Renewal from the Outside In?

In my last post, I wrote about the need for finding a new Anabaptist narrative. In part, this comes out of the experience that often Mennonites like to reach first for a particular history and particular set of distinctives as a way of telling our story. As Matthew Krabill recently pointed out, the way we understand the word Anabaptism is strongly shaped by our reading of the sixteenth century Anabaptist Movement. Another way to say this is that the content we give Anabaptism is determined by the way we tell our story.


I think Mennonites often reach for descriptors to distinguish Anabaptism like “radical”, “counter-cultural”, “marginalized” and so forth. With these words, for example, the meaning of Anabaptism becomes that of a socio-political critique, especially of Constantinian-shaped Christianity. I certainly want to stress that history and these distinctives are important. But questions arise, especially when we consider the changes taking place within and around the Mennonite church. Whose Anabaptist story? Distinctive in relation to what?
 
One word that I think often gets overlooked as a descriptor of 16th Century Anabaptism and is relevant as a descriptor of Anabaptism today is the word renewal. Renewal means a process of rediscovering the essentials of our faith and finding new meaning in our identity, spirituality, and vocation as followers of Christ and as the Church of Christ.

The early Anabaptists, for example, looked to the Early Church, Scripture, and the Holy Spirit for sources of renewal. Now, I am not going to go into much historical detail here other than to say that renewal of the church was a core understanding of what the early Anabaptists saw themselves to be a part of and what they were seeking. I believe that today renewal is a word that helps give Anabaptism content for the 21st Century and helps explain the emerging Anabaptist reality taking shape outside of the historic Anabaptist communities.

In order to explain why renewal is a helpful term for understanding Anabaptism today, I want to share about what I have been involved in recently. As part of my studies at Fuller Theological Seminary I am interviewing Anabaptist-minded students in order to understand their perception of Anabaptism: how they have experienced Anabaptism, come to understand it, and what role it holds for their faith and praxis.

Essentially, I have been talking to friends of mine who claim Anabaptism as part of their identity, but are not Mennonite in background or part of a Mennonite community (or any of the other historic Anabaptist churches). As this post is meant to correspond with a post from an Anabaptist friend of mine, JR Rozko, a church planter, prolific blogger, and someone with a keen sense for how the church can engage our contemporary culture, I will let him do most of the explaining why he has been drawn to Anabaptism.

What I have come to learn is that Anabaptism is something being claimed and applied outside of the historic Anabaptist communities, which leaves us, those that come from an Anabaptist background, with many questions of what Anabaptism means today. Who gets to claim it? What is the relationship between Anabaptism and an historical tradition like Mennonites? My interest in engaging these questions comes from the multiple encounters with those that have genuine appreciation and interest in Anabaptist theology and those who are looking to have a more meaningful relationship with the Anabaptist community.

What has become clear to me is that as the Mennonite church dwells on its identity during a period of profound transition and even liminality, Anabaptism is experiencing a significant renewal and is being infused with energy from evangelical, immigrant, emergent, and intercultural streams. Indeed, Anabaptism will exist increasingly in a multiplicity of forms and expressions as people identify Anabaptism as a resource and a relevant influence for their theology. Many of these folks will remain outside of the historic Anabaptist communities.

What stands out to me when I look back at the way we tell our story as Mennonites is that for centuries the Anabaptist story and identity seemed to be clearly defined. It was a particular people attempting to embody their particular Christian beliefs in particular communities. Juxtaposed to this are the profound changes Mennonites are facing today. A new identity faces the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition as it changes from visible, traditional, ethnic, and cultural norms into a new and diverse mosaic of Mennonite communities and expressions in North America (and around the world). Mennonites are finding a new unfolding in their story and are not always sure how to explain it.

Thus, Mennonites, those who are on the inside, are looking out at what is taking place around us today and are confronted with the task of making sense of what it means to be Anabaptist. How do we relate to other expressions of Anabaptism while trying to make sense of a particular heritage that dates back to the 16th century?

It is my belief that Mennonites need to listen to those who are finding Anabaptism to be a theological resource, drawing deeply on it, and running with it. One way to go about this is to recognize and understand the intrinsic value of how those claiming Anabaptism out of conviction can help give fresh expression and a sense of vitality to what Anabaptism means in the contemporary context of North America.

What my Anabaptist friends are teaching me is that Anabaptism provides meaning for people because it is a faith that you take seriously and is only authentic when it is lived out as a witness to the church and to the world.

I believe that reclaiming renewal as descriptive of how we understand Anabaptism will have important implications as we try to figure out new meaning today. Recovering renewal as part of our story will help us relate to new Anabaptists and understand better how Anabaptism today is contributing to the faith and praxis of many Christians and why they are claiming to be part of the Anabaptist story.