Church: Love It or Leave It?

 You are the Messiah . . . [said Peter]

. . . on this rock I will build my church [said Jesus]. (Matthew 16)

It should be evident that I have become a rather harsh critic of the church.  I have as a pastor and as a denominational administrator seen what is best  and worst in the institution and in these retirement years I seem to be having a hard time focusing on the church’s blessings.  During my salaried days I was if anything an apologist - a good soldier who saw myself as a servant and defender of the institution.  While I occasionally dabbled in experimental theologies and experienced bouts of doubt, I generally kept these to myself while preaching and teaching the basics, albeit with a liberal leaning bias.  But I sometimes wonder if the church hasn’t often been as much a contributor to the ills of society as it has a balm, or reformer, for those ills.

But here’s the thing - the story of Jesus is the point.  Whatever baggage has been attached to that story, the story’s basic core is the answer to the human predicament.  There is the ring of truth to the Jesus narrative, and something so compelling about his personality and life that I believe it is salvific.  Jesus saves, indeed.

And the church, as the repository and conveyor of the Jesus story, is essential to God’s desire to redeem creation.  I struggle with this.  I have often wondered if there is any way to bypass the church.  Would the story of Jesus be transmitted from generation to generation were it not for the institution of the church?  Would a less formal oral tradition be enough for the gospel to have made it 2000 years later?  I doubt it.  

So the church, for good AND ill, is the means by which the story gets told.  “On this rock I will build my church,” Jesus said.  We can argue about what Jesus meant, whether he was intending to build the church on Peter (the Roman Catholic position), or whether his intent was to build the church on Peter’s confession (the Protestant position).  In either case, Jesus was obviously, purposefully, forming the church.  

But while the church was formed on purpose, in every generation the church has been in need of reform.  While Jesus (and sometimes, Paul) lifted up the place and role of women, the church early on demoted them once again.  While the scripture spoke about the priesthood of all believers - a profound democratizing principle - the church eventually elevated some as priests, constructing what would become a severe hierarchy.  While the ministry of Jesus was a direct critique of the world’s obsession with power, the church has too often been all too willing to use worldly power to elevate itself.  But always, thankfully, there have been Spirit-led movements to counteract these corruptions of the gospel and refocus on the intent of Jesus.  And these movements, too, are part of the church - the church that is in constant need of correction.  Like a ship at sea, ever adjusting its course to account for wind, waves, and currents, the church cannot be static, but always needs to be nudged in the right direction.  

So, the church is necessary.  You could say it is a part of God’s plan.  But as a human institution, it is in constant need of amendment.  This is why confession of sin is a frequent part of worship.  Vestiges of almost every form of corruption and heresy that the church has experienced historically can be found in portions of the church even today, so we must constantly be redirected to the story of Jesus to regain our course, to cast off the excess baggage, and rediscover the core truth of the gospel.  “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).”  That includes the church.