Why fake church is easier (and harder)
Pastoral discipleship weekly newsletter for Friday, May 5, 2023
Seminary was the first time in my life that I learned about the people called Methodist. It turns out that label that had been associated with my religious life all those years actually had some history and meaning to it. It turns out that the Methodist Revival was the closest thing to the day of Pentecost since, well, Pentecost.
When I first read of the Methodist Revival, my heart burned. I wanted such a passionate, intimate, meaningful thing in my life. I resented the generations between John Wesley and my own time and place, which allowed such a fervent movement to be turned into an establishment, milquetoast institution. I wondered how it ever came to be that people accepted a counterfeit for the real thing.
…And then I tried to reproduce what they did. If you don’t know what that means, you should know that part and parcel with the Methodist Revival was the class meeting. It was a group of roughly 12 people who were grouped together to meet weekly to report on their relationship with the Lord. “How is it with you soul?” was the weekly question. Seemed simple enough to replicate. But when we tried, we found that folks really didn’t do well with any sort of minimally intimate communication with other church members. It was forced and somewhat artificial. We, my wife and I, realized that a lot of folks just weren’t engaging deeply or reporting honestly what was going on in their lives.
…And then folks finally started sharing intimately. And it got messy. Firstly, forget about sharing anything intimate when there are members of the opposite sex around. But once a sex-segregated setting is facilitated, there will be struggle. People do life differently from one another. There are strong feelings about it. Sometimes people in the church are actually connected to one another in intimate ways that can go bad.
I read a Christian history book a few years ago, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church, which said that elders in the early church wouldn’t let folks partake of communion unless they were perfectly at peace with one another. There could be no bad blood within the body of Christ. Surely this is the only way to live out the scriptures together.
But it is very hard. It requires us to be very humble, to be willing to have conflict, to have hard conversations, to apologize when we are wrong, to forgive when others earnestly apologize. These are some of the hardest things in life. And yet that is the only path of peace, which Christ Jesus himself models and exhorts:
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” - Matthew 18:15-17
This is hard, and very uncomfortable. I finally came to understand why the vast majority of churches do not require people to go deep, to really know one another and be known by one another. It’s because it helps us to avoid the messiness of life.
But you know what? Living a counterfeit life is harder. And there are eternal consequences for doing so. So we gird up our loins and live in righteousness and integrity even when it costs us the world. It is worth it.
I pray our churches may continue to live faithfully and receive the blessings that are found only in Christ through his way of life.
Whenever there is a commitment of time or devotion or trust it will be difficult. I have church people I barely know tell me they are "Stephen Ministry" Shepherds if anyone needs to talk about personal issues. I have shared my own personal information with one person I thought was trustworthy only to find out they shared it with everyone. This damages the ability to be open. Trust takes time. It requires a relationship. Many people are too busy until it becomes too late. Commitment is hard for most people even commitment to our God. Daily Bible reading, daily prayer, weekly church attendance, Bible study and other life enriching activities are put off or are not a priority. Before I retired work consumed 48-56 hours of my time. I felt guilty I couldn't attend church because I was working. I do not take going to church for granted. I thoroughly enjoy it. I am blessed when I go. I love God and His church.