Army of Priests

“It is a universal tendency in the Christian religion, as in many other religions, to give a theological interpretation to institutions which have developed gradually through a period of time for the sake of practice usefulness, and them read that interpretation back into the earliest periods and infancy of these institutions, attaching them to an age when in fact nobody imagined they had such a meaning.” – Richard Hanson 

Ecclesiology is, in essence, the theology of Church. Wikipedia defines it as “that branch of Christian theology that deals with the doctrine pertaining to the Church: its role in salvation, and its origin, its discipline, and its leadership.” Angel fire describes it as follows: “the field of theology which deals with the nature of the church and what it means for the church to be the ‘body of Christ’.”

Protestant theology (particularly soteriology – the study of salvation) changed considerably during the reformation, its ecclesiology did not. This is what a typical Church looks like:

• There is a pastor or clergy or official staff
• There is a laity or general congregation
• There is a church building or special meeting place
• There is a special time each week for a service
• That service primarily involves a sermon from a single preacher and the rest of the congregation listening to him
• Communion may be distributed
• Some songs may be sung
• There may be various announcements for other events the church organisation is doing

All of the above elements were borrowed from Catholicism and, in tern, from Paganism (for a history of traditional Church practices I highly recommend “Pagan Christianity” by Frank Viola at www.ptmin.org). Not one of these elements is present in the New Testament (or at least not as practised today).

The result is a Christianity in which “the ears are the only organs of a Christian” (Luther – something he thought was good). This ecclesiology of Church creates a comfortable Christianity. The common problems with the “Clergy Driven” Church are outlined here.

The plan of the gospel

Church cannot be understood without understanding its place within the rest of theology. In short, humanity sinned and spoiled God’s creation. God has been working on restoring (redeeming) it since then. This is more than salvation. God does not merely want his creation to survive, we wants it to be “very good” again.

This entails change. The good news is not “accept Jesus and survive for eternity” it is “accept Christ and be made into a New Creation”. As Shane Claiborne puts it, “Few people are interested in a religion that has nothing to say to the world and offers only life after death, when what people are really wondering is whether there is life before death.” (The Irresistible Revolution, pg 117) It is not the purpose of Christianity to get people into heaven; its purpose is to enact change in people on the earth now.

If the Old Testament used the plan “create external laws to change people” then the New Testament uses the plan “change people’s hearts to change their actions”. By being filled with the Holy Spirit our character and actions begins to change. We begin to become noticeably different from non-Christians.

This gospel of redemption is further detailed here.

The purpose of Church

In light of this the purpose of Church is to transform Christians and the world. The Church is the “advance guard” of God’s kingdom (a redeemed world). The Church is the bride of Christ (an organism with an intimate relationship with God). Let us investigate these two dimensions:

The Church is the forbearer of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is one in which human nature is corrected and people place others before themselves. It is a place in which God is honoured by all of us and in which the stains of sin (placing ourselves first) are washed away. Essentially God’s Kingdom is a community where every member places the other members of that community before themselves. This is the result of the transformation I speak of. The Church is meant to be the bearer of this community.

The Church is the bride of Christ. It is a body. The same love that causes us to place others above ourselves results in radical interdependence between Christians much like can be found in an ant colony. I have often wondered how as a Christian I am worthy of being the “bride of Christ” (a bit weird for a guy) but I now realise it is like wondering how a single ant can build a colony – it doesn’t. The Church is greater than the sum of its parts, great enough even to be the bride of Christ. It is our mission, on God’s behalf, to present that bride perfect before Christ. We must get ourselves and the Church ready for our wedding day.

Radical Christians and Ecclesiology

Radical Christians are the key to carrying out the purpose of Church. God’s kingdom is a kingdom made of Radical Christians. Christ’s bride is perfect only if it contains them. As Radical Christians duplicate they slowly transform the Church and the world, perfecting his bride and showing his kingdom.

The Church does not exist just to get people into heaven. It exists to change people at a deep level. Radical Christians are central to this. They are both the result of these processes and the initiators of it. I have talked about Church being changed by Radical Christians, but in reality the church should be changing people and making them Radical Christians. This catch 22 results in a situation where Christians (the Church) begin to build and change each other.

