The Institutional Church Error
The institutional church error is the commonly-held view of the church as a place that is, in effect, considered to be a holy temple which the religious devotee "attends" in order to participate in a ritual "worship service" which is performed by a professional priesthood of "ministers." In this scheme, the congregant is reduced to little more than a spectator who follows along with a choreographed set of ceremonies during which he is expected to passively absorb that which is taught to him by "the pastor" during a monologue known as "the sermon." All of these things are almost universal to modern Evangelicalism, yet they are all at variance with what the Bible teaches regarding the church and its meetings, worship, and Christian ministry.
Now on the surface these diversions from the scriptural pattern might seem relatively inconsequential when compared to so many other heretical doctrines and anti-biblical practices found in professing Christendom today. But when considered as a whole, they comprise quite a grievous error which serves to greatly limit the application of the Bible to the life of the believer. Though it seems almost unnecessary to say: Men's actions are always guided by their thoughts. And when a Christian's thoughts are held captive within a framework of misconceptions about biblical teachings, the result can only be a perversion in practice. Adhering to concepts of organizations and their functions which are misdefined in such a way that they foster a compartmentalized view of Christianity, inevitably serves to promote a compartmentalizing of biblical precepts in the life of the believer.
And this is one of the dangers that a true Christian faces if he chooses to be associated with today's institutional churches: He risks being drawn into the evil of habitually partitioning off the Bible from his everyday life, not only by following the example of the many unregenerate congregants who do so, but also because the Evangelical institutions themselves actively, yet subtly, teach and reinforce a dualistic view of Christianity which inevitably leads to a sacred/secular division where the teachings of the Bible are thought to be applicable only in certain places and times -- or at least to greater or lesser degress in certain places and times.
One way in which this error is perpetuated is by repeatedly referring to the building or location where the congregation is assembled as "the church," "the house of God," "the house of worship," "the sanctuary," etc. This serves to reinforce in one's mind the erroneous concept of the church as a holy shrine which one visits for only a few hours every week, rather than the church being a closely-knit family of believers to whom the Christian is to make himself a servant at every opportunity.
Another way in which this dualistic view is upheld is through the misapplication of the word "worship" to those things which are performed in "the church" (i.e., the aforementioned holy building). I'm referring to the use of terms such as "the worship service" "the worship center," "corporate worship," "public worship," etc. The repeated use of these labels tends to lead one into the erroneous view that worship is the act of participating in a series of brief devotional activities at certain times and in particular locations, rather than worship being obedience to the word of God throughout the entirety of life.
Still another misnomer which serves to support a dualistic practice is the word "minister" as it is used in institutional Evangelicalism. This word is usually applied to a specific class of "ordained" religious professionals who are full-time employees of the "the church" (which itself is defined as an institution separate from the believers). Thus, the congregant is led to believe that Christian ministry is something which is not the duty of every believer but is the responsibility and exclusive domain of the "seminary"-trained "clergymen".
Then there is the unbiblical application of the word "pastor". In Evangelicalism, "pastor" is most often used as a religious title (e.g., Pastor John Smith) which is applied to only one man in each congregation who is a full-time salaried "minister" (though, in large congregations, there is often one "Senior Pastor" and one or more "Associate Pastors"). This one man is, in effect, the head of the congregation and exalted above the other members. He is usually the only one who speaks to the congregation (unless another "minister" takes the place of "the pastor" with his permission) by way of a monologue after which no discussion with him is permitted. Once again, the ordinary believer is led to think that he has no place in the function of the church other than to be one among many in a passive audience that gathers to have the religious professionals "minister" to him, though the New Testament clearly teaches that all believers are to minister to one another, be active in the functions of the church meeting, and teach one another through the practice of dialogue.
Now on the surface these diversions from the scriptural pattern might seem relatively inconsequential when compared to so many other heretical doctrines and anti-biblical practices found in professing Christendom today. But when considered as a whole, they comprise quite a grievous error which serves to greatly limit the application of the Bible to the life of the believer. Though it seems almost unnecessary to say: Men's actions are always guided by their thoughts. And when a Christian's thoughts are held captive within a framework of misconceptions about biblical teachings, the result can only be a perversion in practice. Adhering to concepts of organizations and their functions which are misdefined in such a way that they foster a compartmentalized view of Christianity, inevitably serves to promote a compartmentalizing of biblical precepts in the life of the believer.
And this is one of the dangers that a true Christian faces if he chooses to be associated with today's institutional churches: He risks being drawn into the evil of habitually partitioning off the Bible from his everyday life, not only by following the example of the many unregenerate congregants who do so, but also because the Evangelical institutions themselves actively, yet subtly, teach and reinforce a dualistic view of Christianity which inevitably leads to a sacred/secular division where the teachings of the Bible are thought to be applicable only in certain places and times -- or at least to greater or lesser degress in certain places and times.
One way in which this error is perpetuated is by repeatedly referring to the building or location where the congregation is assembled as "the church," "the house of God," "the house of worship," "the sanctuary," etc. This serves to reinforce in one's mind the erroneous concept of the church as a holy shrine which one visits for only a few hours every week, rather than the church being a closely-knit family of believers to whom the Christian is to make himself a servant at every opportunity.
Another way in which this dualistic view is upheld is through the misapplication of the word "worship" to those things which are performed in "the church" (i.e., the aforementioned holy building). I'm referring to the use of terms such as "the worship service" "the worship center," "corporate worship," "public worship," etc. The repeated use of these labels tends to lead one into the erroneous view that worship is the act of participating in a series of brief devotional activities at certain times and in particular locations, rather than worship being obedience to the word of God throughout the entirety of life.
Still another misnomer which serves to support a dualistic practice is the word "minister" as it is used in institutional Evangelicalism. This word is usually applied to a specific class of "ordained" religious professionals who are full-time employees of the "the church" (which itself is defined as an institution separate from the believers). Thus, the congregant is led to believe that Christian ministry is something which is not the duty of every believer but is the responsibility and exclusive domain of the "seminary"-trained "clergymen".
Then there is the unbiblical application of the word "pastor". In Evangelicalism, "pastor" is most often used as a religious title (e.g., Pastor John Smith) which is applied to only one man in each congregation who is a full-time salaried "minister" (though, in large congregations, there is often one "Senior Pastor" and one or more "Associate Pastors"). This one man is, in effect, the head of the congregation and exalted above the other members. He is usually the only one who speaks to the congregation (unless another "minister" takes the place of "the pastor" with his permission) by way of a monologue after which no discussion with him is permitted. Once again, the ordinary believer is led to think that he has no place in the function of the church other than to be one among many in a passive audience that gathers to have the religious professionals "minister" to him, though the New Testament clearly teaches that all believers are to minister to one another, be active in the functions of the church meeting, and teach one another through the practice of dialogue.
posted by Stuart DiNenno at 11/19/2004 08:07:00 PM
1 Comments:
very true! captures it in a nutshell!
Carl, England
Post a Comment
<< Home