Christians without a Church
无教会的基督徒
By Joseph Seifert
约瑟夫·塞弗特
I believe that there will be many new and challenging issues facing the church as we plow into the 21st century. There is the pervading post-modern culture to engage in, the rise of Islam to contend with, and economic hardship to struggle with. However, the trend that concerns me the most and will need to be addressed throughout the course of my ministry is what Pastor and author Reggie McNeal calls “post-congregational Christians.”
我相信，随着我们在21世纪中进深，教会将会面对许多新而艰巨的难题。对话后现代主义潮流，应对伊斯兰教的复兴， 和对付经济萧条。 然而，最使我担心并且需要在我的侍奉生涯中不断回应的就是被牧师作家瑞吉.麦克尼奥(Reggie McNeal)称为“后教会基督徒(post-congregational Christians)”的现象。
He says, “A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost faith. They are leaving the church to preserve faith. They contend that the church no longer contributes to their spiritual development. In fact, they say, quite the opposite is true. The number of “post-congregational” Christians is growing. David Barret, author of the World Christian Encyclopedia, estimates that there are about 112 million “churchless Christians” worldwide, about 5 percent of all adherents, but he projects that number will double in the next twenty years” (McNeal 4 — 5).
他说道：“越来越多的人基于一个新颖的理由离开体制教会。他们离开教会不是因为失去了信仰。他们离开教会是为了保存信仰。他们声称教会不再能帮助他们的灵性增长。实际上，他们说，情况却恰好相反。“后教会基督徒”的人数在不断增加。世界基督教百科的作者大卫.布瑞特(David Barret)估计全球约有1.12亿的“无教会基督徒”，大概占基督徒总人数的5%，但是他认为那数字将在接下来的20年内翻倍。
Spiritual and/or Religious
属灵的和/或宗教虔诚的
So why are people staying away from congregational worship and membership? It appears that there are two strong contributors. First, as stated above by McNeal, some people feel that the church does not help them grow spiritually. According to them, the congregation does not have a lot to offer and they are not being fed there. The other reason has to do with this ugly word called religion. A recent article in USA Today gave the results of a survey done by LifeWay Christian Resources. This organization conducted a survey of 1,200 18-29 year-olds and found that 72% claim to be more spiritual than religious(Grossman). Many people, especially younger people do not want to be considered religious and the way of thinking seems to be that if you have membership at a congregation then religious is exactly what you are. The pervading mindset is that being called religious is an insult that says you are closed-minded, shut off from the world, and that you think you are better than everybody else.
那么，人们为什么远离教会崇拜和教会会籍呢？这里有两个重大的因素。首先，如前面McNeal所述，一部分人感觉教会不再能帮助到他们的灵性成长。根据他们的意见，教会不再能提供更多的东西，并且在那里他们也得不到喂养。另外一个原因是与宗教这个丑陋词汇有关。最近《今日美国》中一篇文章公布了由生命道路基督徒资讯（LifeWay Christian Resources）机构所完成的调查报告。该机构对1200名年龄介于18到29岁的人进行调查，并发现其中72%的人声称更为属灵而不是更虔诚(religious)。许多人尤其是年轻人不愿意被看成宗教虔诚的，他们似乎认为:如果你在一间教会有会籍，那么你无疑就是非常宗教虔诚的(religious)。这种蔓延的思维方式就是，被贴上宗教虔诚的标签是一种侮辱，说明你的思想封闭，与世隔绝，总以为自己比人好。
Now let me start by saying that I do believe that you can be a Christian and have a saving faith in Jesus without attending a church congregation. However, I do not agree with the theological understanding, “Once saved, always saved.” Christians that do not have the support of a caring congregation and the guidance of a loving shepherd are in danger of losing their faith. The souls of millions are in jeopardy and this is why the post-congregational issue concerns me deeply.
