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Author
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Topic: When is a Church not a Church?
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Chaplain Bob
Advanced Member
Member # 5019
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posted
The church described in your second paradigm is an "in a perfect world" description. I have been involved in dozens of churches since 1949 and have never been in the church you describe. I have never seen hurting and needy people flock to the church and when those in financial need do come they are put through the third degree because "we don't want to be taken advantage of".
I believe the Church (Body of Believers) needs to learn how to reach out to people with help and with the Gospel. The perfect place to teach them this is in the church building. But it seems that many pastors are busy giving salvation messages instead of teaching the flock how to share the love of God with people. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the salvation message. Sometimes it's been every week. The message needs to be taken OUT THERE where the lost are. It's a fact the lost are not flocking into the church building and it's a fact that most of the Church (Body of Believers) leaves the telling of the Good News up to their pastor. I've enjoyed fellowship in a number of churches but then they better fit your "club" description.
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In His Service,
Bob Allen
Posts: 209 | From: Checotah, Oklahoma | Registered: Aug 2005
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KnowHim
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Member # 1
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posted
I thought this was very interesting:
I was interested to see that a new restaurant, The Chapel Grill, has opened. Housed in the historic former 1st Baptist Church building downtown, it is now a quaint little place to grab a bite. So the place where Billy Graham once preached is no longer serving up "the bread of life", but just plain old bread. It's really not a bad thing, since that church is still alive and thriving elsewhere. So I plan to go by the Chapel Grill and enjoy a meal their soon.
It did spark a thought in my mind though - that restarant looks like a church, but is truly not one anymore since it no longer does "church things". So what is it that an organization is supposed do to fall under the definition of a "church"?
Today, I see two competing ideas of what defines "a church"...
Option 1: "The church is a club for Christians"
Paradigm: Sort of like the old Chess Club in your high school, church is for those "interested in Christian stuff".
Application: So let me try to explain this to the uninitiated...every week, church people gather together in their designated "club houses" (church buildings). That is where they talk about their mutual hobby - church stuff. To show their enthusiasm for "churchy things", they dress up in their "church clothes" (suits, floral print dresses, ties a little too short to reach their belt) and practice saying their "church words" ("amen", "that hymn was such a blessing", "please pass the fried chicken, Miss Bertha", etc). Seriously though, my silliness here is meant with love and as a survivor from 50 years of church attendance.
Results:
- people may learn some new Bible fact or tidbit they did not know before, and have limited amounts of social interaction with people who look and think like them.
Examples:
- "Wow, Janis, I did not realize the Old Testament tabernacle and the TBN television studios had such similar designs - I'll have to study more n this topic!"
- "There must be animals in heaven if Jesus returns on a white horse in Revelation 21. This adds greatly to my anticipation of the afterlife!"
Problem:
- Why bother? I have to say honestly that as much as I love studying the Bible and learning something new in it, if that was all there was to church I would seriously just stay home. With online resources and uninterrupted quiet, I could learn much more about the Bible studying by myself. I would also not have to deal with people, which as anyone who has been around for a while understands are where most of the problems in life reside.
Reality: what i've described above is all church means to many people today...and is it surprising that the current generation has stopped coming much anymore?
One big problem with this paradigm is this is the crowd Jesus seemed to **** heads with - the "religious". They would get angry at Him when He broke the "club rules" about healing on the Sabbath, and would try to challenge Him at impromptu games of "quote the Bible". They got mad when He implied something was wrong in their hearts, when they had worked so hard to make their outsides look good. Jesus seemed to have a huge problem with them over the people their "church clubs" kept out - people who didn't know the rules, people who didn't wear the "team colors", people who had messed up their lives so badly they could no longer fake being good enough to fit in to the religious club.
That brings me to the second paradigm...
Option 2: "The church is a triage unit for the defeated"
Paradigm: Each week, people who know they've blown it meet together to help each other become more like Jesus.
Application: Unlike the "church club" above, these people are not just "Bible enthusiasts". They are not reading it like a Book Club would discuss Oprah's latest pick. They actually desire to conform to the truth they read in their book, and to emulate as much as possible the one they love - Jesus. But since they truly see how beautiful Jesus is, they are honest about how far they fall from that example. So when people wounded by sin come in their doors, they wrap loving arms around them as if to say, "I know how hard it is out there, but in here you can find healing!"
Results:
- changed lives. Hurting people find healing, lonely people find a family, weak people find strength and encouragement to keep going one more day.
Examples:
- too numerous to mention here. I have personally known thousands of people who have an authentic, life-changing relationship with God. When the church sees itself not as a club where they hide from the world but as a hospital where they heal the world, the result is nothing short of revolutionary.
Problem:
- the only problem is telling which kind of church it is before you walk in the door. They all look like churches on the outside, and most of them do "churchy things" that involve the Bible and Christianity in some way. But the difference is in the results...
One place breads self-righteousness and closed community - the other humility, open arms and transformation.
But most all of them have a steeple, and more than a few nice looking people. They all call themselves churches, but only some are places where Jesus - the Jesus who tipped over the tables of the money changers and shielded a prostitute from the attacks of the religious - would be comfortable and welcomed. And that's because if He's coming in the doors of your church, He's bringing all those hurting, messed up people with Him.
"Hi, my name is Dave, and I am a recovery church club member".
Full disclosure: I used to be pretty self-righteous myself and could quote the rules with the best of them. Then life kicked the stuffing out of me and Jesus picked me up. But for all the "church club members" out there, here's a bit of Bible trivia for you. In Revelation 3:20 we actually see Jesus on the outside of the church, asking to come in. When I used to read, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock...", I arrogantly assumed He was talking to non-Christians. But the book of Revelation is addressed specifically to Christians, and it is the church who most often keep Him standing on the outside of our doors, waiting there with all His sketchy-looking friends.
Maybe He'd get better service at that restaurant after all?
http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs/jesus/2012/nov/26/church/
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Posts: 3276 | From: Charlestown, IN | Registered: Jun 2002
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