It was all too familiar the emotions and questions I had experienced working in churches and for Christian ministries over four decades. Though my friend is 20 years younger and half a world away in a different culture, the parallel of our life tracts had given him a freedom to share the questions and doubts he was experiencing working in a large ministry.
"I have no doubt about their sincerity," he said. "I know they love God. But everything seems so formalized, so contrived at times." I waited as he paused on the other end of the phone. "Sometimes I think the services have to be entertaining to keep people coming back. They're pressured to coming up with ministry ideas so the believers will stay busy and not fall away."He took another long pause, as if testing to see if my response would be a rebuke of his dedication to the ministry which signed his paycheck.
I waited for a long moment, gathering my thoughts. What he shared had been a common experience for me during my active years in ministry. The struggle between what I read in the New Testament about church administration and all of the additions, exceptions and excuses for "contemporary church growth" was an all too familiar conflict in my heart. For most of my career, I had just gone with the flow and accepting the status qou as "that's just the way it is" - why fight it.
"You still there?" he asked, after the long pause.
"Yes. And I think discernment is one of the gifts the Holy Spirit has operating in you. What you are encountering is an all too common deception in churches, large and small, that has passed down through the centuries. It's called the Business of Religion."
I could tell he was rolling this around in his head. "Yes, I think you're right, but why? I mean, they hold the Bible up as a standard for life and living. They practice the full freedom of the Holy Spirit."
I pushed him a little further. "But in the staff meetings, are they more like business evaluations, progress reports and solving management problems? How is the unity in the Spirit?"
"Not so good at times," he admitted, "even with me. Everyone seems to be trying to sell their own ideas and agenda. Oh, we pray at the beginning and end of each meeting that the Lord will give us wisdom and insight, but more than once someone goes away with feelings hurt or a sense that no one has listened to what's on their heart if it doesn't fit the corporate big picture."
Man has a driving passion to organize rather than wait. We aren't good at inactivity. Often we're told doing something is better than doing nothing; that it's easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.
WRONG! Not so in the kingdom of God.
God never intended His Kingdom or His church to be run on "sound business principles." He never picked out committees based on person's financial stability, intelligence, life or ministry experience to make choices for Him.
From the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles (which should have been titled the Continuing Acts of the Holy Spirit), Jesus instruction to the disciples was to "wait and listen" for the Holy Spirit. He had promised this was the One, "when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13) For three and a half years Jesus had modeled before the disciples that "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, . . . but the will of the Father which hath sent me," under the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the book of Acts, as the disciples were waiting for the Holy Spirit to arrive, the first thing boredom gave birth to was to form a committee and hold an election. Peter decided, since Judas had committed betrayal and suicide, another disciple needed to be added to complete the band of twelve. Oh, they "prayed about" the list of candidates, and they "prayed" before the vote was taken. And I'm sure Matthias felt honored to be named among the men who walked with Jesus.
BUT...that wasn't God's idea. The twelfth man God wanted to add wasn't even a follower of the Way at that time. In fact, he would become their greatest enemy: The radical, purist, conservative Saul of Damascus.
We never hear anything about Matthias beyond his election, but Saul would become Paul and write the majority of what we have as the New Testament today.
Running ministries and churches like a business is the substitute for wait and listen. It is the alternative to Holy Spirit birthed and led organizations. The business of religion is men coming up with their best ideas and asking the Holy Spirit to tag along and bless it.
And sometimes He will . . . because He will build His kingdom regardless of our rebellion and self-will.
How do you recognize religion run like a business? Look for the discord, the problems, the constant repackaging of the ministry to make it attractive to the masses.
It's hard not to miss. And it's even rarer to find the New Testament example of administration. They are probably the one not advertising!
Business of Religion - Advertising (Part One)
No comments:
Post a Comment