No one has the foresight to know, but I believe the Church as it was pre-pandemic won't survive once this is over. (Frankly I hope I am right).
The gift of God to the Church via this pandemic just may be that we are learning what it means to remain in Christ beyond the structures of corporate church. Attendees whose faith was dependent on, or held together by 'church-life' rituals and habits have either:
- Fallen away because the structures were removed, or
- Matured into a deeper life with Christ apart from those structures
It's a pruning of individuals as well as the church corporate. Individuals held together only by hackneyed rituals and habits have had their foundation torn away. They're most likely already lost to the church's ranks, never to return. Churches dependent on their structures have had those challenged, and it seems rather than learn & discover something new in this pruning time, they are falling all over themselves to return to what was.
"Unfortunately church leaders invest everything they have in making that ineffective model work. Why? Because their security, identity and purpose are intertwined with that model's function. Those who have the best opportunity to make it change are the very people most motivated to keep it the same. As Upton Sinclair once quipped: 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!' Our leadership is invested in holding up a model that is incapable of accomplishing what God asks of it. This model has been in place for one and a half millennia, so it now has become our very definition of church. It is a challenge to imagine anything else, but we must if we are to make a difference in this generation." (Neil Cole: Rising Tides; Pg 8)
The Church as it is structured now is NOT able to impact it's world. The sheer escalation in human population over the last two centuries, VS. the capacity of the current limiting structures of the Church to reach the world is enough to prove the model is inadequate, outdated and a totally ineffective tool for Kingdom expansion.
Tools are amoral. You can use a hammer to build or to destroy. You can also drop one tool and use another that is more effective, simply because it is better. The corporate church model & structure, developed post-Constantine, is no longer useful. The once organic expression of Kingdom life that overtook and actually defeated the Roman Empire morphed into a corporate, fixed structure that has been built upon to this day. It has become old, tired, too accommodating to power (think of the collusion with governments over slavery, residential schools, political wedge issues...) and simply too rigid to zig or zag.
And please, none of this nonsense guilt-tripping from pastors saying that "you can't love Jesus and not love the church". That's nothing but a ruse to ensure you keep your job and structure intact. I dare say that this pandemic pruning is proving you wrong. Many Christians are discovering they continue to love Christ, even more deeply, WITHOUT the corporate church connection. Perhaps there is something there to pay attention to. Will you pay attention or simply interpret it only in reference to your ability to perpetuate your model?
Unless we are freed from understanding & relating to the Body of Christ as a structure, we simply won't be able to impact this world. It calls for a new way of perceiving and leading. It calls for true releasing of control; a relinquishing of power and polity.
I'm not going back to the church as it was. And I work for a denomination! (perhaps not for long). Not because it is wrong, but because it isn't working. It isn't capable of truly becoming part of communities around the world in a transformational way. It's polity, structure, layers of approval for this or that etc. all get in the way and assume too much control.
Seth Godin once said "When you fall in love with the system you lose the ability to grow". Christian leaders - let's focus our love on Christ and His Kingdom, not our church system. The system, whatever it is for the future, must only exist if it serves God's purposes for the people of this world.
Be strong and courageous. And maybe, get a new job.
Harv Matchullis
One of the reasons why churches and church denominations do not make an impact for Christ is that they are usually too focused on fulfilling 1 command.
ReplyDeleteThat effort to get butts into the pew so the unsaved can hear a gospel message has led to the adaption of theories, strategies and other techniques that are not of God and only seek to please the unsaved.
That is not the correct way to do evangelism. You have to do it in the way that pleases God and uses his strategies. When the disciples were out fishing one day, a figure told them to cast their net on the right side of the boat.
After a wasted night of little to know fish the disciples did not want to do it BUT they obeyed and their nets were full. The church needs to obey GOD and JESUS not the secular world to make an impact for Christ
I'm interested in hearing more. What is the 1 command you refer to? And what in your view is the correct way to do evangelism?
DeleteI appreciate this post. I'm the type of person who often wants to take action and move forward on this stuff quickly. And, I see how God is making a way for significant shifts in this day.
ReplyDeleteBut as I processed your post, instead of taken forward, I was taken back --to a picture I got at the beginning of COVID.
I was standing on an elevated space that was covered in sand. As I stood there, the sand started running away and I realized that I wasn't just standing on sand, but was in fact standing on a big bolder covered in sand. Eventually the sand got so thin, that I felt like I'd completely slip off the rock. You know the instability you feel when walking on a sand covered round bolder? But I thought to myself, it's going to be okay because I'm tethered in. I looked around and saw the anchors that ran from my body to various different cliff and ground points around me. For a moment I felt secure. But then I heard, "You are mine. You have built your life in principle upon the rock, but the sand that lies between your feet and my Son must go. And so must the anchors. Never fear Sarah, you are my child. The Rock is in the mix, but right now, He's not the only one. I'm making Him the only One."
I believe God has shown me that this is not just true of me, but the North American church. All the extras, all the human additions must go. In these past months in particular, the shifting has become even harder. Standing on a foot of sand is easier than standing on a millimetre. In some ways I've never felt more scared and more insecure than right before the moment at which I'm trusting I'll be barefoot with my feet planted firmly on the rock and completely untethered from all else.
I believe the most urgent call to action is increased intercession for His Bride. In the midst of COVID, many of us move from moments of extreme faith and confidence to disorienting moments of feeling like we'll slip off the rock. Everything is up for grabs right now. We are discovering that so much of what we thought was Christ and His Church, were manmade structures which Christ is removing. Possibly even some of that which we assumed He would get rid of is here to stay. I'm praying that Father, Son and Holy Spirit reveal themselves in profound ways to the children of God in this season. We are being sifted and shifted. Definitely being pruned. Pruning is so painful. Let's cry out together in faith that God's will, will be done here on earth in this time. That He would strengthen His people through His Spirit and that we would grow in increasing awareness and experience of His never ending love.
not sure why it says anonymous. This is Sarah Hunter.
DeleteThanks Sarah. That's a profound image and quite apropo to our time right now. The Anchor remains the same, but what now will we do to change? It takes significant courage, and I dare say sacrifice, to make the shift away from what was into the new. Some will be bold to step into it. Some will tweak at the edges and call it change. Some simply won't shift at all. How do we (denominational and local church leadership) release and champion the ones willing to step outside the camp of the current construct, while still coming alongside the ones who remain in their structure?
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