Within the last couple of years, it has sadly become a regular occurrence to hear of a church or pastor or Christian leader or Christian organization whose conduct is anything but Christlike. Although the breaking news of these events and the conversation around them fades away, the long-term impact continues to be felt. Often, it is those under the “care” of others who suffer the neglect and abuse of those who are entrusted with their spiritual, emotional, mental, and even physical well-being. One friend sharing his experience said the following,
““I would say the root of my hurt has to do with the church/organizations that care for their own reputation and pursuit of goals/vision than me as a person. It’s a parallel system where instead of ‘leave the 99 and go after the 1’ it’s, ‘keep the 99 moving and leave the 1 in the ditch’.””
Rachael and I recently listened to the podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,
We highly recommend this podcast for a variety of reasons, but primarily because it raises awareness of the brokenness within the church, but also points to the beauty of God at work in the midst and aftermath of this brokenness. A friend and I were recently talking about a recent article concerning John MacArthur and his church which can be read here,
My friend asked,
“is the system broken if this is the fruit we keep seeing?”
Anyone who has experienced the brokenness within the church likely wrestles with the same question. What is the solution? Deconstruction? Reconstruction? Reformation? Doing away with the structure of the church of the 21st century? In the coming weeks, we want to further explore this topic as we share our thoughts on the way forward. For now, think of that one lost sheep, who each of us were or maybe even are or can identify with. So many of us, myself included, if we are totally honest with ourselves, are guilty of doing what is right in our own eyes. Sometimes I wonder if we’ve lost sight of what it means to follow Jesus.