To church or not To church?

Lately, I've been doing some deep reflecting on my attitude about what many are now calling the "institutional" or "organized" Church. Regardless of what we may label it, this is the bride of Christ. I concede that she may be tarnished, tainted and sickly in many ways. I even believe she is what I call a paraplegic bride, meaning (according to Webster's) the body does not work correctly or suffers paralysis. In my analysis, the mind (brain or head) is functioning as it should. The head is Jesus. It's the body that is suffering and malfunctioning. Something is wrong. The body is sick. That's what I mean by paraplegic bride.

Yes, you would have to be blind to not see that the body is divided against itself thru many numerous factions, denominations, sects and divisions. The general attitudes towards others within these variations is not healthy. The variations are expansive and the gaps are widening. Each thinks they are doing it right, or that they have something the others don't. Each one thinks the other is missing it. On the extreme side, there are even groups who believe they are the true Church, and everyone else is deceived and headed for eternal destruction. Then you have our many charismatic circles, who even have their own magazine which caters to a certain population of Christianity. In the area of doctrinal beliefs, we don't agree on whether or not God still does miracles, or if there are modern day prophets or apostles, or if the gifts of the Spirit have ceased or not. Are you filled with the Spirit at salvation or later as a "second work of grace"? Are you saved eternally or temporarily? Are you holy or legalistic? Can a catholic be charismatic or are they all deceived and headed to hell in a handbasket? Should we still practice the Levitical feasts and observe the law or are we free under the new covenant or is there a happy medium? The latest debate i've seen getting major playtime is the battle over end-time events and how and when it will all take place. Are you pre, mid, or post-trib, or are you pan-trib believing it will all "pan out" in the end? There are books and best-selling novels marketing each of these beliefs. I could go on and on and on and on......

If we were really interested in helping one another with issues such as these on our journey, that would be one thing. However, with so much division and animosity within the ranks of Christiandom over these and other issues, is it any wonder the secular world looks on with a smirk and disinterest? According to scripture, we're to be known as disciples of Jesus by our love for one another (John 13:34,35). I believe that is speaking about showing one another love within the body, and we seem to be seriously lacking in that area. Until we get that right, our "witness" to the world of God's love will be seriously lacking.

Let me go on a bit further. I also know the gripes against the Sunday morning routine, and to a large extent I agree and struggle with much of it. Our tightly scheduled services are so precise and programmed that there seems to be hardly any room for God to move by His Spirit unless He agrees to do it during our 3 fast songs and 2 slow songs. Let's pencil the creator of the universe into our schedule of events and give Him a few minutes, and we'll call it "waiting on God". You know, it's that 2 or 3 minutes of total silence that lasts until someone feels prompted to speak a message in tongues or prophecy. There are more programs and activities than the normal attendee can possibly hope to be involved in, and if you don't plant your financial "seed" faithfully, you can't expect to receive your "inheritance" that you so richly deserve as King's kids. How much of our tithes get lost in the abyss of building expansions, and how much really gets used to help the hungry and the needy in our midst and in our communities?

I know! Believe me, I know! I understand all of these things, and I am troubled about much of what I see - or don't see. Much of this is what prompted Londa and me to launch out and start our own fellowship around 2 years ago. We were hungry for the presence of God, and we wanted to provide a place where He could come and dwell in a setting that wasn't quite so structured and programmed. For a while it was good too! We have seen God move in and among us in some extraordinary ways, and it was refreshing. We have seen some people grow spiritually in phenomenal ways. However, we started feeling like we were starting to become more inward and maybe even critical, and this concerned us. It was time for change - seasons were changing again. We felt God was calling us to scatter and spread out and take what we have learned and experienced into the world and back into the mainstream Church body. It's one thing to recognize the various problems with something, but it's another to proactively do something about it.

As I said at the beginning, I have been reflecting on my attitude toward the Church. I want to be part of the solution, not the problem. For me, I see that as getting back into it, and affecting change from within. It means I may have to simply acknowledge things that tend to bother me on Sunday mornings, but rather than sit in my seat and criticize them I will seriously pray about them and ask God to show me how to deal with them. It may be that He tells me to sit down and shut up, or He may tell me to lovingly confront something and then let Him take it from there. One thing I believe he is telling me is that if I am coming to church on Sunday morning expecting the well-oiled machine to meet my spiritual needs, then I am putting my trust in the wrong thing. I can't hope to have my relationship with God depend upon 3 fast songs and a slow song one morning per week. I can't hope to grow by doing no more than listening to a 30 minute message by the pastor. I must be a worshipper 7 days a week. I must dig into the scriptures and pray for understanding, and build my relationship with God everyday. The Sunday morning meeting is a way to meet corporately with others of like-mind and similar understanding, not the answer to all my personal needs; a way to be built up and to encourage one another with psalms and spiritual songs - sort of a quick recharging for the week to come. It's a place of refuge and being amongst people who are all mystically connected to Jesus - the Head.

The pastor is not the pope or priest. He does not have a corner market on access to God that we can't attain. His calling is not to babysit us or to go to God for us, but to help equip and protect us. If we look to him for anything else, we are in danger of placing him on a pedestal that no man belongs on. We are each priests under a new and better way, and if we would start to act like that is true, the pastor's role in the local church would be so much easier. As a person who has pastored people, and who has repeatedly hit on these issues, I see that I have an opportunity once again, to practice what I have preached for the past couple of years.

Go after God on your own. You want presence? Don't wait on anyone else - go after Him! You want to grow spiritually? He's available and waiting for a deeper relationship. He's not some force that it always just out of reach. He wants to be pursued and caught so much more than we want to catch Him. He is waiting for us to satisfy our hunger in Him. Don't wait on your pastor or your church or your home group to do this for you. Do it yourself, and then be the shining example of what it's all about. Provoke one another to jealousy by enjoying the divine romance with your creator. Be outspoken about it - in church! Be proactive about it - in church! Share your personal experiences - in church! Then see what happens.

For us, we see ourselves still having people over from time to time in an informal way just to fellowship, worship and enjoy the presence of God in our home - maybe as a "home group" but probably not. Why do we have to label it? We have found that some of the best meetings with God and friends we've ever had were spontaneous and informal - not necessarily attached to any one brand of denomination, but just a bunch of God's children coming under the banner of Jesus to enjoy His presence.

Listen, the answer is not to discard the "traditional", "organized", "institutionalized" church, and hide away in closets and private home meetings, although I am NOT against home churches. Actually, I love them and I think they have their place. But someone needs to affect change within the structure so that it can once again be a force in the earth affecting change for the glory of God. Jesus is our common denominator. Let's focus on Him, not on the other numerous secondary issues of doctrine that divide. Hey, i'm not a universalist, and i'm not looking for a one world religion. I'm also not neglecting the importance of certain issues of doctrine, and I know that we will have divisions as long as humans are involved. I just think we need to focus a bit more on the one thing that truly matters above all else - Jesus. Simplistic I know, but if we're going to be divided over something, let it be over Jesus. After all, He promised that He would be the cause of division. If i'm going to have something come between me and someone else, let it be that I believe Jesus is King and is the only way to God and is coming again for His bride one day, not whether or not T.D. Jakes is a bishop. I don't want to be known as a religious watchdog, but rather a Jesus Freak.

-David

To be continued...