Worship on Steroids
There was electricity in the atmosphere. We couldn’t wait to get there. Packing up three kids into the car and driving to the meeting was a real adventure on most Sundays, but it was worth the sacrifice. It was great to connect with friends and the kids loved their children’s ministry classes. The real excitement was walking into the auditorium as the worship band was getting cranked up. Electric guitars, keyboards and drums. The sound washed over you like waves. Then we all started singing. It was somewhere between a rock concert and good karaoke. We knew the tunes and we felt the words. This was worship on steroids. For us, this became the high water mark for encountering God in a corporate setting. Sundays were amazing.
Sunday Meetings
The church I fell in love with was a life-giving experience with folks who shared so much in common. We truly wanted to live our lives together 24×7, but Sunday was amazing because that’s the day we all came together in a rented school auditorium. There was life and excitement. So what happened? Over the years, in many congregations, the level of organization, time and money required to maintain the church and all its ministries has choked the life out of everything else. The issue is not Sunday or even worship style. God loves diversity. People can get together any day or anywhere to experience God. The issue is all the stuff that got added to the simplicity of loving Jesus and loving people. What started as a fairly simple gathering where spiritual connection happens has morphed into something else. Some large churches stage a weekly multimedia production with custom scenery, stage lighting, video projection and fog machines. This kind of production is highly engaging, but one question comes to mind: Is this what Jesus really had in mind?
Garden Party
Flash back to the first man and woman God created. Let’s call them Adam and Eve. We see in the Genesis account that they simply hung out with God in a garden. Worship is never mentioned in the creation story. In the cool of the evening God walked with them in the Garden. Let’s call it Eden. So you’ve got the Creator spending time with the people that he created and loved. No big deal. Seems pretty simple. They didn’t need a lot of stuff to connect with God. There were no pews, no hymnals, no candles or robes. (No robes for sure!) Here’s the point. We were created for relationship. When we connect with God and with each other we experience love, life and fulfillment. We don’t really need anything else. In 2015 the way we connect with God and people may look a little different, but fundamentally it’s organic. Period. The organization part was man’s idea.
Body Building
The church is fully organic. It’s a living organism, not an organization. It’s alive and full of passion and energy. Paul, the New Testament guy, captures the essence of our shared experience with God and each other. He says that it looks and functions like a body. What could be more organic than that? I love the way he expresses the equality, mutual respect and dependence we have with each other. It’s no surprise that Jesus is the head of this body, but we each have a significant part to play.
“The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ…
If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am only an ear and not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? Suppose the whole body were an eye—then how would you hear? Or if your whole body were just one big ear, how could you smell anything?
God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it….
This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other equally. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it. “
– 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (excerpts)
When some folks say we should be members of a church that’s code for being members of an organization. Paul says we’re members of a body. The Church is a body, not a building.
Remote-Controlled Members
For many years I thought I was in a committed relationship with people. I loved people. I was a member of many small groups and led small groups. I was in roles where I provided pastoral care and oversight for people. People were the reason I fell in love with the church. But at some point I realized my relationship was with an organization that created a kind of filter between my connection with people and their connection with me. The organization created a structure and imposed guidelines and on how we should relate to God and each other. In a more subtle way, leaders exerted influence over “members” in an effort to control people in ways that proved to be unhealthy. My experiences have left me disillusioned with the organized church and determined to distance myself from anything that looks or smells like conformity, control or manipulation. Distance and perspective have helped me understand how it happened. Now I’m picking up the pieces and looking forward to reconnecting with people who want relationship without all the other stuff.
Heuristic question: Does being fully “organic” church preclude or necessitate organizing structure?
Chris, that’s a great question. In my opinion, one of the things that make a church organic is at its core it depends on relationships, not an organizational structure to thrive and sustain itself. I used the term “organic” as a literary device, but I chose it because I think it represents a more a more pure and natural model for the church. Organic fruit is considered healthier because no synthetic pesticides or chemical fertilizers are used. The fruit grows and thrives without the addition of man-made methods designed to enhance the fruit, but when added increase the risk of harmful effects. In the same way, the church had its origins as an organic entity, but over time things have been added. It’s clear from the New Testament that leaders were chosen and put in place to provide oversight and training, but it’s always been the intent for the members to care for each other. Meeting in houses or public places keeps the operating costs down and the idea of a paid, professional church staff is a fairly modern development. A smaller, decentralized church would simply not require a high level of organization, effort and cost to sustain itself. Those are a few of my thoughts. What do you think?
Hey John! My heart has resonated to your words!! Just re-read Ephesians 4:11-16 in the Amplified translation, what more can be said? Maybe, let it be done according to your word Lord!