Make no mistake, there are problems within the church today. However, that is no excuse for abandonment! The church is worth fighting for. I applaud efforts that are made to truly reach out to others in an attempt to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think that the use of the internet for ministering is a wise use of this resource. I believe that it can greatly augment and supplement a person's relationship with Christ and other believers. That said, I do have some reservations about using the internet as a person's exclusive faith community.
I simply am unable to reconcile the Biblical accounts of Christian fellowship, church, and community with George Barna's book "Revolutions" and a move to divorce oneself from an actual, live, real time community of believers. You see, our faith is based NOT on self. We do not come to salvation in isolation. How can I say this? While commands in John 3 that we are to become born again, he never uses the phrase "personal savior". This is a recent and Western phenomenon. Our faith in Christ is to be interwoven with that of other believers. This cannot be accomplished in isolation. Even though I love and try to use internet communities and forums for evangelism, encouragement and education, this medium can never duplicate face-to-face contact with other believers.
Another issue that I have with Barna here is the implication that if the church fails to meet MY needs, that I have the right to leave it. I believe that this statement is a correct summary of Barna's beliefs. From a theological standpoint, "Barna sees the Church, the Body of Christ, exclusively as a mystical, spiritual community of "revolutionaries" without any direct relationship to the local church. The Church is a community that Christians spiritually join when they decide to follow Jesus, rather than one into which they are incorporated concretely through baptism and local church discipline." (Bounds & Drury & Smith, 2005) This fundamental shift in understanding the church explains why Barna believes in "revolution".
Understand, our place in the community of faith is not established exclusively by church membership. No one is saved by attending church. We are not going to reside in Methodist or Baptist and Presbyterian sections in heaven. However, this is NOT the point or intention of the church. The church is to be a community of IMPERFECT people who have gathered together to worship Christ our Risen Lord, to lift up prayer needs and concerns of the church, community and world, to push one another to a deeper faith in Jesus and to pursue holiness together.
With that definition in place, it becomes increasingly more difficult to have church in isolation. What exactly constitutes church? I agree that the church is not a building. Absolutely not. The church is not even a sacred space. The church then, is a gathering of people who wish to come together in MUTUAL submission to the authority of the Lord, the Bible and a pastor/leader. Our faith is based largely on this concept of submission. I submit my life to Christ. I submit my life to my brothers and sisters in the Lord. I strive to see others come to Christ and to disciple fellow believers. "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Eph. 5:21, NRSV) What a foreign concept to most of us!
To take an off-road here - this concept of discipleship must never be forgotten. We must never be willing to see people come to Christ and then watch them founder and wax and wane in their walks with Christ. We are called to sharpen one another, as iron sharpens iron. Discipleship is a lengthy process. It is about mutual growth, rather than merely individual growth. There is a relationship there, but it is not exclusive.
Furthermore, I believe that some of the complications here come from a skewed view of what the mission of the church is to be. Is it a haven for saints or is it a hospital for sinners? I would argue that it is to be both! I am a pastor. However, I must still never forget that I am also a sinner who is saved ONLY by the grace that is given to me by Jesus Christ. In turn then, I am a broken one who leads other broken ones. I know that hurts occur in the church. Many of us, myself included, have been wounded - deeply wounded, by someone who is in the church. Let's face it, the church is full of hypocrites. But this accusation is not enough. So is the rest of the world! That is the point. What sets the church apart from the world is that within church, the imperfect people are on a journey of faith. There is an effort that is being made to become something more. Sure, imperfect people make up the church. Paul writes in Philippians 3:12, "Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own." (NRSV)
The church, as the bride of Christ, then is precious. How many times is it stated that Christ is the head of the church? - Eph. 5:23 for one. Christ gave his life for the church - Eph. 5:25. Because of this, we are to love the church as Christ loves us. Does abandonment constitute love? When Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the castle door at Wittenburg in 1517, did he do it with the intention of leaving the church altogether? No! Luther voiced his problems WITHIN the church and community of believers.
Do you have problems with the church? Voice them! It is not good enough to stand OUTSIDE of an organization and critique it. For example, do I have the ability to influence political change if I only stand outside of the political arena? No! I must vote and make my voice heard. I must work WITHIN the established framework. The same goes for the church. Barna is not calling for a revolution. What is calling for a legitimate divorce from the church. There is nothing revolutionary about that. You cannot hope to influence an organization for the BETTER of that organization by leaving. In leaving, the only one that you are serving is YOURSELF! That is contrary to the concept and design of the church.
Barna throws stones at the church, but never seeks to offer solutions to the problem. It has been said that the easiest chair to occupy is the critic's chair. Furthermore, it was Abraham Lincoln who stated," He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help." In other words, if there is no intention of helping the church, then no criticism of the church is valid. Are there problems in the church? Yes. I am sorry, deeply sorry for the fact that so many people have been hurt within the church. But, I will say this. Who has the power to hurt you more than anyone else? Family! But, at the end of the day, after is said and done, what are they still? Family!
It is not good enough to simply take our ball away and go home when the game doesn't suit our needs. This isn't elementary school. Frankly, it isn't even good enough to leave the church when you have been hurt. While this is a response, it is not a healthy or mature response. I apologize for the length of this post, but I feel that it is my duty to respond. I say this only in love for my brothers and sisters in Christ, the church and for my Savior, Jesus Christ. The church IS worth fighting for!
1 comment:
Adding on to this post was a follow-up I wrote...
I absolutely agree with your assessment that we, in the church, need to walk the talk. We are past the point of laying blame for the church's problems. I guess this is the area where Barna - to me, offers questions but no solutions. That seems to happen very often these days. I guess it moves books off the shelves.
While I remain leery of using solely electronic mediums for communication in the body of believers, I absolutely commend you and others who are actually trying to make a difference in this world for Jesus Christ. Thank you! I agree also, that the last thing this world needs is another pastor - or Christian, for that matter, who is willing to just set back and speak about problems yet then continues to just sit.
I am committed with my heart and my life to the church. This isn't because of my vocation; it is because of my passion, my calling in life to be a part of it. I want to see the church grow, to become stronger and to make a difference in this world for her bridegroom, Jesus. I understand that people are leaving the church for various reasons, of differing levels of justifications. My squabble with the issues that Barna speaks about is largely in the area of perceptions of the church. The church is not a "me first" organization. We have some a consumer-based society in America. I love this land but using that type of approach to the church is wrong. The church is not about receiving. It is all about giving. The incredible thing about giving to the body, about giving to God, is that when you do, you actually receive. However, that receiving only comes after effort. It is the same concept as farming. You can't harvest what you don't plant. We must become willing to plant, to stay and cultivate that seed - where it is planted and help it to grow to maturity and then harvest time.
One last statement here, the road to reconciliation is a two-way street. The church must be willing to stick out its hand in reconciliation to those who have been wounded. The flip side to that, though, is that the ones who were hurt still have a role of responsibility. They must also extend their hand BACK to the church. This is the hard part, but it has to be done. No one who is in a relationship escapes some type of hurt in that relationship. I have been married for over 13 years. In that time, my wife and I have both hurt each other. It would have been easy to walk away, for both of us. In fact, it would have been a whole lot easier to have just walked and gone looking for another to find happiness. However, because we made a covenant with each other and with God to stay married, we have. A marriage requires love and a lot of will. The same goes for our relationship with the church. When we are hurt, it is easy to leave. Anybody can do it. But it takes a strong will and love to walk back. I believe that if more people were willing to do this, there would be an awakening within the church. This, then, would be truly revolutionary.
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