Organized Religion ...

Does a Christian need a church to be a Christian?  Can we call ourselves followers of Christ but not subscribe to any form of organized religion, or does being part “of the body” require more of us than our individual devotion to our Lord?  In today’s culture there seems to be apathy if not disdain for organized religions in almost every variety.  A good number of people who identify themselves as Christians also admit they do not attend church regularly, some not at all.  Even within our own faith, church membership on the books or registry roles far exceeds who we see next to us week to week in the pews.  What appears to have so many Christians disinterested in weekly fellowship?  Is organization itself the cause, or is it something deeper?

To be of one accord; this was our goal, if not our mandate as Christians; to be one, as Jesus was one with His Father; a level of unity of purpose and intent that to date seems to have eluded us as Christians.  There are nearly 1000 different denominations of Christian churches around the world with reasonably significant memberships.  How can we even begin to talk of unity when there are a thousand different varieties of Christians who hold beliefs significantly different enough to warrant a thousand different organizations dedicated to the preservation of those differing beliefs.  It seems the only real thing that might unite us is our enemy.  Everyone (in the Christian community) would agree Satan is no friend of the followers of Christ, and yet almost each faith would gladly accuse the others of having been influenced by Satan for holding beliefs different from their own.  Everyone (again in the Christian community) would also agree that Muslims are mistaken in their beliefs and somehow seem to pose a threat to Christian values, yet most cannot point to a particular Islamic doctrine they are opposed to.  Atheists in general seem to pose the greatest “threat” to Christianity at large, as they are generally tagged as liberal, elitist, intellectuals who wish to see only their own anti-god agenda become the norm for society at large.  Sadly, only external opposition seems to bring Christians of different churches into any sort of unity with each other.  How far this is from the words of our Lord to be “as one”.

Organized religion must also contend with the woes of financial collection and distribution.  How much money should a pastor make?  If he is a pastor of a small church, should his income be equally small – or of a mega church, should his income be equally huge?  And when charitable missions are undertaken, who should receive the funds, in what amounts, to what audiences (local, regional, national, or global)?  Over time even the most patient of Christians begins to wonder what happens to his tithes and offerings once they exit his wallet.  It is easy to find a way to disagree with how your organization uses your funding, and then as a result become reluctant to continue giving.  How money is distributed becomes a substantial point of contention for many.

But perhaps more serious than how we spend our funds, is how much dedication we put into maintaining the rigidity of our beliefs among our various congregations.  It is not uncommon to hear a particular Christian church accuse another one of differing beliefs, of missing the kingdom of God, simply because they disagree about particular doctrines.  How interesting that particular points of faith become the determining factor in another person’s salvation.  In this regard, apparently His grace is a bit lacking?  My Bible reads “sufficient for all”, but then I like the King James version, and may not be a member in good standing in your church.  How easily Christians appear to do more than simply accuse other Christians of being mistaken, they develop antagonistic relationships with other churches.  Resentment builds when Christians “convert” from one faith to another.  Pastors are strictly watched to insure they do not preach any truth from the pulpit that may stray from the denominational traditions.  And as a result, very little “new” truth is ever revealed in any church, in any denomination – rather the traditional viewpoints are followed for decades on end.

The most obvious question an Atheist might ask a Christian attempting to witness to him, is simply – why your church?  With a thousand different choices he could make, why yours, why mine, why anyone’s outside of perhaps his own interpretations of scripture?  Assuming he is willing to ignore the 999 choices, upon a close examination of most churches, the follow-up question might be – where are all the members this week?  Has the acceptance of Christianity been reduced to a mere tacit agreement with a denominational viewpoint, membership on the roles of the local church, and a resumption of “normal” life after that?  Do we seek only the intellectual persuasion that our version of truth is the best one on the market, and then become content to see each other “as time, priority, and schedule permits”?  It does not look much like the model of the earliest Christian church.

But then the early Christian church was less organized, and more life altering.  It was more of a movement, than a set of doctrines.  It had a mission each member was committed to living not just remembering.  It required activity, and left little distractions to interrupt it.  Early Christian converts in the time of Peter and Paul, sold every belonging they had, gave everything to the church, and became avid witnesses for Christ.  They literally lived the gospel.  They dedicated their entire existence to the idea that everyone must hear the good news of Jesus Christ and come to know what it means to be truly saved from self, and from the slavery to self, we all suffer from.  Christ threw off the bonds of self service, even to those who continued to wear the chains of physical slavery.  Souls and lives were set free by Him.  To see this message encompass the globe was the burning desire in each new member’s heart.  For it was not just a recitation of scriptures, or an intellectual understanding of the role of the Messiah; rather it was the personal life altering freedom that Christ brought in the age old war against self, and the pain that self causes.  Christ had finally conquered the true enemy of our souls – “I”.  By submission or surrender, we could come to Christ, acknowledge our inability to free ourselves, and accept His gift of real change in our hearts, our minds, and our actions.  This was burning message that early Christians made a life of spreading.  And it spread like wildfire, changing the hearts, minds, and lives of all who encountered it.

