When you hear the word “heresy” you usually think of someone or people out there, espousing some wild theology that is not found in the scriptures. People like Jim Jones, David Koresh, the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses spring to mind.
John Stott, sometime Rector at All Souls Anglican Church, Langham Place in London is on record as saying , “Our static, inflexible, self-centred structures are ‘heretical structures’ because they embody a heretical doctrine of the church.” If “our structure has become an end in itself, not a means of saving the world,” it is “a heretical structure.”
A heretical doctrine of the church! I bet you haven’t heard that one before.
What he is saying and I have said many times are that a church that is not doing what it is meant to do is heretical.
So what is it meant to do?
Nothing much, just being obedient to the commands of Christ and changing the world by bringing heaven down into mankind’s miserable and self defeating way of life.
We are not called to build an organisation whose sole purpose is to satisfy the needs of those who belong. All expressions of Christianity whether it is Baptist, Pentecostal, Brethren, Lutheran, Callithumpian, are required to become a redeeming community that takes and share the gospel of Jesus Christ to the vast majority that have not had the opportunity to hear the good news so that everyone has the opportunity to be reconciled to God.
That will take time, commitment, self sacrifice and obedience, the four things that most Christians don’t want to be bothered with. Primarily this happens because the leadership get the results it deserves which is a body of people that are there to serve their own interests. Church is king and what happens in my church happens to make me happy.
In other words it becomes an end in itself instead of being a means to an end which is to be a redemptive community that takes the good news of Jesus Christ where ever God leads them to.
Most of the activity in most churches is designed to build the church, not the Kingdom of God. Kingdom builders are not interested in how the church benefits, they are more interested in the go of the gospel, driven by a passion for the lost. You know, the one that God has as in, it is not his will that any should perish.
You may be a “lively” church for want of a better term and say and do the right things, but you may still be a heretical church if you are not fulfilling the great commission. And that’s a fact.
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7 comments:
I agree in part that for many people, the church becomes and end in itself and is a happy clappy "bless me" club! However, why don't YOU STOP wasting your time sitting atthe computer complaining about the church, and get out there and do the work yourself that you are so passionate about. Complaining about this, that and everything else does not help those that need YOUR help. There are many "out there" doing the hard yards with very little encouragement.
If you are really wanting to see changes in people's lives, get off the computer and get out there and get beside those who ARE DOING what you (and rightly so), see needs doing. You're wasting valuable energy, time and resources that could be used far more productively in the pursuit of those who really need what you have to offer them.
An interesting comment, especially as the writer who remains anonymous please note, has no idea what I do or don't do or what I have done or not done.
He or she does not know that for the last few weeks I have put considerable time and energy along with thousands of others trying to stop the government making it legal to kill babies.
Doing this is very demanding, emotionally draining and time consuming.
May I ask anonymous, what their claim to fame is?
Interesting quotation from Stott. Yes, I think church structures do matter a lot.
I don't think John is saying that structures are wrong, he is emphasising that structures can become an end in themselves and it is something that has to be guarded against.
This is ably demonstrated by another survey that shows 95% of most churches income is spent on themselves.
I personally do not believe that was ever part of God's intended plan for salvation.
This slow conversation gave me reason to read the post once more. And yes, it is very important reflections here. "Heretical structures". I have to study that more deeply.
I think "structures" is a pretty neutral or even anodyne word, that has to be specified with values.
An interesting thought AK. Structures can mean many things, even something that has no physical structure. Comments like this make me think about the idea more so that I can understand myself.
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