| The
modern church is a bewilderingly complex array of structures and
activities. There will usually be national, regional and local
organisations. At each level there will be a variety of
committees, dealing with all sorts of activities. There is a
complicated range of ministries: bishops, cardinals, ministers
elders, deacons, pastors, priests, administrators, etc.
The church
produces magazines, minutes, agendas, vision statements, strategic
plans, tenets and doctrinal statements. It owns worship centres,
halls, office blocks, training colleges, cars and superannuation
funds. And the scene is further complicated by the duplication of
all these activities across the various denominations. On top of
all this there are a wide variety of para-church organisations
specialising in missions, youth work, children's work, evangelism,
Bible distribution etc. The modern church is a large, unwieldy,
and complex organisation.
Most of the activities and structures that make up its
complexity are not necessary for its essential work. The church has become so
complicated that people cannot see the wood for the trees. And yet
we find it hard to imagine a church without all these things. We
need a radical change in our understanding of the church.
The institutionalisation of Christianity has severely weakened the
church. It has also left elders frustrated, because they are
unable to fulfil a true spiritual ministry. Fortunately, this form
of church is dying, and people are instinctively going back to
meeting in small groups in their homes.
The main
responsibility of the church is to bear witness to Jesus Christ.
However, all the peripheral structures and activities of the
church stop people
from seeing Christ. For
most non-christians, a church building is part of a strange institution,
which they do not understand. They will only go into it if they
really have to. In contrast, they will be quite happy to go into another
person’s home. If churches go back to
meeting in believers’ homes, people will feel free to join
them. To be successful in evangelism, the church must meet in the homes of believers. |