New Church

Everyone here knows that I borrow my meditation technique partially from early Methodists, I love filling my office with all sorts of Catholic symbols, I truly enjoy songs and hymns that are hundreds of years older than me, and I enjoy a cappella music because it is part of a tradition I grew up with – so if any part of this sermon today sounds like I’m bashing traditions, I’m not. I love tradition, and I actually study tradition because I feel that each denomination has something special to offer to the body of Christ in it’s understandings, practices, and traditions. So I need you to know today, as I talk to you about leaving behind a certain way of “doing church”, I’m not in any way asking you to give up any particular tradition. Now: that being said - If I were to make the following statement, most people in the Body of Christ would be shocked and some would think I’m a heretic: Church as it has been done for the past 1500 years has failed profoundly and needs to be abandoned. (Millions, of course, have already done just that. They’ve abandoned the church and have no intention of returning to it ever.) Let me explain why I think the statement is true – but don’t think we should give up on the idea of church. I believe we need to abandon what I will call Old Church for the sake of experiencing New Church. Here is the original conversation that began all of our ongoing conversation about church: When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:13-19 NLT). That church didn’t own property or build buildings for two or three hundred years after Jesus established it. It had no headquarters. No dues. The people it called “officers” – probably usually for a city or region rather than for just one house church – were essentially being designated as mature examples to the small groups of believers who needed counsel and teaching. There was a spirit of community and bonding among its members. Outsiders are known to have commented, “Look how those ‘Christ-followers’ love one another and look out for each other!” You could hear a touch of envy in the voices

of most of them as they said it. All the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity – all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved (Acts 2:44-47 NLT). The church became such a phenomenon that both religious and political leaders of the first and second centuries began persecuting it. But this opposition, persecution and social isolation did nothing but make the Christians closer to one another. Finally, in the early fourth century, Emperor Constantine adopted an if-I-can’t-beat-them-I’ll-jointhem attitude toward the church. And that was the beginning of the church’s fateful 1500-year decline. He made the loosely associated house churches into land-owning, building-filling church members. But land and buildings needed managers, so a professional class of paid clergy arose. It was no time until bigger-is-better came to be the rule for these institutional churches, and the leaders of the larger churches had more prestige and clout than the ones with only a handful. The loving family of God had been prostituted into a competitive business. The organism morphed into an organization. And the corporate expression of Jesus’ presence in the word turned into a religious corporation. The institutional church increasingly allied itself with power instead of with the weak, with good looks instead of with the vulnerable, and with the political instead of with the oppressed. Spiritual work was done by carnal means – from “converting” people through war to “worshiping” via ritual nobody understood to “ministering” through impersonal giveaways to people with whom nobody wanted to spend time. The simple church of love, accountability, and nurture became a complex set of doctrines, rituals, and hierarchies. God got misplaced in the process! Old Church, as I have just described it, has failed. Old Church is dead as an effective means for representing God to emerging generations. Old Church needs to become New Church in order to communicate Jesus to a new world. And please notice that I am not claiming we need “A New Church” – a new denomination, a new reformationrestoration, a new organization-institution to replace the existing ones – but “New Church.” Not even a new way of doing church. No, a new way of being church. Seeing ourselves as the Body of Christ in our

