Paul felt the daily pressure of concern for the church in each location (II Cor. 11:28). I am no where near Paul but I too have a great sense of concern for the church of our Lord. It concerns me what my children and grandchildren are going to face in the near future. I am not talking about the issues many have made and seem to keep stirred. I am speaking about the firm, real and true spiritual well being of the church.
More and more as I travel, I hear brethren speak about the "personal" experiences or about fine tuning our relationship with God. There is an endless stream of books, blogs, seminars and retreats that constantly harp on the need to experience God more intimately and find life with Him more psychologically and emotionally fulfilling. You might not hear it in those words, but that's what is being presented.
We are becoming too individualistic. It is like a plague that is sweeping through asking, "What's in it for me?" The church is the redeemed, the blood bought people who were united with Him and raised with Him in baptism. The church is the bearer of the gospel for the world and that gospel is the drawing power for God to save (Rom. 1:16). Today the church is turning into a warehouse of spiritual, emotional and social satisfaction and if we aren't meeting those needs, we are considered useless. When people go church-shopping, their question is not, "What is your gospel?" It has become, "What do you have to offer us and our children?" This kind of attitude is defended in various ways and some of the defenses have the appearance of common sense but too many are attacking the shortcomings of the church and are backing away from it because it is labeled as an enemy of true spiritual growth for "me." People speak of congregations that stifle their growth and vision of Jesus Christ. What they call stifling growth is really a blinding sense at what the church really is and our attachment to Jesus, even with all the flaws! Please listen, it isn't the church that 'drugs' people into a spirit of stupor. It's a "church mindset" and a "church culture" that is invading our thinking.
I guess the cure to all this would be to forsake that community of Christ bought people for maybe a year or two...three or four might be better or maybe a lifetime might be the best, and find ourselves personally fulfilled and blessed in our 'individual' relationships with the Lord! That seems to be what really matters to many.
On a final note, I can understand that there are congregations of our Lord that need reawakening and stirred in their hearts to the realities of Christ. I truly believe that we have that stated in Revelation 3:1-6. Christ never called those who were holding on to Him, clinging to His promises and love to jump ship! But maybe what we learn is that all these wise ones who are so capable of assessing the whole church pulse and judging it to be the instrument of their spiritual suffocation may be saying more about themselves than about the church?
Does all this mean that there is to be no personal satisfaction in the body relationship? Is life in the body to be dull and dreary, just plodding along? In the words of Paul, "God forbid!" We need not to leave the local body to find life! Life is with Jesus and those in Jesus are very much a part of Him. They may be struggling, limping along at times but they still belong to Him. Where is our sense of brotherly love? Where is our love to help? We need our elders, our preachers to major in what fills our hearts with faith and that is the life changing word of God! We need to be looking at our Savior and Lord what He wants from us not just individually but as His body! Just look at the mess at the church at Corinth and what does Paul say about them? "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling..." (I Cor. 1:2) What are we seriously missing?
4 comments:
All of us in the church should feel these concerns too. However, many and maybe even most, don’t. Their focus is on self even when they profess wanting a deeper, more “personal” relationship with Christ or God. They have the outward appearance of wanting to be religious, but inward they are about one thing, self.
Although I have not traveled around that much or been a part of several congregations, I have personally experienced what you describe here. No, I won’t mention names since it serves no purpose. In one case, part of one family become focused on self so much they went to an elder at a congregation and said “there’s nothing here for us and nothing for our child” and then said they would never return to that particular congregation. How sad for I know this congregation does serve the Lord in truth and spirit. What does that say though? Where was the focus by the family? On self. Should the elders have done something more, perhaps. This part of the family did move to another congregation. Who lost the most? The part of the family or the congregation? I know, that’s not the question that should be asked. It’s not about self and what was in it for both.
This drive for self, or me, is a result of some of the things the church is missing. It’s not the cause though. We, as members, are now forced to face this issue.
What is the church missing? I would add that perhaps we should be considering “why” as well.
Here’s a short list to address the question of “what”
1. Bible backed reasons or examples for all that is done.
By this I mean that often something sounds good, appears to be working for the church, but in the end it has no Bible-based reason or example. Why is this so? Because, while lessons are taught from the Bible and Bible classes are held, how much do we really know the Bible and study it? Not enough or we wouldn’t be wanting this individualistic lifestyle. Is our focus on the Bible or on being an “attractive” place to worship?
2. Strong leadership.
Yes, I do know of congregations that have strong leadership, but as a whole the church is lacking. We don’t just need “placeholder” elders and deacons. We need those with the qualities that Paul mentions when he writes Timothy. A strong leadership cannot not do much about the single person that is focused on self, but they can make sure a congregation doesn’t fall, as a whole, into this same trap. If you, as a congregation have what is listed in the first point, you will likely have strong leadership.
3. The church is missing the willingness to stand out and apart from the world. Oh, I hear it proclaimed a lot that “we are not of this world” and similar statements, but in the end the church ends up being more and more like the world all the time. We focus on what we want to focus on, self and this boils over into the church to the point that it becomes the “accepted” norm. We want to appear just as strong as any other “church”. Why? Our strength comes from God and only God. It’s not about us. The church must come to realize that we are far more impacted and influenced by the world than we realize. Paul saw it in Corinth, as mentioned. Why can’t we see it today? It’s not something new.
Yes, this is response is getting a little long in the tooth, so I will wrap it up soon.
Part 2 to follow
Part 2:
Since the church is its members, who’s salvation was purchased with the pure sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we must also ask what the members are missing:
1. As much as we can learn at Bible study and worship, we must as members put forth the effort to study and learn on our own. We cannot have a strong knowledge of the Truth if we don’t. It is ultimately up to us to know what the Bible says and doesn’t say. If we don’t know, then how can we even recognize, as the members, when there is a move such as individualism creeping up in the church?
2. As important as Bible study, we as members must be willing to follow. Notice I didn’t say follow whom. We must be willing to follow period. It’s not about what’s in it for me, or about me leading, or me being on a different path. If we follow, then we don’t focus on self. Jesus told us, in Matthew 16:24 that if we wish to follow him that we must deny our self. It’s a basic principle that we, as members either ignore or haven’t learned in a lot of cases.
3. Finally, we as members must remember that we come together to serve and worship God. Our service is not, and never should be, about us or what is in it for us. With a humble heart and soul we would realize that God has already done everything for us in every way, including giving us His grace and mercy to the point he sacrificed his only son on our behalf to save us. There’s nothing more we can do or should do other than to worship God with all or our soul and to keep his commandments.
Again, I apologize for the length of this response. As you mentioned, this is a very tough thing to face and yet it seems it’s becoming more and more of something that we must face now and that our children will face in the future.
Thank you so much for your words. You genuine concern for the Lord's body is need much!
Society in general has become more self-centered so I guess it is only natural for it to invade the church. The church is a family and today there are too many people who are willing to walk away from their natural family so walking away from the Church is that much easier. Jesus came to serve, not to be served, and while there are some people who need to be carried, the church should be filled with people who are service oriented.
I don't think the church should be a political organization, but I wonder if people (from inside and outside the government) pushing our government to do the work of the church has led to Christians sitting on the sidelines. When people think it is the governments job to take care of the homeless, widows, and orphans it puts the church in the back seat.
I have hope that the tide might be turning though. I think that the younger generations who've been raised with the "me, me, me" attitude might reject their upbringings and bring community back into focus.
Post a Comment