For Love of the Institution…

The demise of the Institutional Church has been written about many times over.  The statistics are there for people to see.  4000 churches closing their doors each year.  Barely a 10-12% retention rate among young people.  The only generation still half-way decently tithing is passing from the scene.  I know, it doesn’t look good.

But…  What if you love the Institution?  Sure, we can talk about the Institutional Church in the general sense.  We like to apply it to all of those “other” churches out there.  However, “My” church is a different story.  My church has many things about it that “I” would like to retain.  “My” church isn’t an “Institution,” its a family!

Well… Yes, it is a family.  And yes, it is an institution as well.

I love my church, institution and all!  I don’t want to see it pass from the scene.  I don’t believe that it’s season finale has finally come.  So, what do I do?

First, I keep on loving it, and stay connected to it.  I learned this in the hospital chaplaincy.  When people think that someone is going to die, fairly soon, they start to detatch themselves from their loved one.  They start to talk about them to others, while they are in the same room with them.  They are emotionally getting ready for the eventual separation.

If you want something to die, then detatch from it.  If you want to give it a chance to survive, then stay connected with it.

Secondly, and I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, the church family has to live beyond itself.  We are the only institution that isn’t made for it’s membership.  We are made for the non-members.  We don’t serve ourselves, but in Christ-likeness, we serve others that are not “of” us.

This will be a terribly hard shift for any congregation to make.  It isn’t easy.  It hasn’t been easy for my church, and we’ve still a long way to go on it.

Finally, an ultimately, we have to focuse on obedience.  We have to specifically focus on individual and corporate obedience to Christ in the day-to-day.  That doesn’t mean that following a particular set of rules is synonomous with following Christ.  It means that we all seek his will, and endeavor to follow it…in the day-to-day.

For to long we’ve been nice to each other, saying we’re following the “golden rule,” as if that is real obedience.  Many non-Christians are nice to each other, treat others like they would want to be treated.  As far as I can tell, they aren’t intentionally trying to follow Christ in obedience.  No, there needs to be more of an intentionality about it.  It has less to do with “being good,” and more to do with, “Jesus, talk to me now.  I’m listening.”

Tim

Summer Sunset…

The Summer is coming to a slow end.  It is getting a little bit darker, a little bit earlier.  As I turned down the lights after Bible Study/Prayer Meeting last night, the darkness of the room reminded me that we weren’t in August any more.  It seems that the sun of Summer is setting.  Fall is fast approaching, and Winter is on the cusp.

We just got back from a little family vacation to Kansas.  My wife has family up yonder ways, and it was quite a drive.  I’m always impressed on the way up and over to central Kansas.  It really is a beautiful expanse…and, I really mean expanse.  You can see as far as your eyes will let you.  The sun pierces your eyes the moment it crests the horizon.  The colors of the sunset are beautiful, and fills the sky.  It got down to 49 degrees one night!  That was quite an experience for this Texas boy.  That was downright unexpected!  Yep, Summer seems to be setting all over the place.

I can’t help but think of the churches in our country.  I can’t help but think of my church, the one I’m blessed to serve.  It seems that the Summer of church life is setting, or perhaps is already well into Fall.  The chill and death of Winter is right around the corner…some already falling to it’s icy grasp.

Four thousand Southern Baptist churches closing their doors every year.  Ninety percent of our “churched” students never to return after high school.  One-third (plus) of our young adults leaving the institutions of faith that they’ve been raised in.  The Builder generation, the ones that really built the great monoliths to the faith, are in their final years of life.  Some would say that the church’s sun is setting as well.

Perhaps they are right.  If we define the church as the institutions perfected during the 1960-1970s, then maybe so.  If church is defined as the organization that does particular things in a particular way, then perhaps the analogy is correct.  But, if the church continues to be defined simply as the people of God, then I think it’s demise is premature.

Sure, the structures may change.  How things are done may change.  The profession that puts food on my personal table, and roof over my family’s head may change.  But, the people of God will carry on.  Those who love Christ and desire to be obedient to him will continue into the future.  God continues to build his Kingdom, even if that doesn’t mean that he will build our churches.

So, what do we do?  I believe that we stay obedient.  We stay faithful to what he calls us to.  We continue to discern his will, and stride obediently forward in it.

For me, that means that I lead my church outward.  We are to be more outwardly focused, and less inwardly concerned.  If we “get” from God, it is because we’ve already given in obedience to him.  If we “receive” as an institution, it is only because we’ve already went for him.  We invest in the community that surrounds us by doing the good things we believe God is calling us to do.  We live sacrificially, giving of our time to the schools, so that we may bless the children that attend them.  We volunteer for community events, so that we may bless our neighbor that attends them.  We love them as Christ loves us, so that when they ask us “why?” we can answer from the heart: Because my Jesus loves me and wants me to.

It has been a nice Summer here in Fort Worth.  I’ve stayed away from blogging, and the Baptist politics that seem to abound.  I can’t guarantee that I’ll get back into it.  Simply because, I’m not so sure how much they matter any more.  For me, it is about God’s Kingdom, not our own.  It is about obedience to him over denominationalism.  To steal, and change just a bit, from the RNC:  Its about Kingdom over Party.

Be Well,

Tim Dahl