various denominations, non-denominations, and free-standing enterprises that we have come to call church as part of Jesus’ original notion of flawed people with imperfect understandings of his will trying to do something that honors him in the world. If such a radical idea were ever to take hold in the larger Body of Christ or Christendom in its various fragmented specimens, something holy and revolutionary might yet take place in this world. Some of Christ’s followers might actually experience unity in our diversity. At least, perhaps we would stop some of our political posturing and judging one another and serving as stumbling blocks to faith. In my lower moments, I sometimes think Nietzsche was right in saying Christians have murdered God and that churches are his burial crypts! We keep turning the gold of faith into the lead of religion. We crucify Jesus afresh in every generation. How did whatever it was that Jesus promised to build, died to make possible, and rose to reign over from the Father’s right hand ever come to so ignoble an end? I know that the Old Church of my experience was full of well meaning people, I know they had some valuable things to say and lessons to teach, and I realize they were used by God in their time. But I also know that the Old Church of my experience will not bring the people of our new world to God – but will continue to drive them away from him. But then I get a glimpse of God at work in this or that godly person I am privileged know. And I know I am wrong to be so discouraged. That it is the struggle of every generation to be more aware that this is what Father God knew we would experience, that his Living Spirit will continue to insure that the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church, and that the Reigning Son will come again to claim his own. That what I am calling “New Church” is but the unfolding dream of God, and its ideal will never be actualized fully until he appears. So we pray, dream, and refuse to be satisfied with “business as usual” for the body of Christ, because the Body of Christ was never meant to be a business. In this generation, we’re beginning to see the need for an emphasis on community, openness, the heart, living what you preach, and I see so much of Jesus in this generation of believers – it’s just beautiful. And we realize that we don’t have it all – we know that there is more for us to experience in Christ than we have known so far. And I’m beginning to suspect that what we can only describe as New Church is really the old, original church that Christ promised to build and pledged to bless in the long ago. Maybe we have just been distracted for these 1500 years or so and can begin to think more clearly and follow him more

intentionally. Maybe we can still learn that being relevant and effective in this world is tied to answering the question “Who do you say Jesus is?” rather than expensive properties, social prominence, and doctrinal tests. Perhaps a relational faith in him can yet foster a relational engagement among his people. Maybe some of you think when I talk about being relevant to this world, I’m speaking of being seeker-sensitive with our culture. On the contrary, one of the reasons Old Church failed is its generation-togeneration immersion in culture. Whatever the larger culture adopts, the church accepts – and tries to go it one better on its own terms. Romans 12:1-2 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (30 second sermon insert here on how “trying harder” does not equal renewal of mind), that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Oh, how many questions this verse—Romans 12:2 “don’t be conformed to this world”—raises that need thoughtful, biblical answers. For example, How does the command not to be conformed to this world relate to Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 9:22, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some”? How is becoming all things to all people not conforming to the world? Or how does the command not to conform to the world, that is, to be counter-cultural, relate to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:32-33? “Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.” How does not being conformed to the world fit with not giving offense to the world? You can’t always do both. How does not being conformed to the world fit with pleasing everyone for the sake of salvation? You can’t always please people if you refuse to conform to some of their thoughts and ways. The reason there are questions like these is not because Paul slipped up and got confused about what it means to follow Christ in a fallen world. Paul was not confused. He was holding two Christian impulses— two principles—in balance. When Christ came into the world, and lived and died and rose from the dead, and set the redeeming kingdom of God in motion, and unleashed the mighty gospel on the world—two powerful impulses, or forces, spread everywhere the gospel spread. These two impulses are always in tension with each other. At times they push in opposite directions, and the great challenge is to find the biblical balance. Andrew Walls, in his book, The Missionary Movement

