(Opinion) We should expect the Christian church to be a community that faithfully preaches and teaches the word of God, a place where people are safe from predators and fraudsters (or where predators and fraudsters are dealt with swiftly, justly and openly when they are discovered). It should be a place that upholds Christian teaching not only in word but also in deed.
But should the church also be our social club, our finance guru, our accountability group, our sex therapist, our voter guide, our income stream, our sugar daddy, our self-help source? Ought it be the place where our deepest longings for significance and self-fulfillment are satisfied?
The church cannot be, nor should it be all — or even most — of this.
Yet modern American evangelicalism often implicitly (and at times explicitly) suggests the church should play an all-encompassing role in the life of the Christian.
With the development in the 20th century of what Christian writer and podcaster Skye Jethani calls the “evangelical industrial complex” and the accompanying rise of celebrity Christian leaders and influencers, a false expectation has been cultivated within evangelicalism about what the successful Christian life looks like—and the role the church should play in attaining that vision of success.
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Sometimes Christian success is portrayed as creating or consuming a Christian version of whatever the world is doing: Christian education, Christian music, Christian publishing, Christian stores, Christian conferences, Christian movies and so on. Other times it is portrayed as having all social and relational needs met by the church: small groups, men’s groups, women’s groups, teen groups, college and career groups, craft groups, parenting groups, senior groups and grief groups.
Sometimes success is portrayed as having a career in the church or in Christian organizations: a ministry position, a contract from a Christian book publisher, a gig on a conference stage, a seminary degree, a “leadership” role, a place on the worship team or status as a Christian “influencer.”
Of course, there’s nothing wrong and much that is good about all (or most) of these endeavors. Indeed, I have done many of these things myself. The fact that I never expected that a doctorate from a secular university would lead me here is only proof that God’s ways are not man’s ways. Nor has a voice in evangelicalism prevented me from looking outside it in what I study or where I get my support.
Somewhere along the way, the idea that the church could provide everything we need became the idea that the church should offer these things, which has become the idea that the church must also fulfill all of these needs for everyone.
But this is not the purpose of the church. It is not meant to be the whole of life or to meet all our needs in life. The church is not a sugar daddy whose purpose is to meet all our personal, social and vocational needs.
Indeed, one of the significant developments of the Protestant Reformation was the insistence by Martin Luther and others that there is no secular-sacred divide, and that the holiness of the Christian life is not confined to church life.
To be sure, in order for the church to fulfill its rightful purpose it needs some who are called to preach, teach and answer the phone. But that’s not most of us. Most Christians are simply exhorted in Scripture to be part of the church by assembling together and encouraging one another in the faith. Most of us are called to serve by serving our neighbors in the world through our work, our passions, our gifts and our time.
Of all the reasons to be disappointed in the church (and there are many), we ought not be disappointed because it fails to provide us with income, employment, fame, security, spouse, purpose, prominence, platform or political power. I don’t know of any studies that document this evolution in our collective vision for the Christian good life, but I know anecdotally from countless relationships and conversations over the years that many Christians become disappointed and disillusioned by the church when falsely raised expectations for places in or alongside church ministry go unfulfilled.
The purpose of the church is simple, narrow even. The church is where we go to worship God together, to learn and grow in the faith together and to be equipped to go forth into the world to make disciples.
Let us do that good work — wherever God calls us to do it — and make disciples along the way. Let us be the church.
This commentary, which was originally published by Religion News Service, does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Roys Report.
Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is a reader, writer, professor, and columnist at Religion News Service. She is the author of several best-selling books. Her most recent is The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis. She lives in Virginia.
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10 Responses
I agree with this article and I love the neat summary of the penultimate paragraph:
the true “ekklesia” as it’s meant to be.
The Greek word translated as “church” in the New Testament is ekklesia which means “exited PEOPLE”.
(I guess referring to holy, separate people outside of the world’s ways and systems: 1st Peter 2:9).
The ekklesia is PEOPLE.
People meeting together: praising God, growing, equipping each other for the work of God, which EVERYONE is given.
If only!!
Can you imagine??
What is it about mankind – and I mean unredeemed, unregenerate mankind, even if it calls itself “Christian” – that hates simplicity?
