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."