This post has been heavy and far too rapid. In my final post I will take this theory of Radical Christendom and show how it is practically applicable to our lives. In the mean time I remind you of Stanley Hauerwas’ quote:

“The work of Jesus was not a new set of ideals or principals for reforming or even revolutionizing society, but the establishment of a new community, a people that embodied forgiveness, sharing and self sacrificing love in its rituals and disciple. In that sense, the visible church is not to be the bearer of Christ’s message; but to be the message.”

The Radical Christian: An Overview

The Radical Christian: Being the Gospel

The Radical Christian: Revolutionising Society

The Radical Christian: How they got there

Also Recommend: Seven Suppositions about Church

Yet more errors with the Clergy Driven church

Once a week event

When I listen to a sermon it may inspire me, it may challenge me, it may get me excited and hyped up for god, but I’ll forget it fifteen minutes after I walk out the door. It doesn’t matter how good the preacher is, I’ll fail to apply their teachings to my life. There are plenty of people in church (I was one) who have minds filled with great teaching, but whose lives fail to represent this fact.

Sermons can be great, but what I really need is for that preacher to be following me around all week – to be the angel on my shoulder, to provide ideas, reminders and support, and to hold me accountable. I need someone to not only give me a pep talk before sending me on the field; I need someone to play with me.

Christianity is a team sport! It’s also a hard one. The idea that one man could win a game of football is preposterous, no matter how good the pep talk is. This is why I, and all of us, need people to be there all the time. We need help, real help, and the type of help that lends a hand rather then gives a word. I think we often leave this to God. We think that it is God’s place to change a person’s life. I think that we have forgotten what God wants us to be. I think other people may be the tools God uses to change a person’s life.

I trust you can begin to see how important relationships are. A pastor cannot possibly provide this level of support to his entire congregation.

No flexibility

There are certain teachings and help that I need that are different to other people, there are also some teachings that are not going to help me at all. Church does not reflect this. We all get the same cookies cutter teaching when we turn up to church. Sure, the pastor’s in depth review of the book of Obadiah may be great, but it might not be what I need.

Depending on how bible studies are run, they may not help much in this regard either. Often bible studies will follow in a series, and will require you to look up verses in a set way, and make you answer a question the “right” way. They’re essentially a sermon in which the members can feel like they’re contributing. They don’t help. The next step up may be that we choose what to talk about the week before. This is better, but my needs could change, and if they’re not run right they can still be a sermon played out in a small group. What may be better I believe, is that we come with something we would like to discuss, or share, and have that stimulus provide further stimulus for a discussion in the meeting.

Do we really need to plan these things out in advance? On the “field” we will need to work on the fly, as it were. If someone asks you a question you need to be able to respond then and there, not after you’ve looked up all the verses pertaining to the topic. Maybe our bible studies could be training for this?

Costs

Imagine how many homeless you could feed if your church did not have a mortgage to pay. Imagine how many poor you could cloth if you did not have a pastor to support. A very, very small fraction of tithes is every used for these purposes.
The New Testament church did not have mortgages to pay, or pastors to support. Everything that was given could be invested into the community. They didn’t give a measly 10% either. In fact the verses that are commonly used to support tithing describe the ancient Jewish tax system if you inspect them closely!

Our giving should not feel like a tax, or payment for services provided. If you wish to sow into God’s kingdom, really sow, spend some time volunteering, or feeding the homeless, or clothing the poor. Also, don’t expect anything back. I am sick of hearing stories of how I will be blessed when I give. I do not give to be blessed – I give to bless others! That should be all the motivation we need. Giving is an expression of love, not of greed.

Difficult to expand

If your church grows beyond capacity, what must it do? It may have to move or build a new, bigger building, or it may have to take on new staff and pastors. Besides being painful, this increases costs and further increases the expenditures that prevent your tithes helping people in the community. In this way, people can actually be a burden on the church. Further members require more services, but do not provide any.