Monday, May 27, 2013

Ah Church … Wither Thou Goest?


A few days ago, a member of one of my Christian Linkedin groups asked, “In your opinion, what is the greatest current threat or challenge to the local church? To the denomination or association of churches closest to you? To Christianity as a whole?”

Now people have asked these questions before, and people have answered these questions before. Lots of people have lots of opinions about the church and the people in it. Some have even gone so far as to entreat Christians to leave the church, citing its corruption and heresy.

However, I’ve never understood how believers could be the church and yet leave the church and still worship together as the bible instructs (Hebrews 10:25). And so, I think those who advocate for all Christians to stop gathering in “formal” churches are missing the point and with dire consequences.

Nevertheless, I’d have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to not see that the church is far from perfect, and in some instances doesn’t resemble anything like a people set apart.

And so, to answer my fellow group member’s question, I present the following, because a picture is truly worth a thousand words, and a pictures with words is worth more than that.

Photographed on a church lawn.
What’s your answer to the question?

3 comments:

  1. The sign is temporary - easy to erect, easy to uproot, printed on fabric. The message is provocative, to put the most positive intepretation to it. I'd turn into the parking lot to get clarification from the pastor or an elder; but I'd be exceedingly unlikely to stop in for worship or a Bible study. The Bible points toward the triune God; I'd wonder if this assembly would also assert, 'We take God seriously. But not literally.' The Bible's authority derives from God's authority, Who made us and all that is, and Who sustains and will heal all that God created and sustains. When a body is this willing to undermine the authority of the Bible, it stands in peril, I think, of drifting away from the authority of God as well.

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    1. Dear Anon, you are a better person than I. I wouldn't even turn into the lot to ask a question. Where I live, there are churches on every corner. I feel no obligation to engage one that clearly (and proudly, it seems) publishes beliefs distinct from mine.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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