Today however, the burning truth and the power of change that Christ can bring to a life, has been lost in the preservation of each denominations fundamental beliefs.  We spend more time attempting to distinguish Catholics, from Baptists, from Lutherans, from Methodists, from Adventists than we do living the fundamental life altering change that Christ brings to the heart.  As organized members of particular faiths it is no longer enough to merely point others to the source of love and change, we must go further and insure they have our unique view of truth as well.  Thus Christians spend more time attempting to proselytize other Christians, than they do sharing the gospel with those who are wholly unfamiliar with the name or power of Jesus Christ.  In this we fail the world, we fail ourselves, and we fail our Lord.  Would that we could reunite under His banner, and focus more on the sharing of Jesus Christ and His ability to change lives, and lead each soul to deeper truth.  If we could simply point people to Christ and let Christ lead them into further truth, even if that does not happen to correspond to our particular faith, we would do more for the Lord and have a larger impact on the world around us.  But alas, our organizations are not structured this way, and appear content how they are.

We lack a fire in our witness, because we lack a fire in our lives.  Our pews are empty because our members feel no compelling need to share what they have accomplished in the effort to witness this week, and need no encouragement for the coming days.  It is because our meager efforts to witness are few and far between, not the consuming passion of our very existence.  Our witnessing efforts tend towards pointing out the sins in others, and warning them of their impending doom – more than showing a genuine tender interest in the life and well-being of another, and providing a living example of what unconditional love looks like.  Our own hearts are unaffected because we have simply not allowed our Savior to affect them.  We cling to our own notions of how to conquer sin and achieve perfection, or worse become completely complacent with our condition in sin.  As such we cannot personally attest to the life altering change that Christ alone can bring.  Our denominations can do nothing to supplement the personal truth of a personal experience when Christ removes a sin that He alone could do from your everyday life.  That kind of experience is not found in a list of fundamental beliefs, it is found in a daily submission to Christ.  We rely on our organizations to find a way to witness to the world.  We are content to allow nameless pastors and evangelists to do the job of pointing the way to Christ, rather than pick of the banner ourselves; and so no personal need, no personal fire, translates to empty pews, and an apathetic crowd.

To begin to think about unity once again, is not to forsake our differences in beliefs – it is to unite around the most fundamental principle of all of Christianity – that Jesus Christ alone can save us from ourselves, our evil, and our pain.  In this my denomination does not matter.  In this my other ideas are not quite as important.  It is simple logic to assume that not all 1000 Christian churches can be 100% correct about every competing doctrine or ideology.  It stands to reason, that it might be me, or you, who is mistaken about a point of fact or two.  So why not simply point people to Christ and allow Christ the freedom to show us where we are wrong in His time, in His manner, and using the methods He wishes?  Why not concentrate less about the persuasion of doctrine and more on the surrender of a life to Christ.  This alone will restore the power of the gospel.  This alone is a solution the world is craving, needs, wants, and would listen to as they see it lived out in an actual life of a Christian.  Our lives can once again become our witness, not through our organization, but through our personal existence.

Having restored a passion for Christ in each of us, it leads us to crave the company of others.  Not only those who need to hear the hope and truth of change that only Christ can bring, but those who have already heard it, and now are living it out like we are.  We begin to want that communion with each other.  We begin to realize those with differing skills can fill differing roles in the body of Christ.  We begin to see the value in each member in the pew, and develop a passion to be involved in that person’s life.  This is the kind of renewal we need in each church regardless of its particular version of doctrines.  To mimic the ministry of Christ by intensely loving others first, all others, even those still in sin, even those we think above or below ourselves – literally everyone – this was His commission to those who call on His name.  If we are to call ourselves Christians, then we must mimic our Lord and LOVE first.  We can worry about the teaching MUCH later in the equation.  Let us restore love as our first passion, and bring back the tired to our churches once again.  Let us live a witness rather than simply talk about what might be, or what could be – rather let us talk about what is.  Let us make the love of Christ a reality in our own lives, and kill the “I” once and for all.  Perhaps then Christian unity might have a better shot at reality than it has thus far.