The Declining Church

The latest issue of Rev! Magazine, published by the company where I work, has a cover story on the American Church in crisis. Here is yet more evidence of the changes that are happening in the church. Yesterday our pastor's sermon included some discussion about the difference between following Christ and getting involved in "organized religion". For years I've made no secret of my disdain for organized religion and the damage it's done to the good name of Jesus Christ. In fact, this entire blog has been dedicated to pointing out where the organized church has missed the mark when it comes to faithfully presenting Jesus to the world.

It's in our nature to organize. It could even be argued that it's Biblical that church happen in an orderly fashion. It's no surprise that when people start to organize we start to sort ourselves and, eventually, everyone get's assigned a position. Next thing you know there are desirable and less desirable positions within the organization. The Church is not immune to this very human proclivity. Over time, almost every individual church will turn in on itself and begin existing just for the sake of existing having lost all sense of it's original purpose. There will be leaders bent on protecting the church and it's rules, standards, doctrines and history. These are not bad people...usually...just people who've lost sight of what it means to be a follower of Christ. It doesn't take much from there for the larger church denomination to follow suit. Pretty soon local churches and whole denominations become inbred hotbeds of self-perpetuating dysfunction.

This process seems to take anywhere from 400 to 500 years. From the exile in Babylon to the coming of Christ it was between 400 and 500 years. Jesus confronted a religious system so entrenched and self-protective that they were blind to the fact that he was the chosen Messiah. About 500 years later the church had become entrenched with government. By the 1500's the church, primarily represented by the Roman Catholic denomination once again needed to be confronted with the truth of Jesus and went through a painful reformation.

So, here we are another 500 years into the story and organized religion is in crisis. Once again there are those pointing to the words of Christ and the truth of his ministry to offer correction to the official church...in all it's denominational forms. Those offering alternative thoughts on following Christ are, once again, being demonized and disregarded by the organized, corporate, church. It's not as bloody a battle as the last reformation...at least not yet. But, based on my study and observation, we are in the early days of the new epoch and what is challenging, new, even heretical is most likely laying the foundation for the church that will need reformation 400 years from now, should Christ delay his return. Thanks to Brian McLaren, Donald Miller, Rob Bell and others who are blazing a difficult but necessary trail into the future.