Well, darn, if my friend, Jason, hasn’t stirred me up again. He posted a Rob Bell quotation that exuded the obvious. The church is not where you go to change the world. Because of the church’s consumption with its own needs, a myriad of organizations have sprung to try to bring the kingdom to dark corners of our world and our own cities.
I have been a pastor for over twenty years and I know that when you are entrenched in the church leadership culture, you think you are changing the world and you tend to be impatient with those who criticize what you are trying to do. All the while you are scrambling to keep the church programs running and the dollars coming in. If you hear an occasional success story, your confidence is bolstered and you come to believe more than ever in what you are doing.
In recent years, I have come to believe that many of us were unintentionally sold a bogus bill of goods about what it really means to follow Christ. For me that realization was shocking because I have devoted so much of my life to church work. Equally shocking is the closed mindedness that I have found by those in church leadership, though, I must say, I used to be pretty much that way myself.
I am still grappling with it and still trying to figure out what to do about it.
What about you?
Thank God that the modern church has failed completely, with little to no hope of changing any time soon.
The Lord showed us the path of peace and love. 65-70% of Americans are against the various wars and police actions, but go to any congregation and more than 70% of them support the actions that murder so many. Is it any surprise that the church fails to bring peace to the world?
The Lord showed us the path of non-comforming. He was born and His parents were told by God to flee the government. He was put up for charges by both governing bodies in His era, and He was non-resistant and non-supportive of their actions. Is it any surprise that the church fails when it supports the very criminals in office rather than taking on their own crosses to support the needy?
The Lord showed us unity by bringing together the Body of early believers together as one flock. Is it any surprise that congregations fail to meet the needs of the world when they compete more with one another than support the same mission of love and peace and unity? How many Bodies does one city or county need?
I’m not surprised at all by the fact that people don’t look to the Church as a provider of need. Christians are at fault completely for giving in to the outdated Romans 13:6, and forgetting that we must bear our own crosses and support those with need ourselves, rather than steal from all to support a bureaucracy and the madness that we call modern day government and the modern day church. They’re one and the same in many ways — organizations who want more money, but give nothing for it.
By: A.B. Dada on June 28, 2007
at 10:27 am
Glenn,
I’ve had several conversations with people about similar topics in the last few days. Just recently, someone asked me, “Why do you look at the church differently than so many other people?” My response: “I’ve always been taught that ‘church’ always means people. I know that other people have been taught that too. All I can say is that I believe it and I live it.”
As you quoted Rob Bell, “The church is not where you go to change the world”. Instead, the church is the God-changed part of the world. When these God-changed people begin to focus on their structures and organizations, that forget that God is still in the business of changing people – including themselves.
Yes, there are people selling “a bogus bill of goods” and telling us that we need to get to work in our church structures and church programs in order to be good church people. These ideas definitely work to promote the organizations and structures and programs. However, they do very little to actually promote the church.
So, what do we do? If we recognize that this is “a bogus bill of goods”, what do we do about it? My response has been to continue to live as if people are important to God and relationships are important God. I try to live my life, make decisions, and disciple others based on those precepts.
Thanks for helping me think through some of this with your blog post.
-Alan
By: Alan Knox on June 28, 2007
at 11:23 am
Dada…
Brace yourself! I find myself in strong agreement with most of what you have to say. The last paragraph was a little dicey for me. Why do you say that Romans 13:6 is outdated?
Peace. Papa, still loves you!
By: Glenn on June 28, 2007
at 1:06 pm
Alan…
Well said! Thanks for contributing to the discussion and reminding us that it is all about people and relationships.
By: Glenn on June 28, 2007
at 1:09 pm
willowcreek just did a major study of their congregation and found that the majority of the people in their congregation that were least satisfied were those that are serving, volunteering, leading the most. why? because they haven’t learned how to “feed” themselves. they’re serving in the hopes that it would satisfy them…
i think this is why the church becomes so inward focused and continually cry out to be “fed”… they haven’t been equipped with the ability to feed themselves. they erroneously think that the church is there to feed them because they have no other way of feeding themselves, so they are starving. if we want the church to change the world, we need to equip the church to feed itself.
By: monts on June 28, 2007
at 4:14 pm
Monts…
Interesting! I am wondering what you mean by “feed themselves.” Are you referring to gaining understanding and insight from the Scripture?
I ask because I find it most satisfying when I act on whatever insight that I have gained by somehow being the evidence of God’s Kingdom where it is needed.
By: Glenn on June 28, 2007
at 5:58 pm
[...] just seen a great post on Glenn Hager’s site called Stating the Obvious. In the post Glenn discusses Rob Bell’s comment that the church is not where you go to [...]
By: Beyond the 4 walls » Stating the Obvious on July 6, 2007
at 3:13 pm