I Went Back To Church Today

  I am happy to meet with my friends in their home - or the park or the ice cream shop - a couple of times a month and call it church.  I feel that my life is in pretty good balance with that level of involvement in spiritual gatherings.

  But today my wife and I took advantage of an opportunity to attend "regular church" with some of our family.  We went to a large suburban Baptist church where the music was trendy and loud, the atmosphere was informal, and the preaching was positive and encouraging.

  And I had a good time.  It was a positive experience for me, which is really saying something, because the first few times I visited a church after my traumatic exit from my local parish, the experience made me sick to my stomach.  Really.

  

  If you have read more than a couple of my blog posts you are aware that I am a critic of conservative evangelical institutions in America.  I think that much of what happens there is way off the mark of what God had in mind for his Body of believers.  You could probably randomly click on any selection in the left sidebar of this blog page and get an eyeful of my candid truth-telling assessment of denominational religion, based on my understanding of the New Testament.

  But today I saw the other side, the side that I haven't focused on much, the side that is not offensive to the culture and not offensive to the scriptures and most importantly, not offensive to Jesus.

  If you decide to go back to church, I suggest you look for a place like this:

• The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, but not in-your-face welcoming.  They leave you alone to be a non-participating spectator if you want.  Nobody makes you raise your hands or say "Amen".  The apparel is a mix of faded jeans and 3-piece suits as if nobody really cares what you wear - or whether you have tattoos or body piercings, for that matter.  Nobody asks you to remove your hat if you wear one inside.  Little kids run back and forth and nobody stops them and scolds them about their irreverence for "God's temple."
• A church that respects the US constitution and its provision for the separation of church and state.  There is no mention of politics or the government, no alarmist warning about liberal politicians or the ubiquitous slippery slope.  No hyped-up challenge to somehow "take back America for God" (the "how-to" is always absent).
• There is no haranguing about giving.  Tithing is not forced, you are free to give or not to give without any expectation either way.  Finances seem to be handled responsibly and without a lot of waste.
• The property is modest and practical and is used efficiently by scheduling the same facilities for several different activities during the week (the church that I attended today has 1 worship service on Saturday night and 3 on Sunday morning and a variety of other venues during the week). Even better if the building is open to the public for walking and exercise, dance or karate classes, family reunions and other community events.  Stretch your donated dollar by using the resources as much as possible.
• The sermon is presented in a friendly and non-condemning manner.  It is not a dissertation on scriptural doctrine or denominational dogma, but rather a simple explanation of a spiritual idea leading to a practical application that is easily applied to the listener's everyday life.  It is grace-filled.
• The presenter is humble and an ordinary guy (or lady) who does not come off looking superior to the others in the room.  Even if he has an education and a divinity degree, his sermon is not grandiloquent or complicated.  The truths are not empowered by shouting or finger-pointing.  People do not leave the room feeling belittled or humiliated but rather encouraged.
• There are home groups or smaller venues that are conducive to discussion where you can ask questions.
• The essential hierarchy is invisible to the constituents.  Leaders don't seem to be in competition with each other or with the neighboring churches.

  Let me be clear about something:  The personality and demeanor of the pastor will make or break a church.  If he/she is mean and vindictive and uses the Bible as a weapon of mass destruction, there will be an abusive and toxic environment.  If you have experienced this at your local assembly, if you leave the meetings feeling a sense of condemnation, you should get yourself free immediately.

  On the other hand, if the leader is humble and grace-filled and magnanimous and servant-like, there will be health and spiritual vitality, and he will automatically be endowed with spiritual authority, much like Christ.  This is a good person to be around and from whom to receive spiritual food.

  Some of my acquaintances have said of me that I was "burned by the church".  Not so.  The church is made up of people.  I was burned by people.  People who had been my friends for decades, placed a higher value on the institution than they did on their relationship with me and with other individuals.  

  People are what's right with the church, and people are what's wrong with the church.

  There are at least two things about people that make them good or bad for the church:  One is bad doctrines that they believe and which govern their actions.  Bad doctrine can make good people do bad things.  The legalistic practice of the "submission to authority in the church" orthodoxy is an example of a bad doctrine that enables thousands of well-intentioned leaders to inadvertently construct environments of abuse and oppression.

  The other is bad character.  There are some people who simply should not lead others, because they have issues themselves that cause them to seek power and to dominate others.

  Add bad character to bad doctrine and you have a recipe for disaster (domineering men empowered by the doctrine of "submission to authority" wreak havoc throughout the Christian world).  Sadly, this is the norm in a lot of places.

  Fortunately, the church that I visited today was not like this.  It is led by a very intelligent but very down-to-earth young man who has a winsome personality and whose default interaction with people of all kinds is to declare their great worth by building them up and encouraging them, both through the fixtures of the local church and by his own respect for them as individuals.  He does not use the Bible as a bludgeon.

Ernesto Alaniz of Faith Baptist

  He was educated at Moody Bible College in Chicago, he is a big, lovable Tex-Mex-American named Ernesto Alaniz, and he is my son-in-law.  He is the campus pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Waterford, Michigan.

  If you want to go back to church, you should look for a non-condemning place like Faith Baptist that is led by an unassuming servant-type guy like Ernesto.  You should be safe there.