In Christian History, calls these two impulses the Indigenous Principle and the Pilgrim Principle (Mary Knoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2001, pp. 79). In other words, the gospel can and must become indigenous in every (fallen!) culture in the world. It can and must find a home in the culture. It must fit in. That’s the indigenous impulse. But at the same time, and just as powerful, the gospel produces a pilgrim mindset. It loosens people from their culture. It criticizes and corrects culture. It turns people into pilgrims and aliens and exiles in their own culture. When Paul says, “Do not conformed to this world,” and “I became all things to all people,” he is not confused; he is calling for a critical balance of two crucial biblical impulses. There are many ways to describe this tension. We say, Christians are in the world but not of the world. Jesus prays, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:1516). They are in the world—that’s the indigenous principle. They are not of the world—that’s the pilgrim principle. Or we say Christians should be separate from the world and yet participate in the world. 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing.” That’s the pilgrim principle. But in another place Paul limits the meaning of separation and says, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world . . . since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality . . .” (1 Corinthians 5:9). That’s the indigenous principle. Don’t go out of the world. One impulse is separation, and one impulse is participation. Both are crucial. There’s gotta be balance in the church. Or we can speak of the impulse of adaptation and the impulse of confrontation. For example, on the one hand, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, “Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands . . . so that you may live properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” In other words, adapt and don’t make waves; do what’s fitting and seemly—live properly. So Paul prays in 1 Timothy 2:2 “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” Quiet, peaceful. That’s adaptation. But on the other hand, Paul has a very different word to say in Ephesians 5:6-11, namely, confrontation. “The wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not associate with them. . . . 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Expose them! This is not going to go down well with the neighbors in the hood. Which is why Paul says in 2 Timothy

3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” That happens when you are “not conformed” to the world. Adaptation and confrontation; participation and separation; in the world but not of the world; do not be conformed to this world, yet become all things to all people that you might save some; be indigenous yet be a pilgrim. There appears to be conflicting ideas at work in scripture, yet if we’re balanced, we see how they truly work quite well together if I want to truly live like Jesus. Right? He’s our example right? Well he hung out with sinners, ate and drank with them, talked with them a lot, he was even accused of outwardly looking like them too much – yet He wouldn’t participate in their garbage. And when He was around them, they got brought up and He didn’t get brought down. So, if we wanna use some powerpoint presentations in church, if we wanna have some drama presentations, if we don’t feel like wearing suits and ties, that’s fine – that’s being all things to all people, I have no problem doing some methodological things to make newcomers a little more comfortable – but I WILL NOT water down my message. I’m sorry if it offends you, but the church has a real stand on abortion, on homosexuality, on justice, and we are not relativists and we believe there is only one way to eternal life and His name is Jesus – not Allah or Vishnu or the way of enlightenment. People of those faiths may very well have some truth that we as Christians need – perhaps a love for nature or a meditation technique, but if they don’t have Jesus, they don’t have life and we can’t be afraid to say it because we are not of this world. But we’re in it. And so, having the knowledge that talks about nature are a good way of relating with certain people of other faiths is just as valuable as having talks about music are to people our age in our country which is just as valuable as knowing that drama presentations are effective with baby-boomers. Use whatever method you want, but if you’re going to change your message it better be because God revealed something new to you in His word – do not conform to your culture. That is being the church. You’d think we would have learned our lesson by now! Church is counter-cultural. The people of God must be skeptical of trying to do heaven’s work by this world’s means. Do you think Romans 12:2 could be a warning on this very point: “Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of

immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (MSG)? The church must avoid pandering to people and politics and postures that impress the world for the sake of preserving its integrity. Might 1 Corinthians 1:27-28 be a clue to that truth: “Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these ‘nobodies’ to expose the hollow pretensions of the ‘somebodies’?” (MSG). In the fourth century, you see a clear and disastrous reversal of the pattern. When Constantine decided to adopt his if-I-can’t-destroy-itI’ll-exploit-it strategy with the Christian church, it must have been a proud time for some preachers and church leaders. All of a sudden, they went from being targets of abuse to celebrity status. They weren’t criminals and enemies of the state any longer but “clergy” and “persons necessary to the preservation of our noble Roman way of life.” And it must have felt good, for they accepted their new position and seemed to enjoy it. What they apparently didn’t realize is what we see so clearly in hindsight: Churches, preachers, and theologians became pawns to the politicians. They enjoyed the attention. They profited from the state’s interest in them. And they were soon as selfserving, political, and powerful as any political party of their time. In the name of “advancing the kingdom of God,” the church played politics – and lost its identity as the Body of Christ. It became too fond of power, wealth, and influence to be counter-cultural. It was enmeshed in culture, playing the games of its culture, and being “converted” into a this-worldly culture that began practicing the same sort of oppression against non-conformists it has once experienced! Here is the fuller statement of Paul about how things were in his day with the church: Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God. Christianity is counter-cultural and nothing but trouble. Ever since Jesus started his work he has done nothing but cause trouble. The leaders of his day were against him. Jesus was a threat to them and it seemed to them he was threat to all that was godly. The only solution

