Christian Fraternities

[Xplosive]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

I just saw this thread. As a Christian, staunch Greek. and seminary graduate who has talked with brothers about their walk with Christ and how it squares with their fraternity membership, this is a interesting. Many Greek groups have a strong Christian history (as does mine which still has a strongly Christian fundamentalist ethos and a reputation for being "wild"). I've been in a fraternal context where someone was at the point of being hazed for not confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

It's interesting because "Christian" Greeks, from the listing we have so far,seem to mirror general Greek groups in terms of their breakdown along racial/ethnic lines. The first controversy the church struggled with was the inclusivity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ:in Christ. St. Paul in Romans,1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians elucidates how this is at the core of the Gospel but we have, as in the first century,failed to meet this challenge. Food for thought.

Hazed for not confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Wow....thats just as bad as early Christians being KILLED for not confessing that Jesus Christ was NOT Lord and Savior. I dont know what Christian GLO is doing that but that is totally not Christ-like. Although Wolfman, could you put the last paragraph in laymen terms, im trying to understand what you're saying...lol

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by Xplosive

Hazed for not confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Wow....thats just as bad as early Christians being KILLED for not confessing that Jesus Christ was NOT Lord and Savior. I dont know what Christian GLO is doing that but that is totally not Christ-like. Although Wolfman, could you put the last paragraph in laymen terms, im trying to understand what you're saying...lol

Sorry. In the early church the greatest issue was regarding the inclusion of Gentiles as equals and not simply as Jewish converts (thus second class Jewish Christians), so that the church is the Jew-Gentile people of God in Christ. (Per Galatians,if we have one God, we have one people of God in Christ.) Paul's energy and effort went into establishing Jew-Gentile churches and the central issue he addresses in the aforementioned books revolves around giving a theological rationale and practical strategies for this in a Jewish and Gentile world with increasing sociopolitical tensions--which led to the Jewish revolt in 70A.D.--which fell along ethnic/religious/socioeconomic lines. For Paul,this was the central implication of the Gospel, as in Galatians and Ephesians, and the substructure of Romans; and figures very highly in the Corinthian Correspondance. Paul chose Timothy,a person of mixed Jewish-Gentile heritage to be his aide and a church planter;this was an intentional choice--a very controversial one for Jewish Christians in Palestine!--;namely Paul's "diversity program," but one Paul knew would be right for the spread of the Gospel of the kingdom in the eastern Mediterranean. But as history would have it, Paul's vision and work failed in the subsequent generations; just as many places experienced "white flight" when desegregation occurred, and many white conservative Christians left the public schools in the South to form private "Christian" schools & academies, there was "Jewish Christian" flight in the early church and the movement eventually became a Gentile phenomenon. So, this is the irony for me: I see this phenomenon replicated amongst the so-called "Christian" GLOs also.That's the point I was trying to make:To be authentically Christian is to be multicultural, if that's what the group is professing itself to be. That's a witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ; that's what Paul would say.

[LouisaMay]

Very interesting! I've enjoyed reading your take on this. I've thought about the same thing often, not in terms of GLOs though. Rather, I wonder about the very clear racial divide that occurs in congregations across the country.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by LouisaMay

Very interesting! I've enjoyed reading your take on this. I've thought about the same thing often, not in terms of GLOs though. Rather, I wonder about the very clear racial divide that occurs in congregations across the country.

Check out this relatively new blog that seeks to engage this issue:
http://edwardg.wordpress.com/
Blessings!

[Xplosive]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

Sorry. In the early church the greatest issue was regarding the inclusion of Gentiles as equals and not simply as Jewish converts (thus second class Jewish Christians), so that the church is the Jew-Gentile people of God in Christ. (Per Galatians,if we have one God, we have one people of God in Christ.) Paul's energy and effort went into establishing Jew-Gentile churches and the central issue he addresses in the aforementioned books revolves around giving a theological rationale and practical strategies for this in a Jewish and Gentile world with increasing sociopolitical tensions--which led to the Jewish revolt in 70A.D.--which fell along ethnic/religious/socioeconomic lines. For Paul,this was the central implication of the Gospel, as in Galatians and Ephesians, and the substructure of Romans; and figures very highly in the Corinthian Correspondance. Paul chose Timothy,a person of mixed Jewish-Gentile heritage to be his aide and a church planter;this was an intentional choice--a very controversial one for Jewish Christians in Palestine!--;namely Paul's "diversity program," but one Paul knew would be right for the spread of the Gospel of the kingdom in the eastern Mediterranean. But as history would have it, Paul's vision and work failed in the subsequent generations; just as many places experienced "white flight" when desegregation occurred, and many white conservative Christians left the public schools in the South to form private "Christian" schools & academies, there was "Jewish Christian" flight in the early church and the movement eventually became a Gentile phenomenon. So, this is the irony for me: I see this phenomenon replicated amongst the so-called "Christian" GLOs also.That's the point I was trying to make:To be authentically Christian is to be multicultural, if that's what the group is professing itself to be. That's a witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ; that's what Paul would say.

You know what, I agree...I almost got offended but when I read over it again, I understood what you meant. To be authentically Christian IS to be multicultural but some orgs don't see this. Which so-called "Christian" GLOs do you see that phenomenon with?

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by Xplosive

You know what, I agree...I almost got offended but when I read over it again, I understood what you meant. To be authentically Christian IS to be multicultural but some orgs don't see this. Which so-called "Christian" GLOs do you see that phenomenon with?

Fundamentally, this was a "global" statement. My issue is that most of these groups are following the same pattern as the general GLOs. If one professes something, then it becomes an issue of the follwing question:Is this really the case? Will Christian GLOs allow themselves to be judged in the same way that they are positioning themselves over against other groups as representing Jesus,the Messiah,the Lord of all? He is the one who said: "Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only those who do the will of my Father."The history of Christianity in America is replete with these type of incongruities between confession and praxis (act) in this area,and others. It should lead to more self-reflection and humility for those who confess the name of Jesus, Christian GLOs included. Just food for thought.

[Xplosive]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

Fundamentally, this was a "global" statement. My issue is that most of these groups are following the same pattern as the general GLOs. IF one professes something, then becomes an issue of is this really the case? Will Christian GLOs allow themselves to be judged in the same way that they are positioning themselves over against other groups as representing Jesus,the Messiah,the Lord of all? He is the one who said: "Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only those who do the will of my Father."The history of Christianity in America is replete with these type of incongruities between confession and praxis (act) in this area,and others. It should lead to more self-reflection and humility for those who confess the name of Jesus, Christian GLOs included. Just food for thought.

food is duly noted...