  Also, this is an independent church with no denominational alliances that can precipitate bad dictates from powerful characters in ivory towers.  Remember, power tends to corrupt.

   One other thing.  Pastors aren't the only ones who can set a poisonous tone in a local church.  The last four churches that have blown up in my neighborhood over the last four years were taken over by one or two power brokers, usually sitting on a governing board, who simply didn't like the pastor or the direction he was taking the church.  In most of these cases the district leaders caved in and sided with the dissidents, eventually ousting the pastors.  Hey, these folks are usually the ones holding the purse strings, like Judas, so the denominational leaders have little choice but to let them prevail ("If I don't get my way, I'll withhold my tithe or leave the church").  District leaders' livelihoods are dependent on the flow of funds from the local churches, so money steers logistics.

  There's good and there's bad in everything.  Seek a place with an abundance of good.  Good people and good practices.  Look for grace, love and respect.  If you don't see it in the leaders, don't go near the place.

Jesus was a Liberal

  Liberal means generous.  Jesus was generous.  His prevailing first reaction to a sinner is forgiveness.  Not judgement.  His response to the woman who was caught in the act of adultery was, "I don't condemn you," (John 8:11)  even though the Old Testament law ordered an execution by stoning.  Mercy prevailed over judgement.  Always.  This should give us a clue that, though it never came up during his ministry on earth, it's likely his reaction to gays would have been the same.  And to evolutionists, and abortionists - and politicians for that matter.

  As followers of Christ our prevailing approach to sinners should be the same.  "I don't condemn you."  And then pour on the love and the respect - and leave any follow-up admonition to the Lord through the Holy Spirit ("Now go and stop sinning").

  I have wondered what church or denomination Jesus would be the most likely to join if he lived on the earth again today.  Would he be a Presbyterian or a Baptist, a Wesleyan or a Catholic?  Would it be a group that we consider conservative?  Or liberal?

  I have concluded that he would be none of the above.  He wouldn't likely be part of a denomination of any kind.  He disdained the religious organization while on earth and reserved his most pointed criticisms for the religious leaders of the day, calling them sons of their father, the devil (John 8:44).  He might do the same if he were here now.  He would not be part of your church.  The institution of the church was not his idea (It was the emperor Constantine's idea).

  Jesus complained that the priests and Pharisees were using the scriptures to keep people out of heaven. (Matt 23:13)  Today's evangelists are no different: they use the scriptures to keep people out of heaven.

  He clearly banned the hierarchical structure for his disciples , telling them that they must not lord it over their people (Mark 10:42) but rather lead from behind (Matt 23:11, Mark 9:35).  And what do church leaders do today?  They lead from the front, lording it over their people through their hierarchical structure, claiming that a chain of command in the church is "God-ordained".  Nonsense, the only hierarchy ordained by God is that every member of the Body is answerable directly to the Head, which is Christ.

  Jesus clearly said we should not call any leader "pastor" or "father."(Matt 23:8-10)  Yet that's the accepted practice every time we address one of our clergy, feeding this idea that they are above us in some way.

  He said that his kingdom would be comprised of "living stones being built up into a spiritual house,"(I Peter 2:5)  but instead, we think God still dwells in temples made of brick and mortar and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on grand church buildings and meeting halls in every local parish, and then we hire "pastors" and "fathers" to lead us in style while we pay them salaries and provide them free housing and benefits.  I guess we are pretty liberal (generous) after all, since this scenario is entirely unbiblical.

  Jesus was  not interested in politics and rarely said anything about the government, and when he did, he showed respect toward civil authority.  (Wish some of your Facebook friends could be more like Christ in this way?)

  

  Well, maybe our contemporary Jesus, if not a denominational man, would be part of an independent house church.  After all, they have no hierarchy and no central leader - no pope or general superintendent.  They have no affiliations with any religious organization and don't even try to write up doctrinal statements and ordinances or bylaws.  Hmm, that sounds a lot like the New Testament house churches.  But Jesus was a predecessor to all that.

  Jesus was out and about all day every day, visiting from house to house and from town to town.  Of course there is no modern day counterpart, but if there were, I think he would be doing the same things as the original Jesus.

  His ministry would be characterized by humility, love and compassion.  He would help the poor and the hurting and pray for the sick wherever he found them.  He would provide food for the hungry - perhaps thousands at a time - out of concern for their welfare.  Yes, welfare.

  Yes, Jesus would be a liberal if he walked the earth today.  And he is walking the earth today, within you and me.  We are his dwelling place.

  So I want to be like Jesus:  I will be generous; I will be a liberal.  I will not judge, but only love people.  And I will help my needy neighbors when possible, and keep the main thing the main thing.  Love is the main thing.  Not righteousness or morality or conservative values.  Love.

  Oh, and since I really do seek to be like Jesus, I will criticize the religious institution and expose religious pride and the anti-Christ of legalism and oppression whenever and wherever I see it.  (I've been doing it for almost 3 years on this blog.)

  Thank you for reading.

  

  Have you ever thought about whether Jesus would want to be part of your church or denomination if he were here today?  What are some more reasons he would  or would not?