现在，让我以以下说法开始，我确实相信你，在不加入一间教会的情况下，可以是基督徒，并且有在基督里得救的信心。但是，我并不认同这种“一次得救，永远得救”的神学立场。基督徒如果没有充满关爱的教会的支持和充满爱的牧者的引导，就是处在失去信心的危险之中。上亿人的的灵魂处在危险之中，这也是为什么”后教会”问题让我如此忧心。
So how can the church prepare for this ongoing challenge? First, we need to address the criticism of those who claim they are not being spiritually fed. Now I think the church often starts off on the wrong foot trying to address this issue because we misunderstand what it means to be fed. We think being fed means meeting people’s needs such as security, intimacy, friendship, and direction. The church addresses these needs by striving toward having bigger and better programs. Our pastors focus on being counselors and allocators of advice. However, people can meet these needs through other organizations other than a church congregation and at a more convenient time than Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings.
那么教会应该如何预备来应对这种不断出现的挑战？首先，我们需要回应那些声称没有得到属灵喂养的人的指责。如今我想教会常常尝试从错误的起点开始回应这个问题，因为我们误解了“得到喂养”是什么意思。我们认为得到喂养就是满足人们诸如安全、亲密关系、友谊和人生方向等方面的需要。教会试图藉着努力开展更大更好的项目来回应这些需要。我们的牧师如今专注于成为好的顾问和建议提供者。然而，人们可以通过其它机构而不是一间教会来满足这些需要，这样还能选择一个更为方便的时间，而不是在周日早上或周三晚上。
Meeting people’s needs is a good thing. However what we really need to be focusing on is what the church has to offer that no other organization can. Ultimately, there is only one thing that separates the church from other organizations. It is where God promises to be present and where he speaks. Granted, God is omnipresent (everywhere at all times) but he promises to be with us in worship in a special way and when we go to church we can be sure to hear God speak to us. If one were to ask a Christian where Jesus is, the typical answer they would receive is, “He is in heaven (at the right hand of God the Father)” or “He is in my heart,” but one would hardly hear the response that Jesus is in the church. It is important to recognize that Jesus is active today and is speaking to us through the office of preaching which he instituted. This includes preaching and the administration of the sacraments of baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and confession and absolution. Jesus’ ministry did not end when he ascended to heaven but he is continuing his work of salvation through the office of preaching.
满足人们的需要是件好事。然而，我们真正要关注的是教会应该提供其它机构无法提供的东西。说到底，只有一样东西使教会与其它机构分别开来，这就是神应许他同在并且他说话的地方。众所周知，神是无所不在（所有时间任何地方），但是他应许在敬拜中以一个特别的方式与我们同在；当我们走进教会时，我们一定能听见神对我们说话。如果有人问基督徒耶稣在哪里，通常得到的答案是：“他在天上（在父神的右边）。”或者“他在我心中。”但是很难听到有人回答说耶稣在教会里的。认识到耶稣今天仍然活着并且透过他所设立的传道圣职对我们说话，这是很重要的。这圣职包括传道和施行圣礼。圣礼有圣洗礼，圣餐、认罪和赦罪。耶稣升天时，他的事工并没有结束，他透过传道的圣职继续他的救赎工作。
Ministry in and to the World
在世界的事工和向世界的事工
It is imperative that Christians be working with the right narrative. Often when we think of Christ’s work of salvation, we point to his active obedience and death as the payment for our sins. This is most certainly true, but we need to remember how Christ worked out salvation. When Christ entered into the world his whole life and ministry — not only his death on the cross — was his work of salvation. Jesus forgave sins, healed people, cast out demons, and raised people from the dead. When Jesus spoke forgiveness to the paralytic man, that man was experiencing Christ’s salvation in that moment in time.
基督徒用正确的故事来侍奉是迫切的。通常当我们想起基督的救赎工作时，我们会指出他的顺服和为赎我们的罪而死。这是毫无疑问的，但是我们需要记得基督是如何执行救赎工作的。当基督道成肉身来到这个世界，他的整个生命和事工（不只是他死在十字架上）是他的救赎工作。耶稣赦罪、医治、赶鬼和使人复活。当耶稣向瘫子说你的罪赦免了，那人在那个时刻切实经历了耶稣的救赎。
It is no wonder people fail to see the need to go to church when the story they operate with is: Jesus died for me sometime around A.D. 37. This makes salvation appear as though it is something that was done a long time ago and doesn’t have a lot of relevance today. The story that people need to take hold of is this: Jesus brought with him the kingdom of God when he entered the world; through his ministry he was working salvation, he continued that ministry through commissioning the Apostles, and continues his ministry today through the church. The church is where we receive God’s grace and salvation here and now.
