General

Christians I know will think I’m crazy, or plotting, or just angry when they read this (and they may be right on the first and third) but here’s my prediction:  the local church is going to die and never return as we know it…and it will happen sooner than you think.

A bold prediction, I know.  Am I happy about this?  I don’t know.  In some ways I am, in some ways it’s really sad.  Here’s a little stream of consciousness on why I think it’s going to happen:

Disconnect

There is a pretty massive disconnect today between those who get paid to work in a church (or who ‘work’ there and don’t get paid) and people ‘out in the world’ following Jesus.  Massive.

If you listen to those inside the church they all are constantly bemoaning the loss of ‘butts in the seats’ (as I often crudely hear it stated).  People are leaving churches and, to them, it’s a mysterious tragedy.  The problem is, they treat it as if people are walking away from God…but often they’re not…they’re just walking away from the corporate/local church.

People inside the church see this as the cardinal sin, but only because they’ve (and we’ve) been raised in a culture that says the only way to God is through the institutional church (maybe not literally, but it is a subconscious fact of faith for church leaders).  Church leaders believe that ‘we’ need what ‘they’ have or we’re spiritually lost. (never mind that what they have isn’t God, but an institution)

People outside the church who are following Christ see this approach to ‘getting butts back in the seats’ as arrogant, self-serving, and a bunch of wasted energy. Afterall (I’ll boldly ask), what percentage of ‘church’ has anything to do with being Christ to the world?  In my experience, very little.

The overall disconnect comes because churches think they’re invaluable, while people following Christ in the world see them as irrelevant. Any way you slice it, unless the church starts supporting those who are ‘living Christ’ in the world in more relevant ways, it’s a goner.

Who’s Doing The Most Good?

I’ll admit this is going to be a generalization.  There are churches who do good.  There are people outside the church who claim to follow Christ but are worthless.  But in general, I’ll be bold and claim:

Most life changing, hope giving, poor feeding, alien welcoming acts of Christ are done completely disconnected from the local church.

The people I learn from and are inspired by in their faith are people outside the church institution.  Sure, they may go to a church.  They may be a member.  But the works that they do tend to be more self-sufficient and disconnected from that congregation.  They aren’t doing things because their congregation supports them (or, heaven forbid, facilitates them)…but despite the fact that it doesn’t.

I’m thinking of activists for the poor and needy.  Many authors teaching Christian truth.  Everyday people serving in homeless shelters and lobbying congress on behalf of the poor.  Setting up non-profts to welcome the alien and the orphan.

Do churches do this stuff?  Yes they do…but more often, they don’t.

Instead, most churches are spending time trying to get more ‘butts in the seats’, balance the budget, plan the next big worship blowout, or raising money for a youth trip.  It’s all about them, it’s self serving.  It’s the building of an empire rather than the doing of a mission. I’ve heard the arguments that these things are all done to bring more people to Christ, but I don’t buy it.

So, I’ll boldly argue that more Christ like activity happens disconnected from the local church than spawning from it.  Because of this, churches are not only irrelevant, they’re unnecessary to us doing mission.

It’s easier to connect

One of the greatest arguments I always hear for the local church is ‘Christian community’…the getting together of people with a common faith to support and spur one another on.  This community is absolutely essential.  (I know because I’m pretty bad at being a part of it, and I suffer for it) The problem is, the local church sees itself as the only place to get this community, the only place to get Christian support, challenges from other believers, and inspiration to serve God.

Again, I see this as an arrogant view by the local church. In my life, the most authentic, inspiring, healthy, growth-encouraging Christian communities are those that form naturally.  Groups of friends who meet together for dinner.  Guys who get together to study scripture, not because they’re part of a ‘church group’ but because they respect each other, are friends with each other, and seek to be Christ to each other.

Previously, it may have been difficult to form these groups, so the local church was the only place to find them.  With the drastic overhaul of interpersonal communication, the change of work styles from a 8-6 factory shift to a salaried ‘get your work done and I don’t care how you do it‘ workday, we’ve made it easy to plan and attend these groups on our own, without the help of the local church.

