It Doesn't Have to Be That Way

It is a well established fact that mainline churches, including churches within The UMC, are experiencing a long-term, steady decline. The vast majority of churches are aging out, that is, their membership consists primarily of older adults who in 10-15 years will no longer be able to be active. Younger generations have largely abandoned the institutional church. Worship attendance and giving have plateaued or are in decline. The spirit of these churches is one of anxiety, not hope, of discouragement, not expectation. Their unstated purpose is survival.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Churches don't have to plateau and decline. They don't have to waste away and die.

Countless time, energy, money, and effort have been invested in an attempt to revitalize plateaued and declining churches. Unfortunately, this investment generally does not accomplish the desired result. The reason for this failure to produce, I believe (and this is just my thinking - but, again, this is my blog) is that we invest our time and energy in the wrong things. We focus our efforts on the institutional church - appearance of the building (especially the nursery and restrooms), people greeting at the doors, the style of music in worship, programs and activities for children, youth, and young families, PR and the right branding and a clear mission statement, WIG's (for Central Texas Conference folks), etc.

Nothing is wrong with any of these efforts. In fact, they are all important. But they will not, of themselves, reverse the decline or produce church growth. Something more is needed. That something more, in my opinion (again) is healthy spirituality.

But here's the thing: we cannot manufacturer healthy spirituality. That is the Spirit's work. The Spirit is the one who cultivates healthy spirituality in our lives as individuals, small groups, congregations.

What we can do is to be intentional and faithful in our relationship with God, placing ourselves in a position for the Spirit to work in our lives - individually, as groups, as a church. We can live as a spiritual community, walking together in deep, authentic, committed spiritual friendships that are focused on learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught (the Kingdom of God). The church as a spiritual community is the secret to spiritual health and vitality that, in turn, produces numerical growth. The book of Acts bears testimony to this reality. (See Acts 2:47b, 5:12-14, 6:7, etc.) People hunger for that which is spiritually vibrant and genuinely life changing. They are attracted to authentic spiritual community.

Without this intentional spiritual focus - this intentional commitment to grow and live as disciples of Jesus - all our efforts to produce church growth are just that - our efforts, our plans, our work. The heart is missing. The power is missing - the power of the Spirit.

The institutional dimension of church life exists to nurture the spiritual life (as I said in a previous blog). It is secondary; spiritual growth/formation is primary. When a congregation becomes sidetracked in running and maintaining the institutional church - programs and activities, finances and buildings, traditions and creeds, etc., the spiritual focus gets lost as does the purpose of making disciples. The congregation's busyness blinds them to these losses. The soul of the congregation begins to wither away. The life and witness, power and joy, gifts and witness of the Spirit disappear. The church becomes a shell without an inner life.

But it doesn't have to be that way ...

So What's the Difference?

This post is the fourth addressing the church as a spiritual community versus the church as an institution. The kind of community, level of relationship, priorities, and focus are different in these two forms of church life. (See The Church as a Spiritual Community, 5/6/2019, for a description of the relationships and focus of a spiritual community; And Then There's the Institutional Church, 5/13/19, for a description of the institutional church.)

Here are some of my observations of the differences in these two forms of church life. I'm sure there are many more.

Involvement in the institutional church is less costly than in a spiritual community. It requires participation and some financial support ... and each individual gets to determine the level of their participation and the level of their giving. A spiritual community is based upon covenant and faithful commitment.

The institutional church calls for membership, not discipleship. A spiritual community centers on growing and living as a follower of Jesus today (a disciple).

In the institutional church, we "go to church." In the church as a spiritual community, we are the church. The institutional church centers in a building and activities in that building, primarily on Sundays. The church as a spiritual community centers in relationships and God's work in and through those relationships.

The institutional church emphasizes belief - agreeing to a core of beliefs about God and Jesus and the Bible and positions on moral/political issues. Associating with those who think and believe like us reinforces our beliefs and lifestyle, leaving us essentially unchanged through the years. A spiritual community is focused on spiritual formation - the transformation of heart and mind - and how that growth is lived out in everyday relationships. The implications of what one believes is just as important as what is believed. Spiritual progress is the norm.

The institutional church allows us to formalize our beliefs and positions, using the Bible (and, thereby, God) to validate those beliefs and positions as "right." These beliefs allow us to live with certainty, thereby avoiding the hard work of thinking when confronted with a different way of thinking. We can avoid the challenge of listening and seeking to understand people who hold a different position. We can avoid wrestling with the ways of God that Jesus taught, dismissing them as unrealistic or too hard. We can avoid having to change our minds about something and, thereby, avoid growing spiritually. A spiritual community is about the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2) and taking on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:1-11). It deals with the messiness of loving others, particularly those not like us.

