My Thoughts After Visiting an Anglican Church

Hey my friends it's Matt thanks for Hanging out with me on my YouTube Channel and I am very sorry about how I Sound I felt real under the weather here For the last couple of days and I Probably could have waited a couple more Days for my voice to heal up a bit more Before I recorded this but the truth is I've been really eager to reconnect with You and process these last couple of Videos that I did on this channel where I went and visited an Anglican Church in Overland Park Kansas and I wanted to Talk about that experience while the Edit was still fresh in my mind and While your comments and feedback were Still fresh in my mind so I'm just going To gut it out and thank you in advance For your patience with me even though I Sound even more goofy than normal that Particular Church visit was pretty Meaningful for me and a lot of you Caught that and reached out to me and And kind of asked or felt out hey did You feel some you know exceptional Resonance with this Church amongst your Many Church visits and the truth is yes I did and maybe in part for reasons you Would expect and maybe in part for Reasons you would not expect so let me Just be clear first and foremost this Exercise going around and learning about Other churches this whole church Unity Project thing

It's not It's not really about me trying to find A new church I really like where I go to Church I really like the tradition that I'm a part of historically I Suppose that my number one reason for Going and making these videos and doing This church Unity project things and I'm Curious is really want to understand How other Christians can look at the Same Source material and land in Different places I want to understand The historical process that happened There I want to understand how they read The text I want to understand how they Worship and how they're coming at it and The more I do it The less judgy I feel and the more Further curious I feel the more Collegiality I Feel The more I've come To a place where I can say With with honesty and no interest in Hurting anybody's feelings but just Candidly ah I understand your system now I get the internal cohesiveness of this Particular understanding of historic Christian faith I just fundamentally disagree with three Or four pillars of that that are very Important distinctives that are three or Four pillars that really hold up this or This or this particular expression of Historic faith And I can't help but believe what I

Believe and I I can't help but not Believe what I don't believe and so I'm Not going to become this or that Particular expression of historical Christianity right now But I get it better And it makes it so much easier to Appreciate what you're doing and and to Savor the the overlap and to find common Cause and to be unthreatened and to seek Out more relationship more partnership With people who are maybe from different Historical expressions of Christianity So that's a point of the exercise here So I'm not dropping in on this Particular church because I'm like hey Let's Let's see if maybe this week it's time To be an Anglican or maybe next week It's time to be a presbyterian I just I Want to learn I'm probably going to keep Going to church where I go to church That said At every one of these churches I've gone To No that's not true that's not true not At everyone at many of these churches I've gone to The particular Pastor or priest I meet With They shepherd me a little bit They can tell that even though I went to School for this stuff and I've been Around it and I was a pastor for a long

Time myself I'm still very incomplete I Do not know all of these things I'm Reading through the whole Bible at Breakneck speed right now and I can't Believe how much stuff in here I've Never caught for how much I've studied It and how much I've been around it it's The very humbling thing to be around the Bible to be all around all of church History to be around other robust Traditions where I don't know everything About what they're doing I don't know Everything about any of this stuff if God is infinite and I clearly am not Then I obviously am going to have a lot To continue to learn some of these Priests and pastors have showed me Around Have gone out of their way to Shepherd Me I guess I just said that a minute ago When I say it again and it's been very Meaningful to to have good people who I Only really meet for a day invest in me In those ways and this one stood out to Me because I felt deeply invested in and Cared for and pastored by Patrick Wildman the the gentleman who showed me Around this church the the priest the Pastor of this Christ Church Anglican in Overland Park Kansas and I needed it that day I was in a Difficult spot I made a A bunch of travels around the Midwest Leading up to that particular visit and

A lot of awesome things happened on Those travels I made some videos I Visited other churches where I didn't Film anything but just went and met with People for different reasons that's cool I liked everybody I met with but I ended Up with some some churches that I don't Know how else to describe it other than I ended up some very very liberal Theological churches maybe maybe you go Even further than liberal and say like Leftist theological churches even a Couple that I think just taxonomically Speaking not judgmentally speaking Taxonomically have one foot in Orthodoxy But the other foot squarely outside of Historical Christian Orthodoxy they're Basic creedal doctrines that they no Longer believe about the nature of God The nature of humanity our relationship With God Salvation And You know I'm I'm just some guy and so I Got a heart and a soul and this can't be Purely academic for me I go and make Some of those visits and it can have a Cumulative effect after a while When when you visit several churches That just don't sound a lot like Historical Christianity anymore and so I Was I was feeling pretty beat down when I when I got to this church in Overland Park and I I think Pastor Wildman can Sense that and I appreciated that the Way he encouraged me was simply by

