Stephen
Terry, Director
The Church and Education
Commentary
for the November 28, 2020 Sabbath School Lesson
"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." Matthew 16:18, NIV
As we look at the modern
church in a side-by-side comparison with the structure and purposes of 1st
century Christianity, we see marked differences that may cause us to ask why is
the church so different today from the church in the first few centuries after
Christ's resurrection and ascension? Merely asking that question can reveal a
tangle of ecclesiological threads that can reveal some profound truths as we
untangle them, or they may just as often lead nowhere as the thread inexplicably
reaches a dead end. Are we safe to assume that when Jesus said these words to
Peter that he was referring to Gothic cathedrals with flying buttresses? Or was
he referring perhaps to our slightly humbler, but still pricey, structures with
stages surrounded by ultramodern media offering weekly entertainment before
massive audiences cushioned in pews reminiscent of the seating arrangements in
a Roman amphitheater. Was he even referring to buildings at all?
Some may feel that the
church was a direct descendant of the ancient synagogue and see a heritage
passing backwards from church, through synagogue, to temple and ultimately the wilderness
tabernacle. However, while tabernacle, temple and synagogue never excluded one
another from acceptance by the Jews, Christians were not accepted by any of
them as evidenced by Paul's arrest when attempting to worship in the temple and
his experience with the Jews in Corinth and Ephesus that forced him to seek
other venues to share the gospel. The "old wineskins" of how to worship seemed to
be incapable of holding the "new wine" these early Christians were imbibing. As
a result, instead of seeking out established, public forms of worship that
could result in persecution and even death, they sought the privacy of
gathering in one another's homes and in remote locations outside of the major
cities. In Rome, they even resorted to the catacombs beneath the city, where
the dead were buried.
It is hard to see in these early gatherings the genesis of the arrogant church
of today that wishes to pronounce anathemas on those who question its authority
or righteousness. Today's church is often not content with ruling with an iron fist
of dogma over its own members but reaches out to grasp the reins of secular government
as well. Perhaps frustrated at God's reticence to sweep everything aside to accomplish
a general housecleaning, they set about establishing the kingdom they feel God
would have established here on earth, were he not frustrated at every turn by apostates.
It is as if they want to present a perfect world to Jesus when he returns. This
is like a housewife who expects special guests and sets about cleaning her house
from top to bottom in preparation for the visit. Never mind that this creates a
false picture of reality and that savvy guests, and certainly Christ, would see
through the charade for what it is.
Today's church is a
powerful entity, rich in wealth and political might and willing to use both to
accumulate even more. While Jesus is out looking for the lost sheep, the church
too often is busy making sure there are plenty of lost sheep to look for as
they boot them from fellowship one after another. Some churches go through the
formal process of disfellowshipping while others have so finely honed the
practice of social ostracization that no formal process is necessary. They make
sure the lost never really fit in. One can almost imagine them saying to Jesus,
with the lost sheep on his shoulders, "He isn't lost! We didn't want him here,
so we kicked him out!" While this is a powerful metaphor for what has happened to
the church, it becomes even more profound if we allow ourselves to see this from
the perspective of early Christianity.
If we can honestly examine the Gospels and their rendition of the words of
Jesus, we will discover that he rarely addressed organizations, even religious
ones. Instead he most often spoke of and to individuals. It is almost as though
he expected us to recognize that his followers, those in fellowship with him
and one another were not some large impersonal entity called the church, but
were simply you and me seeking fellowship with God and as that fellowship grows
we will also grow closer in fellowship with others doing the same. As we
struggle and grow in that relationship, we make many mistakes, mistakes that
grace mercifully heals us from. As we receive such grace and forgiveness, we
slowly learn to extend it to others as well. It is what we practice as we
fellowship. It is the glue of grace that binds the church together. It is not
buildings, creeds, or ecclesiastical councils or boards. Though they may feel
they have the power to compel, they often end up only unraveling all that God
has built in the hearts of his people. Sinners were often found at Jesus' feet
and in his company, but we try our best to make sure they are outside the flock,
as though we could somehow achieve a pure church by so doing. But while history
is replete with problematic churches and denominations proclaiming that they
alone have the truth, it cannot produce a single example of a pure institution
free of flaws. Just as people tend to believe that every politician is corrupt
but their own, so they often believe about every other church but their own.
Perhaps this should be expected from a didactic organization that spoon feeds
doctrine to a passive laity who are content to let the church handle salvation
for them.
However, if we look at
the great Christian reformers who had an impact on faith and witnessing, we
discover that they uncovered the truth that salvation does not come from a
church organization. Often, they were opposed by such organizations. John Wesley,
founder of the Methodists, had to preach from atop his father's gravestone because
his church would not allow him a voice. As each reformer learns, salvation
comes through an individual encounter with Christ as revealed in the Bible. When
we read its pages, the Holy Spirit guides our minds, our understanding so that
we hear the voice of God speaking to us directly through the words on the page
before us. It is impossible to read those words and not be touched by them.
They force a response from our hearts. That response may be a rejection of what
we read, or it may be a feeling of a fountain of grace welling up in our
hearts. It is hard to be indifferent to the Bible. The institutional church may
want to make sure only pure hands open that book and innocent eyes read its
pages, but the Bible is equally at home in the hands of a drunken sot, a
trafficked prostitute, or an addict hungering for their next fix. These are people
the church rarely reaches out to and would perhaps pass by if it meant
encouraging them to come inside to fill its pews.
Generations are raised
up within such sanitized institutions protected from eating and drinking with
sinners lest they also go astray. Raised in such heavenly-minded compounds,
they never experience the rejection of sin that comes with repentance and the
joy that brings. They have the blessing of the patriarchy of the church because
they bear the right surname, attend the right parochial schools, and follow the
right career path. They may even be born, live and die within the geographical precincts
of denominational enclaves, rarely having met someone who seriously challenged
their faith. Complacent, like the generations before them, in the knowledge that
they have the truth and are bound for heaven even if they have not experienced
repentance nor have helped anyone into a meaningful relationship with Jesus.
These may be like the fig tree covered in beautiful leaves, but with no fruit
that Jesus discovered while on his way into Jerusalem. He reaches out to each
of us, not when we have membership in the right denomination, but when we have honestly
expressed a desire to follow him. The measure of the vibrancy of that relationship
is the fruit we produce. We will discover that when feeding that relationship with
the word of God and prayer a harvest will surely come. As our roots are nourished
and grow ever deeper in Christ, we will begin to bear fruit. But that fruit does
not make us into Christians. Instead it comes because we already are Christians.
All a fruit tree needs to be successful is to grow. The fruit will come
naturally without forcing. It is the same for the us. As we grow in Christ, the
fruit will come.
Jesus did not have to go in search of the lost, despite that parable about the
lost sheep. Instead the lost came to him or cried out to him whenever he was
near, and he compassionately responded to their call. If we are willing and are
growing in Christ, we will be like him. Those who are searching will be drawn
to Christ's character as reflected in the Bible and will seek it out as they
did him. The impact it has made in our lives bears witness to its power to
bring change. That change they will feel happening in their own lives. Like
spokes in a wheel with Jesus as the center, the closer we each come to Jesus,
the closer we come to one another. Perhaps that is what Jesus really meant when
he spoke of his church in Matthew 16:18.