When it comes to church, the Bible teaches a lot more and a lot less than we think it does. The main things we think of as “church” may not be biblical at all, while the parts we disregard and neglect, may be the central truths to church.
To get at which is which, I suggest questioning the church. We must question everything. We must put the church up on the rack, and interrogate it. …Maybe that image goes too far, but you get the picture.
The three most simple questions are “Why? Where? What if?”
Ask “Why?” About Church
First, we have to ask why churches do what they do. Why do we meet on Sunday? Why do we have building? Why do we have sermons, and Sunday school, and music? Why?
A fun exercise is to take any one thing the church does, and ask “Why?” seven times. See what you come up with.
Ask “Where?” regarding Scriptures About the Church
If in asking “Why?” you ever answer, “Because the Bible says so” then you must bring out the second question, and ask “Where?”
Where does the Bible actually say what you think it says? Are you sure it says what you have always been taught?
If you do find a passage that seems to support the church practice in question, you need to do some serious Bible study to make sure it really says what you think it says, and you’re not just using it as a proof text.
I recently talked with a man who says that all churches must have big, expensive, luxurious buildings because the Temple was big, expensive, and luxurious. Well, he’s right about the temple, but is that really what God is saying to us today? Long hours of study are required to find out.
Another popular idea today is that “true” Christians must attend a church building on Sunday morning to truly be part of the church. Does the Bible really say this? Where? And don’t try to quote Hebrews 10:25… it doesn’t say what you think it does.
Ask “What if?” About Church
As we are asking the “Why?” and “Where?” questions, it is helpful to begin a list of “What if?” questions. Asking “What if?” helps us envision another way of being the church that will enable us to look, live, and love more like Jesus.
For example, if we asked “Why does the church meet on Sunday?” and found that there was really no good Biblical reason why, then we can ask, “What if the church met on another day of the week?” Of course, if you did find biblical justification for meeting on Sunday (as you might), you can still ask “What if we didn’t meet on Sunday?”
If we asked, “Why do churches have buildings?” and realized there was not good Biblical requirement for church buildings, we can ask, “What if the church did not have a building?”
It is this final stage that you can begin to dream, and plan, and create a vision for what the church could be. This is where we plan, pray, and stay up until 3 am talking about how great things could be.
After asking all these questions, what will church look like in the end? Truthfully, there is no end. This process is never ending. We will always be reinventing, refining, recasting, revising. That’s the fun of it.
What aspect of church have you questioned recently?
The “Church” is not the problem, per say, it is the system to which the “Church” has submitted itself to.
One good question might be; Why does the “Church” submit itself to a system and then call that system church?
You know what? You are absolutely right. I was unclear in my wording above. The church, as biblically defined is not the problem. It is the system that has come to be known as “church.” I like that.
You should write a post about this!
Hi from Scotland,
This is an excellent post. Getting further into spiritual discernment through proper Bible study is essential for true believers in the 21st century.
Yes, proper Bible study is essential… and a big part of Bible study is putting into practice what we have learned from Scripture.
A big amen to that….study and application go together.
C.C.
Matthew 16:18
5 Why’s will usually do the trick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys), although I’ve found that you can rarely get past 3 before some Christian equivalent of Godwin’s Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law) is invoked.
This is my first post here. Love the site, bought ‘Finding Church’, loved it too!
Glad you enjoyed that book. Some of my others deal more with theology.
When I was caterer, I devised my own recipes for most things. Some proved very popular and inevitably someone would ask me for the recipe. More often than not those who tried making the dish would tell me “mine didn’t turn out as good as yours”.
When that happened I would go over the ingredients and techniques they used. Always, always, they had changed the recipe and had failed to follow the directions. One person changed my cookie recipe so much that the only correct ingredient he used was an egg (even though the recipe called for two,). He ended up with what he thought were cookies (I wouldn’t call them that) that only slightly resembled the originals.
I have made over sixty versions of the originals, but I always follow the original basic recipe, and vary only the add-ins (walnuts, pecans, dried cherries, chocolate chips and so on). But the basic recipe never changes.
You’re way ahead of me if you’re following the analogy. The “church” we usually find now bears only a slight resemblance to the original. If we don’t follow the original basic “recipe”, we’ll end up with something much different.
Good points. The original recipe being Jesus, of course, right? When it comes to the “original recipe” for the church, there is very little disagreement on what it consisted of.
I’ve been questioning all of it really:
http://evidence2hope.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/going-round-in-circles/
Thank you for sharing honestly. I read your post and left a comment there.
Thank Sam 🙂
I am headed over to read it now!
when a church asks these questions miracles happen. Distance keeps me from going except for twice a year or so, but my brother in law has a small church of around 50 members in a tiny rural town. He found this home after being asked to leave other churches for challenging doctrine and His churches to be active. Most the members (and I say this as a compliment because I am one to) have been rejected and hurt by more conservative churches. They are not rich. But What can 50 church rejects do when they ask what if? They see their pastor struggle with addiction after an injury instead of firing him they all-around him helping him overcome, they can start a sizable food bank in an impoverished area that didn’t have one. They are willing to drive a couple hours to support another church that is not their “denomination” and is a “black church”, in less than a year they convert a building next to the church and start a halfway house for men fresh out of treatment. They stop worrying about their safety and make the world feel a little safer for those who are afraid. They humble me. They inspire me. They showed me that mountains move when you tell them.
Love this. It is so true! People can do amazing things if they just start looking around to see the needs and then work together to meet those needs.
I have begun to question the entire premise of church as we practice it. We collect all this money and pay these ministers to edify us yet we are essentially an island that sends out trinkets to the lost while our “church” is filled with a certain social construct. Where are the drunkards, the prostitutes, the lost? My experience has been some of them have come into the church in spite of the congregation instead of because of the congregation. I am not even sure who or what the church is anymore.