当人们用以侍奉的故事是这样子：耶稣在大约公元37年为我死，毫无疑问他们不会看见去教会的需要。这让人以为救赎是一件发生在许久以前的事情，和今天没有太多关系。人们应该这样知道这个故事：当耶稣来到这个世界时，他带来了神的国；透过他的事工他在施行拯救，他通过差派使徒继续该事工，并且今日藉着教会继续他的事工。此时此地，教会是我们领受神恩典和救赎的地方。
As I have continued to think about this problem of Christians not attending church I am starting to think that giving reasons for going to church and attempting to convince people may be the wrong approach. A better approach would be to “do church” in a way that conforms to that which makes it so special — it is where God speaks. For example, many sermons today turn into self-help lectures that give good and sound advice. The problem is as I said earlier, that you can go find good advice at other places other than the church. These sermons do not meet our vital need to be transformed by the Gospel. Preaching should ultimately look like this: a man speaking God’s transforming word of law and gospel. Preachers of today need to make preaching what God intended it to be, God speaking to his people.
当我继续思考基督徒不去教会的问题时，我开始思想，给出去教会的理由并且试图说服他们，或许是不对的方式。更好的解决乃是以符合教会本身特性的那种方式“运行教会”-教会就是神说话的地方。例如，今天许多的讲道变成自救演讲，给大家更好更合理的建议。就像我之前所说的问题，你可以在其它地方找到好的建议而不是在教会。这种证道不能达成最重要的需要，就是生命因福音而改变。最终布道应该是这样子：一个人在传讲神的律法和福音。今天的传道人要使讲道归回神所意愿的那样，神向他的子民说话。
In order to feed people preachers need to be proclaiming God rather than explaining him. “We have to stop explaining God. Words and opinions about God do not help anyone” (Forde 41). This is not to say that explanation is not a good thing. Catechesis, teaching, and apologetics are all wonderful things. “Not every sermon, certainly not even the entire sermon, will or must be proclamation. But it is what the theologian, the preacher, must eventually be aiming at” (Forde 45).
为了喂养人们，传道人需要宣扬神而不是解释神。“我们必须停止解释神。对神的说法和看法不能帮助人。”（Forde 41）。这不是说解释神是不好的。问答、教导和护教都是非常好的事情。“不是每次讲道和整个讲道，将会或者一定是宣扬神，但是这是神学家和布道家必须最终达到的。” （Forde 45）
I believe what Forde means by “Words about God do not help anyone” is that they do not get to the root of the problem. A phrase that he likes to use is, “The only solution to the problem of the absolute is absolution” (Forde 155). We are corrupt sinners attempting to approach a Holy God. Explaining who this God is does not get us anywhere. We need Jesus, the revealed God to intervene for us. We need to be justified; we need to be forgiven. Therefore, preaching in most cases should be a speech-act. The preaching should actually do something; it should give us Jesus. The preaching should do what Jesus commissioned his apostles to do — retain and forgive sins, or, in other words, kill and make alive. This kind of preaching allows God to speak instead of being spoken about and in turn feed those who need to be fed.
我认为Forde声称“对神的看法不能帮助人”的意思是它们不能解决问题的根本。他喜欢使用的一句话“解决绝对问题(the problem of the absolute)的唯一方法就是赦罪(absolution)。” （Forde 155）。我们是尝试接近一位圣洁上帝的败坏罪人。对神是谁的解释不能使我们去到任何地方。我们需要耶稣，肉身显现的神介入我们的生命。我们需要被称为义，需要被赦免。因此，在大多数情况下传道(preaching)就是话语-行动(speech-act)。传道本应该实际做些什么，就是给我们耶稣。传道应该做耶稣吩咐使徒所做的事情，就是保留罪和赦罪，或者换一个说法，就是杀死和复兴。这种传道工作是让神自己说话而不是神被谈论，反过来喂养饥饿的灵魂。
The other thing that the church needs to do to address the problem of “post-congregational Christians” is to re-invent the word “religious.” The church needs to change its reputation of being closed-minded, shut off from the world, and better than everyone else. Whether these accusations are fair or not we need to do something about it.
