Some may interpret what I say as just another disgruntled church member spewing their distaste, but that is far from the truth. The truth is that I genuinely desire Jesus’ Ekklesia, His Family, to fulfill its purpose on earth. I want His Body to become and accomplish all He intended. So, if that is the case, what’s my beef with church? What is the real problem with Churchianity?
I have driven past one particular church building with a marquee sign in front. The sign has been the same on each side for at least the last four months. On one side is an invitation to visit their church, as they state that everyone is welcome. From my experience, however, I doubt everyone is welcome, but that topic is a different discussion.
The other side of the sign is what caught my attention. After driving by it for months, I finally stopped one day and took a picture. I’ve cropped the image so that the name and location of the church are not displayed.
Some may look at this image and say, “What’s the big deal?” They are just trying to get people to attend their church. But therein lies the problem. Jesus didn’t establish His Ekklesia to increase attendance at the temple.
Size Matters In Churchianity
The main goal of churchianity is to get more people to attend their church. I recently attended a local congregation on Resurrection Sunday (Easter). I do not recall the message, but I remember that the connect cards were the most important thing of the day. Numerous people mentioned them multiple times, including the pastor, who began and ended his message by discussing the connect/visitor’s card. He explained that they were necessary because each card represented a person, and he wanted those people to return to his church next week.
I’ve been there. I’ve focused on attendance and offerings because you need people to have a church. You won’t have a church if you don’t have a group of people. And the more people you have, the more programs you can have, and the more programs you have, the more people you can attract, and the more people you attract, the more enormous building you can build, and all of this will make Jesus really, really happy. Or will it?
I recently heard a speaker teaching about Jesus feeding the 4,000 and 5,000 crowds. When he spoke about how Jesus wasn’t interested in the crowds and actually caused them to leave Him because of the comment about eating His Body, he said something that struck me. While I agreed with the speaker’s message, how he said it made me pause. This is not an exact quote, but he said something like: “When Jesus was at the height of success in his ministry, he said something that made most of the crowd leave and stop following.”
The thought that struck me was that I don’t think Jesus would have considered the large crowds and the feeding of thousands as the height of His success in ministry, but when we have a churchianity mindset, we equate crowds with success. We equate larger buildings with success. We equate big offerings and funding lots of programs with success.
Even though this speaker was correct in showing how Jesus wasn’t interested in a huge following, his churchianity views came through, as he viewed this event as the height of Jesus’ success in ministry.
As I thought about this, I doubt Abba was any more impressed with this day in Jesus’s life than He was with the day He was born in a manger, the 40 days in the wilderness, or the day He was hung on a cross. Jesus always did what He saw the Father do, and Abba was pleased with His Son.
However, the churchianity system does not function as Jesus intended it. It functions more like a restaurant, trying to woo customers into their establishment by promising a pleasant dining experience and better food than the other restaurants down the street so that you’ll want to return and try something else next week.
It’s All About Getting Them Into Your Building
The real problem with churchianity is that it is all about getting them into your building at a designated time, whether Sunday morning, Wednesday evening, or some other time. You must walk through their doors, sit in their seats, and observe their predevised service.
Jesus said for His followers to “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel,” but churchianity says, “Come ye into our buildings and let us preach to you.” I may be off, but the churchianity view seems disconnected from the creator’s original intent.
I’m not against gathering together. Scripture states that we should not ignore the importance of the gathering, but that is not the sole purpose of Jesus’ Ekklesia. The purpose is to GO.
Jesus gave His Ekklesia gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip and build us up so that we could do the work of the ministry when we GO into the world. But is that what churchianity does?
For several weeks I visited different congregations. One of the questions I asked myself after the weekly services was, “What was I equipped to do after sitting through the singing and sermon program?” Here’s a short list of what I was empowered to do:
- Fill out a visitor’s connect card and take it to the welcome center in exchange for a gift.
- Come back next week or attend a special welcome meeting for visitors.
- Try harder to be a good Christian so that Jesus will be pleased with me. Do some type of spiritual calisthenics, like praying or reading the Bible.
- Consider giving a special offering to the building program or a specific ministry.
- Volunteer to greet, make coffee or help in the nursery.
That was pretty much it, and it all came from a speaker on a stage, not from the body itself. Outside of a few handshakes and smiles, there was no encouragement from one another, as scripture directs.
Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but let us exhort one another, especially as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:25
Hebrews 10:25 states that when we assemble, our exhortation is to one another, not from a person behind a podium. 1 Corinthians 14:26 also says everyone should have something to share when they gather, but when did this last happen in a church service?
I am not saying congregations should stop gathering, but we need to understand better how Jesus intends His Ekklesia to function.
Change Can Be Difficult
Church: It’s what we’ve always done. In my lifetime, I have gone through the various stages of church. When I was a child, we had a children’s church. That was the big thing. The adults sang out of hymnals and had sing-spirations once a month when there was only a piano and maybe an electric organ.
