My answer to the issues in the church may be surprising.
My relationship with the church is complicated, much like many people I encounter. I was raised in the church. My father was a wonderful, loving pastor and dad. Having grown up in the church, I saw the good, the bad, and the truly ugly. My experiences within the church vary from the sublime to the abusive.
Currently, my family and I struggle with committing to a local church body—partly because of COVID, partly because we moved here just as COVID shut down churches, partly because it's a struggle every time we move (and we've moved 11 times in our marriage) to restart relationships in a new place, and mostly because the current expression of the American church makes it hard to keep my mouth shut.
I have been accused of being offended with the church (which makes no sense because one can only be offended by a person), but this is not the case. I've long since forgiven individuals for the negative experiences within churches and received healing for wounds inflicted.
No, I'm not offended or hurt...I'm JEALOUS.
I'm jealous FOR the church. For what it is meant to be. For what it is meant to display as the Body and Bride of Christ. I am heartbroken when I see the how the mystery of the church has been reduced. I am like the parent pleading with the child, "You could be so much more!" The church is so much more, but it is in desperate need of a return.
There have been times when I stand inside the church, joining my voice to those who call out for revival. Other times, I stand outside the church, ringing the proverbial alarm to let those inside know the glory of God has departed.
I have to tread carefully—I'm not Christ moving among the lampstands but I am gripped by the clear vision of Him doing so. I refuse to be in the place of the Accuser of the Brethren...the purpose of my call is reconciliation to Christ and to come out from among the perversions of this age. I have even mistakenly gone so far as to attempt to call out the wheat from the weeds so that compromise would no longer be celebrated, but, it is not my job to do so. Christ will do so upon His return.
However, I do accept that it is my place to call the Body of Christ to repentance and to return to the holiness and humility of Christ.
I invite those who hear what I am saying and find themselves in a similar position NOT to set aside the issues and mistakes the church presents (even though we know that this is because the church is made up of humans—prone to both). I invite you NOT to set aside the reality of bullies or worse in the leadership of local churches and the people who blindly or willfully keep them in power (also all humans). I invite you NOT to set aside all the times when we, the members of local churches, have been silent or on the wrong side of history. I invite you NOT to set aside the reality of congregations who have never had a salvation experience, where idolatry and compromise reign, and the presence of God has long since left (if it was there in the first place).
Instead, we must address each of these issues WITH the answer: the church. Not the buildings, traditions, edifices, music styles, and local sandboxes—the real church. The one that looks like Christ. We must address these issues with repentance, returning to Christlike humility and holiness. We must anoint the "ordinary" of our lives by cherishing and cultivating the presence of God, retreading the Sacred Pathways that develop holiness. We must ruthlessly remove pride so the Holy Spirit can cultivate the humble spirit of Christ.
I have heard the ridiculous, watery arguments for committing to a body of believers, but the true reason to commit to a local Body of Christ is so we become scraped and shaped by rubbing elbows with others, as living stones (1 Peter 2:1-12), until we are fitted into His temple so His spirit can be both cultivated and displayed. This cannot be accomplished in solitude and it is not accomplished quickly. Membership to the Body of Christ is instantaneous but the "setting in" our place is not so easily accomplished.
When our citizenship is changed and we are no longer decaying in our perversion, when we have been instantaneously connected to the holy life of the Vine, Christ is revealed as Holy—wholly other. Our connection to Christ and to others transforms us as the Body of Christ, revealing Christ to the world.
This, then, is the mystery of Christ revealed in the church. This revelation IS the solution.
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