Would Jesus join your church?
[To the church]: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first (Revelation 2:4&5).
Jesus Christ did not found denominations, or a movement called Christianity. The first believers were bound together as a group not by being part of an organization but by being part of an organism animated by the Holy Spirit. Today the church is divided into as many as 30,000 denominations in the United States alone. What happened to “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity?” Did the Holy Spirit do this? More than a century ago Sam Foss wrote a twisted tale, The Calf-path, charting the chaotic trail of organized religion that leaves the sagest amongst us flummoxed. “Ah! Many things this tale might teach, but I am not ordained to preach.”
Context: What did the original audience know and understand?
The life of the Church began in the Middle East with the life of just one extraordinary person, Jesus Christ. His appearance was not that remarkable in the context of the Palestinian countryside where he lived and worked. It was not uncommon to see wandering Jewish teachers, or rabbis, men of exceptional gift and insight followed by small groups of disciples. What really set Jesus apart from the other rabbis is the profound effect his teaching had on people and places far removed from the shores of Palestine. Within twenty years of his crucifixion, every major center of civilization round the Mediterranean Sea could boast at least one group of his followers, people who believed Jesus was not dead, but alive— a shocking declaration. No one expected the Messiah to rise from the dead. There were quite a few, claiming to be Messiah in the first century, who were executed by the Romans and their followers dispersed. Yet, soon after Jesus’ crucifixion in about AD 30, his followers, instead of disappearing like normal disciples of an executed Messiah, were passionately proclaiming, throughout Jerusalem and beyond, that Jesus had risen bodily from the dead. Acts 2:42-47 describes the early Church as a community of believers who met regularly around a meal to worship, pray, and joyfully share the Gospel of Jesus. They were known for their hospitality, forgiveness, and commitment to caring for the poor and suffering and were unique in their embrace of equality (Galatians 3:28). They were united in their mission to share the good news of God’s salvation with the nations of the world (Matthew 18: 19-20). The New Testament reports the existence of Christians in Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, Antioch in Syria, Alexandria in Egypt, Ethiopia and Byzantium. It’s been said traditions are fragments of a tale from the past, we repeat in the present, and pass on to the future. Is the Church still united in her mission? The calf-path lies just ahead. “And from that day, o'er hill and glade, through those old woods a path was made.”
Historical Progression: Jesus promised his believers that “when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came and the Church was born. By the middle of the first century, the seeds of denominationalism were already visible in the church in Corinth. “Some follow Paul; some follow Cephas; some follow Apollos” (1 Corinthians 1: 10-17). The Church was fracturing and Paul responded with a rhetorical question, “Is Christ divided?” What was the cause? Christians never seem to ask why we do what we do on Sunday morning, why we blithely carry out our religious traditions without asking where they came from. Is it possible “doing church” has created a slew of cherished, calcified, humanly devised traditions that cause division? Jesus warned of the pitfalls surrounding human creativity in the affairs of God. “In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” As you’ll see, the Church has done a lot of innovating in its imitating of Christ. “They keep the path a sacred groove, along which all their lives they move.”
Christianity Becomes a Religion: Sunday morning church did not come from Jesus Christ, the apostles, or the Scriptures. Nor did it come from Judaism. After the Romans destroyed Jerusalem (AD 70), Judaic Christianity waned in numbers and power. Gentile Christianity dominated, and the new faith began to absorb Greco-Roman philosophy and ritual. By AD 100 Christianity was mainly a Gentile religious movement. Tertullian (AD 160-225) reimagined the Church as a microcosm of Roman society. He transitioned the Church from an organic community to a political body, in which only males could fully contribute in any kind of leadership. Women were no longer allowed to speak, teach or baptize. Gone was the dynamic use of gifts given by the Holy Spirit and in its place was born the clergy-laity divide, terms never used in the New Testament. Contrary to Jesus’ instructions, Ignatius of Antioch (AD 35-107) was instrumental in shifting the Church to a hierarchical system with a single leader at the top, the bishop. The Reformation (AD 1500) merely changed the designation to “pastor,” an ordained position with no scriptural justification. Within a century leadership became a paid position. In the third century Cyprian of Carthage imported pagan ideas, opening the door to the Old Testament economy of priests, temples, altars, and sacrifices. By the fifth century the “priesthood of all believers” completely disappeared from Christian practice. “In the process of replacing the old religions, Christianity became a religion” (Alexander Schmemann, Twentieth-century Eastern Orthodox priest, teacher, and writer).
