Now that is one observation that should produce a reaction from anyone who loves Jesus Christ. In fact, I find Pastor Powell’s assessment to be downright provocative … and prophetic. His statement is certainly provocative in that it provokes a response and challenges me to think deeply and honestly about three people I love very much: Jesus Christ, His bride (the church), and … me. (I wish I could with integrity have listed lost people as the third person I love so dearly, but if I am to be absolutely truthful, I must candidly admit I think I love me more that I do them).
I also find Pastor Powell’s comment to be prophetic, not in the sense we tend to imagine prophetic – as some mystical foretelling, but in that I believe he is forth-telling – he is telling forth from God’s Word and heart the truth. Specifically, I recognize three obvious truths in his claim:
Truth #1: Yes! The church is indeed the hope of the world! God has established the confessing and possessing fellowship of Christ-followers as the Body of Christ – not government, not education, not religion, not economics. And this Body of Christ is charged to grow up and mature in a manner commensurate with the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16). That means we are to be like Jesus, designed to remind heaven and earth of the love and grace and mercy afforded us in Jesus Christ. We are to function as His hands, His feet, and His voice to invite all nations to know Him and to make Him known (Matthew 22:1-14; 28:19-20).
Moreover, when He returns for His Bride, again, He is not coming for governments, or financial institutions, or even benevolent organizations. He is coming for His Bride, the church! Even when He comes for her – for us – the bride is found in Scripture applying herself to His mission – inviting all people to come to the Living Water (Revelation 22:17).
Truth #2: Yes! The church is the hope of the world “when it’s working right.” When the church does not work according to “specs” – according to God’s original design and desire for His people – then we actually become a hindrance, even an obstacle to people’s clear reception of Jesus. I find it enlightening that when Jesus says to His disciples, to us, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world,” He immediately follows each of those glowing commendations with warnings. “Don’t become contaminated and, thereby, lose your salt-like capacity to draw people to God.” “Be careful you don’t cover up the light and, thereby, obscure the path for people in the dark” (Matthew 5:13-15).
You see, the bad news is that when the church is not on mission, operating according to God’s vision and values, then our systems and strategies, our ways of “doing church” actually make the Gospel unclear to folks. The good news, however, is that when all we do as a church, when our programs and practices are governed by God’s vision, God’s mission, and God’s values, then we are indeed the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the great hope of the world Jesus says we are. And when we are operating at peak proficiency, informed by God’s Word and inspired by His passion for all people, then we our light will shine in such a way before people that they see our good works – not our hypocrisy, not our secret code words, not our exclusivity – and they will give glory to our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16)! Hooray! and Hallelujah!
Truth #3: Yes. Sadly, most churches are not working right today. We are all familiar with the statistic by now: 80% of all churches in the
When churches love their way of doing church more than they love God’s mission, or more than they love lost people, then those churches are not working right. And when they are not working right, the common perception of the church is that we are out-dated, irrelevant, and unnecessary. So, leaders like Dan Kimball discover and write to warn us that the emerging generations “like Jesus but not the church.” When people begin to think that of His ambassadors, then a disregard for “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” is sure to follow. Who would argue that we are not seeing a massive war effort in our culture today to “dethrone Jesus,” as scholars and authors Darrell Bock and Daniel Wallace contend in their book, Dethroning Jesus: Exposing Popular Culture's Quest to Unseat the Biblical Christ?
Here’s the tough question: What do people in our community see when they look at us? Do our activities direct them to God? How many of our neighbors, our co-workers, or our classmates are giving glory to God because of our “good works”?
Much, if not most of what brings a church to decline is a fascination with what we like, forms of faithful practice that appeal to us, that are meaningful to us. We step onto a slippery slope when that fascination completes with or worse, even drowns out the appeal of God for us to be or become “all things to all people” so that we might “by any means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). When we find ourselves in that condition, it is time to look around and see if we may have some sacred cows that need to be … tipped. I have much more to say about this in the weeks to come. Maybe next time I will write about lessons from the dangers of cow tipping. Until then, let us strive to be His church, the hope of the world!
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