The Church, Business or Body?

It seems that there has developed an epidemic in the church, a situation that is proving to be dangerous. The epidemic is nothing less than a consumer-based conception of church attendance. This plague is fueled by a misconception of the nature and reality of the church.

The first misconception of many Christians who have grown up in this modern era of self-satisfaction is built on a cultural rather than a Biblical view. For them the church is nothing more than a service organization, a business that dispenses a spiritual product for a consumer-minded audience. They attend, looking for something to satisfy themselves, and when their satisfaction is not attained they will “shop around” for another organization that will “meet their needs.” It’s like going to McDonald’s and not being pleased with the level of service. Without any difficulty, they will seek out another fast-food source that will satisfy their demands.

Another misconception is built out of a modern idiom that states: “The church is a hospital for sinners not a hotel for saints.” This saying implies that the church is nothing more than a place for the lost, sinful world to find healing (spiritual, emotional, etc.). This is a good thought and a necessary function, but when a person is healed they have no need to remain at the hospital and leave to find more pleasant surroundings. So, though this is an understandable expression it lacks a Biblical point of view.

Both these current conceptions of the church center upon a need-based paradigm that focuses on the interests of the “client” whose only reason for coming is to satisfy their desires. Many ministries and ministers are currently functioning along that same paradigm, striving to make the church something that will keep people around, with their needs met and their self-interests fulfilled. The Apostle Paul may have experienced this same issue when he wrote to the Philippians concerning church members: “For everyone looks out for his own interests, not the interests of Christ” (Philippians 2:21).

But what does the Bible say about the church? There are many titles associated with the church, many references and images that the Word of God uses to describe the nature and function of the people of God. Words such as: Bride of Christ, House of God, Temple of the Holy Spirit, Pillar and Foundation of the Truth, Assembly of Believers, Holy City, Royal Priesthood and a host of others are used, bringing a stirring and remarkable understanding of what the church is meant to be. It is imperative for all believers to abandon the notion that the church is simply the spiritual version of a fast-food restaurant, organized to dispense a product, made to cater to the whims of personal preference. Christians must return to a Biblical understanding of what the church is and what it means to belong to the Body of Christ. “So in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:5).

The church, ultimately, must first be identified with the Lord Jesus. As Romans 12:5 states, the church must be “in Christ.” It is impossible for a lost person to be considered, even remotely, as a part of the church because they fail the first qualification: being “in Christ.” Second, the church must be united in their association with one another. The church is: “we who are many.” There is a definite reality of the church being an amalgam of personalities. Yet, the “many” form “one body.” That is, though different in personalities, the church is united in nature—forming a cohesive organism that is singularly devoted to one another. It is difficult to believe that a person is a member of the church who has no desire to be collectively associated with the rest of the body. And for believers who are associated in spirit as well as function, it is delightful to recognize them as belonging to the body even if they have no “formal” declaration of membership.

Escaping the mindset of consumerism church attendance and returning to a Biblical view of belonging to the church is the only way to stave off the epidemic that has found its way from our culture to our congregations.

©2010
Rev. Michael Duncan

Divine Evaluation

Revelation 1:12-13, “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.”

Jesus is in the midst of the lampstands, moving, working, ministering to His church. That’s what the lampstands represent (Revelation 1:20). Christ Jesus is in the midst of His people, but I wonder if there is something else, some other reason that Jesus navigates among the lampstands and so I offer this question: is the Lord Jesus looking for something?

In 2 Chronicles 16:9 the seer, Hanani, spoke to Asa, king of Judah, “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” This statement comes as a rebuke to the king, for Asa had relied upon a worldly solution to his dilemma rather than trusting the Lord. These words come to the church today as a reminder that the Lord still searches the hearts of His own people. But what is the Lord Jesus looking for? Might He be looking for that lampstand, that church, even that Christian, which glows with no other light than His own? A light fueled by nothing less than the oil of His own Spirit?

When in the military, it was not uncommon for the commanders to gather their troops for inspection. They walked through the rank and file with their keen eyes set upon each soldier. They offered no encouragement, no pats-on-the-back. They inspected their troops and brought each soldier into compliance with their standards. Jesus doesn't walk in the midst of the lampstands simply to encourage but to examine, to evaluate the church and bring it into compliance with His standards. The second and third chapters of Revelation make that abundantly clear.

Jesus is looking at your life right now… what does He see? Does He see the flames of bitterness? Or does He see the darkness of doubt? Does Jesus see in you the embers of lost hope? The ashes of a forgotten faith? Does He see the missionary fires burning brightly? Does He watch the passionate flames of faithfulness despite the grip persecution? Will Jesus need to come into your life with the sword of His word and cut away the dross that diminishes your life? Will Jesus move through your church with encouragement or does he stand outside at the door, and knock?

They eyes of the Lord are upon you and He watches in order to commend or correct, to reward or rebuke. The Lord Jesus walks in the midst of his people and He is looking for something—He is looking for faith.

©2009
Rev. Michael Duncan

Spiritual Dinosaur - The Prayer Meeting

What ever happened to the prayer meeting? Churches across the country have either canceled their prayer service or curtailed it to such an extent that it might as well be canceled. I’ve spoken with many pastors who have acknowledged the need for prayer but who have also decided that due to a lack of attendance, the time can be used for other endeavors. So, the prayer gathering of the church goes the way of the dinosaur, extinct with only fossilized remains to remind the church of what was.

Now I would agree that the dinosaur extinction is, perhaps, a necessity. I mean, who wants to go hiking in the mountains only to have a T-Rex disrupt a glorious morning? It ruins the entire experience. But is that the same for the prayer meeting of the church? Is the prayer meeting nothing more than a hindrance to spiritual growth and development—a disruption of other, more suitable activities?

First, prayer is the very breath of the Christian life. In the model prayer that Jesus taught His disciples, the entire scope of the Christian life is conveyed: Recognition of God as Father, yielding to His will, seeking His provision, receiving His forgiveness, living with forgiveness toward others, and following His lead through life (Matthew 6:9-13). As Jesus said, “This, then, is how you should pray.” Perhaps many churches have abandoned this model and degenerated into selfish, whim-based prayers? If so, the church must return to this model for the prayer meeting.

Second, prayer is one of the four devotions of the church (Acts 2:42). “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” These four devotions of the church (and I mean by devotion: that which is an anchor point of faithful living) must play out in the congregations of God’s people. If you will allow the illustration, these are the four legs that support the altar of the Christian life: the word of God (the apostles’ teaching), the people of God (the fellowship), the worship of God (the breaking of bread), and communion with God (prayer). Without prayer the life dynamic of the church will collapse like a table with a missing leg.

Third, prayer is the place where the church begins to see the power of God manifested. The great revivals of old all had at their foundation a collection of praying Christians. It was the group who gathered in prayer that originally received the outpouring of God’s Spirit (Acts 1:14; 2:4). The ground shook when the church prayed (Acts 4:31). Peter escaped miraculously from prison as the church prayed (Acts 12:5). The Bible says, “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call on the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:13-15).

Christians want to see God respond mightily to the circumstances that are in the world. But I believe that God just might be waiting on the church to respond humbly to Him in prayer and repentance. The prayer meeting of the church is not a dinosaur, lost to the ages past. It might very well be the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37), needing to hear the voice of God again and rise up on their feet, a vast army—prayer warriors all.

©2009
Rev. Michael Duncan