Crosspoint

Ephraim has built a lot of altars, and then uses them for sinning. Can you believe it? Altars for sinning! I write out my revelation for them in detail and they pretend they can't read it. They offer sacrifices to me and then they feast on the meat. God is not pleased!

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Sometimes I just get fed up with the church. I'm not talking about the Church (big C) but rather the church (little c). So you might be thinking What's the difference? Everything. The big Church is the body of believers who exist in every nation land and culture who are doing their best to follow after Jesus. They are doing their best to live out the truth that they have heard and believe. By the very nature of their passion for God they will meet together with other believers in homes and restaurants and parks and sometimes even in churches. When they meet, God shows up. The functions of the church are all present (worship, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, and ministry) when they get together. Maybe not all every time, but it is real. This is the Church upon which God has promised to, and is building His Kingdom.

The biggest hindrance to the big Church from carrying out its mission is the little church. The little church is the organization, it is the institution, it is the formal creed, it is the subculture that has hijacked the terminology and mindset of true Christianity as its own. Sometimes, actually most of the time, it was not done intentionally, but it has still been done. Now don't get me wrong, all of the things listed are essential. We need to be organized. We need to learn and know and understand the what and why of our faith. Even having a subculture of Christianity is a natural byproduct of being in the world and not of it. The problem is when these things are getting in the way of the true purpose of the Church.

For example, we have a person or team come forward usually at the beginning of a typical Sunday service and lead everyone in a few religious songs. In some churches (nearly always in mine) the people up front are actually entering into true worship. Or at least, true praise. There are many who are singing along that are doing the same. But most have no idea what the word really means and they are simply singing along and perhaps clapping and even raising their hands. But they are not worshipping. I am guilty of this myself. We might even get a bit emotional and then say what a great worship service it was. But all we are really doing is building altars and, through our hypocrisy, using them for sinning.

We will all sit there and listen to a message. At the end there will be an opportunity to respond and a person or two might come forward, or raise their hand, or go into a side room, or however your local church (little c) might do it. There they will be led in a prayer and told that they are a new creation. But is there a change? Have we really fooled ourselves into believing this is evangelism? How many people has my church reported as "getting saved" in a Sunday service this past year? How much growth has it experienced over the same time? Why the difference? Where are all these people we've evangelized?

The problem falls short in our misunderstanding of discipleship. When Jesus made disciples, he invested into their lives. He lived with them and called them to walk with Him. Paul did the same. You see this pattern throughout scripture and throughout Church (big C) history. It is not an option. But today it has been hijacked by a 10 week course that will cover our 16 "fundamental truths". I'll admit, even as I write this, I am convicted in how much I've allowed my life to fall short in this area.

Ministry (or servanthood) also has been replaced by a sad imitation. We've got Wednesday night programs and Sunday school programs and committees for this and that or boards and ushers and all these other great things going in our churches. Some of them are very beneficial. Others were started by sister Rose fifty years ago and we can't let it die until she does (the intention is the same although we would never say it quite that crass). But how is my neighbor served by me teaching Sunday School? It's not ministry, it's responsibility. Still important, but if I fool myself into believing I am fulfilling my ministry through this I will never really know what true servanthood is all about. Who am I really reaching. We think we're offering our sacrifices but really we're hoarding "the meat" of our time and efforts and resources from those that really need it and the One who really deserves it.

Worship, evangelism, discipleship, servanthood, and fellowship. Fellowship. Of all of the functions of the church, this is the one that I see the most lacking. I've heard fellowship described as fellows in a ship. I like the analogy. I'm reading Moby Dick. In it Ishmael signs up to join a whaling ship that is to be out on the ocean for three years. They are stuck together in a very small confined space for three years. There's no escape. They're getting fellowship whether they want it or not. We've signed up for a lifetime. But we get together once or twice a week, sit in the same vicinity listening to one guy speak and then most go on their separate ways and we call it fellowship. Some hang around in the back, or the foyer, or the "fellowship hall" for a half hour or so and do the same. But in the end, we're all going our separate ways.

Is this what the Church is meant to be. Is the church all there is? If that were the case, I would want no part of it. Thank God it is not. Thank God that He is continuing to build His Church in spite of the church. Thank God that an understanding of the Church is emerging again.