These days its easier to connect with each other, easier to form authentic Christian community outside of the local church which gives us one less reason to ‘need’ the church, which apparently functioned more in this respect as our personal assistant than our spiritual leader.

What about accountability?  What about spiritual truth?  What about (blah blah blah)….As soon as we assume that the local church is the only place The Spirit can keep us accountable, the only place that can preach the truth, and the only ’safe’ source of correction and inspiration, we’re right back where Luther started, aren’t we?  In a place where the church claims spiritual authority, undermining the role of The Spirit in each and every believer. And I, for one, won’t have it.

Is it just me?

The response I hear too often is: “Well, Bob, you’re just different.  Sure, maybe you don’t need the church because you have the luxury of time and the drive to make this stuff happen on your own…however, everyone else needs the church to serve these functions.”  To translate: “You’re a freak, stop applying your freakdom to everyone else.”

But you can quickly see it’s not just me.  Look at the numbers.  Look at the lack of ‘butts in the seats’.  Am I really the only one who thinks all these things?  Am I the only one who sees the disconnect?  To say so is ignoring the problem churches complain so much about:  They’re losing their congregations.  Why? I’m trying to tell you if you’ll listen :)

Losing Followers of Christ?

Note that I said “losing congregations”, not “losing followers of Jesus”.  Let’s say the local church dies as I predict.  What impact does that have on followers of Christ in our country…in our world?

When I talk with church leaders, it’s no secret to them that they believe at least half (I’m being generous here) of those ‘butts in the seats’ aren’t actually followers of Christ anyway. Sure they come to church, but they do it for reasons other than to worship The King (Worship, by the way, is something I don’t have an easy answer for replicating outside the local church..which maybe means this will be an important part of post-church communities of Christians….).

They’re there because their wives make them go, or to check off their ’spiritual thing’ for the week, or to relieve their guilt by giving some money, or to meet a potential spouse, or to keep their kids from doing drugs.  Whatever it is, people are at the local church for many, many reasons…but most of these reasons have nothing to do with Christ.

So, if the church goes away, what happens? I’d suggest that nothing happens. The people who follow Christ in churches will continue to do so outside of churches.  Those who show up for any other reason will stop showing up and will just find another way to fulfill these needs.  And, heck, in the process maybe they’ll stop being confused that Jesus is there to fulfill their selfish needs, to be a box that needs checking, and instead will encounter him in “real life”.

I’d argue that the number of people following Christ may actual RISE if churches were to die rather than decline. Have you talked to many people who are ’spiritual’ but don’t attend church?  If you have, you may think, as I do, that the church going away would be the best chance of them encountering Jesus…removing all the barriers that churches throw up, and putting Christ’s voice clearly back in the mouths of their friends and family members.

Long Live The Church

As I often point out, note the difference between my usage of Church and church in this post.  Unless I mistyped, you won’t see ‘Church’ (big ‘C’) anywhere before this section.  That’s because, while I predict the death of the church (lowecase ‘c’, which means the local institution), I pray and long for the explosion of The Church (uppercase ‘C’, which is simply a reference to all people worldwide, and throughout history, who call Jesus their Christ) in new and dramatic ways.

God tells us that He will sustain The Church.  He will maintain it and feed it until He returns.  For that, I’m excited beyond belief.  Note, however, this is a very different thing from maintaining and feeding the local church as we know it. God doesn’t promise our 501c3s won’t go bankrupt and that all the butts will leave the seats.  He simply promises that he will make sure those following him, every day, will be encouraged and taken care of until He comes back.

So, again: long live The Church.

Less Butts

I’ll leave this entry with a simple (and cheesy) question:  Shouldn’t leaders in the church put down their arrogance and be glad that there’s less ‘butts in the seats’?  Afterall, less butts sitting means more potential legs moving and hands giving, and THAT is more like what Christ asked us to do.