CHURCH…what is it really supposed to look like?
Honestly…as I began to consider this topic for my “blog”…I was/am overwhelmed. What a huge and controversial topic?! My purpose in writing on this topic is to provoke thought and discussion.
Over the last 13 or 14 years I have listened to so many people that are dissatisfied with the American Church. The reasons are many…rejection, hypocrisy, watered down teaching, inappropriate expectations, bad role modeling, etc. I am sure you all are familiar with the statistics and stories; the humorous but often accurate jokes of Baptists and their secret beer stash, a higher divorce rate with professed Christians than in the secular world, churches fighting over whether or not homosexuals should be allowed to hold leadership positions, church leaders sexually abusing children, racial hatred being spewed from pulpits (of all races), many churches acting more like country clubs rather than members of the body of Christ, “Christians” blowing up abortion clinics, “Christians” killing others in the name of “Christ”…
Man, is it just me or is this small list getting more and more depressing?
So, it seems to be obvious that some things do need to change.
There are also examples of believers who seem to be getting it right; I have been listening to podcasts from a body of believers who are located in Las Angeles, CA. They call their gathering “Mosaic”. The guy who I think “started” the idea was a man named Erwin McManus. He’s the author of several books…one of my favorites is The Barbarian Way. There is another group of believers that gather in Grandville, Michigan that call themselves “Mars Hill”. Rob Bell is one of their pastors and the author of several books…I am presently reading Velvet Elvis. Bill Hybels is another guy who seems to get it. The list, praise God, is growing each day. None of them look exactly alike…they shouldn’t. There are probably several thousand “churches” that “get it.” My point is not to promote these people, their “churches” or their books. My point is to say many believers are waking up and seeing a need for change. They refuse to quit, they refuse to give in…they keep seeking the Father, abiding in His Son and seeking the guidance of his Spirit. I have been blessed to be a part of some pretty special groups of people who follow Christ. Some have been in a more traditional setting…Sharon Baptist Church, Helen FBC, Harlingen FBC, but others have been a little further off of the traditional path…several first year missionary teams, some of our ambassador teams, last year’s summer staff to name a few.
I am no expert. I do not claim to have all of the answers. I am a flawed human being. I say and do things that I regret. I am also a passionate follower of Christ Jesus who chooses each day to stay in the race! When a relationship is broken do we just quit or throw it away. Unfortunately the answer is often yes. Christ has a better answer. Reconciliation is His answer…love is His answer. Endurance, excellence, patience, forgiveness, perseverance, finding joy in the suffering…are some of the answers Christ has for us. All of which are intimately and earnestly attached to the one true answer…love!
When the body of believers looks like love…true love, then I think that body is heading in the right direction.
What do you think?
I think you are correct. The church has so many people who go just for themselves. Why should we go to church? To please Christ and to grow and encourage other belivers. Yes one perk is we get to be encouraged but if we are going to church for purily selfish reasons we will end up just like you said. We need to shower everything we do with Jesus’ Love. We are commanded to love one another and build each other up! Yes there will still be hurt feelings and damaged relationships but if we can cover it with love we will see how much we can accomplish. Look at Jesus, he loved even the tax collecters and they repented. But we must also be carful not to let corrupted leadership remain. Leaders who have sinned must be repremended and put under church disapline but all this must be done in love. This sounds like a contradiction but I dont think it is. The dicipels were repremended and it talks aobut church disapline in the Bible. Good thing God knew what He was doing so we could have an instruction manuel of how to repremend in love. I think you have hit it right on the head though. We MUST love- John 15:17 “This is my comandment: Love each other”
I think that I will get out of church what I put into it. If I show up on Sunday looking to get spoon-fed, looking for an emotional high, or looking for messages that simply affirm what I already believe or the lifestyle I am living, I will probably leave ultimately unfulfilled. But the more I invest myself in a body of believers, the more I invest myself in the Bible studies I am a part of (engaging the topic, asking vulnerableeven controversial questionsbringing what God has been doing in my life through the week to the table) the more I see Life and the Kingdom all around me. I think a part of us loving each other in a meaningful way is being willing to challenge the status quo in others’ lives and opening our own lives to them with an invitation for them to challenge the status quo in our lives. Both of these require courage and sacrifice, they require us to give of ourselves from a deeper place. But this is where real growth and change begins. And at the end of the day, it ultimately requires initiative on my part to implement the changes we talk about in Sunday School in my daily life. It’s easy to point out what’s wrong with the status quo in the church. It’s much harder to start living out what we actually believe. “Most good things have been said far too many times and just need to be lived.” Shaine Claiborne. We must figure out how to see where change is needed and pursue it in humility without becoming self-righteous critics who think we are the only ones really in touch with the heart of God.
I always enjoy your blogs, friend. You speak truth that alot of us are afraid to speak. I think if we really look at what is considered a “traditional Church” today, we all have been hurt or let down by what we felt was the right Church thinking, the right Church way, or the right Church leadership…..and on and on. I too have been hurt by “Church”. But, in this hurt, I learned a great lesson…a Church is a group of beleivers (humans) and as humans we will not always make the right choice, not always think the right way or not always agree with our Church leaders. We all have seasons in our Church life when we move from one group of believers to another to “fit in”.
What I learned and what is neat to experience is……when you think your season has ended, and God shows you that it hasn’t! when you walk in the door and it still feels like home and that it feels like you never even considered leaving. And better than that, if you will just pray…..then God will open more doors and more opportunities in His perfect timing! Sometimes, like you said, “you need to just stay in the race and be willing to forgive…God will take Care of the rest!
Amen.