Finding Our Balance

Mainstream American Protestantism is suffering from an identity crisis. We are not fundamentalists, but it is easy to define ourselves in reaction to them. Paralyzed by the shock of a cultural turn toward skepticism, we are tempted to make allies of the skeptics, partly to distance ourselves from the religious right and partly to lay claim to credibility in a milieu in which it is okay to be spiritual but not to be religious. A consequence is that we find ourselves playing in the shallow end of the pool. The historic Protestant principle serves as an enabler when it privileges questioning over affirmation, causing us to lose the necessary balance between the two. American-style generic Protestantism as it has evolved does not have strong enough foundations to withstand cultural pressures. Discovering an identity worth being taken seriously will require revisiting the broad catholic and reforming tradition in order to find an authoritative rather than merely reactive voice. The challenge is theological, but not to academic theology. The challenge rather is to the theology that sustains the local congregation through teaching, certainly, but most pressingly through preaching and worship. The times call for thoughtful and strategic repositioning. ""It is to be hoped that the voice of Ron Byars will be widely heard today in mainstream American Protestantism. Here is an important argument for the much-needed authority of a nuanced orthodoxy, for the recovery of word and sacrament at the heart of the life of our churches, for bath, book, meal, and attentiveness to the poor as the unobscured central agenda of our Sunday meetings. If you are thinking about the identity and faithfulness of your own congregation, take and read!"" --Gordon W. Lathrop, Past-President, Societas Liturgica and North American Academy of Liturgy, Philadelphia, PA ""Ron Byars is at his very best in Finding Our Balance, demonstrating the mind of a thoughtful scholar and the heart of a seasoned pastor, preacher, and worship leader. In this powerfully persuasive book, he clearly names the church's idolatrous attempt to make peace with the desires of the surrounding culture and calls for an unashamed re-claiming of the church's doctrinal allegiance to Jesus Christ as expressed in the historic creeds and classical liturgy of the church. Believe me, this book just might be a game changer in the life of mainstream Protestantism."" --Ron Luckey, retired ELCA pastor, Lexington, KY ""A provocative and practical conversation between Tillich's 'Protestant Principle' and Barth's theological 'modesty'--a modesty Barth rooted not in the fallibility of God's word but of human words. Byars reminds us that God's word is expressed in the faith of the church ('orthodoxy'), a living tradition preserved in liturgy--both the leading and the practice of it in worship--with attention to the most needy among us."" --Tom Trinidad, pastor, Faith Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs, CO Ronald Byars is Professor Emeritus of Preaching and Worship at Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Virginia, where he taught following many years in pastoral ministry in both Michigan and Kentucky. In addition to Christian Worship (2000), his most recent book is The Sacraments in Biblical Perspective (2011). He lives in Lexington, Kentucky.