MIDDLE CLASS CHURCH

Do you know what is wrong with middle class churches? The fact that they are middle class. They are the antithesis of what the New Testament church was like.

Under Roman rule, society was very divided along class lines.

At the top was the senatorial or upper class, followed by the middle or business class, under them were the working class and below that were the dregs of society. The usual pattern was that each class rarely mixed with each other. For example, you would not have someone from the upper class inviting a working class person to have a meal with them. You certainly would not get an invitation from them if you were working class. Despite there being no welfare system, the upper class would not give material aid to the lower class.

The New Testament church turned this class structure on its head. Your class, social standing or financial position made no difference to your membership of the “The Way”. You were invited and included in anything and everything that the disciples of Jesus were involved in.

If it was a meal to which everyone contributed, you were not excluded because you could not make a contribution. Those that could brought food not only for themselves but for the less well off so that everyone ate at the meal.

In the New Testament church, you would find a senator sat next to slave with no distinction between the two. As the scriptures say, they were all one in Christ.

When it came to the gifts of the Spirit, he gave as he saw fit whether you were a slave or a senator, an apostle or a nobody, because they were all one in Christ.

That is what is wrong with a middle class church. It excludes those that are not middle class. A church can only be a true expression of the body of Christ when it includes all and any who are born again, regardless of their social or financial standing.

How do we know that they exclude those that are not middle class? The fact that there are no members who are not middle class. I have attended churches with a view to joining but they made it obvious that they did not want me there as no one talked to me.

The New Testament churches acceptance of everyone regardless of their standing in society was evidence of their love for one another. Our segregation into different levels of social structure is evidence of our lack of love for one another. What we are saying is that unless you are like me you are not accepted.

I am so glad that Jesus did not base salvation on our being middle class. The fact that he didn’t means we have to ask ourselves “where does that leave us if we insist on being a middle class church?”