Losing Our Way

Losing our way?

I have seen and read a couple of articles recently that absolutely confirm something I said about three years ago to some friends. We were talking about the way the church has gone – as against the way the church should perhaps have gone. I suddenly said this – “If the church would only drop all its busy-ness and simply do God's Holy Spirit business - then we'd see some changes - maybe even revival.” I believe the church has been so busy doing that which it was not called to do that it has completely lost its way.

Before you throw your arms in the air in frustration or even anger at my temerity suggesting such a thing, consider this. Has the church become such a socially minded organisation that it spends more time socialising than ever it does in fulfilling the great commission? When did the social action plan get replaced by the social activity committee? When did we lose our zeal and replace it with complacency? When were we last more concerned about the plight of the poor than we were about replacing the choirs robes, or the kneelers, or the antiquated heating system?

The story of the rich young man in Matthew 19:16-25 springs to mind. “Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” “Which ones?” the man inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”  “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”  Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

This story reminds me so much of the church today – so concerned with her wealth and social standing, doing a little for others just so long as her own comfort zone is still comfortable. She seems completely unwilling and unable to give up all her great wealth – or even a portion of it – for the Gospel. Talking the talk but with so little evidence of walking the walk. I am truly saddened at the state of the church at this moment. So much of the Church is given over to being ‘your local social and busyness club’. So little is given over to being as Jesus intended her to be.

It’s not as if we don’t have the guidelines – the book of Acts is a kind of blueprint. The first church was the way Jesus intended it to be. The 21^st Century church is but a shadow of the 1^st Century one or even the 14^th Century one. The church at ground level then, for all its faults and foibles, was the social action centre of any town or village – reaching out to and caring for the poor as best it could. It wasn’t perfect but, by heck, they tried a bit harder than most do nowadays.

Thank God, part of the church, a very small part at the moment, seems to be regaining its conscience and with it, it’s real purpose. Perhaps the Bride is trimming her lamp ready to receive the Bridegroom after all?