WHOSE CHURCH?

I wish I had a dime for every time I have heard a preacher refer to "my church." This common remark is a dead giveaway about the value system of the man who says that. A man-made church will always be "my" church.

I recall a pastor many years ago who had switched pulpits about every 4 years as he climbed the Baptist ladder to greatness. During a lunch date, he explained he had a full file cabinet of materials he had developed and the first thing he did when going to a new pulpit was to unload his fail-safe "system" to make the church prosper. Of course, to do that his first act was to destroy all vestiges of what the previous pastor had left behind. From record keeping to program structures, he had what "his" church needed.

The systematic preparation of the structures as one pastor sees things causes a lot of shock when he moves on to the next highest position in his career. With few exceptions, little will be left when the next man moves into the Pastor's Office and sets up what will make the domain "my church."

Jesus made a powerful comment in Matthew 18: "Upon this rock I will build my church." This leaves little room for the Senior Pastor to brag about ownership. Which brings up the question, "What does the church built by Christ really look like?"

To honestly seek the answer requires us to set aside hundreds of years of churchianity's many aberrations and return to the simple church composed of hands, feet, and inward parts that are controlled not by the preacher but by Christ himself.

I shall never forget the Australian pastor who faced the reality of this truth. He stood behind the pulpit and said, "I used to come to this sacred desk as a place of exaltation. Since I have experienced my death and resurrection in Christ, I come to this pulpit as a place of crucifixion."

Wow!