The Church Becomes a Building: Nowhere in the New Testament do we find the terms church, temple, or house of God used to refer to a building, rather it refers to the believers. The Christian faith was born in homes, in courtyards, and along roadsides. It was the only religion on the planet that had no sacred objects, no sacred persons, and no sacred spaces. Christians did not erect special buildings for worship until the Constantinian era in the fourth century. In AD 321, Constantine decreed that Sunday would be a day of rest, a legal holiday. With Constantine came sacred buildings, sacred objects, sacred priesthood, and even sacred land — Palestine became known as “the Holy Land.” Constantine built nine churches in Rome and many others in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Constantinople. In so doing, believers became a building. “As the Savior of the world was born in a stable, and ascended to heaven from a mountain, so his apostles and their successors down to the third century, preached in the streets, the markets, on mountains, in ships, sepulchers, eaves, and deserts, and in the homes of their converts. But how many thousands of costly churches and chapels have since been built and are constantly being built in all parts of the world to honor the crucified Redeemer, who in the days of his humiliation had no place of his own to rest his head!” (Philip Schaff, Nineteenth-century American Church historian and theologian).
The Canon is Constrained: The apostles Paul and Peter wrote “the scriptures are God-breathed” and “men spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” What scriptures were they referring to? At that time the New Testament did not exist. We can’t know if they presumed their writings would be included in the canon of scripture. Paul, Peter and Jude also quoted directly from pseudepigraphical sources that were in common use at the time. Did they believe these to be scripture? On the other hand, if we assume scripture is only referring to the Old Testament of the time that is also problematic: Alexandria, Ethiopia, and Qumran each had unique and different collections of the books of the Old Testament. Furthermore, the early Christian church had a unique way of “receiving the scriptures” into each body of believers, led by the Holy Spirit. They did not all “receive” the exact same books. The concept of sola scriptura and only 66 books in the canon is recent in Church history and not universal. The Western Church met at the Council of Trent (1545-1563) in response to the Reformation. The canon was one of many topics discussed and affirmed. But even in the affirmation of the canon the council left space for other books to be included— a nod to the traditions of the Church in the East. To date, the descendants of the ancient believers in Ethiopia have the largest number of books in their canon. Included are the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, the Apocrypha and numerous pseudepigraphical writings. The early Church segregated the canon and stipulated its use: the Old and New Testaments were to be read in church; the Apocrypha and pseudepigraphical writings were to be read at home.
The Lord’s Supper is Abbreviated: For the early Christians, the Lord’s Supper was a communal meal that highlighted the significance of the bread and wine, symbolizing eternal life through the body and blood of Christ. The mood was one of celebration and joy—a Christian banquet. There was no clergyman to officiate. Around the time of Tertullian, the bread and wine began to be separated from the meal. By the late second century, this separation was complete. Today, the Lord’s Supper is a solemn occasion focused on sin and the death of Christ. What was once a banquet meal celebrating Christ is now a tongue-tickling thimble of grape juice and a tiny, tasteless bite-sized cracker.
