Objective
My recent blog on Church Bureaucracy was not an attack against the Apostolic church nor Christianity. I greatly respect and admire both and I am humbly aware of their roots and sacrifices that is the foundational platform of contemporary Christianity. I would like to briefly examine the mission of the church and its biblical objective and provide an insight into Christianity. Is the church a success?
My Background & Experience
I came from a Christian background. As a child, I rotated between Catholicism and ‘full gospel churches’ [churches that believe in the operation of the five fold ministry: such as, the office of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher]. On a typical Sunday, my brother and I would attend the early morning 7:00 a.m. service at the Catholic Church, followed by a 10:00 a.m. service at the Open Bible Church, a 12:00 p.m. service at the Pentecostal church and after a quick lunch at home, we were ushered off to a 4:00 p.m. ‘Sunday School’ [similar to bible class]. Sunday school was usually under the shade of a mango tree at a neighbor’s house. We viewed it as an adult ploy to allocate a day for uncensored gossip or spend some ‘alone’ time. The night would culminate with bible bed time stories. Since there was no escaping the ‘word of God,’ I embraced it.
I studied the bible somewhat mechanically on a daily basis, and though it increased my reading skills, I felt detached from it. After all, the characters lived ages ago, and at the age of 10, I could not comprehend why the return of Christ was procrastinated. This ignorance led to many moments of solitude where I lamented my frustration in a one-sided conversation to this ‘unknown God.’ I had a paradigm shift one day while listening to a Billy Graham radio telecast. I was sitting under the house, listening to the blare of my Grandmother’s radio upstairs, when the scripture I had studied for months, suddenly became ‘alive’. I felt like Billy was speaking directly to me; there was something dynamic in his intensity and the authority and confidence in his voice. I sat riveted as s a peace and calm rose from deep within and saturated me. The transition brought an understanding of God’s love and remarkable insights whenever I read the scriptures. An astonishing discovery was that I could ask questions mentally and ‘my mind’ provided ready answers and hindsight during moments of distress and indecisive crossroads.
My Perspective
I spent the past two years at a private Pentecostal boarding school, also known as the West Indies School of Theology. I sat through myriads of sermons, visited countless churches, was quite instrumental in many ‘street crusades’ and ‘house meetings.’ In addition to daily socialization with pastors, missionaries and evangelist, I was assigned a Counselor who is now a quite accomplished Pastor. Does my experience make me superior or more sanctimonious than a new Christian? The answer is NO. Are sanctimonious trimmings such as cladding the body with excessive clothing an outward manifestation of Christianity? The answer is NO. Dressing modestly is not the same as overdressing. The ‘world’ should desire what we have and not abhor it. The bible reiterates that the kingdom of God operates counter-clockwise to the world system; where the greatest is the ‘servant’ (KJ, Mat 23:11). Then, why do some Pastors mistake the pulpit for a stage of prominence, complete with a ‘main’ chair fit for a King and smaller chairs for their Princes… I mean subordinates. It is more understandable if the chairs were consistent in size, because, we all have a godly heritage and are joint heirs to the throne.
I am intensely aware of the instruction in Matthew 28:19 to “Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”. The objective of the church is to uphold the scriptures, and this should be unmistakably reflected in their motto, cultural and social norms. A stranger/visitor should be able to walk into any Christian denomination and feel welcome by their display of love. There should be no exceptions. The definition of a church is simply a gathering. Christians should not allow organizational bureaucracy in any form, to infiltrate the church of God. It is quite interesting that when asked by a Scribe [a Pharisees, or expert of the law and theology in those days], what is the greatest commandment, "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV, Mark 12:28-31).
How do we keep the above commandment? How do you love a God you cannot see? We start by loving the folks we 'do see' and in so doing demontrates love for God. Denominational separation should not indicate diverse bureaucratic structures, but rather another extension of Love.
*photo taken from www.gbod.org
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