Leaving Church
Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor was one
of America’s most effective and beloved preachers. But after much
reflection, she decided to end her 20-year career and leave the church. While
she was in ministry, she always felt she hadn’t done enough. If she spent
enough time at the nursing home then she neglected to return telephone calls,
and if she put enough thought into the church meetings then she was less likely
to catch mistakes in the Sunday bulletin. Mrs. Taylor said, “My
tiredness was so deep that it had seeped into my bones.”[1] To
make things worse, she was conflicted, internally and with the church, because
of church dividing issues, including human sexuality. She lamented over the
church. She said, “I had been wearing my collar for about six months by then,
and I wore it like a string of thousand-dollar pearls. Fifteen years later, I
was ready to hang it up.”[2] After
leaving parish ministry, she taught at a college in Georgia. And she said
that teaching school is saving her life now. Researcher George Barna
describes this trend in our society as follows: “We found that while some
people leave the local church and fall away from God altogether, there is a
much larger segment of Americans who are currently leaving churches
precisely because they want more of God in their life but cannot get what
they need from a local church.”[3] Even
today many people are leaving the church out of frustration rather than
rebellion.
My Story
I am a third-generation Methodist pastor. So when I
was young, I went to either my grandfather’s church or my father’s church.
Those two were my home churches for 27 years. When I came to the US for
further study, for the first time I had a chance to choose my home church.
After much thought and prayer, I began to serve one particular local church as a
student pastor. Guess what? After my first year of ministry I was burnt out. I
was ready to leave the church. I got tired of the chronically difficult people
and the problems in the church. I wanted to stay away from the
“institutionalized religion.” So I did. For a while, I felt freedom,
particularly Sunday mornings. Some Sundays I attended different churches that I
wanted to explore. Other Sundays I just stayed in my seminary dorm, listening
to the sermons from my favorite preachers. I did my charitable giving to the different
causes that I trusted. And I also had an informal community of like-minded
believers in seminary. But about six months later, I began to feel spiritually
dry. I felt something was missing. One Sunday afternoon while I was taking a
walk on the campus, I asked God why I felt dry and restless deep in my soul.
Then I heard the inner voice. The answer was because I did not stay connected
with God’s household, the church. In other words, my vertical relationship with
God was ok, but my horizontal relationship with other believers was not. After
this, I came back to church.
Back to the Early Church?
So problem solved? No! After coming back to church,
the problems were still there. The difficult people in the church were still
there. But this time I seriously asked myself the following question: “What is
the church?” And I began to study the church history, particularly the early
church. In the book of Acts the early church was described as a perfect example
to follow. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They
shared their possessions and goods with those in need. Every day they got
together both at the church and at home. And they enjoyed the favor of all the
people (Acts 2:44-47). But then, as I continued to study it, I found
something very interesting. The truth was the early church was messy as much as
today’s church. This morning we read the introduction of Paul’s first letter to
the church in Corinth. In fact, at that time the Corinthian church was
filled with problems. There were major strife and divisions among the church
members (1 Cor 1:11; 3:3). There was sexual immorality among themselves
(5:1). They sued each other (ch. 6). They divorced without biblical grounds (ch.
7). They abused their Christian liberty and caused new believers to fall (ch.
8). They accused the Apostle Paul of being a false apostle and gave him a hard
time (ch. 9). And the list goes on. To make things worse, they were not remorse
or repentant. They were proud. But Paul didn’t throw in the towel on the Corinthian church.
Paul, an Eternal Optimist
Rather, he starts off his letter filled with the words
of hope and encouragement. He says in verse 2, “Your identity is certain. You have been called by God to be his own holy
people. You are sanctified in Christ.” In verse 5 he continues,
“Your gifts are sufficient. You are enriched in Christ in every way.” He
concludes in verse 8, “Your future is
secure. Jesus will keep you strong to
the end.” What encouraging words they are! But if we consider the reality of what
was happening in the Corinthian church, we cannot but ask, “What is Paul thinking?
