At that time I was in seminary, commuting weekly to pastor the now defunct Southside Baptist Church. Peter Lord pastored a few blocks away. In that low income area, we had two churches that were equidistant from the population. The membership in both churches was equal but attendance vacillated between them. When either church had something "special," the other would see attendance drain like water in a bathtub when you pulled the plug.
We solved the problem by merging the two congregations and becoming co-pastors. The first Sunday, Peter preached in the morning and that night I preached. At the close of the service, I resigned using the excuse that Peter was graduating from seminary and I was going to take my doctorate.
I then accepted the pulpit of the Hayne Boulevard Baptist Church in New Orleans. This 40 member church had been "pastored" by 13 seminary students in 12 years! I broke all records by staying 3 years and six months and building a new auditorium for them, growing to 250 members. I found the motto "Join the church near your home" suited me perfectly: we were the single church on Hayne Boulevard for miles. I used it on my calling card.
Next came several years in Pennsylvania, planting all the original churches in the Keystone Baptist Association and then planting more in the Delaware Valley Baptist Association. About 18 altogether. The motto served me well; building membership was the name of that game.
Moving to Texas with the Baptist Convention placed me in charge of personal evangelism. After five years, I finally began to realize the slogan "join the church near your home" was a slogan based on an unbiblical definition of ecclesia. At the age of 34, it finally dawned on me that all these "church plants" were based on a consumer view of church life. These years were profitable in bringing some to Christ but added to the Big Lie that a building was "church" and joining one of the building centered organizations was a man-made decision, based on getting personal needs met. My motto was reinforcing a heresy!
There the truth was, staring me in the face all those years; my filters blocked it as though someone had cut it out of my Bible with scissors:
WE DO NOT CHOOSE TO JOIN THE AUTHENTIC CHURCH;
WE ARE CHOSEN AND JOINED TO IT BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD.
The true "church" is not the building nearest to your residence. It is the body of Christ we are joined to by the choice of the Holy Spirit: 1 Corinthians 12:13. It is a supernatural invasion of the reign of God over a group of people formed as arms, legs and inward parts to be inhabited by the Son of God, the Christ. Through that body He will reveal His presence: 1 Corinthians 14:24-25. (See my latest book for more on this!)
Consumer Christianity is killing the authentic work of Christ. I planted wood, hay and stubble for most of my ministry. Most of those building centered churches have never grown larger than they were after 6 years of existence--now a half century later!
Post your thoughts below...
I would have to say I agree with you that the REAL church "...is the body of Christ we are joined to by the choice of the Holy Spirit: 1 Corinthians 12:13. It is a supernatural invasion of the reign of God over a group of people formed as arms, legs and inward parts to be inhabited by the Son of God, the Christ."
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't think I can agree with you that "Consumer Christianity is killing the authentic work of Christ."
I see Him at work in the midst of the "...the Big Lie that a building was "church" and joining one of the building centered organizations was a man-made decision, based on getting personal needs met." He takes each of us where we are at and grows us from there. Is the work He is doing less authentic because we've got our dirty little finger prints all over it?
I think that the way "church" has developed over the centuries confirms the truth about human nature and the influence of the flesh on our lives. I think it also reveals how infinately glorious our Lord is as He continues to build His church! Truly the gates of hell are not prevailing against it! It still exists and is still producing fruit! The Bride is still being prepared and she will be made perfect and presented to Him on that Day!
An aquaintance of mine who serves in ministry with those who have physical and/or mental limitations once commented that the Body of Christ is just like these precious ones. "Things" are not working the way they were intended to in their bodies/minds, yet, God is obviously present, attentive, active in and through them, even when some of their brothers and sisters in Christ say they don't have enough faith to be healed or the mental capacity to enter in to a relationship with Christ in the first place. I'm of the opinion that Christ values each one of us and His arm is not too short.
I like it when I hear someone else besides myself say let's get rid of the "Big Lie" of the unbibilical definition of ecclesia and begin to cooperate with Christ so he can reveal Himself through His body! This is sorely needed particularly in our relationally isolated, individualized American churches. However, I think I am observing the Holy Spirit at work putting this lie to death as I notice my brothers and sisters in Him using their giftings to create and offer the Body of Christ ministry tools like Pagan Christianity, Revolution, The Truth Project, Touch Ministries and the free on line Bible survey mentioned in the post after this one. We've got to trust and rely on the work of the Holy Spirit as He is bringing all things together under Christ.
We need to keep renewing the mind, walking in step with Him until the day we are walking arm-in-arm with Him.