Over the past few weeks, my discussions have revolved around church and the role of the church. I have been studying and reading on this subject, and have realized some of the most common mistakes churches make. I have discussed some of these previously, but here they are all in one place.
The first and one of the most common is embracing the building. A lot of churches are greatly distracted by their desperate need for a building. They believe a church cannot be a church unless they have this great "house of God," complete with steeple and maroon carpet. The New Testament emphasizes a church "not made by human hands," but instead made of of people. People are themselves Temples of the Holy Spirit and a church body is comprised of a group of believers, plain and simple. The actual meeting place is completely irrelevant.
Another common mistake is to be confused about tithing. Biblical mandate for tithing is an Old Testament law and was intended to maintain the Jewish Temple system and support the Levitical Priesthood. The New Testament church neither taught it, and they also did not practice it. I realize this may cause some contention and major disagreement, but read on before you disagree completely. The Christian Church did not mandate tithing until the 7th Century. Over 700 yeas with no tithing. If you read the New Testament, the offerings in the church were freely given out of love, not as a mandate for tithing. Some even gave more than a tithe and sold everything they owned and shared it with those around them. Tertullian, in his "Apology" in the 2nd Century confirms that no offering was taken out of compulsion but:
"Even if there is a treasury of a sort, it is not made up of money paid in initiation fees, as if religion were a matter of contract. Every man once a month brings some modest contribution- or whatever he wishes, and only if he does wish, and if he can; for nobody is compelled; it is a voluntary offering…to feed the poor and to bury them, for boys and girls who lack property and parents, and then for slaves grown old."
It wasn't until Constantine, that the clergy were paid for their services for the first time in Church history, and the payment was provided by the Roman government, not by the Christians themselves.
Another HUGE mistake churches make is ignoring the poor. There are over 2,000 verses of scripture in the Bible that speak of God's heart for the poor, and that we should love and bless the poor among us. Deuteronomy 15:11 states, "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” A church community should be active in their community helping everyone and showing everyone Christ in them.
Still another mistake many churches make is over-emphasizing the role of the pastor. The pastor was not the head of the church in the New Testament. The word "Pastor" only appears once and non of the epistles to the churches are addressed to the pastors, they are addressed to the church, the people themselves. Christians of the New Testament Church could not point out one man as their "Pastor." They could not even point out a priest. This is because everyone understood from the Apostles that they were the Priesthood. The people are the Priesthood.
Finally a mistake churches make, especially in larger churches, is yearning for political power. We cannot "Christianize" our society by legislating our Christian values. The New Testament Christians lived under an oppressive government, and were killed and persecuted on a daily basis. Instead of trying to reform the government, they obeyed God's word and loved their oppressors. They did not verbally abuse people with a sinful lifestyle, they did not form a coalition or a lobby group, they did not even pick up a sword and fight back. They simply loved the people around them.
Churches should focus more on the people that make up that body, and showing Christ to the whole community through love.
God Bless
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I love everything you wrote (everything God has shown you). It's amazing how even the place of worship is conformed with society. It's like everyone has to have the best of the best. Church A would be chosen by some people over Church B because it has nicer pews. It's ridiculous. And I do not like it when a "pastor" starts off by saying "Isn't it a great day to be in God's house?" God lives inside YOU not a church building.
ReplyDeleteLove it. Have you ever read Pagan Christianity? (Frank Viola) It basically explains how a lot of our modern church practices were derived from pagan traditions. I love the analysis they provide of the modern tithing system. Whenever a pastor preaches on it, they always use malachi 3 as an example, not revealing the context that the tithing was a produce offering, and designed to support the poor and Levites, not to pay a pastor (which don't even exist in the new testament). The modern tithing system is good for the rich and bad for the poor. 10% is nothing for a rich man, and when he gives it, he looks good, but a poor man could hardly afford 10%. Also, the pastor gets paid with the tithe, money supposed to be given to the poor that often comes FROM the poor!
ReplyDeleteThey also use Abraham as an example, but he is only known to have "tithed" once in his life! (genesis 16 i think)
Basically, I am inclined to think that 99% of church traditions are antiscriptural; they prohibit every-member functioning of the Body. At Wall Highway, one person wrote to say they didn't think any major decisions should be made until a pastor was hired. How wrong is it that most of the church agreed! And it's taken over a year and they still haven't found one. (I don't think we should even have one)
That's why I don't even think 'going to church' to hear the pastor preach should be a necessary part of the Christian life. Unfortunately, the first day I went to BCM they said something like "this is not your home church. we will help you find one, but this is not it."
I don't mind going to church and hearing our pastor speak. I just keep it in perspective that it is a building, and focus on the Christian Community, and not going to hear a message or keep up appearances. We are supposed to gather together and worship, praise, pray, and fellowship as Christians, but this does not require a huge building, nor to put emphasis on this said building no matter the size.
ReplyDeleteYou know, its funny that you mention how much emphasis is placed on the church building. I was driving through downtown Tuscaloosa the other day, and you can't help but notice the 5 or 6 massive churches there. And I just kept wondering, of the millions of dollars that are spent building/renovating/maintaining these nice facilities, how much more could people in need have been helped if the money was used there instead. Is God glorified more through a nice new building or helping those in need? If the purpose of the church is to glorify God and "be" Jesus to the world, how well are we accomplishing that from inside the walls of multi-million dollar facilities?
ReplyDeleteExactly, Lyndsey, exactly. It doesn't really make any sense to me. It definitely doesn't seem Biblically sound. If you are doing that to draw more people to come, then maybe you missed what Jesus did. He didn't sit around and wait for everybody to come to Him; instead, He traveled His entire life, and commissioned us to do the same.
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