Saying here's what we are I I kept I ask Everybody what's the point of your Church and you're probably laughing About that you're like I think everybody Knows what the point of their church is It's the glory of God and the glory of God achieved by Sharing the words of life of Jesus with People who haven't heard them before and Don't know it and then nurturing people In Christ to know God better and do Redemptive things and flourish in his Kingdom like that's it we do those Things and we're Redemptive in society All for the glory of God you're probably Thinking that's obvious my friends it is Not obvious I I've gone to so many churches where They can't answer the question of what's The point of your church or the answer Is In my experience more often leftist Radical leftist politics but Occasionally also radical rightist Politics So sorry I go to churches and sometimes People don't know that they're Threatened by and can't answer the Question why does your church exist what Is the point or the answer really again Taxonomically not judgmentally is Effectively we are an extension of a Certain political ideology associated With a certain political party and we

Are militantly going to advance those Ideas and if some stuff From the Bible or how God is just Doesn't square with what we need it to Be in this given moment politically Then I guess we're just going to move on From that and find to work around and Continue to do the thing we were going To do anyway That's discouraging to me when I get it In large doses it's encouraging or it Was encouraging to me when I showed up At this church and they didn't seem to Have a lot of concern for leftist things Right as things political things in General and then I asked the question What's the point here of this church and The answer was the glory of God and We're going to do that by reaching People with the gospel and communicating The basic truth of Jesus to people we're Going to do that by helping people Nurture and flourish in a relationship With Jesus and we're going to do that by Doing Justice and Redemptive things Outside our walls it was so an eyes up Arrows out mentality but not like Militant politicalism Just this kingdom-mindedness and I get That in all different Stripes of Christianity don't imagine for a second That the anglicans have the market Cornered on this I I see this from Catholics I see this from Orthodox

Christians not all of them I see this From very conservative Baptist independent in style Christians Not all of them I see it from methodists I see it from Pentecostals I see it from Staunch reformed types Presbyterians I See this kind of eyes up Kingdom-mindedness across the spectrum Of Christianity and to me those are my Favorite kind of churches those are the Ones where I go to it and not only do I Take what I take from every Church which Is oh great now I know more things about This stuff and I understand you better And I feel more of a connection with you And more curiosity less judgment that's Great I always feel that but in these Very kingdom-minded outward focused Don't bunker up don't give in to the the Tyranny of political demands these kind Of churches I get even more from them I Come Away Energized like what's my part what role Do I play in this thing that I believe Is the truest realist thing and that's How I felt going on this tour with Patrick Wildman and when he agreed to Sit down with me and do the second video Which I I mean it was like 10 minutes of Us setting up chairs and stuff to Pivot To that video but they're two separate Videos when he agreed to sit and do that Interview I was in there beforehand thinking

Uh I'm just gonna shoot straight with This guy and see if we can do pastoral Things I want to ask questions about me And my faith and questions I know you Have and so we talked to Anglican stuff But I wanted to really push hard on the Question of how salvation Works in a low Church setting now we know how it works In a high Church setting and it's not What I believe but I understand that the Church does a lot of the heavy lifting That the church is a mediator a Distributor of the the elements of the Grace of God and and that's how it Happens that's not my conviction that's Why I don't go to a church in a Tradition that teaches that can't help But believe what I believe to me what I See in the text it doesn't look like That at all what I see in the text is The person who comes to Christ by the Work of the holy spirit in their life And they say indeed Christ is the long Promised King he's the son of God he's God In the Flesh he's the Messiah And the words of Life are in him and I I Will follow Jesus I will bend the knee To him as king there's a lot of Different language for it there's a lot Of different ways I suppose you could Articulate that but the individual Christian responds to to the call of Christ and then Because of what God has done on the

Cross through Christ's death and then His resurrection well then that person Is transformed from an old life to a new Life from a life where you're dead in Guilt and sin and transgression and There's nothing you can ever do to fix It it's unfixable by your own Merit to Life in Christ you go from being an Enemy of the kingdom of God to being an Heir of the kingdom of God a son a Daughter a child of the king and an Agent with a role to play in this Kingdom of of life and Justice and the Beautiful values of Christ that we see Articulated in Scripture So For me one of the big sticking points With that is well if I go through a Period of doubt and I'm in a high Church Setting the church can do the heavy Lifting while I wobble Church can say transactionally we handle More of the weight of this than you do And and I I think that's a pretty Beautiful theological Innovation as it Pertains to that I understand the appeal And that's that's great But when I read through like the book of Romans that I'm working on right now for My podcast I get here toward the end of Romans and there's this language about If you believe in your heart and confess With your mouth Jesus says Lord you're Going to be saved

Well cool I can do that yeah I believe That and I can confess that But some days I wobble and sometimes Times I I go through hard things here It's just not as clear as it is at other Times and so I wanted to push Patrick on That question what about the Moments When Faith is hard am am I saved in the Anglican tradition or maybe even in an Evangelical tradition am I saved because Of how steady my belief is Each and every day and how do we Define What that belief is what percentage Certainty do we have to be at and he Understood he picked up what I was Putting down and And I appreciated the way you talked About uh you know the the I mean these Are my words now but this is what he was Effectively saying that you know you can Go back to that passage in Romans you Believe in your heart okay yeah that's That's part of it that's the ideal but Also you confess with your mouth and Then uh Patrick uses example of of being In love with the spouse and some days That deep love that's just automatic Doesn't take any effort or thought is There maybe most of the time that's how It is that's been my experience like Pretty much all the time that's how I Love my wife but I don't know we're like Anybody else who gets married sometimes We go across ways with each other we