Why is he so naïve to think everything will be ok? On what basis is he so
positive and optimistic?”
The answer is Jesus. In today’s passage (1:1-9) the name Jesus occurs eight times, and if we include the pronoun that refers to Jesus, it would be about 13 times. We can see how much “Christ-saturated” view Paul has. All of Paul’s surprising encouragement is firmly grounded in Christ. Yes, more than anybody else Paul was keenly aware of the Corinthians’ flaws and their problems. But he sees all things through Jesus’ eyes. Here Paul is saying, “Corinthians, you are holy people not in yourselves, but in Christ. Your speech, your knowledge, your gifts are enriched in Christ. And in Christ, God will strengthen you to the end.” So in the midst of all the problems Paul is still able to say to the church, “I give thanks to my God always for you!” (v. 4) Paul is an eternal optimist in Christ.
Church Is Family
It is God who started the church where we are adopted
into his family through Christ Jesus. Yes, the church is God’s household.
God is our Father, and we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us think
about the nature of family. We don’t get to choose our family. We don’t choose
who will be our parents or siblings or uncles. Our family is chosen for us by
God. In the same way, we don’t choose our church family. We don’t choose
one another. Instead, we are given to one another by our heavenly Father. Justin
McRoberts says, “Being a Christian can sometimes feel like being in a family
with a thousand drunk uncles.”[4] But
we need to remember this: Like it or not, uncles are still our family. We don’t
throw in the towel on the family. As members of God’s family, we are called to
stick together through thick and thin. There is a significant difference
between a church and a club. The club consists of “like-minded” people
who have something in common – school, hometown, interest, age, politics, or
jobs. The club members are kind of “natural friends.” So those who have
different perspectives, cultures, and experiences find it difficult to be part
of it. But the church is different. By design, God created the church to be
made up of “natural enemies” – those we don’t naturally enjoy. D.A. Carson
says, “Ideally… the church itself is not made up of natural friends. It is made
up of natural enemies… Christians come together… because… they have all been
loved by Jesus himself… They are a band of natural enemies who love one another
for Jesus’ sake.”[5] In
the church there are hypocrite priests, coward Levites, good Samaritans, people
in need, and even robbers. If we are united because we are natural friends, we
are not necessarily called “church.” But if we are united because we are
family washed by the blood of Jesus Christ no matter what the differences, we
are the church.
I think Martin Luther King Jr. and Billy Graham showed us a great example of loving natural enemies. They both came from very different backgrounds in terms of their theology, their culture, their experience. However, they saw amazingly positive things in each other’s ministry and expressed their appreciation to each other. This is back in the 50’s and 60’s when racial tensions ran high. Once Graham said to Martin Luther King, “I will stay in the stadium and make them integrated. And you go ahead on the street and do your thing.” Graham was well known for integrating his ministry and insisting on integrated crowds at many of his rallies. In his later years, but still Graham lamented, wishing he’d done more for the cause of racial equality. And he publicly repented and asked for forgiveness, even though he had done so much. While Graham and MLK were in Latin America together on a mission, Dr. King said, “Had it not been for the ministry of my good friend Dr. Billy Graham, my work in the civil rights movement would not have been as successful as it has been.” The church is the classroom for learning how to get along with natural enemies in God’s family.
Thank God for the Church
On this Thanksgiving there are many things to be grateful for. But more than ever, for me personally, I give thanks to God for the church. I give thanks to God for you. You are holy people in Christ. You are enough in Christ. And in Christ God will sustain you to the end.
If we focus on difficult people, difficult problems, difficult issues, debates will be endless. But if we focus on Jesus, exalting him, we will be united. From day one my prayer for our church is to be known as the “most loving place in town.” Let us always ask ourselves, “What is the most loving thing I can do in this situation?” “How can I love my neighbor? How can I love my natural enemies here and now?” God is faithful. He who began a good work among us will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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