for someone who spoke and acted like him was the death penalty. But getting rid of Jesus did not solve the problem at all. In fact, it just made matters worse. Jesus had gathered a bunch of followers, and when Jesus was finally killed and put out of the way, they were just as bad as he was. All they did was create problems. They finally had to be thrown out of the Temple, and out of synagogues. The followers of Jesus themselves were an incredible nuisance and they were thrown in jail time and time again. They were beaten repeatedly. But it did no good at all. Finally, most of them had to be sentenced to death too. But that didn’t solve the problem either, because today Christians number in the hundreds of millions. Christianity is nothing but trouble. Or is it? Well, I don’t know if we’re trouble anymore. I’m pleased to report to you that many, many Christians have been tamed. Churches, which used to stir things up, have become very respectable. In many places, Christians have learned to behave themselves. In many places, the church doesn’t go against the culture, or the government, or public opinion. In fact, in many places, the church just puts some sort of a holy stamp of approval on whatever society deems is right, or the government, or public opinion. If we want to check and see how authentic our faith is, here is a good test. Have we stirred up any trouble lately? Has society been called to account for what it does by our churches? How would we stand up in the test? Are we counter-cultural, or are we just more of the same? If you want you see some troublemakers, look at the apostles. Everywhere they went, they made a mess. So they went to Philippi, right? And they were looking for a place of prayer. That’s nice. Prayer is fine. Just don’t interfere with anyone else. Or as I like to jokingly but not so jokingly say to my hindu friends, “Your religion is just fine – you pray YOUR way, and I’ll pray God’s way.” On the way, they run into a slave girl. She could tell fortunes and her masters made lots of money from her. This girl is following the apostles wherever they go and saying who they are, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” They start to annoy Paul. Just between the two of us, I don’t think it was hard to annoy Paul. I, on the other hand – unlike Paul, would have loved the free publicity. Go figure. Anyway, Paul casts out the demon that causes this problem, and in the process ruins her ability to tell the future, thus depriving her owners of their livelihood. Do you see what’s wrong here? If the apostles had gone around asking for donations for Mental Health, no one would have minded. But instead, they start messing with the economy. They deprive some people of their way of making a living and exploiting a slave girl’s

bondage for personal gain. So naturally there’s laws set up to protect the immoral business owner and so the owners of the slave girl go to the police, who come and arrest the disciples. They beat them with rods and throw them in the slammer. “Come on, Paul. You SHOULD have met with girl’s owners first, tried persuading them to let you heal her. They might have listened. You probably could have worked it out. But you rush in there and just heal her, and now everyone is mad, your in jail, and what good do you think you’ve done your cause? Do you have to disturb the peace, Paul? Do you really think any good will com out of this?” How many churches would ever be accused of disturbing the peace because of their work? Or of being rash in service? Well, as much of a mess as they made of things, at least one person comes out ahead – the slave girl is now freed of her demonic bondage. I guess that’s something. So they go to jail and they do what the church always does – they sing hymns and pray. Except, they’re in jail. Singing hymns and praying. In deepest part of the prison they are together, feet and hands in stocks, singing hymns. Then, as often happened in that part of the world, there was an earthquake, and the jarring of the prison sets the apostles free – doors open, stocks separate freeing limbs. Hallelujah! But the jailer moans. You see, in ancient Rome, if you are the guard and if the prisoners get free on your watch, it’s all over. Rather than face court martial and the humiliation of being killed by one of his friends in the guard, he draws his sword to take his own life. But Paul, seeing this, cries out, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don’t kill yourself, we’re all here man. See for yourself!” And the guard, overcome by this unnatural behavior, falls at their feet and asks, “Men, what must I do to be saved?” “Trust in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and your household.” And they baptized him. “I can’t believe he accepted the Lord so quick” – yeah, that’ what happens when you go beyond talking about Jesus and actually let your actions match your words. Two saved. The girl and the jailer. Not a bad day’s work all in all. And all it cost was a public beating, trial and imprisonment. Maybe Christians all need to ask, “What would be different about me if I didn’t belong to Jesus Christ?” How long would my list be? What has

