Martin Luther created quite a stir when he posted his ninety five theses on the door of the castle church in W�rttemberg in 1517. Without this and the following Protestant Reformation it is entirely possible that we still would be paying monetary dues to absolve sins (indulgences), believing that Purgatory is real and granting priests the assumption of infallibility. Obviously these were serious abuses and errors that needed to be corrected. The situation in the Church today is better than that but it is my opinion that we could use a new reformation.
What is the Church exactly and what role does it play in society? The Church is actually two separate institutions; a spiritual one and a social one. Jesus established the spiritual institution when he told Peter he would build his church on this rock. It is the fellowship of believers commissioned to preach the Good News to all creation. This is distinct from the social institution of the church that we see today. The social construct consists of the buildings, the leaders, the gatherings of members and other features that keep it operational. The upshot is thus: building a building, hiring a pastor and conducting services do not grant this social construct a spiritual mandate or sanctify it if you will. The spiritual mandate only comes in so far as the social construct carries out the will and purpose of the Savior and Lord Himself. Otherwise the church is no more sanctified than a Moose Lodge or a local Wal-Mart.
The next question becomes how well does the social institution match up to the spiritual one, or the commission of Christ. There are some excellent examples of local churches feeding the hungry, assisting the poor and sharing the Good News with others. However when one steps back and analyzes the social church as a whole it is found lacking. What follows is an analysis of some of the difficulties and challenges.
The first problem I find is what I will call the hierarchy of beliefs. Put simply the church holds too many of its beliefs as absolute. This also occurs within different denominations of the church. There are absolutes all Christians believe, for example Jesus died for our sins and rose from the grave. Without that belief there is no church. Likewise, no person who studies the Bible could come to any conclusion other than we need to love others and put their needs before (or at least with) ourselves. However, can one truly study scripture and conclude that once a person becomes saved then there is no way that they can lose their salvation? Or that every true Christian will speak in tongues (I find the term �full gospel� downright offensive)? Does the Bible clearly state one �end time scenario�? I would say no to all of those (especially number 2). I am not denying that any or all of those could be true but they should not be held as absolute like Christ�s death and resurrection or loving one another.
The church being prone to assuming all its beliefs are absolute should not be surprising. The Christian religion is based on the absolute truth of the divinity of Christ. That does not make the assumption any less damaging. How many people have given up on Christianity because someone told them they had to speak in tongues or else they are somehow a lesser Christian? What message is a preacher sending when he (or she) states that once you have made a decision for Christ then you will go to heaven no matter what? Especially right before the alter call ritual that most Evangelical Christians seem to think was handed down by God Himself. Once saved, always saved preaching and the alter call are a dangerous combination because they cheapen the commitment, reducing it to walking down an aisle and saying a short prayer. Can anyone say �fire insurance�? These are examples of sacred cows that should be vigorously challenged. If they are legitimate then they will survive and be stronger. If they are heresy then good riddance.
The �miracle worker� or �healer� is another phenomenon that should be challenged, probably more so than the others. The church encourages this because Jesus said we will do greater works than Him. That�s true and we have: Jesus had a few hundred followers; the church today consists of millions upon millions of believers. That is what He was talking about. The Great Commission�s main command is to make disciples not impress people with our cool powers. The miracles are only meant as a sign of legitimacy for non believers. I find it offensive that a church would dare advertise signs and wonders at 6 PM. God tells you what to do, you do not presume to put Him on a schedule.
The church has put too many humans on a pedestal. Christian television has more time for Benny Hinn, a faith healer who rarely mentions the more important spiritual healing that comes from a commitment to Christ, than for someone who teaches the Bible well but with no frills. Why would a true Christian TV station have time for one such as Creflo Dollar? The majority of his message can be summed up as �give me money and you will prosper� (he calls it sowing a seed by becoming a faith partner). He is there because he is charismatic and can pay the programming bills (due to those faith partnerships). This is �tabloid Christianity�; bells and whistles abound but no substance. If a Christian TV station encourages this then what makes them different from Fox? If it was a matter of a Christian or group of Christians owning a TV station I would have no problem with them showing whatever they want. On the other hand, when a TV station states that Christians should support it because they are a Christian TV station, then they should be held accountable.
The church is not only a social institution but a political one as well. Or so many church leaders think. The bottom line is that Christian people should be politically active but the church should stay out. Last time I checked there were still people who have not heard and/or accepted the message of Christ. When was the last time Congress or a lobby group rescued someone from drug addiction? The church has enough to do without getting involved in the often dirty world of politics . The only political action Jesus ever took in the Scriptures was to pay his taxes. And if the church continues in this way they may be forced to do the same (and rightly so) .
There is an assumption abound that it is God�s will that every church have one million or so members. One of the reasons why the church is not as effective as it should be is that every church is more intent on gaining new members than meeting the needs of the members already there. I have not been to a church that had a systematic and consistent discipleship program for new members. This is important because newly minted Christians will have a hard time learning about their new life if no one teaches them. It is also very easy to get lost in a church with one thousand or so attendees.
The discipleship issue brings about the bigger problem of fellowship in the church. The churches I have been to are �cliquish�, divided into different groups. These groups are not usually adversarial but true togetherness is not ignoring or tolerating one another but actually getting to know one another. Local churches should be encouraging (if not administering) accountability pairs or groups. Sunday school classes need to be sources of friendship and togetherness. New members should be receiving regular phone calls by church members to make them realize that they are a part of the body. Later those phone calls and fellowship should be occurring naturally. The congregation needs to be concerned if anyone does not feel like they belong. This is difficult for larger churches; that is a good reason to encourage smaller churches where this can take place. Among all the issues I raised this one is by far the most important.
To clarify, many local churches are doing great things. However the church as a whole needs to trim the fat by challenging the sacred cows, refocusing on the main tenants of the faith, getting out of politics and most importantly truly coming together as a body of believers to support one another and bring outsiders into the fold. There is a war going on and we do not have the luxury of unlimited time in which to fight it. The lives of a multitude stand in the balance.
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