Just don't see things the same way for a While and maybe out of a desire to Protect or just a little bit of hurt or Whatever maybe maybe that that deep Automatic abiding feeling just isn't as Front of mind but maybe what is front of Mind in those moments is we made certain Promises to each other and I'm I'm in When it's automatic and when it's not Automatic and I really liked the way Like that's a cheap word I deeply Appreciated the Way Pastor Wildman Um Talked about that that the role of Ascent and and belief and commitment in Following Christ But that complimenting and and working In harmony with that deep abiding belief That that is beyond words and this is That that visceral Essence level and I Like that he said that it's not Something that could be submitted to an Easy simplistic formula and I like that He acknowledged the reality of doubt in The low Church Christian and that doubt Is uh a part of Faith a part of the Process of faith and not the opposite or Enemy of Faith there's just a ton there That was really pastoral and insightful And and particularly helpful if you're One of the people watching this who Finds yourself in a place that so many Of you seem to I hear this from a ton of People where you're pretty convinced of

Historical Protestant Orthodoxy you read The Bible and that makes sense your Basic historical Evangelical statement Of biblical faith That I mean that that checks all the Boxes for you that squares with what you See in the Bible it squares with reason It squares with the history of the Church and you're like yeah that's as Good a statement as faith faith as You'll see him put on paper but I know There are many of you who feel like man I The execution of that in this political Climate in this social climate and this Media climate in in the lived Sunday Experience I know for some of you it's Incredibly thriving and life-giving and It's awesome and it's exactly where you Want to be but I hear from others of you Who would say I agree with the theology Uh I don't feel like I resonate with What happens on Sunday mornings at this Point well I know a bunch of you Are gravitating towards something that Looks more like anglicanism if that's How you're feeling where theologically That sounds like what Pastor Wildman was Articulating historical Protestant Orthodoxy but also a deeply rooted Connectedness to the historical church And look I know that my Catholic and Orthodox friends who are watching this You might Huff a little bit that at that

And be like nah come on that's no that's Not the historical Orthodox Church But or the historical Christian Church But I don't know I think we're just Gonna have to agree to disagree on that Um I went to school for this as an Undergraduate I went to school for this As a grad student that being historical Theology I've always understood my Protestant Faith as one that is rooted Deeply in multiple expressions of Historical creedal Christianity I don't View myself as something other than Catholic I view myself as a part of this Universal church right alongside you my Catholic brothers and sisters and Orthodox brothers and sisters so I know We see this differently and I know that Those boundaries are going to be I mean Just logically they're going to be more Important on your side than they're Going to be on my side the permeability Of those boundaries is going to make Sense with my theological assumptions It's not going to make sense or maybe Even be very threatening from your Theological assumptions and I can be at peace with that with you but I guess I just said that's maybe easier For me Um I am at peace with that I can live With all of those things I view Historical anglicanism as deeply rooted In the historical Christian Church back

To the very very beginning And I know that for a lot of you the Idea of going to a church where there is A pairing of historical Protestant Orthodoxy the basic biblical statement Of faith with a church that looks and Feels more like what we were seeing at This church in Overland Park Kansas is Going to feel like the right fit so I Was excited about making this video not Just because of of the way I personally Got ministered to and because of how Much I learned and enjoyed the Conversation but also because I was able To anticipate that there's going to be a Percentage People who would watch the video and Have this conversation with me who would Say huh I might have just found I might Have just found a church home that would Bring me out of church retirement and That would cause me to go back and Revisit the whole church membership Weekly attendance participate in an Actual local church thing and that's Exciting to me and again my theological Assumptions Very much allow uh no no not allow for I'm coming from a place where I really Like that there are a lot of different Expressions of Christianity There's so much I like about you know All the different churches I've visited But

I wouldn't want any of them to be the Only church or the only expression I I Think this thing was always meant to go To the whole world it was always meant To be Global it was always meant to be To transcend race and ethnicity it was Always meant to transcend language and Culture and time and that just means It's going to look a lot of different Ways within biblical historical creedal Orthodox theological boundaries and so Um yeah I'm just excited to go to this Church and think cool this could be a Fit for some people I've met in my Internet travels and uh maybe this one Will be a fit for you and at the very Least hey it's one more church it's one More Branch on the the family tree of Historical Christianity that now I know More about and have a greater Appreciation for and at the very least I Hope that makes us like each other Better and understand each other better As we pursue Convictional Christian Unity together so I appreciated this video I appreciated The well I appreciated this video I made The video I appreciated the opportunity To make this video with Pastor Wildman And with Christchurch Anglican and Everybody there in Overland Park Kansas And with what little voice I have left I Just want to say I appreciate you so

Much as well all right we'll wrap it up There I've got some more of these Recorded that I'm pretty excited to Share with you coming up but uh in the Meantime my name is Matt you're hanging Out with me on my YouTube channel that Means the world I look forward to doing It again sometime soon

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