changed about me because God’s Spirit now lives inside me? When Christ comes into contact with the world, things change. Sometimes the change hurts. It hurt the income of the owners of the slave girl. It hurt for Paul and Silas and the others. Their backs were covered with welts and cuts from their beating with rods. The humiliation surely hurt them too. But they could look at that slave girl, now in her right mind, now free, and say, "God used us for that." That is being the church. They could look at a jailer whose life added up to nothing, who now had a relationship with the ruler of the universe and for the first time in his life he was truly alive. Because they were willing to be countercultural, not afraid to look a little abnormal and stir things up a bit, and also willing to suffer for the name of Christ and not think their bodies needed to be perfectly healed all the time or else God must not love them – because they were willing to do these things, they can look at people who were set free and say “God used me in their lives.” I would propose to you that we as the church need to be willing to do those things as well. Christianity is nothing but trouble. And God will continue troubling the world until he has reclaimed the whole thing and every one in it. No matter what it takes. Finally, I’ve talked about the New Church movement and I’ve talked about being counter-cultural yet still relevant to the culture, I want to conclude quickly by reminding you of something you already know: to live this sermon out and truly be the church, we need each other. Paul Tournier once said there are two things one cannot do alone – be married and be a Christian. He is right. The essence of being a Christian is not an extended set of correct doctrinal beliefs or even well-formed personal character. To be a Christian is to be connected to Christ in such a unique and special way that all other relationships are defined by that union. The perfect triune fellowship of God as Father, Son, and Spirit from eternity past has been opened to me by the blood of Jesus at Calvary. But I cannot experience their fellowship in isolation from all others who have been called into it as well. Having others around is not a nuisance but a necessity for families. These interactions shape us. We sing and read, stand and bow, laugh and cry. And, yes, we certainly eat and drink together. But we do all these things as a network of friends. A gathering of family members. A church whose identity is not contained in itself but is found in the God who has formed it. We are the community of the children of God! We carry his spiritual DNA. We bear his name. We have a great inheritance. Awareness of these things makes a difference in how we see ourselves and function in this world.

Perhaps if more of us saw ourselves as children of God in a local family rather than members of the church, we would claim a nobler inheritance. If we understood church as persons in relationship rather than names on the roll, we would function differently as the church. If we saw sin as the breaking of relationships rather than the breaking of rules, we would both live better and deal with one another more gracefully. If we really love God the Father, we will be a church that is a community of love, accountability, and nurture where gradual spiritual transformation takes place over time. We will live gently with one another. Listen to one another’s stories. Teach and learn from one another. The scriptures say this: Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Col. 3:12-17). Because of its appropriateness as a description of family life for Christians, I frequently use this text as a final charge to couples at their weddings. It is a call to love and respect, consideration and kindness. It describes the sort of healthy relationships that allow growth and spiritual formation, that confer peace and joy. And it describes New Church for a New World that puts the heart of God on display in the relational life of his family. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” exclaimed John the apostle. “And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). There is no greater honor to which a human could aspire. To be part of the Family of God. To have him as our Father. To sit at the table where there is always abundance. And where there is always room for others. Thank you so much for listening to me today – I didn’t allow time for questions, but if you have them, please ask them at fellowship because I want to hear

them. Let’s be a counter-cultural church that is relevant to our culture and let’s love people and love our Lord radically.