WHAT IS THE CHURCH SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE?

We have already noted the discussion surrounding the recent YouTube video "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus," and have suggested that at least part of the problem is that the church is not what it should be. We attempted to point out that Christianity is a message, a relationship, and a way of life, and that what is often missing in most modern churches is the relationship. There is little sense of the presence of God in our worship, little sense of real communion with Christ. Ironically, most modern churches do not strike outsiders as being especially "spiritual."

But this raises a pertinent question: what is the church supposed to be like? And when we turn to the New Testament what we find there is quite different from what are used to seeing today.

If it were somehow possible to travel back in time and visit a First Century church, we would be surprised at how different it would be. We would probably be struck by what we did not see. There would not be a church building as such – no towering steeple or stained glass windows, no organ and no mahogany pews. The church would most likely meet in a private home. Moreover there would not be a professionally trained clergyman. Neither would there be a formal liturgy nor an elaborate musical program. None of these things are essential to Christianity, and to some extent they may even serve to obscure the real meaning of the faith.

How, then, did the early church manage to function? One of the best explanations we have of how the church is supposed to operate is found in Eph. 4:1-16. What Paul describes there is an organic or mystical relationship between Christ and the church – what theologians sometimes call the "mystical union." He compares the church to a human body, of which Christ is the head, "from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love" (v. 16: NKJV). In other words, the life and vitality of the "body" (the church) flows from Christ. The body is healthy and strong only to the degree that it is connected to Christ Himself.

But how is this life and vitality transmitted to the body? The answer is, by means of spiritual gifts. Every believer, if he is genuinely born again and has the Holy Spirit living inside of Him, has a spiritual gift. "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift" (v. 7). It will be noted that the underlying assumption here is that the church is a "believers' church," with a regenerate church membership. Every member is presumed to be vitally connected to Christ and to have the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. Paul, then, enumerates several of these special gifts: apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers, and he tells us that their function is "the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry" (v. 12). "Ministry" (the Greek word is "diakonia," meaning service) involves serving others – attending to their needs. "Grace," in this context, is the divinely imparted help and ability that enables us to perform the service. It is something that the Holy Spirit gives, not something that is the result of academic training. A person can graduate from an academic institution and not even be converted, let alone have the spiritual gifts necessary for ministry.

The end result of a genuinely spiritual ministry is the kind of church life described in verses 1-3. It is a congregational life marked by "all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (vv. 2,3). In a spiritually healthy church there should be a profound sense of unity, the "communion of the saints." As church members are each united to Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, so they are united to each other in common fellowship. As they grow in spiritual maturity, the "come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God" (v. 13).

The church with which we are familiar today is but a pale shadow of the original. We maintain the outward form of religion, but the inward vitality is gone. We sing "Sweet Hour of Prayer," but we do not pray. As a result we have robbed ourselves of the church's crowning glory – communion with Christ Himself. And the world can see right through us.

 

RELIGION OR CHRIST?

    It seems that the blogosphere is all abuzz over a recent YouTube video entitled "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus." The producer is a 22 year old "spoken word" poet named Jefferson Bethke, and the video was an instant sensation. It was viewed 10 million times in its first ten days.

    Bethke's poem begins with a provocative question: "What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion . . ." He then goes on to attack "religion" for starting wars, neglecting the poor, and condemning divorcees, and says "It's just behavior modification, like a long list of chores." Jesus, by way of contrast, offers love and forgiveness.

    We have often heard people say that "Christianity is not a religion but a relationship," but have often thought that the claim was a little disingenuous. After all, what is a "relationship with Jesus" if it is not religion? But Bethke is using the word "religion" in a specialized sense. What he means by "religion" is "self-righteousness, justification and hypocrisy." It is obviously a caricature, and yet the fact that the video has gotten so much attention shows that there is a widespread perception that the church is not what it should be. A recent Barna Group survey showed that large percentages of young adults in the US think that Evangelical Christians are judgmental and hypocritical, as well as too involved in politics and insensitive to others. Partly in response to these perceptions the "Emerging Church" movement, with which Bethke is connected, has arisen, arguing that the church needs to take a new, more "post-modern" approach, stressing relationships over abstract doctrine.

All of this raises a pertinent question: what is Christianity supposed to be like? What did Jesus intend the church to be like? In a nutshell, the answer given in the Bible is this: Christianity is a message, a relationship and a way of life.

In his Epistle to the Romans the apostle Paul begins his magisterial description of the Christian faith by saying "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes . . ." (Rom. 1:16; NKJV). Here it will be seen that Christianity if first of all a message, "the gospel" or "good news," a message to be proclaimed. It involves certain propositions about God, man and salvation, and Paul spends the next seven chapters or so expounding this theology in detail. Thus doctrine is very much an essential part of Christianity.

But it is also certainly true that Christianity involves a relationship as well. Significantly Paul called the gospel "the power of God. . ." But how is this "power" realized? Paul explains in chapter 8. Comparing Christianity with Judaism he said "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son . . . that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (8:3,4). Paul then goes on to describe the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer: He gives us an assurance of acceptance with God, helps us to pray, and intercedes on our behalf. As a result God guides us and protects us through His providence. This all begins with the "new birth," a kind of mystical experience in which God, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, comes to reside in the believer's heart, producing spiritual life from within. But this relationship is one that must be cultivated: we must "walk according to the Spirit" – consciously seeking divine guidance and help. We know God only to the extent that we seek Him.

But Christianity is also a way of life. The relationship changes the way we live. Paul said that the gospel was "the power of God to salvation," or "for salvation," as it might better be translated (NASV, ESV). "Salvation" is more than just the forgiveness of sins; it is freedom from the power of sin as well. And so Paul goes on to describe in the latter part of the epistle to describe the practical aspects of Christianity. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:1,2). How one lives his life is definitely a matter of importance to God.

The problem with the modern church, then, is not that it has too much doctrine or too many rules. If anything it is noticeably lax in both doctrine and discipline. It is the quality of the relationship that is lacking. The real problem with the church is its lack of vital piety. We honor God with our lips but our heart is far from Him (cf. Isa. 29:13; Matt. 15:7,9). We complain about prayer being removed from the public schools, but cannot find it in our churches. The traditional Wednesday night prayer meeting has been deserted. Our churches have become mere social clubs for the comfortable middle class. Is it any wonder that the world charges us with hypocrisy?