“The church.” When you read that, there are probably several things that go through your mind. I wonder if the words “unity” and “family” are among those? My fear is that they likely are not. As I look around at the landscape of Christianity in our culture, I don’t see these concepts being lived out on a broader scale. It seems that Christians have become more focused on how they are different than how they are the same. Many are all too willing to cut themselves off from other believers over opinions, preferences and issues of biblical interpretation that aren’t central to the message of the Gospel. And churches seem more like businesses or organizations than they do families.
Each local church has bought into the idea of “branding.” We all have our own logos, taglines, websites, mobile apps and Facebook pages. I’ll be honest with you: this part of the discussion is hard for me, because I love this kind of stuff! Since I came to Pea Ridge a year ago, I’ve spent time working on each of these aspects of branding to help people understand what we’re all about as a church, and to improve communication. But as I look at the church landscape in America, I have to wonder … have we turned the church into a business? Have we twisted it into another nonprofit organization? I believe we have.
But this issue extends beyond the surface of an external brand. It has penetrated deeply into our church culture, and it’s impacted how we handle many aspects of church life. Instead of seeking meaningful relationships characterized by unity – which is something families do – we have sought after superficial connections and cordiality. We just want everyone to smile and be nice, and then go home. And when this fails, we just remove the problem and go on with life. It’s easy to end a relationship that isn’t meaningful. And it’s easy to leave a church when there’s no real relationship to keep you connected. In this sense, church has become more like a civic organization or even a workplace. But this isn’t what God intended.
Christ’s prayer for his followers includes an emphasis on unity. He prayed, “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one,” (John 17:11). Jesus asked God to give his followers the same unity that the Father and Son shared. That kind of relationship is more than an acquaintance. It’s more than a cordial “How are you?” on Sunday morning. It’s the kind of relationship that lasts, and one that isn’t easily ended. God answered Christ’s prayer when believers formed the first Christian community in Acts 2. These people didn’t just come together to sit in rows and learn and then go their separate ways. They shared life together. They prayed together. They ate meals together. They even shared their possessions so no one went without.
Here in America, it seems that these types of relationships within the church are the exception rather than the norm. And this is a problem. For the church – which is simply a gathering of believers – to be what God intended, it must renew its passion for the concept of family. Families stick together. They encourage and challenge each other. They forgive. They sacrifice for one another. They seek meaningful relationships characterized by unity. Followers of Jesus, we serve the same Father and we have received the same Savior. We have the same Holy Spirit of God living inside of us. There is a supernatural unity that we can and should experience, but we’ll only fully realize this if we’re willing to let go of the organizational mindset and start seeing our community of believers as God sees it: as a family.
Where do we start? I think it begins with each of us following the example of Jesus and spending time in prayer … praying that we as believers would be one, just as the Father and the Son are one. I believe that when we do this, we’ll experience relationships within our churches and even with those in other churches that are real, meaningful and characterized by unity of heart and of purpose.
No logo or catch phrase can do that.
Dan Londeree 