A Holy, Loving Critique

This caught my attention. Again, nuggets from from Hirsch: (if you don't have the book yet, you can read the whole first chapter here).

• A prophetically consistent Christianity means that we must remain committed to a constant critique of the structures and rituals we set up and maintain.
  
• We should . . . understand it as a form of 'holy rebellion' based on the loving critique of religious institution modeled by the original apostles and prophets - "holy rebels" who constantly attempted throw off encumbering ideologies, structures, codes and traditions that limited the freedom of God's people and restricted the gospel message that they are mandated to pass on.
• It is rebellion because it refuses to submit to status quo. But because it is holy rebellion, it directs us toward a greater experience of God that we currently have.
• Vital movements arise always in a the context of rejection by the predominant institutions (eg. Wesley and Booth)
• C.S. Lewis: "there exists in every church something that sooner or later works against the very purpose for which it came into existence. So we must strive very hard, by the grace of God to keep the church focused on the mission that Christ originally gave to it."
  
• We realize that the Bible sustains a thoroughly consistent warning against the centralization of power in a few individuals and concentration of it in inflexible and impersonal institutions.

Not that we want to be rebellious for the sake of rebellion, but I believe we must lovingly, graciously and genuinely question the forms and structures handed to us. What, if anything, hinder us? What would you change?

Or - think of it this way: If Cru were a denomination, what denomination would we be theologically? (A: some kind of reformed baptist kind of thing - with a latent charismatic undertow). Now structurally, if were a denomination, what denomination would we be? (think about our hiring, placement, reporting structures, etc?) What say you? How does this help us, hurt us and inform the conversation?