Authentic Church: Episode I

There is no denying the fact that I am really struggling with Church at the moment, part of the reason is that following a somewhat ignominious departure from the ministry I also departed from the church and fellowship that I had grown up in for nearly 20 years. I withdrew from long standing relationships, made little effort to keep in touch and reconcile with my past. Initially I also struggled with my relationship with God, trying to hide my face from him because of what I perceived as my failure to serve him. If we the add to that the hurt that I experienced from the Baptist Union, who were faced with someone who was obviously unwell and mentally unstable following the departure of their wife, yet sought to condemn rather than help. My whole world crashed around me and eventually so did my opinion and love of Church.

I left a lot behind at that little Baptist Church at the bottom of the hill; plans, aspirations, friends, mentor, memories. Since then I have been a bit of a church nomad, wandering around and not really finding anywhere to call my spiritual home. Neither my children, of whom I tend to wander around with three of the eight, nor my wife have found a church where they felt they could settle. I think for the children it is the familiarity, after-all my youngest had been attending our previous church since she was born, so that she knew everyone and everyone knew her. 

For me, free from the shackles and responsibilities of leading a church, my reasons have been somewhat different. As a minister , particularly a Baptist or other non-denominational incarnation of Christ's Bride, one is expected to consider the needs, wants, expectations, opinions and demands of others. This challenge is often added to by trying to reach out to the world who have a completely different set of needs, wants etc. The result of trying to make this all work is often an homogenised church that appeals to few people or a "relevant" church that attempts to assimilate the world yet alienates its loyal followers, very rarely does trying to blend these constraints together result in a something that keeps the traditionalists happy whilst appealing to the non-believer or seeker. We often misquote Abraham Lincoln when expounding the adage, "You can please some of the people some of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time." In fact Lincoln was talking about "fooling" people, perhaps he had a point for church? Not the the church tries to fool people, no, I think that we fool ourselves when thinking about creating the holy grail of church that suits all. 

Jesus says to his disciples in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." He doesn't say 'Change the light bulb, install some strobe lighting, and put on some mood music.' Some may look to Romans 15:1-13 for reason behind an attempt to make church relevant, to bring in the strobe lighting of relevance, but I believe this passage is more about inclusiveness than making the church 'relevant'. Nowhere in the Bible is the Church called upon to change and to be relevant to a generation, Revelation makes it quite clear to some churches about their return to authenticity. Paul demonstrates his own efforts to ensure a church that is relevant to the Gospel of Jesus Christ when he challenges Peter in Galatians 2.

So what is church, what is authentic church? I was brought back down to earth from my ramblings and often fanciful seeking for an "Authentic church" when I came across teaching from Gabe Doerksen formerly of Calvary Community Church, Williams Bay, Wisconsin and formerly of Grace Evangelical Church, Minneapolis. Actually, it was more the passage he used than his teaching on it - proof that the Bible often shouts louder than any preacher - Romans 12:9-16. This passage talks about the attitudes of the people who make up the church and therefore the attitude of the church itself. I cannot add anything more to these teachings of Paul other than to say I desire this, but do not know how I can get this, as I have been taught many times that a church cannot consist of one person, but a community of people.

No, I will add something; church community should be made up of a community of people who wish to belong, whose time in that community will bring them to belief, and whose desire to adhere to the Gospel of Christ will bring them to behave, or perhaps try to behave.