In my previous post on the dysfunction that was much of Mars Hill church, I focused on The Church being full of sinners, saved sinners, but sinners nonetheless. So to be surprised when “stuff” happens, and sinners act like sinners, is silly. Even a cursory look through the New Testament makes it apparent that perfection isn’t in the cards for Christians, even though in the 19th century and part of the 20th there were perfectionist movements in the church that claimed just that. This was such an influential movement, as hard as that is to believe today, that the great Reformed theologian B.B. Warfield saw the need to write a substantial book on it called, Studies in Perfectionism. In fact, when I became a Christian in 1978 the idea was still such an influence in the church, even if not taught outright, that when I discovered his book in the mid-1980s it felt like a life saver. Fundamentalist Christianity, a version of which I was born-again into, has always had a tendency toward works righteousness, which was a burden I could not bear.
As I was thinking about the post I realized it needed some balance. As I listened to some of the interviews in the Christianity Today podcast I referenced, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, I noticed a disturbing tendency in some of those most affected to overgeneralize the dysfunction, as if messed up churches were the rule and not the exception. In a way this is not surprising given secular cultural elites think by definition Christianity is dysfunctional, and they control all the organs of cultural influence, and thus the messaging. Everyone “knows” that Christians are narrow minded bigots, and judgmental hypocrites. They’re not of course, any more than any other American, but that’s the cultural default. I’ve experienced this myself in my own family when I’ve taken a stand against certain sexual sins, and then declared the dreaded, “judgmental.” What people mean by this is that by taking such a stand I am at the same time declaring I am better than those people I am “judging.” You almost hear the snide remark, Oh, you think you’re better than them. Well, as a matter of fact I do not! I too am a sinner worthy of death and hell, saved by grace alone. Add to the cultural bias the tendency of media to magnify Christian dysfunction, and it’s not surprising that people think Mars Hill is a feature of the church, not a bug. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In my few short years as a Christian (just passed 43 of those!), I’ve been involved in many churches, and all I’ve experienced is beautiful people, kind people, loving people, gracious people, giving people, humble people, people who bring harmony to relationships, not turmoil. Never once in that time did I expect them to be perfect people, to not act like sinners. So if one of them disappointed or offended me, I chalked it up to fallen human nature, to sinners doing what sinners do, not that somehow Christianity is a fraud. To reject Christianity because some Christians act like non-Christians is irrational; that doesn’t make it not true. In fact, and the point of my last post, was that dysfunctional Christians are in effect evidence that Christianity is true. I said if you read the New Testament letters you will see messed up churches and Christians are not new. It’s baked into the cake because Jesus himself said the wheat and tares (weeds) would grow up together.
Which brings me to something else remarkable I discovered as I wrote my way through the New Testament letters, the practical ubiquity of love. Most of us are familiar with Jesus’ teaching that the whole of the law and the prophets (the Old Testament) is summed up in the greatest commandment:
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
The fulfillment of this commandment is the church! Nowhere on earth will you find in any organization where this is lived out more consistently than among the people of God who claim Jesus as Lord and Savior. And this is for one simple but profound reason: Pentecost.
Prior to his ultimate obedience to death on the cross, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit who would apply the redemption to his people he accomplished by his sacrifice. After he had risen from the dead and just prior to ascending to heaven he confirmed that promise, and at Pentecost it was fulfilled, the Holy Spirit being poured out on his people. That was truly something new under the sun! And why the exhortation to love is strewn throughout the New Testament letters, love, love, love. With Jesus it is possible to love, to say no to selfish ambition and pride, to all-about-me and what I want, to how do I best love you. It ain’t easy, but so what. That’s the point. The cross wasn’t easy for Jesus, and taking up our cross daily won’t be easy either, but that is the only place where true life is found. Remember this next time you read or hear some smear about the church; that is the exception, love is the rule.
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