Interview with the Apostle Paul

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Q: How do you find the state of the church today? A: What church?  As I look around, I don’t see a church!  If I walked into your town today, what church would I find?  How many groups of people claim to be “the church” in your town?  Look around.  I would say, on average in most larger towns, you would find 8 kinds of Baptists, 4 kinds of Lutherans, 3 kinds of Catholics, 5 kinds of Presbyterians, 5 kinds of Methodists, 3 other “Reformed” denominations and a hand full of smaller and non-denominational church each claiming to have gotten it right, and all preaching against one or the others – so, where is the church? I gave a metaphor that the church was the body of Christ.  Each denomination claims to be that body, while some claim to be part of that body.  But for a healthy body to live, all parts must be working together.  No part can work independent of the other.   How far do you think you can walk if one leg wants to move to the right, while the other leg wants to go to the left? How long do you think you will live if the hands refuse to feed the mouth; or the ears, or eyes, refuse to share a warning of danger?  There is no “church.”  There is no “body of Christ.”  You don’t have a body, you have a twisted, dysfunctional, disfigured, misshapen, thing you call religion.