The Living Church

The Church is an organism. A living, breathing thing… why else is the Church referred to as the Body of Christ. I doubt that any living person can really fathom or explain the truth embedded in this statement. There are a great many illustrations and ideas that have been drawn from this statement, but it is not that purpose for which the statement is made here.

The statement here is really directed at the fact that, at least here in America, the Church has become the church an organization. A legally defined entity that must meet certain definitions and criteria as an organization in order to be deemed a church, but even this begs a question. What is it about the legal organization that makes it a part of the organism the Body of Christ? I submit to you that it has nothing to do with it.

Trapped within the confines of our cultural and societal definitions of what church is, I believe that the Church has lost much of its vitality and impact that it once had upon society. What was it about the First Century church of Acts that forged it into the dominant religious entity of the Fifth Century?

For the Acts of the Twenty First Century to have meaning and impact, we must make the attempt to strip away twenty centuries of culture, tradition, and societal norms and attempt to derive what a Vital Living Church ought to be.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of church done the way it is because it is just that – “it’s done.” Did you go to church last week? Have you visited church lately? What did you think about what the pastor had to say at church this weekend? We identify church as a place and not as the living breathing organism that it is… I appreciate a worship pastor I know who opens a service by making the statement, “Thank you for bringing the church into this room.”

It makes me wonder… is the American church today kind of like a leg left in one position so long that all feeling has left it? Feeling in terms of real compassion for people. Feeling in terms of a real deep felt emotional connection with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. That kind of feeling seems to be sorely lacking in so many places...

There are some places that I believe run dangerously close to being the kind of people that Paul warns Timothy about in 2 Timothy 3:5, those who "holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power..." Is the American Church, in general, so numb that it has simply ceased to be a real and influential force in our contemporary culture today? Or is it more accurate to say that we are numb to the extent that societal norms and pressures have more influence upon the Church Body?

Perhaps the lack of real and bloody persecution has left the Church in America struggling to “wake up.” I say this as my own humble and limited experience, coupled with the interaction I’ve had with many other Christian brothers and sisters around the country, has left the impression that the American church in many instances has become more of a program driven, numbers obsessed, marketing and commercial giant than a community where the faithful encounter Jesus.

Aren't you tired of plastic Christians that are incapable of being real about struggle or life or difficulty? There is a tiresome “cult of personality,” if you will, of pastors that have raised the cry of “unity” to stifle the questions of the faithful. Since when was unity such an overriding standard that we ceased to intelligently discuss how to live out and express our faith?

This is not to say that I do not believe in doctrinal distinctives or that doctrine should be somehow subservient to the whims and questions of the many. What I am saying is that just like the Bereans in Acts 17, we ought to be continually searching and reading the scriptures to be sure that what we are thinking and sharing with each other is Scripturally true and accurate. (Acts 17:11)

If we are unwilling to intelligently interact with the Scriptures, to question, to search, and to learn then we are commiting both intellectual suicide and spiritual suicide. Intellectually because we are not "working" to understand and articulate our faith, which in itself produces a weak and ineffective witness. Spiritually because we are not approaching the Throne Room of Grace, and therefore actively seeking to become spiritually mature (Ephesians 4:12-15).

One of the greatest human philosophers in history, Socrates said the most important principle is to "Know thyself." As a Christian, it should be re-stated as we need to "Know Christ." In knowing Christ, we ought to be actively interacting with Scripture so that the Holy Spirit can prompt us towards true maturity in Christ Jesus. (Romans 12:1-2)

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks to the Father,who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. (Colossians 1:9-12 NASB)

And so it is my prayer also ... What do you think?