Accordingly, the present cry of the Spirit for genuine renewal will never become a reality for those who ignore His concurrent voice regarding the new wineskin. God himself fashioned this fresh wineskin. He made it to perfectly hold the wine of His life. In this way, the wine always precedes the wineskin.

Sadly, not a few have presumed that God has left the wineskin of church practice to the pragmatic whims of well-intentioned men. But the Lord has not left us to ourselves regarding the practice of His church.

We so often forget that the church belongs to Christ and not to us! As in the Old Testament type, no peg of the tabernacle was left to the imagination of man. Rather, the house was to be built “according to the pattern” given from above.

This does not mean that the NT supplies us with an ironclad, meticulous blueprint for church practice. It does not. Therefore, it is a gross mistake to tease out of the apostolic letters an inflexible code of church order that is as unalterable as the law of the Medes and Persians! Such a written code belongs to the other side of the cross.

On the other hand, the NT introduces us to a number of clearly defined practices that characterize God’s spiritual house. And it is these practices that make up the “Divine pattern” for the ekklesia (church).

Going through the description of the church in the NT is what the book continues to do. It talks about the following aspects:

• Gatherings
• Common Meal
• The House
• Family/Community
• Leadership – Oversight
• Leadership – Visionary
• Purpose
• Membership
• Boundary
• Tradition
• Conclusion

I plan on sharing in more detail about each of these. More of my study has been focused on the description of the church in the NT, apart from the trappings of the modern church. I’ve been reading bits and pieces here and there, but it’s awesome to see how so many people have been struggling with this, for so many years. Viola doesn’t pretend to be alone in this – his book is full of quotes from other authors. But Viola’s style and approach are needed today. He’s clear, conversational, and confrontational. Had I read this book four years ago I would have been deeply disturbed by it. Which would have been a good thing!

I can see why Barna is partnering with Viola for his next book – Revolution was simply an introduction to renewing the church. It’s not just about the house. Or open meetings. Though those are certainly good places to start. The NT is full of descriptions of the church that we should be paying attention to. Rethinking The Wineskin does a very good job of sifting through, organizing, and presenting these descriptions.

Final note, and this is important. I fully realize that the things I regularly talk about may seem impractical. Too far removed from where church currently is. And too far removed from what many people will realistically understand, because their view of church is rooted primarily in tradition – the way they grew up understanding church. There is a benefit to continuing to have churches that do things the “modern” way.

Yet it is also critical for us to evaluate what the “modern” way is in light of scripture. And it is critical for us to seek out what God desires for the church. Any criticism you might see in what I’ve written is as much a criticism of myself as it might be of anyone else. The only possible difference is that I’m determined to push forward in church renewal – not renewal to more modern music styles, more relevant evangelism methods, or more appropriate post-modern theology. But renewal back towards what is described in scripture.