The Church is made up of people representing every tribe and nation. We who belong to the body of believers in Jesus Christ come from all different cultures, ethnicities, and languages. God created us in His image and our humanity was created especially so that we may be able to participate and commune with the Creator. The Church is not brick and mortar, but we do use church buildings and organizations to gather to celebrate the beauty of God’s holiness. The greatest miracle of the Church is that we have a Father who loves us and has chosen us. We have been redeemed by God the Son because of the work of the Cross and the living proof of His resurrection. The Church is living out its mission based on our hope of Jesus returning for us. The miracle of the Holy Spirit is that He sanctifies us daily and is completing His work in us while we live in our mortal sinful bodies. And that is the hardest part of each person’s journey! Today’s honest conversation will discuss who the Church is and acknowledge its depravity so that we can begin to right past wrongs and move forward with God’s anointing.
Through the centuries of the life of the Church it isn’t hard to see its faults. In 1517 Martin Luther, who was a Catholic priest at the time, posted his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, protesting against the excesses and corruption of the Church that held power over people. The same issues of pride, selfishness, greed, control, and power that fuels a narcissistic leader today also fueled the misdeeds of the church in 1517. Here are the three main points of his 95 Theses.
Salvation is by faith alone
The Bible is the only authority
The priesthood of all believers
This was revolutionary and its thinking was out of bounds. Although Luther’s criticism was aimed at the workings of the church as an organization, his 95 Theses were considered an indictment against the Bride of Christ. It was unthinkable for anyone to challenge the church’s traditions and its unbiblical practices like indulgences. Indulgences were sold by the church to free a person from purgatory so they could go to heaven. For a set amount of money an indulgence assured the buyer of complete forgiveness of their sins. Martin Luther protested these false doctrines as well as a church liturgy that was designed to empty the pocketbooks of well-intended saints. This approach was as evil then as is today. The church of Rome excommunicated Luther, not acknowledging that its leaders were acting inappropriately. Why did the church excommunicate and label Martin Luther a heretic? If embraced by the church, Luther’s three main points would have removed the unbiblical, heavy-handed control the church had over its people. These concepts proclaimed that every believer was called to the universal priesthood which gave them rights and responsibilities that were equal to those who had been formally ordained by the church. The church leaders in 1517 were so blinded by their depravity and their status within their communities that they would not relinquish their power and make things right. In my opinion, the American church is on the same path.
This change must start with leadership! Years ago, I was in a tough situation while I worked as a dean of students for a Bible college. A young woman came forward at chapel and declared in front of several hundred of her fellow students that she had cancer. As strange as this might sound to some of you, at that moment I heard a voice in my heart say that she was lying. Why was this such a tough spot for me? Her parents vouched for her saying she had previously had cancer and that she was a survivor. Her church held a special prayer service where many members prophesied over her, including her pastor. Prophetic words were spoken that she would be healed. Even with all of this, everything in me knew that, sadly, she was lying. To make a long story short, after investigating her story it turned out that all her doctor’s reports were made up, and the whole thing was just one big lie. I bring this up not to focus on a young hurting student that lied to get attention, but to shine a light on the behavior her pastor. As this incident was unfolding, it just so happened that her well-known pastor was scheduled to speak at our Bible college chapel. Because I didn’t yet have all the facts, I asked this pastor as our guest speaker to hold off on calling this student onstage to be prayed for. He looked at me kind of smug and said condescendingly, “Okay.” The very first thing he did as he began speaking was to have her come up on stage and then he proceeded to indirectly lecture me about the importance of prayer, touting his own prophetic voice as a pastor. He was not going to be told what he could and could not do. He indulged in this self-aggrandizing Pentecostal moment in front of everyone and again gave a prophetic word for the young woman. When everything about this sad deception came to light, this pastor never offered an apology for the way he had been ruled by his ego and pride. He never admitted nor took any responsibility for misleading so many, some of whom were now questioning if this God speaking to them was real. If we really want to love the bride of Christ, we as leaders must repent and relinquish our thirst for control. Then the Holy Spirit can quench our thirst as He sanctifies and refreshes us with the hope of our salvation.
Lately I have heard pastors quote statistics about how many pastors are quitting, how many churches are closing, and how only 50% of churches have reopened since the shutdowns caused by the pandemic. Their view is so interesting to me. They only seem to view it from the perspective that being a pastor must be the toughest vocation and that people are turning away from God. The devil is attacking, and we must be better “bringers” to fill our churches again. Maybe it’s time to consider that the Church, the body of believers in Jesus Christ, no longer wants to go to these kinds of church organizations. When it makes the news that a surfer got bitten by a shark, the common response from local beach goers is to be cautious for a season. After some time passes it’s usually the surfers who go back into the ocean first because of their passion for surfing. Sharks are just one of the hazards of being a surfer. However, if multiple surfers keep getting bitten and are dying because of these attacks, you will certainly see a greater hesitation by people to return to the water. In fact, some people will choose to never swim or surf in that area again under any circumstances. The issue for many church organizations is not the lack of people in their community who love God, but that these people have seen too many “shark attacks” and they are unwilling to get back into the water. Sometimes church just does not feel safe. What if God is calling the leaders within the bride of Christ to repent and maybe even change how we do church? In these last two years there has been a lot of change and more change could be coming. My prayer is that as the Church we do not get stuck like the church leaders did in 1517. Rather than putting our efforts into controlling people… let’s disciple and commission them.
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