The above billboard sums up a conversation I had with a church member this week.
They pointed to the St Paul's debacle and the Church's failure to do what everyone else saw as right. They railed at the 'fact' that the Church is more taken up with money than people, consistently missing the opportunity to act in a Christian manners doing the right thing and predominantly appearing to be bankers (I don't think that was meant to be a euphemism!) and financial types.
"I love God," they cried, "But I don't want anything to do with Church! I'm more concerned about me and heaven than being alongside a bunch of hypocrites, and worse still, being one of them!"
Now I don't know about you but I can remember when I thought, spoke and even acted like this lovely person. I didn't want to be part of any denomination I just wanted to follow Jesus and His teachings. I wanted to keep myself 'clean' and avoid the religious people. The problem was as I progressed further along this path (and I did for quite some time - about eighteen months) I found myself being more and more of a hypocrite in the way that what I said married up to who I was, and was becoming.
Then, one day it struck me that if I was someone who believed in Jesus and looked to His sacrifice on the cross to bring me and God back together then I too was 'Church'. This didn't mean that I bought into the hierarchy or applauded the excesses, weakness and errors or politely coughed and looked away when hypocrisy was on display, it meant that I couldn't live in isolation from other Christians and where two or more of us were together, we were Church. In fact even when I was on my own, being a bit Trinitarian, there were four of us and so Church was to be found in me alone. Not only that but because of this, wheresoever I went, basilaea, the Kingdom of God was to be found too.
I was to be the lampstand that was placed in the centre of things so that all might see by the light of Christ (Matt5 // Lk 8 & 15). I was to be part of the body that did the task it was called to do that the whole body might be fit and well and work as it should (1 Cor 12).
I'm sorry to say this but once you take Christ's hand and accept His offer of life then you are part of Church and if the institutional body that bears his name is getting it wrong, then we stand and speak out, we make our stand and seek to restore those in error (GENTLY!).
Christianity is not about condemning anyone but is about coming alongside, affirming, supporting and leading them to better things.
How we doing?
