Too often, the Church today can appear so obsessed with statistics, influence, and big finance, that its real purpose, that of providing a place of security and spiritual guidance, does not even appear on the mission statement. Every church will have its own sales pitch, but if a "hungry sheep" should come looking simply for an uncluttered and honest Christianity, he would go from city to city carrying his hunger with him, unsatisfied.
'Church' should be a place where the doors are open. A place where community should find its purest expression. The words: openness, security, acceptance and honesty, mean nothing unless they are expressed socially. While most churches would aspire to encourage these kinds of characteristics, just beneath the politeness of Sunday mornings, all kinds of 'isms' thrive, most of which diminish the integrity of the sales pitch.
How humiliating it is to be found trying to sell our core products and services, only to find that, in the clear light of day, we have sold out! The 'security' offered is out of stock. The 'acceptance' promised, always difficult to get from the suppliers anyway, now appears to be discontinued.
Not to worry though, the show must go on. So we carry on, only now, we give out heavy demands for loyalty and commitment, and church membership gradually slips into servicing the agendas and visions of leadership.
The imagery used in the New Testament to describe the church, is more that of a body than an army. This is both beautiful and profound: it only requires the members to be present for the body to be complete. Jesus words, "I am the vine, you are the branches", is a marvel to our modern thinking. He seems to be saying: "I will be with you, and among you, when you are together. It is only then, you will be fruitful'. What an interesting condition for church growth!
The contrasting 'Leadership' approach to Church Building, all but ignores the "body" analogy in favour of an ;Army'. Here we have authority given an almost uncontested platform to do as it sees fit. Often with pure motives and integrity, but always with a paper thin curtain between the proper use and the abuse of this authority.
A "Big Vision Church", perhaps rightly, has its eye on reaching the world. I know these leaders pay a heavy price for their vision. But is 'Big' necessarily beautiful? or is it just to impress? Is it really about reaching the nations? Might it be - heaven forbid - just so that we can be bigger than a rival church? Leaders need big visions to give structure to their own sense of achievement, but has this any relevance to God's purposes?
The bigger the Vision, the more remote the small person will feel from the central purpose of the church. Whether real or imagined, they will feel some form of arm-twisting is used to enforce commitment, they will soon feel abused or taken for granted, and will be looking for the exit signs. Even backsliders, though they have their issues, they are still fellow pilgrims. Jesus still loves them, and anyway, lost sheep are to be sought, found and restored.
It is no fun to feel like a sheep, pushed to the edge of the flock, and left on the mountainside while the '99' others stick together and move on regardless, with mutterings of being better off without the weak. The 'Jesus' model of church, never operates like this. There are Shepherds because there are sheep. Sheep are not there for the benefit of the shepherds.
As sheep, we all do dumb things every now and then, but it is not a leader's job to give off the vibes of disapproval, or to make someone feel they are shamefully weak and have not yet made the grade. Church was never meant for a favoured few. It was meant to shower favour on the many!
If what God has invested in you, me or anybody else, is smothered for the sake of an overriding, bigger picture, then the acceptance so generously offered at the start, is lost to oppression. This amounts to the sheep being fed to the wolves!
One thing is certain: The "Joy of the whole earth", is the destiny we should believe for. 'The mountain of the house of the Lord, will be established as chief of the mountains." We can be convinced that Jesus will see to it that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it".
We all have heart-searching to do, repenting to be done, apologies to make, peace-making to undertake, and humility to find. We have yet to establish all the virtues in our hearts and lives. Let us pray that when the time comes for us to give an account for ourselves, our progress might at least, be measurable.