The institutional church provides an avenue for connecting with others under the umbrella of Christianity. The connection is generally with others whose lifestyle and thinking are compatible with ours. Conversations and studies reinforce how we already think and validate what we already believe rather than challenging us to embrace the ways of God that Jesus taught. Study seldom involves application - discussing the implications on our lives of what we have studied. Consequently, relationships tend to be more social than spiritual. Such connecting allows us to avoid the honesty, openness, and vulnerability that are the mark of deep, spiritual friendships. Spiritual friendships lie at the heart of the church as a spiritual community. They are the arena in which the transformation of heart and mind occurs.

The institutional church allows us to create a place of familiarity and comfort in the midst of a changing and challenging world. We create traditions, rituals, and routines - based on our likes and preferences - that help us escape the dis-ease of our inner lives. The familiarity of our traditions and rituals provide us a (false) sense of security so that we don't have to live by faith in dependence on God. Spiritual community is focused on living in relationship with God, including dependency on God for guidance and strength to faithfully live the ways of God in the midst of a changing and challenging world.

The institutional church is inherited from previous generations and, thus, generally focused on the priorities and the way we did things in the past. Spiritual community is about what God is doing in our lives today and the future into which God is leading us. 

The institutional church appeals to our ego. We really don't need God or the Spirit's guidance to run the organization. We do this sort of thing all the time where we work and in the businesses we run and in our social clubs. So, other than tipping our hat to God with an opening and closing prayer, God is seldom a part of the conversation in organizational matters. God and God's work in/through our lives is the central focus of a spiritual community. It is God-centered.

The institutional church allows church to be about me ... not God and certainly not those neighbors God wants us to love. It  allows an inward focus to develop. My desires, likes, and preferences take priority over what the Spirit wants to do in and through the church in its local community. A spiritual community is about God - God's nature, God's kingdom, God's will lived out in my life.

The unstated purpose of the institutional church is survival of the institution. The longer any group or organization exists, the more it becomes focused on survival, the less it functions out of its original purpose. That is a sociological fact ... and is true of the institutional church. The clearly stated purpose of a spiritual community is making disciples - learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught, leading others to become disciples, too. Its ultimate purpose is to be a part of the kingdom coming on earth, today.

In many ways, the institutional church functions as a man-made organization rather than as a community born of and shaped by the Spirit. It provides a comfortable expression of religiosity, but not necessarily healthy spirituality.

These differences lie outside of the awareness for most of us because the institutional church is the only expression of church life we have known. We've not experienced the church as a spiritual community in spite of our active involvement in the institutional church. And yet, something deep within often stirs the thought "There's got to be more to the church than this."

And Then There's the Institutional Church

And then there's the institutional church - the only kind of church life most of us have known.

We are involved in this expression of church as a part of our identity as a Christian. Being a part of (and supposedly active in) a local church is a large part of what it means to be a Christian in our culture. It is what we do as a Christian.

The institutional church provides us a place to worship, a place to connect with other Christians and build friendships, a place to study the Bible and our Christian faith, a place to grow in what we believe, a place (and a partner!) to nurture our children's faith development, a place to be involved, a place to serve. The institutional church allows us to join our energies and resources to do what none of us could do alone, to accomplish far more than any of us could do individually.

But the institutional expression of church life has a dangerous downside that many (most?) local churches fall into. That downside is its institutional life: the organizational side with its structure, roles, programs, traditions, rituals, and events.

A church's structure or organization are an important part of the church's functioning. They are designed to address some need in the church's life. Acts 6 records the creation of such a structure to address a need in the life of the early church. (See The Church with the Church, 4/29/2019.)  This account reflects the secondary nature of the structure and organization. They are tools to serve a greater purpose. Their role is to facilitate the spiritual life and development of the community, i.e., the make disciples.

The problem occurs when that which is secondary becomes primary, when focus on the institution takes the place of a focus on the spiritual, when the life of the institution displaces the life of the church as a spiritual community.

This subtle shift of focus has a devastating impact.

