One of the more foolish things Christians do is get
“worried” about the Church. Articles, books, lectures, sermons, and all sorts
of other communication floats around, purporting to describe the collapse, end,
failure, or demise of the Church…usually with the assumption that the Church is
rather like a failed business, waiting for bankruptcy or a buy-out from some
rival. We are told by various “experts” that the Church must “change or die,”
and from others that it must “cling to its traditions” or perish. As with most
advertising, there is a breathless desperation to much of this talk—mostly by
people whose income or status is derived from the Church.
The assumption behind these warnings seems to be that the
Church is essentially a human institution, rather like a large, old corporation,
and thus subject to purely human analysis and measurements. What is forgotten
is that the Church is really the Body of Christ, and that “the gates of Hades
will not prevail against it.” Anything purely institutional about the Church
will, indeed, rise and fall; but that which is truly of Divine origin will
endure until the end of the ages. This perspective changes everything.
While the St. Timothy’s J2A group was in Ireland on
pilgrimage this summer, we saw evidence all around us of the rise-and-fall of
institutional Christendom. Most manifestations of Christianity are in eclipse
there right now. Parishes have closed, congregations are often very small and
quite elderly, and a sense of decline is pervasive. For a country once known as the crown jewel
of the Roman Catholic Church, times are hard.
This has a lot to do with the recent sex scandals that
rocked all parts of that Communion; but it also is the result of the Church’s
general misuse of its position and privilege. Much the same thing may be said
of the Church of Ireland (the Anglican Church in that country). Far from being
the servant of God’s people, the institution had come to make the people its servant.
And I think it is this question—the servanthood of the Church—which
really requires some thought today. Christ Jesus came amongst us “as one who
serves,” as the Gospel according to Luke reminds us. That service we call ministry, a term that shares a root with
the word minus, or “less.” The
Christian Church should never point to itself as the focus of attention. It
should always point to God through prayer, faithfulness, humility, holiness,
and service. As St. Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth so long ago: “For we do
not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants
for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor. 4:5). The Church’s renewal and growth is based on the
authenticity of its servanthood. We need always to take a back seat to the mission—making “less” of the institution
and “more” of the message. When we do so, our need to worry melts away as we become instruments of something far greater than our vested interests or our passings fears.
As we begin the full program for another year of ministry at
St. Timothy’s, I want to remind each of us—as well as myself—that the once and
future Church will never be an institution dedicated to its own preservation or
enrichment. The true Church is conscious of its identity as part of the Risen
Christ’s holy Body, and joins its risen Head in serving others so that God’s
victory, love, and power may be known. This is a school for servants: service
in the home, in school, at work, “in shops or at tea,” as the old hymn says. Let us keep this in mind so that all our efforts are directed to the real
mission of the Church: To restore all
people to unity with God and each other in Christ.
Your fellow-servant in Christ,
Brandon+
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