Then the Jesus movement came, and we had to get hipper, so the music started changing. We added choruses, drums, and guitars to our hymns. Then, we removed the hymns and hymnals altogether and used overhead projectors while singing off-the-wall songs. Then, PowerPoint and other projection software came into play, and sound systems became more elaborate; new lighting, projection, and smoke machines were added to have a much more impactful Jesus encounter.
Over the years, buildings have changed from rectangular boxes with row seating to curved auditoriums and huge complexes with buildings galore–most of which sit empty for at least 160 of the 168 hours each week. The room decor went from harvest gold to mauve to green and finally to grey. Children’s church became a massive production from just a bible story, snack, and craft to full-blown children’s ministries, electronic check-ins, interactive video presentations, full-time staff, and gymnasiums.
While the facades have changed, the basic form has not changed for over a thousand years. We enter a room as spectators with minimal participation allowed or expected, sing or listen to a few songs, hear a sermon, and leave the same way we entered. And it’s the same thing week after week after week.
Nothing has changed whether the church service has a rock band or a pipe organ, whether we wear shirts and ties or shorts and t-shirts. It’s still a ritual of religion rather than a functioning Ekklesia sent to change the world.
Why does this happen? I think it’s easier to keep doing what you’ve always done rather than try to hear the voice of God and change the way you’ve always done it to what He wants it to be.
I’ve attended dozens of local congregations in the last few years, and while they all claim to be different, unique, or special, they are all doing the exact same thing. One may have a better music presentation, while another may have a really cool building or a slightly different view of scripture, but they all do the same thing—over and over and over.
Behold, I Do A New Thing
I’ve heard preachers preach sermons on God doing a new thing, yet little has changed for my almost sixty years. Indeed, we have moved from flannelgraphs to interactive AI-generated programming for the presentation. However, we still do the same thing: Get people to come to a building and make it interesting enough that they will want to return next week. If they do, we’re considered a thriving church.
There are periodicals dedicated solely to church attendance. They have an annual biggest attendance issue, an annual fastest growing church issue, and several others that focus on the newest way to do the same-ole-thing, the same-ole-way, but try to make it look different.
But what if God really wants to do something new, and by a new thing, I mean actually seeing His original intent followed? What if He wants to shift from our religious churchianity tradition to a more family-oriented model like the New Testament gatherings—not just house churches but gatherings that empower us to do more than try not to sin this week and come back next Sunday to do it again?
What if He wants us to start going into the world—not just Africa or India, but downtown USA, the local corporations, small businesses, school systems, government, media, and the like? What if He wants us to gather together to be empowered and equipped by one another to go out and change the world for real and not just talk about how we send money to some pastor in Uganda every month?
I’m not saying the traditional missionary activities aren’t good, but are they His intent alone? Is Jesus really interested in us spending trillions of dollars on buildings, salaries, programs, and marketing each year so we can sit in comfortable auditoriums and have church services in our protected buildings while the world’s systems are discipling everyone else?
The church and Christianity used to influence our world, but today that has changed. No longer is the church the influencer, but it has been confined to its box and told to keep its antiquated teachings to ourselves. Unfortunately, for the most part, churchianity has complied with the request. Even those who have bucked the system still gather in their protected buildings with off-duty police posted at the doors.
But it is time to change, which means it’s time to think outside the box – the church box.
There is a growing movement in the US, at least. Books have been written on the topic, and numerous studies have been conducted to discover a group of believers called the De-churched.
The churchianity folk see the de-churched as backsliders who have fallen from grace, but I believe many are faithful followers of Jesus who realize that God is doing a new thing. They may not be able to see where He is leading them to fully, but they can see where He is leading them from.
While I may attend church gatherings occasionally, I consider myself part of the de-churched movement. I have not stepped away from my brothers and sisters nor my faith in Jesus Christ. Still, I believe He is moving in a new direction to help bring change that will move His assembly closer to fulfilling the great commission of making disciples of nations.
I don’t know precisely what this de-church thing looks like yet, but I know what it doesn’t look like, so instead of being afraid of change, I’m open to trying something new. Instead of trying to get people to gather in a building each week to hear the man-o-god speak, I’m interested in seeing where Jesus leads, and then I will show up there and do what He says to do. Sounds a little like what Jesus did, huh?
But What Is The End Result?
I believe God has a call and purpose for every believer. Whether we choose to fulfill that call and purpose is up to us individually. God has given me a unique perspective and allowed me to have my experiences to prepare me to do my part to help implement His Ekklesia and Kingdom on earth.
I hope to do what I could never do as a church member, a pastor, or a ministry leader: Help equip the saints to go out and do what they are called to do so that His Ekklesia will function together to influence the world for His Kingdom.
