‘It has been said that the current church culture is on life support. It is living off the work, money and energy of previous generations from a previous world order.’
Many of us have grown up from different backgrounds. Some are more dogmatic than others. All my life I have been brought up in a strong institutionalized setting myself. My father being a clergy of a mainline denomination, we literally had to live in an ‘institutionalized environment’ almost all my life. After studying in a theological institution for 5 years, followed by being a Senior Pastor of a Charismatic Institutionalized Church for 9 years and currently a missionary for 8 years in a 3rd world country, I don’t particularly delight in questioning a world I once believed in and was very fond of. Ministry and church (as we have received from the west) have at one time been my world. Unfortunately, it is a world that I increasingly find difficult to feel at home in view of the Biblical mandate, spiritual purpose and mission focus.
We are talking about God's people who should be following God. The Body of Christ is a living organism that is connected by His Spirit and Love, not by a commitment to an institution.
Having said that, I also believe there are many people like me that find it hard to speak up, feeling afraid to say how desperately we need to make some changes. I constantly come across people who express fundamental doubts about the validity and viability of the church. These are not critical people with an axe to grind with the institution but these are serving, active members & leaders who don’t like what they are seeing, understanding and experiencing in the church. Perhaps these loved ones’ calling is to be a missionary to the church that has lost & need rediscovery of the Mission of the Church. Hopefully they are seen, understood and accepted as people with genuine concern rather than with fear, suspicion and worst still as being rebellious or traitors.
A growing number of people are leaving the institutionalized church to preserve their faith not because they have lost faith. Church does not contribute to their spiritual development. The number of ‘post-congregational’ Christians are growing: World Christian Encyclopedia, author David Barrett estimates about 112 million “churchless Christian” worldwide. This is about 5% of all adherents but the number will double in the next twenty years.
How do we do Church better? Is there a right answer to a wrong question?
There has been ove kill of suggestions from Denominations, Consultants, Para church organizations thru seminars, conferences & meetings toward whatever ‘flavor of the month’ or current fad is with quick fix programs. The mailing list keeps coming for more programs/activities/books to emphasize on contemporized worship, small groups, spiritual experience, seeker-friendly, community services etc. I have become skeptical and ask myself, ‘what’s next’? Perhaps this keeps us busy and preoccupied with methodological pursuits while not facing the hard truth. ‘Church activity is a poor substitute for genuine spiritual vitality.’
The Senior Pastor is the CEO of the church that has several hundred members & he manages the corporate culture, head-hunter, personnel manager, strategic planner, fundraiser, expert communicator, chief vision developer and caster, ministry entrepreneur, spiritual guru, consultant and the list goes on and on.
On the other hand, a good church member is one who utilize their gifts (according to how the church is structured & ordered), join small group, volunteer for church ministry, give their tithes & offerings (especially if there is a building project), clap & dance in worship, attend multiple classes, seminars, conferences (especially organized by the church) and that is suppose to bring them full & meaningful lives. These people have been led to believe that their Christian life is all about church. The trouble is that all the church activities do not produce more matured followers of Jesus Christ. In actuality it produces tired, burned-out members still struggling and seeking for answers for their life & ministry.
Two types of church today: Col 2:6-23
a) “Traditional cult” that focuses on rituals, forms & traditions of men from centuries ago. Holding on to the past sacredly, solemnly and mundanely. Creativity and thinking outside the box is alien and seen with suspicion and at times with irritation.
b) “Personality cult” that focuses on the: charismatic personality’ of the leader. The church has a high index of entertainment. Living inside the bubble in a Christian subculture completely with its own entertainment.
Both the above types have one thing in common in terms of their leadership method, which is hierarchial, pyramid style, power control base. Both would collapse if the ‘tradition & personality’ are removed.
The Fivefold ministry based on the Apostolic Church is not fully discovered or practiced in both these instances which is the mandate for equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.
