Good-bye Jerry…

Today, at the age of 73, Rev. Jerry Falwell passed away. That leaves only Pat Robertson to endure the scorn of left-wing critics who lambaste those of us dubbed “fundamentalists.” As Pat seems to have gone off the deep end in recent years (his repeatedly strange prophecies) Jerry was really the lightning rod for criticism from the religious and secular left. Agree with him or not, he stuck to his guns, and stood firm in his faith.

While there is much we disagreed on, he was a good man. No doubt he would be sad to know he didn’t live to see the glorious return of Christ. But soon enough, in the twinkling of an eye, he will be before his Lord and Savior.

Married to the Church…

I was originally going to title this post, “How to Leave Your Church.” However, the title fell far short of what I wanted this post to convey. While this post will address the right way to leave a church, this post is much bigger than that. I want to speak to our western world view and how it plays into our actions within the church and as a body of believers.

Take that phrase, “body of believers,” and think on it.

Paul refers to the “body” often in his various epistles. But can we understand what he means? Is our frame of reference able to comprehend the gravity of that word?

Living in a Constitutional Republic, each of us is accustomed to knowing and exercising our rights. Even those ignorant of the Constitutional specifics know that they have rights. Those rights don’t belong to certain groups, but to the people. They are individual rights that each member of society is capable of exercising without seeking permission or blessing. And while this has been a political blessing, it has also served as a spiritual curse.

As a result, we feel entitled even in the church setting to seek comfort, to go after what pleases us, and to find our own happiness. Just think of how many times you’ve heard the phrase, “How can I grow in Christ” compared with the phrase, “How can we grow together in Christ.” Sadly, church has become an individual exercise of weekly attendance. Where is submission? Where is sacrifice? Where are the shared burdens?

To make matters worse we use or freedom to avoid growth.

Too often, as members of the church we take offense, and instead of confronting our brother, we simply move on to another congregation. Instead of letting these kind of conflicts lead to stronger bonds of brotherhood and friendship, we seek the immediate comfort of avoidance. But in doing such you haven’t solved a problem, you have merely carried your own problem to another church- where it is destined to arise again at some point.