At the advice of a good friend I recently read a chapter from Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamozov. In this section, the author introduces a fantasy character known as "The Grand Inquisitor." In this made-up scenario, the Inquisitor, representing the organized Church of the day, encounters the returning Jesus, whom he imprisons as a heretic. With what we find to be not necessarily dark motivations, the Inquisitor tries to convince Jesus that the organized Church is doing just fine without Him, and it will just create turmoil for Him to actually show up again.
Apparently this chapter has great appeal to current critics who would claim that organized Christianity has drifted many leagues away from the living presence of Jesus. Even the raunchy Comedy Central TV's "South Park" apparently has an episode in which Jesus shows up and the church throws him out, essentially saying, "We're doing just fine without you."
This is not just the perspective of some of the unreached. Throughout history there have been times when organized churches, denominations, and judicatories have been so far off the mark of obedience to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) that some people have just felt the need to move to the periphery or depart altogether, if only for their own discipleship survival...the monastics of the middle ages, Martin Luther, the Wesleys, etc.
A study released in the last couple of days reports that Americans say they are less religious than ever. I suspect that means they identify with organized religion less than ever; it may not say anything about their openness to things spiritual.
If you are a Jesus follower, how is this for you? Do you ache for bonding with the Lord and obedience to the Master so much that you sometimes feel it would be better to escape the quagmire that can be organized religion in order to find them? Think about that...I'll see you around the next bend in the river.
Raking Leaves
-
Fall is here. The sun is moving towards the edge of the frame where, in
just a few weeks it will hit the bumper rail and start back towards the
other side...
2 years ago
2 comments:
I think that we are so busy with the "business of church" that politics have replaced relationships, ritual has replaced worship, and our egos have replaced God. Without God, relationships, and passionate worship....church has become empty.
Attending has become a duty....an exercise in obedience.
I, myself, am at a crossroads with my church. I have grieved its plight over the last couple of years. It is dying of neglect!! It's members and staff arrive and depart like robots. So little passion is present, that it saddens me. Those who I know have a deep and abiding relationship with God are feeling very much the same. We discuss it and secretly long to be a part of a growing vibrant church with Christ at the center.
If a church can't make and sustain it's disciples...it has become just a building. And ..I think Christ weeps.
Can the church make it without the Christ? Sure, it's proven that good people can do good things and run an organization based on their belief in themselves. The difference is, as swimmin' upstream, points out, the passion goes out. this is espcially true when the agenda becomes based on the pastor or the founder or the president,beliefs and not on principals and philosophy (could I say theology here?)that all people can attach themselves to. The church is not something to beleive in, not just rules to follow or meeting to attend. Making a "true believer' whether a high school basketball player, a recreational runner, someone who serves at a shelter or a Christian disciple requires offering more than just some ideas to believe in, it means offering a real experience, one that turns theology into biography, and changes the everyday hum-drum to a everyday fire.
Post a Comment