The reason can only be that it’s NOT regenerate; it’s carnal so it’s very attracted to the world and the world’s ways.
But the carnal mind is at enmity with God (Romans 8:7, Galatians 4:29). And, oh boy, does it show!
Yes, I could not agree more! At a former church of mine, I knew parents who would not put their children in the town soccer league. Instead, they drove all the way across the metro to put their children in a church soccer league. They did this simply because they did not want their children rubbing shoulders with unrepentant second and third graders. So much for loving our neighbor.
“Bring up a child in the way he/she should go”.
As an older woman I’m grateful to young parents who understand that protecting their little ones from ungodly influence is a noble pursuit. Children should not be used as pawns for parents to “love their neighbors”.
What difference would it make if “church” was a community where it was safe enough to share brokenness and receive prayer by turning Scriptures like Luke 4:18 into prayer, receiving Christ’s healing and freedom that He said is HIS gospel, because His #1 focus is our hearts? As long as church is more of a program than people sharing heart-to-heart in safety, not worrying about judgment or gossip, we can never be the community of faith God intended it to be. And instead, we will have nice, politie Bible studies before the church service and then we will have a nice program with music based on the church’s preferences. But will it be heart-based worship like Jesus saying we need to worship in Spirit and in truth, IN the context of speaking into the woman at the well’s pattern of broken relationships… SO He could set her free from them, to move into ministry, with a testimony in her community…
We need to get back to the reason and the meaning of the church . The place where born again christians gather to worship the Lord, people who want to hear more of the gospel of Jesus-Christ (and be saved), and environment to raise our children to know and serve Christ. A Pastor is a shepherd ! (other centered) accountable to God/Christ for the way he takes care of the flock of sheeps (I Pet.5:2-5, I Tim 4:13-16). The church has become a big enterprise and their leaders career professionals. A True Pastor knows he has been called by God to preach, teach take care of His flock, and accepts the consequence (often of loss of financial leverage)….Not Anymore! Greedy wolves. Pastors feed and lead. False teachers shepherd/feed ”themselves ”(Jude v.12) First Godly Leaders need to fear the Lord, teach sound doctrine faithfully so that people discover that the most important thing in life is not themselves but the Glory of God in their lives. False teachers do the opposite (2 Pet 2), and are people pleasers (I Thess 2:4-6), soft speakers (Rom. 16:17) and that’s exactly why you have these self-centered, success driven, narcissistic, hedonistic, materialistic ministries. A faithful church wants to protects his flock against tares. Jesus Christ is an expert master church builder. We just need to be faithful.
Outdoor signage at a small church in my area summarizes it well: Enter to worship; depart to serve. Nothing wrong with financial advice, basketball leagues, marriage counseling or children’s choirs as long as they further the goals of discipleship and evangelism (rather than becoming ends in themselves).
I would agree with this essay except for the fact that the church believes that it has the authority to dictate to us how we should live each of these issues. And many pastors have absolutely not training or competence in these areas. John MacArthur has publicly said that PTSD is not a real thing. He has publicly said that mental health is nonsense and demonic. So, you can give us a nie philosophy of what you think a church should be but that is not reality!
KSP nails it, as usual. At my Lutheran church, just before the service is over, the pastor says “The worship has ended.” The attendees answer “The service now begins.” I have been saying this for 10 years, and each time, I still feel goosebumps as I think about the week ahead and all of the service opportunities He has given me.
A large part of the problem is that people have been conditioned by US capitalism & marketing forces (culture) to the extent that they now think and act as customers, clients and consumers with the result that the ‘church’ is consciously or unconsciously regarded as just one of many providers of services and products that may or may not meet ongoing wants & needs.
Disciples of Christ don’t have high expectations for the things of this life because their “satisfactions” are found in God and his will. However, clients, customers and consumers are told each and every day – in one form or another – that satisfaction is yet to be found. Thats the whole strategy of market and profit driven forces.
Less is not best and simplicity and contentment is failure.
Even educated atheists know that Jesus life and teachings was countercultural. 🤔
God reveals what is expected of the Gentiles in Isiah 56:6-11, and who we are to avoid following because they serve themselves:
6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
8 The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.
9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
The church is proving what they serve, and the hypocrisy of leadership.