Whatever the perceived needs of the customer, the business-like church develops programs to meet those needs. It is a move away from living as a body toward becoming more business-like. This seems practical, so the church in America bought into it over time. If my job is to run a business then it becomes vitally important for me to understand the perceived needs of my customers and become a source for what they desire. Unfortunately though, the church which was created to be a living body from the start had either lost this concept or had never fully grasped it. But there were secular writers who discussed the fact that organizations and businesses tend to function more effectively when they take on the attributes of a living body. I found very little on this from Christian sources. I wanted to know what it means for us to really live as a living body. So I began to study the differences between living bodies and businesses. In the Bible the church was described with biological concepts, as a living body. It gradually became obvious they were being operated as businesses, even though scripture did not use business terms to describe them. In the late 1990s I began exploring why the churches around me were not functioning like the body of Christ described in the Bible. There is often little development of deep relationships between members. And fundraising is the force behind a lot of the decision making. The congregation becomes the targeted consumers.
Evangelism devolves into marketing programs. The pastor plays the role of a hired CEO. Instead, we run the church as if it’s a business. We have not taken to heart that we are members of a living body. It’s not that we lack sufficient resources and effort it’s that we lack a basic understanding of what are. And trying harder isn’t the solution either.
I gradually developed a conviction that our problems do not spring from a need for more power or money or expert opinions. If I were an honest person I couldn’t go along with the status quo. So I often found myself questioning my own faith in light of this incongruence. The church was not living out its biblical role. And yet the church I saw around me was becoming more and more dysfunctional, irrelevant, and weak. The church had implemented the best practices from the business realm. There were Christian television programs broadcast world-wide. We had the most dynamic speakers and preachers possible. We had church growth programs, fiery revival meetings, music and entertainment of the highest order in our meetings. There were more confessing Christians than ever. We had evangelized our neighbors and sent missionaries to the far reaches of the earth. Leaders across the world, even presidents of the United States, had declared their faith. And had amassed more political power than ever. This was the situation, even though during my lifetime the church had become more prosperous than ever. I saw thousands of people attending church services on Sunday mornings without ever establishing meaningful relationships. I saw some promoting materialism and even describing material gain as godliness. For instance, pastors of great churches were falling from grace due to money scandals, adulterous affairs, lying and deceitfulness. I saw the same dysfunctional things happening over and over. And yet I found myself becoming discouraged by the churches around me and the church people I knew. It was the biblical plan for the salvation of the world. I knew the church had been around for 2000 years. But as I grew older I found myself questioning how, if the Bible were true, the church was in the condition it was in.
Since the time I was a young child I have had faith in the Bible as the Word of God.
0 kommentar(er)
