My Thoughts on Church

by William R. Cunningham

When many people, Christians and non-Christians, hear the word "church" they immediately think of the place they go for their weekly services.  To a great extent, from my own experiences and the testimonies of others, church has become more important than a personal relationship with God.  Church is usually associated with a pastor (or equivalent), Sunday morning services, weekly Bible class, and functions.  It is very rare to meet someone who thinks of the church in terms of the Body of Christ and God's purposes.

When I say "church" I am speaking of that place that Christians religiously go every Sunday for morning worship services.  The true church is the body of Christ or the family of believers in Jesus Christ.  However, the average "Christian" is not concerned about the body of Christ.  They are not concerned about their god-give purpose on this planet.   They are more concerned about doing the right things according to the teachings of their respective church.  Some criticize because another denomination doesn't baptize in Jesus' name, another criticizes because another group is too loud and so on.   Where is Jesus Christ?  Where is God in these institutions?

My basic thought of the church is that it has failed.  The church (not all churches) have gone another direction than the way of truth.  Go to any typical church service and you will see the same thing.   A bunch of services, anniversaries, and activities.  Even most Bible studies are actually mid-week services. 

Consider the typical church and the word of God.  How much time is given to the promotion, teaching, understanding, and discussion of the Bible?  Not much from my experiences.  However, there will be much teaching and announcements on what the church is doing, who the pastor is going to see and the like.  Rarely is there emphasis on a personal relationship with God, knowing what the Bible says, and being able to discuss what you know from the Bible.   As a matter of fact, when you do begin to say the things you know or think you know then you are told, in so many words, to shut up because what you say is not consistent with what the pastor teaches.  I used to get that a lot.  I meant no harm.   I was very open to constructive criticism but rarely had the privilege of theological discussions.  Either you believe or at least accept what the pastor says or your name is mud.

What of the church.  The greatest problem of the church today, in my opinion, is that they are run by men who do not have a real theological background.  What does that mean?  That means that many churches, from my experiences, are lead by people who do not really know God for themselves or have lost the way.  I have seen both cases in the past.  Pastors typically want allegiance to themselves and rarely will promote allegiance to God and His word.  It makes sense when you really think about it.  If you know the truth then you know that you don't have to simply accept and believe what others say.  You become a threat to the theological lies of church leaders (not that they are always trying to intentionally deceive the people).  Therefore, anyone who speaks out with questions and personal revelation is normally persecuted by the church leaders and their blind followers.

I believe that most churches should be closed.  I believe that there are more godly individuals capable of sharing God's word in the homes then there are in the churches.  That is, some of the greatest Christian leaders are people who are not in church leadership positions though they may decide to keep silent regarding their beliefs and disagreements.  It is not uncommon to hear of a pastor run off with the congregation's money, having sex with members of the congregation, and involved in other "not-so-Christian" activities.  It isn't as though the pastor should be perfect or should he/she expect to be perfect.   A true pastor is one with a heart for the people.  A true pastor is a servant, helper, comforter, encourager, teacher, administrator, etc.

There are many men and women who are pastors because they believe that they received a revelation from God to be a pastor.   No one can dispute this because their revelation from God cannot be proven or disproven so arguing against it is a moot point.  However, Jesus did teach us that a person is known by their fruits.  Therefore, a pastor will bear fruits pertaining to pastorship.

I believe that church should be about the things of God.  Foremost is the calling of the church to make disciples of all people.  A disciple is someone who is a learner, student, or a seeker.  The church is constantly pursuing truth and it promotes the same.  The typical church of today is far from these objectives.  Instead, the primary goal is to obtain a large membership, build great edifices, and maintain a high level of activities in the form of church services and functions.  Where is the feeding of the hungry except on special occasions such as Christmas and Thanksgiving.  Where is meeting the needs of the people except for special offerings if someone's house has burned down for example.   The church today is extremely busy doing nothing!

However, there is hope.  There are many Christians who believe in the authority of the Bible and a personal relationship with God.  There are Christians who believe that Jesus Christ is the head and not the pastor, bishop, evangelist, or preacher.  There is a move in the Christian community to return to the true work of the true church, the body of Christ.

I am careful not to "church bash."  Church is very important in the development of a Christian.  It proved to be of great value to my spiritual and social maturity.  I cannot deny the importance and even necessity of the church group and meetings.  However, there is a severe problem with the leadership of many, if not most, churches.  We need to return to Christ and the purpose of God.  We need to abandon the many meaningless services that we have.   I had to sit through Men's day, women's day, and various auxiliary anniversaries.   When is there a Jesus Day in the church?  When is there a "Day for God" in the church?  When will the church have a Bible study day?  Do you see the problem?

It is possible that you are a member of a church that is really about the work of the Lord.  It is possible that you are part of a church that wants to minister God's love.  If so then try to understand that things aren't "rosy" everywhere.