Down through the centuries, the Church has changed. Most preachers attribute this to different moves of the Holy Spirit. They refer to it as a restoration of praise, of spiritual authority, of apostles and the five-fold ministry, and of spiritual gifts and other things. I want to challenge that notion. I do NOT believe that any of the changes the Church appears to have experienced is the handiwork of God. I believe the changes we have seen are a result of pressure from social culture, and that underneath the façade of transformation, there has never been any real change. The Spirit of God brings about true transformation, not mere alterations of a faulty structure. Yet, even after all the changes the Church has been through in the past thousand years, the underlying structure has always been the same. It is a structure that promotes men and has enabled them to have control and power over others. Men’s titles may have changed during this time but not their role. They may be called pastors, but they still see themselves as priests, as an elite class. At the foundation, the contemporary Protestant church is still filled with Catholicism.

Let’s consider the Protestant movement. It is interesting that the birth of Protestantism coincided with the Renaissance movement. I believe that the birth of the Protestant movement was in response to the social pressure of the Renaissance period. During the Renaissance, people began to explore personal liberty and freedom of expression. Protestant churches were a clear reflection of this. Does it seem reasonable that it would take change in our social culture to prompt God to move or restore something? What then is the stronger influence upon the Church: God or society?

Now consider the social pressure that today’s Church faces.

We find everywhere today a grass roots effort to restore the family and family values. It centers on the husband and father being the spiritual leader of the home. It often includes home schooling and home birthing. As a result, many families are leaving traditional churches that split up the family and choosing to focus more on a family worship experience. This is becoming ever so evident in the explosive popularity of house churches. But the traditional church is once again changing to address this new social treat. Should this change be attributed to God?

New churches are sprouting up claiming to support family integration and family focus. In some of the new permutations, families are encouraged to retain the husband/father as a sort of para-leader, and the family operates within the church as a microcosm of the church. Do not be deceived. This is the church once again responding to the social climate of the day. It is not God. Why do I say this? Because underneath is still the same old structure that has existed for over a thousand years. It is a structure that permits and encourages men to operate as an elite class of priest. It promotes men and their agendas. And it is a structure that places men in control, having power over others in the same way that it has been through most of Christian history.