The Church has changed. Once upon a time, the Church was the Body of Christ; a community of believers and followers of Jesus. St. Paul was the head of communities in Greece, St. James the administrator or apostle of the communities in Judea. The Church in the time of Christ and post Pentecost was a family. Believers came together on Sundays not to learn about programs, but to pray together, fellowship, and worship the Risen Lord.
In what stark contrast this image of the earlier church is to the contemporary church. Today churches are more akin to banks and pharmacies. Each denomination promises to lead you to the "riches in heaven" or to "heal you and lead you upon the right path." For someone who are not saved it can be daunting task to get through the tangled webs of denominationalism and find both Christ and a community of Christ followers.
My heart aches and breaks that the Body of Christ is so divided over doctrines. Jesus Christ said to the Father, "Father, my prayer is that they (my followers) would be one, as you and I are one." (John 17). Unfortunately Lord, we have failed. The Church is fragmented and fighting for supremacy. Each promises true salvation, when really hey should be pointing people to Christ, baptizing them in Holy Spirit and giving them support in community of family. How many churches can you say feel like community or family? If yours truly is, then the Lord has blessed you, but in general the answer is not many.
Other religions right now have strong and vibrant communities that provide the support, love, and safety that every soul is looking for after searching for God. Jesus said, "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, this is the first and greatest commandment, the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:30, Matthew 22:37). Many churches focus on the first of these two commandments, and rightfully so, Jesus Christ and relating to Him who is One with Father and Holy Spirit is the most important thing. However, we are also instructed to love others as we love ourselves, and I believe that includes building a community of faith where people feel encouraged in their walk with the Lord, supported in trials, loved unconditionally, and a sense of belonging to a family!
If the church actually looked like what Jesus prayed, "may they be one as you and I are one," then I think not only would there be more believers, but the world would look at the Church and see something that it envies and ultimately desires. Rather than building buildings and outreach programs, what if the church actually was a community and family that invites people to join the Family of Jesus Christ? What if instead of impersonal worship services, groups, and events; the body lived like Jesus did. Jesus went from town to town, from hill to hill and was out in the world doing the Father's Will and loving the lost sheep of Israel and the Gentile. He did not have programs, buildings, tents, groups, clubs, or even the Temple itself; not Jesus said, "foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest his head." (Luke 9:58). Our Lord was in the community, building a community (family) with his Disciples.
Most churches I have attend have the same setup. People sing a few songs, there is short period of greeting other people, the pastor or preacher gets up and sermonizes for an hour or more, and there is closing prayer, then everyone talks for fifteen minutes and then goes to lunch with their blood families. And yet this violates what St. Paul said, "If you can get to nothing else when together, pray (I urge you first pray, petition and intercede)!" (1 Timothy 2:1). Interesting, Paul emphasizes prayer, why? Because prayer is power and it is intimate and deals with needs. If instead of getting mocha and listen to man preach you actually got to pray with the whole Church about different problems and even got to receive support for your own struggles, wouldn't that create community or sense of care?
I would not venture to say churches do not care, but I would say they go about caring in the wrong way. It seems more churches are administrated by the same people; a pool of biochemists, administrators, and analytical types. If you are one of these do not take offense, the point is that these types of people tend to be focused on goals and are systematic in their approach. Relationships and social problems cannot be met with systems or programs, because each person is uniquely different and one program may work for say ten people, but alienate twenty others. As a result the church fragments within, where there are groups or clubs created for the artists, engineers, administrators, servants, and so on.
While is can be beneficial to separate into classes or groups so that you meet people who have the same interests, you can actually miss out and the church will not grow. If say a bible study or group is comprised of only the artists, then the only point of view you are going to get is an artist's point of view. This can be enjoyable for those who love to paint or appreciate art, but it actually is harmful in the long run, because an engineer or math minded person may have insight about art that no right brained person will have and they get excluded and the end result is a group that is isolated and unwillingly to connect to the rest of the church body because now they are comfortable.
To bring balance, yes you should have time with those who like minded and have same interests. I am not advocating be with people you cannot connect with all the time, but secluding ourselves in little worlds within the church is not what the Gospel writers and Founding Fathers of the Faith had in mind. Jesus did not say, 'Father, let the artists or just the analytical people be one as you and I are one,' no! He said, "let them (all my followers) be one as You and I are one." (John 17).
The reason the Church has lost America and most the world (Asia is exempt because of Great Revival going on there) is because the Church has failed to be community and family. The Church refused to take stand for their beliefs when prayer was being removed from schools and subsequently fled from other threats to the faith. The reason the Church failed to stand was two fold: fear (maybe indifference and self focused) and because there was no community united to take a stand. Because the Church is so fragmented is is difficult to get a rally going to come against the secular, humanist, and interreligious movements that pervade in culture and the classrooms. When a group like say Baptists or Protestants in general say let us rally to stop same sex marriage, the Anglicans and other more liberal churches will not attend.
Satan is smart, never forget that he is as my mother taught once, "the second highest intellect after God." The enemy of our souls knew if he could separate, seclude and severe the saints through denominationalism; that when major issues came up that needed a united church to bring the numbers of Christians to the forefront that would make secular state rulers reconsider passing legislation or laws, that there is such division in the church that such a rally of numbers cannot happen.
Our disunity and lack of community as the Church not only hinders our voice in this world, but it hinders the Gospel! There are people in other belief systems and religions that would become a Christian and follow Jesus Christ, but they hesitate because they see we are so divided and they see a lack of community and family. For many cultures to become a Christian means to be outcasted and forced to flee their community, way of life, and support system. And instead of being able to feel some assurance or security that they will be able to find a new community and support group of believers, they find programs instead of people and clubs instead of community.
Make not mistake, this problem in the Church is going to be stumbling block for many seeking the Truth and wanting to follow Jesus Christ. I believe Jesus will hold every leader and church accountable for having hindered people from coming into the Kingdom of Heaven and failing to be "One" as He is One with the Father!
I am thankful that in Asia the Church is growing and behaving like community! There in Orient many believers are One as the Father and Jesus Christ One! What is sad is here in America and many other nations it is the opposite! Division and infighting keep all the denominations from coming together (excluding Mormons/Church of the Latter Day Saints is not Christian but a cult).
My prayer and hope is the same as Jesus Christ. He wanted and wants the Body, those who follow Him to be "One" as He is One with the Father. I believe it is going to take great persecution and suffering to prompt the church to do this in America. For America does not know persecution and suffering like the churches in Asia, Africa, Arabia and other nations. Amazingly, it is persecution and suffering that binds people together and makes them close. Ask soldiers or missionaries or even workers in their jobs; they will tell you that they developed close friendship with their peers because they all went through the same trauma, trials, and tribulations. It is suffering that will make the saints One as the Savior and Creator are One. So if you pray for the church to be united in America and other countries, it might be best to pray that suffering and persecution come, so that we are forced to rely and support it other as community and in that process become a family again.
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