• Purpose - growing and living as the followers of Jesus today, making disciples - is forgotten and neglected. 
• Membership displaces discipleship. 
• Social relationships take the place of spiritual friendships. 
• Right belief displaces a transformed life. Defending positions replaces loving people. Standards of right belief, positions on issues are used to judge others (including the preacher!). 
• The Bible is used to support already held positions and established lifestyles rather than to shape how we think and live. 
• Worship becomes routine rather than life giving. Preaching that entertains rather than challenges is desired. Preaching is evaluated from political positions rather than from a biblical perspective. 
• Keeping members happy (inward focus) becomes more important than doing the things that will reach others (outward focus). This priority is expressed in complaints based on personal likes and preferences, in threats of withholding giving, and in boycotting worship. Petty issues drain focus and energy.  
• Focus on the past (what we have always done and how we have always done it, the way things were when ...) takes the place of dealing realistically with the present reality or intentionally planning for and pursing the future into which God is leading. 
• We continue to do what we have always done. Calendars and budgets are based on last year's calendar and budget which were based on the previous year's calendar and budget which were ... 
• A small group of people hold key positions in the organization and influence (or make) key decisions. Other people defer to their opinions rather than engaging in dialogue that seeks the Spirit's guidance and the will of the larger church. The congregation generally has no forum for such conversations or a means of dealing with conflict in a healthy way. Conflict is avoided at all costs. 
• Success is measured by numbers and enjoyment rather than by whether something meaningful and transformative occurred. Transformed lives and spiritual progress are seldom discussed.
• Spiritual health and vitality in the church begin to wain - generally without being recognized. 
• Membership and giving plateau, then decline. 
• Resources (money) rather than purpose dictate decisions. Maintaining the building consumes a major portion of the budget. 
• Anxiety and fear, rather than joy and hope, permeate the church's life. Survival of the institution becomes the unspoken purpose that drives the church. 
• Eventually, ultimately, the church dies. 

In this scenario, the people make church about themselves rather than about God. They create a place to worship a God made in their own likeness rather than worshiping the God who created them in the Divine likeness and is recreating them in the likeness of Christ.

National statistics indicate that countless churches across the nation, including within The UMC, have experienced this subtle shift and experienced its devastating results. They have forgotten their disciple-making purpose, forsaken their spiritual nature, and lost touch with the church as a life-giving, life-transforming, Spirit-filled spiritual community. They have morphed into a religious institution - the institutional church - rather than living as a spiritual community.

But it doesn't have to be that way ...

The Church as a Spiritual Community

In last week's blog (The Church within the Church, 4/29/2019), I drew a contrast between the church as a spiritual community and the church as an institution. What is this church within the church? What does church as a spiritual community look like?

The first church in Jerusalem was described as a spiritual community. That community was organized around four central practices. These practices were a priority in their life together (they devoted themselves to, Acts 2:42, NRSV). The interrelated nature of these four practices is reflected in their being paired with each other: (1) the apostles' teaching was coupled with (2) fellowship, (3) the breaking of bread was coupled with (4) the prayers.

The apostles' teaching was the way the early church learned the ways of God that Jesus taught. The apostles had sat under Jesus' teaching. They now shared his teaching with these early Christ-followers. This community was committed to learning what Jesus taught. But they were also committed to allowing that teaching to shape how they lived. The apostles' teaching was linked with fellowship. The  root concept of the word fellowship is sharing. Verses 44-45 indicate they shared their material possessions to address the needs within their community. In other words, they put what they were learning into practice. They were committed to learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught.

The third practice was the breaking of bread. Verse 46 suggests they often ate together in one another's homes. They lived together in community, sharing everyday life together. This eating together was paired with the prayers. They observed the Jewish times of prayer throughout the day. (See Acts 3:1, at the hour of prayer.) The phrase suggests that spiritual practices were a part of their relationships. They prayed with one another and for one another. (See Acts 4:23-41 for an example of this practice.) They were committed to walking with one another and supporting one another as they learned and lived the ways of God that Jesus taught.

The result of these practices was spiritual health and vitality. Not only did these early disciples grow in their discipleship, the church grew numerically. Others were attracted to the spiritual vibrancy of this church as a spiritual community. (See Acts 2:47; Acts 4:32-35.)

At the heart of this early church were spiritual friendships centered around learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught. These spiritual friendships were an indispensable resource to their spiritual growth and progress.

Being a part of a church that is a spiritual community involves living in covenanted relationship with spiritual friends out of a mutual commitment to grow and live as the followers of Jesus. This statement reflects the three defining components of church as spiritual community: (1) spiritually-based and spiritually-oriented relationships, (2) that foster personal spiritual growth and development so that (3) how we live in relationship with others and in the world reflects the teachings of Jesus. These spiritually-based and spiritually-oriented relationships are marked by openness, honesty, vulnerability, and mutual dependency. Such openness, coupled with prayer (see again Acts 4:23-41) creates a context in which the Spirit of God can work, empowering, transforming, maturing, guiding.

The church as a spiritual community is an expression of Christian discipleship: learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught. Spiritual friendships are a vital component to such discipleship. Spiritual health, vitality, and growth flow out of this kind of community life.

The institutional church, by contrast, offers a different way of being and doing church, and, thereby, a different kind of community life.. More on that in the next blog.