What would church be like…if…
I wrote most of this in January of 2016 and I set it aside as I wasn’t sure I felt this was relevant….But I have discovered in recent months indeed it is.
A church is really a group of two or more people who gather together to worship God and to share in each other’s mission works as well as support, love, help one another spiritually and physically…right? Isn’t this the church you belong to? Or is it the church you belong to?
I have written before about how the beginning church was made up of followers of the “way”. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6 NIV. The beginning followers made known to others that they were followers of “The Way”. This is the same “way” that Jesus spoke of and the “way” that His disciples were to follow, or be like Christ. I am not writing a loop but Jesus=way and way=to follow.
I recently heard a pastor say that a church should not conduct itself as if it were a business. This is a very interesting statement and one that if you think about it makes perfect sense from the perspective of a community. Today’s church, or should I say followers of the way, we still certainly find a lead pastor or a pastor and then we see the “congregation” or …fellow followers and lambs or flock that are guided by the shepherd. The first followers would gather in someone’s home, they would break bread together, they may sing praises to God. They certainly would all participate in worship and would all have opportunity, if the Holy Spirit moved them, to speak to the other followers or communicate with them what the Holy Spirit was telling them. There were early struggles, but once the group of followers finally unified by the Holy Spirit they were bold in teaching, and they all shared in all that they had. It was a communal living arrangement. How does this picture of the early church compare with what we see the church is today? I see a contrast between the two. I see how the early church looked less like a business, and sadly, I see a present church that looks more like a business.
If the pastor I heard was correct in understanding how a church should conduct itself then what would that look like? Would we have a spiritual leader who leads the group in worship and teaches the group what he knows but stays apart from the “business” of the church such as financial issues, property management issues, employee issues, etc? On one hand I see how a pastor could better serve in the capacity that God’s Grace provided, one of a leading and teaching role, by simply being the teacher and spiritual leader that God called him to be and leaving the “business” to the supporters as elders, deacons, committees, etc… On the other hand I wonder if maybe a church should be developed so that the spiritual leaders seek new spiritual leaders who can then take the message to other people who have not heard it. This creates in effect many small churches, or gatherings of followers, who perpetuate what the early church did from the beginning.
It seems logical that a smaller gathering of followers also means a smaller need for a business like method of management. If this is true then does it go to say the larger the church the more business like it becomes as the need for managing all the people, ideas, and property becomes greater. How many people can one person “personally” lead? Is it a requirement that followers be personal with each other? Can you have a relationship without knowing each other?
I think the answers are obvious in that fellowship requires personal relationships with one another. This is a big part of what the way is. How can we as members of God’s family have fellowship with one another when we don’t know one another?
We see bigger churches tackling this issue of fellowship by encouraging small groups. In small groups we can have fellowship with each other in that small group. However, can this small group still be a part of the larger and the larger still function as a fellowship should? I think this answer can be obvious if you have a church that offers more than one service in order to meet the space needs of all its members. Let me ask you, do you know many of the members of the church who attend the other service? I know I don’t know very many of the members in my church who primarily attend the other service. So does this paint a picture of an overall church in fellowship together as a whole or is this a picture of many small groups that fellowship in themselves, but who attend the greater church body in order to hear teaching by a pastor.
The point I am making in all of this is that what Jesus intended for His followers was that they love God and love one another. Beginning to love another can be as simple as offering a stranger a good word of encouragement, or offering someone in need the thing they need most. We need most to be a child of God, but what someone in need may need most could be a cool drink of water from a cup that you offer. Continuing to love one another boils down to a relationship with each other. A relationship usually starts with a smile from one or both people involved. A relationship starts one on one. How can a person truly get to know ten people at once? This is impersonal and because we are not God, it is impossible. Small groups are great as they are intended to function so that those in the group live life together; they are relational with each other. However, think about this. If there were a small group of ten people and all at once everyone started talking to everyone else…what would be the result of this? It certainly would not be relational. Everyone would leave that group, go home, and will have learned nothing about anyone else in that group, except for how to create a head ach. Relational is one on one. It is one person speaking and the other person listening. It is one person offering and the other person taking. It is a give and take interaction between two people. When one is in need the other offers and the roles exchange as needed.
My conclusion and where I stand in my thinking today is this… Mega churches are out of touch, out of love, and out of time. A message is a message and just that, a message. A pastor preaching a message is just a word of encouragement, and just that. I am not saying that a message won’t bear fruit, because the Holy Spirit can certainly work through that. What I am saying is that the best fruit, the most fruit to be developed, is through a one on one relationship with another person who has no relationship with Christ. This is the “way” that Jesus Christ created us and how He intended for us to love one another. This method, created by God, is perpetual. This means that when you love someone else and a relationship is formed, out of that relationship you share the Gospel with that person, he or she has the opportunity to receive Christ. Those whom receive Christ can and should develop new relationships with others who do not. It is a cycle that continues so that from one person sharing Christ, the result can be that millions of other people are saved. It all started with one person, Jesus Christ. Go into the world as He goes into the world. Be relational.
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