Here is the majority of a paper I had to write for Foundations of Christian Ministry. The book was really thought provoking. I inserted "EDIT" in various places to delete content I did not want on the web.
Howard A. Snyder’s book, Radical Renewal; The Problem of Wineskins Today, challenges us to take a step back and look at the Christian church we have grown up with. Snyder grew up in the Dominican Republic, for the first four years of his life, where his parents were serving as Free Methodist missionaries. From the Dominican Republic, he moved to Spring Arbor, Michigan, where his father taught as a college professor.[1] Snyder graduated from three universities, including Asbury Theological Seminary. Later in life, he received his Ph.D. from Notre Dame. He served as the pastor of several Free Methodists churches and later went to Brazil as a missionary. During his time in Brazil, the Holy Spirit stirred up a revival outside of the church programs that were going on. Snyder began asking many questions about the church because of the revivals. These questions led him to write Radical Renewal; The Problem of Wineskins Today, whose purpose is to seek out the true Biblical message about the church.
Snyder’s title for the book comes from Luke 5:36-39. He is drawing a parallel between the church as a wineskin. The idea behind this is that new wine needs new wineskins. He says that wine is the meaning, while the wineskin is the form. In relation to the church, wine is the gospel message and the wineskin is the structure or form behind our message. As time passes, meaning is expressed in new forms and ways. For example, at one time in our culture, it was not considered appropriate to touch a member of the opposite gender, but now this is allowed. Time changes the way we interpret (drink) meaning (wine).
Different cultures also have their own unique way of expressing meaning. Since there are well over 6,000 languages in the world, there must be countless forms to convey the meaning of the gospel. For example, in our culture we say the “Lamb of God”, but for cultures that do not have lambs or despise them, the same meaning could be said as the “Goat of God”. Each culture is unique and we do not look at the same things in the same way. A paradox exists in the parable of the wineskins, that God is a God of newness but is also the same yesterday, today, and forever.[2] The gospel of Jesus Christ is new for every culture, for every generation, for all of eternity.
Snyder calls into question the value we place on church buildings, and how we represent the gospel message. He states that a lot of times we reverse what is essential with what is secondary. In this case, the gospel should be essential, while the form is secondary. If the church becomes about maintenance of the programs it has, it will slowly crumble and become stagnant. Instead, we need to adapt to the context of the change around us in order to thrive and create a new wineskin to advance the gospel. Snyder calls for a cataclysm with the way the American church operates.
Snyder says that rich churches easily become so caught up with the maintenance of what they have, that they forget the poor. He says that ministry to the poor should be near the center of how a church operates. Churches which do not take care of the poor have a distorted view of the gospel message. Jesus’ ministry was focused around the poor and the outcasts. Jesus realized that these people were more open to the gospel than the rich. Rich churches with resources give Christians a way to mask our brokenness and pain- the very things we have in common with the poor. The poor are critical members of the body of Christ. Snyder says that “The poor are the seedbed of spiritual and social revolution; radical renewal.”[3] Radical renewal for churches starts with the poor.
The book then explains the history of the church: from how it went from a tabernacle, to a temple, to the modern day church. He says that the temptation of the church today is to reinstate elements from the past and turn a community into an institution. The point he is making is: do we serve the building, or does the building serve us? This relates to the point that Winston Churchill made, “We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.”[4] A building limits the possibilities of ministry. Snyder explains this problem as suffering from an edifice complex. We get so caught up with the church building that it really tells more about our immobility, inflexibility, lack of fellowship, pride, and even division of class and race. Snyder suggests that Christians have become caught up with the idea that the church is a building and have forgotten that the building shapes how we view ministry and that every Christian is in ministry.
Snyder changes pace now and moves from looking at problems with the old wineskin to the Biblical makeup for a new wineskin. He says that “The church today is suffering from a fellowship crisis.”[5] As Christians, we need the fellowship of the Spirit which has a vertical dimension with God and a horizontal dimension with others. He says that fellowship is given by the Holy Spirit and requires humility and honesty. Christians need to remove the false façade we put on during church services. Only then, will God’s grace flow and work in our fellowship.
Snyder says that these honest relationships are the start of creating a new wineskin for the church. We are created to be in relationship with God and with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. These types of relationships provide growth, accountability and a different perspective. Often our culture influences the way we hear the gospel. Having another cultural view helps us hear the gospel without our filters of life, we have grown up with, get in the way. Christians need to live with the idea in mind that we are God’s chosen people. Snyder says we need to live out being a holy people in active tension with the world- to be in the world but not of it. We were bought with a price and are in a covenant relationship with God.
The structure of the church needs to be flexible, dynamic, interactive, organic, and willing to listen to God’s prompting. Snyder also says that we can only experience the mind of Christ if Christians’ spiritual gifts are awakened and exercised.[6] Snyder gives a model of the church as three concentric circles, where the glory of God is at the center. The second circle explains how the church brings glory to God. This can be through worship, its life in community or its witness to the world. These areas are further broken down and examined in the last circle. Worship consists of: Instruction, repentance, and celebration. Community consists of: The gifts of the Spirit, discipline, and sanctification. Witness consists of: Evangelizing, serving others, and justice. All of these circles are interconnected one to another. The idea is that as the body of Christ, we accomplish all of the aspects.
