Darryl's Blog
Don't abandon the idea of church
Maggi Dawn writes about Christianity and the church, and successfully challenges both those who are disillusioned with church and those who don't understand the disillusionment:
It is almost always the case that you cannot be authentically Christian unless you are part of a Christian community. Why? The reason, I think, is that the gospel demands engagement in relationship. It has an individual element to it, but it is essentially a social religion.
That's not to say, of course, that "the church" as we know it always lives up to its calling...Traditional church structures are a stumbling block for some....
So what do we with the call of the gospel to become part of the Church, if our experience of Church thus far is just too bad to overcome? The answer to this dilemma, I believe, is not to abandon the idea of church, but to rediscover what it means for church to be fully a community. This applies equally to denominational churches that have lost their way, and to new groups that are afraid of being too committed for fear of getting hurt again. The answer in both cases is not to withdraw, but to create community. And this will not come to anyone without cost and some degree of hurt along the way, because it's in the nature of creating community that it is both challenging and expensive to the individual. A community that doesn't challenge your ego and upset your equilibrium from time to time is probably not getting to grips with the faith.
Reminds me of David Fitch - we don't need to abandon ecclesiology (the theology of the church). We need a reinvigorated ecclesiology. Bob Hyatt has also written on this recently and found himself stuck in the middle between two sides.
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Darryl,
I think that's a perspective from inside the camp. The reality is that church makes me a worse human being. The frustration is unbelievable. What she says sounds nice but after not setting foot inside a church for 8 months I feel great! It's like waking up from a bad dream, "I'm glad that's over."
I would never say never, but I can't imagine the circumstances in which I'd ever go back.
Thought you'd like a persepective from one of the disillusioned.
Rob
Rob:
When you talk about church, are you talking about one form of church - the traditional, established church?
Darryl,
I've tried the non-traditional church stuff as well and my overall perspective was there isn't much difference. Whether you do it in a home or in a large building you end up with the same issues. I think it boils down to the issues around organized church. It makes me think Christianity was on the right path until Constantine.
Rob
It's a mistake to think Christianity wasn't organized before Constantine... within the first century we had elders and deacons, lists of supported widows, church discipline, offerings being taken... and more.
I have a friend who counsels a lot of suicidal clients. Whenever they say "I just don't want to live anymore" he gently asks "Is it true that don't want to live anymore, or just that you don't want to live LIKE THIS?"
They almost always say it's the latter.
The problem isn't church.
The problem is how we've been doing it...
And clearly it's not the biblical elements of leadership and organization that are the issue, but how we work out (or fail to work out) the spirit of Christ in those things.
Yes- there will always be issues in the Body of Christ. No doubt about it. As Maggi said "A community that doesn't challenge your ego and upset your equilibrium from time to time is probably not getting to grips with the faith."
And my take?
"Whenever you get people together, fallen people, at various levels of commitment to ideals and living them out, you are going to have a place where toes are stepped on and where you are given many, many opportunities to work out what mercy, grace and forgiveness really mean. "
Hi Darryl, thanks for the link! This whole church debate needs lots of teasing out, I'm planning to write a good bit more about it. Thanks to you and your commenters for good conversation.