This morning I went to my home church for the first time in a couple of weeks. It was good to be back. The sermon was on temptation which was very apropos. Sometimes I laugh at how God coordinates his messages to apply to my life's circumstances.
As I left church it got me to thinking about the church as a whole. I recently read a post on Eric Nentrup's site and he explains that the people having a bible study in the back of starbucks is the church. Is that really all there is to church? Maybe. I used to think so. Now I wonder. If all we are is the group in the back of the coffee house, how are we any different than the group that meets there on Thursday's to read Oprah's book of the month?
It seems to me that Eric's view is symptomatic of a greater backlash against traditional church services and orthopraxy. Now I am not a traditionalist by any means, but I wonder why the church is held in such low disregard. Many in my peer group were brought up in the church so why have they became so disgruntled? Was there something wrong with the methodology of the churches we group up with? Is it a rebellious spirit against structure and authority? Is it just the natural longing for something new and different. I don't know.
My fear is that we are finally reaching the logical conclusion of Protestantism. As soon as someone gets tired of their current church they protest by leaving. Don't like the pastor? Leave. The music sucks? Leave. The church doesn't share your view of ministry? Leave. The doctrine is too liberal? Leave. The church is too legalistic? Leave.
We can't just leave the church every time we disagree with it. At some point we run out of options. And counting all the time we spend socializing with other Christians as church just doesn't cut it. The Church is about community but that community is more than just meeting together. It includes accountability and service to others. The Church provides the structural framework to interpret the scriptures and keep us from falling into heresy. It is the vehicle for spreading the gospel.
In our zeal to reform the church, we need to keep in mind who we are reforming it for. We talk about reaching the lost. Yet most of the unchurched people I have come across do not have the negative preconceived notions against the church that we have. Many have simply never even given church a second thought. They are not looking for the newest, hippest church but they are seeking love and belonging and hope. They want church to be relevant but they don't want to hear all our problems with the church and what needs to be fixed.
Yes, the church needs to be more accepting. Yes, the church needs to engage the culture more effectively. Yes, there are many crappy churches that give us a bad name. But our negative attitude towards the church can end up being a turn off to those that we are trying to reach. We cannot build the so-called emerging church on our hurts and complaints of the existing church.
5 comments:
I agree. Many of us in the protestant church here in the USA spend too much time complaining about what is wrong with our churches. I have confessed my part in this. Too many leave too quickly because they think the grass is going to be greener. We tend to have a very narrow view of the Church that Christ ordained. Usually we equate church with a building and church growth with building projects. I believe our generation is rejecting too many traditions just because they're traditional and we are losing out because of it. When Christians hop around to find the local church that fits them best, the result is local congregations that have no diversity. The church, whether universal or local, needs a variety of people. Uniformity is different than unity. Jesus prayed to the Father that the church would be in unity-different parts working in harmony with a unified vision. Uniformity is when you have different units, but they all look, act, and think in unison. We need to develop unity despite our differences on the little things. We should not ignore our differences, and we should not seek to escape from them either. We need to remember that no matter how ugly, worn, and wounded the Church is, Christ is still in love with His bride.
Hey Jeff and Eric... what a great conversation. I happen to be a pastor at Jeff's church. I wonder if your positions on opposite ends of the spectrum are less an issue of either/or and more an issue of both/and.
Jeff's got a great point. Far too often skeptical Christians throw out the baby with the bathwater. It's one thing to be a deconstructionist, tearing down and criticizing the things we don't connect with. But it is a whole different challenge to offer something constructive.
The whole point of relationships is compromise. To succeed in relationships, I have to give and take and sometimes do things in a way that I would not necessarily choose. But that's part of a relationship, sacrifice for the cause of the greater good. And in essence, church is supposed to be about relationships (vertically and horizontally). That means that sometimes (even as a senior pastor) things don't always go my way at the church. There has to be give and take and compromise.
But Eric has a great point too. You're not going to want to compromise and make a commitment to a church with a leadership that you don't trust or respect. It's pretty hard to make a productive contribution to a church and leadership that you don't at least like or appreciate.
But that's why it is great to see God blessing churches of all different kinds of flavors. Mega, medium, small, old, new, organizational or unstructured, coffeeshop or cathedral. The main point is not what you're "church structure" looks like. The main point is that we not "give up meeting together as some have gotten in the habit of doing" (Hebrews 10:25). We need the synergy, community and accountability that comes with a commitment to a body of believers.
As we keep trying to figure all this stuff out together, somehow God seems to bless and work through and around our feeble attempts at living out the truth of Christ. I'd love to find the perfect church...but Faith Church is never going to be perfect as long as I'm the leader. Because I'm messed up and God is working through this fragile vessel. The good news is that he often works miracles in spite of me, and that's what keeps me getting up each morning and going to work @ "organized church" each day.
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