Jesus Christ established His Church upon a Living, vital relationship with Him, and the only thing we need to guard against is what threatens that relationship. Paul's greatest fear was that we would lose the simplicity and purity of our devotion to Christ, and the liberty that it brings us. Built upon this Rock, no power of hell can prevail against us. (II Corinthians 11:2, 3; Galatians 5:1; Matthew 16:18)
Looking around us, we rarely find the powerful Church that Jesus described, even though many claim to be His true Church. Jesus still has a true Church, and that He lives and walks the earth every day in those who know Him. If the institution does not serve the purpose of God for His people, let it fall. God's Church will stand.
Pharisee-ism & Sadducee-ism; Are they alive today? Matt 23
The Pharisees & the Sadducees were the religious leaders of Jesus’ days. They held high positions in the religious circles as they were considered the interpreters of the Law & the Prophets. They loved their offices because it held a high profile, status & power in the community.
The Pharisees were holding the religious agenda and controlling figures in the synagogues had produced a dead religious expression. The Sadducees in charge of the Jewish Temple activity sold out to materialism and rituals.
Both these sects had one thing in common, ‘Having a form without power’. That is why people flocked to John the Baptist and Jesus. They had much more powerful spiritual tool at their disposal than coercion or legalism.
Churchianity to Christianity?
A Church meeting has become to us a regularly scheduled gathering where a planned program is witnessed, but the Church is more than that. We are warned to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but what does that actually mean? Shouldn't the building of meaningful relationships with each member in the group be one our priorities? Couldn't this scripture be applied in the countless ways in which we relate to each other on a day to day basis? Jesus stated that wherever two or three are gathered together in His name and in His purpose, He would be in the midst. His Presence must always be the most important factor. Whether we gather with many or few, we must never, ever lose that central focus. He is the one, solitary purpose that unites us and fuses us together into the one glorious body that is His Church. Where we meet is not the real issue. The more important factor is how we see the Church. The Church of Jesus Christ assembles in homes, in coffee houses, in restaurants, or wherever they happen to be when the Christ that is in them is embraced. Their meetings might be planned or spontaneous, but they are characterized by love, friendship, prayer, and worshipping Him. They carry with them an environment of excitement and expectancy that is contagious. He is In their midst. Unbelievers are drawn to Him and the love of His Word, because they see evidence of His Life. They see no need to compete for numbers, for they are part of the largest and most ever-expanding fellowship on this earth.
The invitation to become a Christian is an invitation to come to church. Christians think in terms of institutional practices, expressions, church as opposed to thinking in terms of movement of disciples of Jesus Christ for the extension and establishment of the KOG.
The assumption is that in order to be a Christian, one must order their lives around the church, shift their life and work around the church programs & priorities, give thru the church, serve in some ministry and bring others into the church to do the same. Matt 23:15
Because church leaders cannot think of Christianity outside of institutional terms, they equate lack of church participation with a loss of spiritual interest. People may have left the church But they have not left Jesus. Jesus is still their God who is worshipped.
In the unbelievers mind, the church is a religious club for religious club members gather to honor their traditions, hang out with others with common lifestyle and thinking. To the believers, the church today is a clubhouse where religious people hang out with people who think, speak, behave & believe like them. The church is hardly seen as championing the cause of the poor, healing the sick, setting the captives free & serving people.
Return to our purpose:
We have forgotten why we exist. We need to recapture the mission of the church. Through out the OT & NT we encounter a God who is on a redemptive mission to mankind. The church was created to be the people of God to join Him in His redemptive mission in the world. It is a chosen instrument of God to expand His Kingdom. As the Bride of Christ in union with Him designed for reproduction, the growth of the KOG. God is inviting us to join us in this mission, an invitation to be part of a movement, not be part of a monument or religious club. His Church is a living organism, composed of regenerated people who love and know Him. It was never an organization or institution or building.
Jesus entered a world similar to our spiritual conditions, institutional form of religion has collapsed. Jesus tapped into this widespread disillusionment with religion but hunger for God. He taught about the KOG and how people could become part of it and actively participate in the life of The Kingdom. The movement Jesus spoke and demonstrated had power because it had at its core a personal life-transforming experience. This is the genuine Christianity that turned the world upside down and the time is now for recapturing the initial appeal of the Gospel.
That is the Church’s Mission: ‘to join God in His redemptive affords to save the world. The Church is not in need of a methodological fix but a missional fix’.
by Inban caldwell