教会在回应“后教会基督徒”问题时需要做的另外一件事就是重新定义“宗教虔诚的(religious)”这个词。教会需要改变它给人的这些印象：思想封闭、与世隔绝、自以为义。无论这些指责是否公正，我们都需要为此做些事情。
The first way that this can be done is simply by working harder to have genuine relationships with people. We need to honestly try to reach out and get to know people. We need to show people that we honestly care about them, no matter who they are, and that we have no hidden agenda. People today do not want to feel like they have a target on their back and that they are going to be the next tally mark on someone’s evangelism scoreboard. We live in a culture that constantly bombards us with advertisements trying to sell us their product or service. The church needs to make sure that it is not just adding one more ad campaign to the bunch. The church needs to be more than just one more organization trying to sell their product.
第一个可执行的方式非常简单，就是努力和其他人建立纯真的关系。我需要真诚地尝试与教会之外的人接触和深入认识。我们需要向他们表明，无论他们是谁，我们真心地关爱他们，并且我们没有隐藏的意图。现在的人都不希望自己被盯上，或成为某个人传福音工作记分板上的下一个计分号。我们生活在这么一个文化里：我们不断地被想要卖产品或服务给我们的广告狂轰滥炸着。教会需要确保，这关怀工作不是在一大堆已有的广告宣传运动中增加一个。教会本来就不是居于这些试着推销它们产品的组织行列。
We need to be real and authentic with people. We should have open discussions and dialogues with each other respecting each other’s opinions. We do not have to be bashful or embarrassed about what we confess to be true, but we also don’t need to bash people over the head with our beliefs either. We have to be willing to plant seeds and let the Holy Spirit do his work.
我们需要对人真诚。我们应该允许探讨和对话，并且互相尊重各自的意见。我们认信为真理的东西，我们不必感到羞怯或尴尬，但是我们也不需要用我们的信仰来抨击别人。我们应该乐意播下福音种子，让圣灵工作。
Finally, we need to get into the community and do service. We need to be the church in our communities by listening to Jesus and serving one another. We need to shatter the perception that the church just wants to close itself off from the world and live inside its own little bubble. We can do this by getting out and helping those who are poor, oppressed, and abused. We can do this by celebrating with our communities and being a part of community events.
最后，我们需要到社区服务。我们需要藉着听从耶稣，彼此服侍，成为我们社区中的教会。我们需要打破这种观念：教会只想将自己从世界隔离出来，从而生活在自己小小世界里面。我们可以通过走出去，帮助那些贫穷的、被压榨的和被虐待的人来达成此事。我们也可以通过与我们的社区一起庆祝或者参与社区活动来达成此事。
When people hear the word religious, we want them to think that it means being one of those people that cares about others. We want them to think that it means being one of those people that listens to others. It means being one of those people that helps others and serves them because of what God has done for them. We want them to think that being religious is something special and that they would like to be a part of that — perhaps at their local congregation.
当人们听到“宗教虔诚的(religious)”这个词时，我们希望他们知道它的意思就是成为这些关心他人的其中一员。我们希望他们认为它的意思是成为那些聆听他人的其中一员。它意味着成为这些因着上帝为他们所做的一切，而去帮助他人，服侍他人的其中一员。我们希望他们看到“宗教虔诚(being religious)”是特别的，甚至进而他们也想成为其中一员，或许就是在当地的教会中。
Joseph Seifert
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
约瑟夫·塞弗特
圣路易斯协和神学院
Bibliography
参考文献目录
Forde, Gerhard O. The Preached God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007.
Grossman, Cathy L. “Survey: 72% of Millenials ‘More Spiritual than Religious.” USA Today 27 April 2010. http://usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-04-27-1Amillfaith27_ST_N.htm.
McNeal, Reggie. The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003.
翻译：Paula Li
校对：Gary Liu