The church has seen better days. Over the past 20 years the church, regardless of denomination or leadership, has found itself exposed for what it is…an imperfect institution. For decades the church was one of the few institutions that was seen positively not only by its members but society as a whole. The scandals involving first prominent charismatic pastors (Jim Baker and Jimmy Swaggart) and then those of the priestly sexual abuse of children in the Roman Catholic Church have reshaped public opinion about the church. Though we as Presbyterians have not garnered the spot-light we have had our share of ministers sleeping with parishioners as well as a child sexual abuse scandal in a mission school in Africa. All of this has led American society to distance itself from organized religion. Diana Butler Bass put it this way:
"The religious market collapse has happened with astonishing speed. In 1999, when survey takers asked Americans "Do you consider yourself spiritual or religious," a solid majority of 54 percent responded that they were "religious but not spiritual." By 2009, only 9 percent of Americans responded that way. In 10 years, those willing to identify themselves primarily as "religious" plummeted by 45 percentage points. In the last decade, the word "religion" has become equated with institutional or organized religion…in almost exclusively negative terms."
The reality however is that the church has never been the shining city set on a hill that people pretended it to be.
If we take seriously the New Testament witness it is apparent that the church has always had its issues. In the Apostle Paul's letters we read about churches that are rent by sexual lapses (a man sleeping with his step-mother), people being greedy and not sharing, others thinking that they are wiser and better than other church members, those who believe their spiritual gifts are the best, as well as factions based on who baptized whom. Church history witnesses to the church rapidly becoming anti-woman (women were quickly removed from leadership positions), hierarchical and more concerned with theological orthodoxy than being a compassionate, loving community. Once the church became the official religion of the Empire under Constantine (320s CE) it became enamored of the power that this relationship brought. The following centuries brought everything from the crusades, to the inquisition to Protestant heresy and witch trials…and the deaths of thousands of innocents. The picture is not pretty.
I offer these observations not because they are sensational or in order to make ourselves feel badly about our past. I offer them for two reasons. First they are a reminder that we are in many ways a human institution. Even though we are called by Christ in and through the Holy Spirit, we bring into this community all of our human foibles and failings. A pastor friend of mine even tells new members in his church to expect that one day the church will disappoint them. This understanding will hopefully help us in those moments when the church has let us down…knowing that there are no perfect churches out there. Second I hope this realization about our lack of perfection will cause us to want to be a better church…a better community of caring and compassion. By realizing that we are not perfect we will see that there is room for improvement; that by prayer and grace we can become more and more the church Christ calls us to be.
In the end the quality of our community is up to us and our willingness to be led and guided by the Spirit as we live into our faith given to us by Christ.
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