Christians have many misconceptions on spiritual gifts. Snyder says two problems are that we are only comfortable with certain gifts and lose sight that they are for the building up of the church.[7] Christians also tend to be confused about their gifting or even deny or discredit spiritual gifts altogether. At the center of spiritual gifts is not some type of hocus-pocus, but the cross of Christ. The Biblical meaning of spiritual gifts needs to be understood for the renewal of the church’s wineskin.
Snyder gives a model for the church that is based around the three concentric circles. Snyder points to a small group of believers as the model. This model is flexible, inclusive, mobile, personal, can grow by division, effective with evangelism, requires minimal professional leadership, and is adaptable to the institutionalized church. He continues on and compares the church that God created to the parachurch structure that we created. The parachurch structure is culturally bound and shaped by human tradition. God’s view of the church is opposite to this and exists to bring glory to His name. Looking back on history, Snyder relates God’s view of the church to John Wesley and his movement. Wesley’s key ideas were a personal salvation through Jesus Christ, spirit-filled life, and active social involvement.[8] John Wesley was not confined to the church building but carried his message to all who would hear. Wesley was also effective because he formed dynamic cell groups of discipleship and preached the gospel to the poor.
Snyder ends his book with a call of urgency. Our world is accelerating at an amazing rate with advances in technology, industry and culture. The media has in effect taken over our lives and told us what to believe and when to believe it. This is just one of Satan’s plans to try and put anything in our path that will take our eyes off Christ. The church needs to be ready for the bridegroom of Christ’s return. The church needs a new wineskin of authentic and Spirit-filled believers who are intentionally pursuing God’s glory; only then will the wine have a new wineskin.
I found this book very insightful and challenging in the way we approach church. I feel like one of the greatest downfalls to modern day churches is their size and structure. For example, I visited a church over summer break and was taken aback that I could just walk in and then disappear into the crowd of people. I went through the whole service with not one person coming up to me and introducing their selves. If I am not an outgoing person or an unsaved individual looking at this church from the outside, I would not have come back. There was no fellowship or outreach.....EDIT.... The chairs were set up in a way so that several cliques of people formed. ....EDIT..... We were gathered not interested about fellowship but worldly desires. We were gathered to check off another box that says “I am a Christian, this is what Christians do.”
EDIT..... Are we caught up in our programs more than we are caught up in our love for God? Too many Christians come to church to take and not to give back to God and serve others. I almost feel like the church has become more of a production, rather than bringing glory to God. Ever realize that a large percentage of our worship songs are about us and not God? We have lost sight that worship is about brining glory to God.
....true unity of believers... EDIT. We come to church, we get a God dose, then we leave right after the service and think this is enough. After all, the church follows a strict two hour schedule of worship, announcements and message. This strict schedule allows no opportunities for church members to exercise their spiritual gifts. Christians are stuck in our ways of comfortable Christianity in the church. For example, people always sit in the same spot Sunday after Sunday. We are comfortable and are resistant or even scared of change. This idea points directly to one of Snyder’s main points; the church needs to be flexible, dynamic, and interactive. The church falls into conformity more than being dynamic. An example of this can be seen in worship- how if there is a pause, or people think worship is done, one person will sit down and the rest will follow. Even if worship was not done, no one wants to break the status quo.
Snyder said that the start of making a new wineskin is honest relationships with fellow believers. Why is it than that I see fakeness and hypocrisy scattered all throughout church? We all fall prone to this trap and are not perfect, but we mask our brokenness. Christians put on their “Sunday best” to come to church. I understand the fact that we should give God our best, including how we dress, but why only on a Sunday morning? Are we not serving God and being a witness continually? Why do we feel it is okay to wear skimpy clothes throughout the week, and then not on Sunday? Our church structure turns off people based solely on the fact that they feel obligated to dress up. Romans 14 says we should not put any stumbling blocks in the way of our brothers; this includes the way we dress.
EDIT.... We are caught up with the building and not the people. The church building limits the ministry which can flow from it. Many churches have multiple services to accommodate more people because the building is too small. Instead of upsizing, maybe it is time that churches start downsizing and spreading out.
Church leaders should seriously take a step back and examine their idea of church. Granted, there are exceptions to the rules and not all churches are necessarily wrong. Big churches have a large potential to carry out programs that smaller churches could never do. With this being said, we should really consider our church from a Biblical perspective. Is the church so big that you don’t know everyone’s names or have a close connection with them? Is the church flexible with its programs or so rigid that it is impossible to change? Is our worship all about us or is it about brining glory to God? Is there unity among believers and opportunity for the body of Christ to build each other up by using their spiritual gifts? Do you see church members putting on false fronts and Sunday clothes? Does the church building serve you, or do you serve the building? Look at the way the pews or chairs are arranged; maybe do away with them. Examine your expenses and the priority you place on the poor; consider splitting up into multiple home groups.
If any one of the previous questions hit home, it is time to throw out the old wineskin. We should seek and prayerfully ask God to direct us in forming a new way of being the church. For Christ’s glory, we form a new wineskin for the new wine. Above all, Christians should hunger and thirst for more of God and not be afraid of change. The time is short and the bridegroom is coming; is the church ready?
