Some of these ideas have come up recently, and I think it’s important to address. Many have their own idea of what the Church needs to be doing. I’ll throw out a top three (subject to revision):
1. Get rid of divisions/ be more unified
2. Give to the poor and needy
3. Evangelize/ spread the gospel (sometimes expressed in terms like “relevance” and things like that)
In absolutely no way am I suggesting I have a problem with these things. I agree with the need to see the Church move to be more obedient in these areas. And to be honest, while I’ve usually seen people focus on only one of these three, I believe they are intertwined as one need and not mutually exclusive.
But that’s not really the challenge. My challenge is the notion that if we become more unified, compassionate, or relevant, the world will progressively change for the better and they will like us more.
I do agree that the world will better BELIEVE our message, and that will ultimately result in more genuine coverts, but it will also result in greater hatred from the world. They go hand in hand because the world, by nature, hates Christ.
The converts we receive will be more comitted, more mature, more genuine, no doubt, but the darkness becomes more clear as the light is more focused and defined.
Actually, I have a slight issue with the reasoning “the world isn’t getting it or doesn’t like the Church, so we should change.” Again, the world is in darkness. Why should their opinion of us matter? Of course God wants to see us revolutionize our thinking and obtain a more Christ-like testimony. That is why we should change.
These notions that the world would or should somehow like us must discount some important sayings of Jesus:
“woe to you when men speak well of you …”
“the world hated me. is a servant greater than his master? the world will likewise hate you. but it hated me first.”
“In this world you will have trouble.”
The list could go on. The only biblical evidence for a Church in favor with the world is a short season in Jerusalem in Acts, which didn’t last long, and doesn’t seem to be the norm as we read Paul and Peter’s letters and learn from Church history.
The modern notions are that as people see either true unity or compassion from us, worldly institutions and governments and economic systems and the like will be redeemed. But to believe this is to believe a different statement than the Bible currently makes.
There exist interpretations of scripture, I am aware, that take these verses and either minimalize them or argue against using these ideas from the Bible and applying it to today. The argument that the events in Revelation have already occurred is an example (and an interesting one). Most of these arguments necessitate one of the following conditions: a) the apostles writing the New Testament had some lesser type of revelation, b) the writings were only for the early Church, not now, c) the writers of the New Testament meant something other than what they explicitly stated, or d) there are large, clearly stated portions of scripture that are just wrong or some combination therein, all of which seem problematic to me.
My concern is not “heresy” per se, or even that people are wrong, but two-fold:
First, basing ministry, in any sense, on the world’s opinion of it is dangerous. Jesus’ ministry would have looked much different if He had taken this attitude. This allows the opinion of a world in darkness to control and affect what we do. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, and are therefore accountable to only Him.
Second has to do with expectation. Let’s say that the Church lives a perfect example in compassion, unity, righteousness and the like, and the world opposes us even more. This disappointment of expectation could cause the losing of faith in very well-meaning saints, if they held their faith to this idea that a complete testimony of the Church will cause the world to like us or love us more.
Yes, many will be moved by our compassion, and hopefully brought to true repentance. But the authority of the Spirit in the Church challenges the rulers of this world, by their very nature (read John 1:1-18). It didn’t surprise Jesus when the rulers of this world sought His death (especially after he raised the dead!). Neither should it shock us.
I seek a more unified, compassionate, righteous and relevant Church because it will please the Lord and hasten His coming, whatever that might mean. I’m not saying I understand all that will entail, but according to the testimony of scripture, I don’t believe these modern notions of the world’s redemption are what God seeks from us.*
Peace.
*author’s note: the label “modern” is something ofa misnomer. This stuff keeps coming up and proven dangerous time and again through history. Not as “modern” or progressive as some seem to think.