"I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:14,15 NRSV).
Throughout the blogosphere I'm finding more and more people who are deeply disillusioned with church.
There are stories of pettiness in congregations. There are tales of conniving and conspiracy that broke hearts. There are discussions of congregations worried more about putting on a good show every Sunday rather than occupied with the work of serving the community missionally. Sadly, there are reports of churches that abuse. The minister in one church is saddled with too much responsibility and not enough authority. His family is made second or third in importance at the insistence of the parish lay leaders. The pastor of another congregation micro-manages every detail, pocketing money for himself and not letting anyone beyond a small circle of cronies make decisions. Children are molested or adultery is committed, but all is swept under the rug.
There are accounts of people leaving the "institutional church" and finding a way to live their faith without the formal community of faith.
You may be reading this with your own story in mind, something that happened to you or someone you love that caused you to back away from the "visible church" and seek other ways to serve Christ. Please understand me when I say that I agree with your concerns and want to hear your experiences in the comments on this post. I have suffered several times at the hands of other Christians in church settings. I've felt the urge to run away from them, to try something different. I've contemplated changing congregations, denominations and even planting churches. In some cases such action might be well justified, but most of what I went through in different churches, bad and unjust as it was, I should have faced with hard head and thick skin.
There simply is no perfect church. We fallen humans are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, but we can be just as stupid and foolish and unkind as ever. An important part of the redeeming work of Christ is done in our lives not at the moment of baptism (important though that is) but in the day-by-day experience of dealing with other disciples of Jesus. Tasked with the mission of declaring the Good News of Jesus' lordship, we have no choice but to work together. We are forgiven through the crucified and risen Jesus but have to learn to love and forgive one another. We are empowered by the Spirit of God for ministry, but find that our gifts only find full purpose in, through and with the community of believers.
Scripture calls the church "the pillar and bulwark of the truth." What church was this talking about? I'm not asking about a communion or denomination. The church this passage refers to is the church of Christ, the church of the living God. This is the church in all its manifestations and forms on earth. This isn't some distant hierarchy, a "dream church" or the invisible body of Christ (whatever that's supposed to be). The "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" is that congregation fussing over who can be on the church board, what color the carpet should be and whether a youth minister should be hired. The "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" is that church deluded by false prophecies that make a mockery of worship. The "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" is that one that is about to discover that it's most respected member has been embezzling money from the offering for years, or that the much-beloved preacher has a mistress two towns over.
No one is being asked to shut off their minds and join or stay with a church that openly accepts sin. What I am requesting is that we begin to accept that God's plan has at it's center the church, the assembly of imperfect Christ-followers.
The church I am a member of is far from perfect and is part of a movement of churches that needs to continue and expand the soul-searching that has been going on for a couple of decades now. It may be that I could serve Christ by going off on my own to reach out to my community with the love of God, or that I could look for greener pastures (I am sure there are better places to be) in another denomination and parish. I have chosen to do neither. If I change fellowships at any time it will only be in order to better serve God in His mission, but I will never abandon the church, God help me. How could I walk away from "the pillar and bulwark of the truth"?
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