The End Begins Again (eschatology): At his ascension Jesus promised to return for his faithful church. He clearly communicated, “No one knows the day or the hour [of my appearing], only the Father” (Matthew 24:36). Conversely, for most of church history end-time speculation is unending. Currently there are four prominent views of eschatology. The New Testament book of Revelation, an apocalyptic (unveiling) genre of literature, has spawned many innovations. The book was actively rejected by many Christian communities in the 3rd and 4th centuries, and not widely received as part of the New Testament canon until the 6th century and not read in church. Today, it continues to inspire popular end-time views, such as Dispensational Eschatology, that set dates, promote Zionism and a secret rapture, and a thousand-year (millennial) reign of Christ. This teaching, known historically as “chiliasm” (millennialism) was condemned as heresy at the Second Ecumenical Council (AD381). Its recent iteration was not revealed by Jesus, but originated in 1831 with John Nelson Darby, a disillusioned priest, who left the Church of England and joined a separatist millenarian group called the Plymouth Brethren. Popularized by the Left Behind book series, this perspective has real-time consequences, including life-threatening devistation. Remember “the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
“A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun,
To do what other men have done.”
Objectivity splinters into subjectivity resulting in myriad shards of belief. Sharp points of difference provoke division. In the eleventh century the Great Schism occurred: The Church in the West (Rome) broke communion with the Church in the East (Constantinople). The ensuing centuries yielded two different visions of what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be the Church. The Protestant Reformation followed soon after in the sixteenth century, splintering from the Catholic Church in the West. Unmoored from the historical Church they drifted further from the context of first century Christianity. Within a generation there were multiple Protestant factions, all disagreeing vehemently, sparking endless wars across Europe. Disunion was further cemented by the establishment of denominational seminaries. United in Christ; divided in the Church. The devil is in the details. Instead of “contending for the faith once for all given to the saints” (Jude 3), the Church splintered over membership statements focused primarily on secondary issues such as church leadership (pope, bishop, pastor), liturgy, tradition, eschatology, women’s roles, membership requirements, canonical books, organizational forms, and on and on. These statements may be well meant, but they create confusion and divide the Church. For example, can a Protestant marry a Catholic? Are Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant all Christian? Is it okay to read the Apocrypha? Is it wrong for women to preach? Can Christians drink wine? How many sacrament are there? Simply put, being part of a church does not mean you are following Christ. Once upon a time belonging to the Church was based on embracing Christ alone. Two thousand years later it is based on spurious membership statements that obscure the Church’s “first love.” Would Jesus join your church? Being joined to Christ is simple; joining the Church is far more complicated.
In retrospect, every 500 years there has been a major change in the Church. It began with the union of Church and State in the wake of Constantine; followed by the Great Schism between East and West in 1040; followed by the Reformation, post printing press, in 1500; and finally, the current internet age which is creating turbulence in the Church. In the wake of each major change the Church has looked very different. What will it be like when it emerges from the current storm? Perhaps it will once again discover its first love and the divisions will diminish. Rest assured, wherever two or three are gathered in his name, Jesus has promised to be present.
Conclusion: On the night before he was betrayed and eventually crucified, Jesus prayed to his Heavenly Father a beautiful prayer of unity for all believers throughout time (John 17:20-26). “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” According to Christ, there shouldn’t be daylight between one believer and the next. Without complete unity the Church has no glory and no witness, and the world has no way of knowing the depths of the love of God. There is a strange legend of a church that grew colorless in a single night. The shades of glory faded from the sky; the sea became pale and motionless; the green vanished from the grass and the color from the flowers; the fire died from the diamond, and the pearl lost its light. Nature put on her robes of mourning, and the people who lived there became sad and afraid. The church lost its life and light. If tonight, with one sweep of the arm you brush Christ from the heart of Christianity, the scenes and suggestions from his life, the spirit which he exhibited, the principles for which he stood, you would have a church made colorless in a night— for Christ is the color and glory thereof. “Ah! Many things this tale might teach, but I am not ordained to preach.”
Sources: Early Christians: Life in the First Years of the Church, John Drane; The Religion of the Apostles, Stephen de Young; How God Sees Women, Terran Williams; Pagan Christianity, George Barna and Frank Viola; What if Jesus Had Never Been Born, D James Kennedy; Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, Andrew Stephen Damick; The Apocalypse Code, Hank Hanegraaff; Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Michael Pomazansky; The Whole Counsel of God, an Introduction to Your Bible, Stephen de Young; Revelation: Four Views, Steve Gregg; A Short History of Christianity, Stephen Tomkins