Church Matters

Yes, church matters.

If the church is the "body" of Jesus, then it matters greatly.  The church can and should be a powerful force for good when it is in the business of love and grace and healing and forgiveness and delivering Good News.  However, at times throughout history the church has also been a powerful force for harm - and this ought not to be. This unbelievably sad reality damages and destroys people as well as the reputation of the church.

"Church matters" can also refer to the business of the Kingdom that so many of us have been caught up in.  These church matters can drain our energy and dominate our time and our thinking - especially if we are in a leadership role, but even if we are "just" lay people.  While it can be argued that any organization will need some kind of organizational structure, it is wise to remember that we are not called to bow down to the structure nor to people in positions of power.

During the decades that I invested my time and energy in church matters, I learned a lot about what matters to many in the church world.  I have sat through discussions about the four P's that church leaders need to discuss: purpose, people, program, property.  Some of the discussions were lively and fun while others were neither lively nor fun - discussions about how those four things should line up and about how they really land in each of our churches.  Then there are the rules to live by - the things by which we judge spiritual growth or personal holiness.  What a crazy long list that one is!

I do not blame any person(s) for the setting of external standards; indeed, I dared to "instruct" on the "standards of life and conduct" and to encourage steps of spiritual growth. What I mean to say here is that I have finally realized that many of those church matters are not what really matters.

Are there steps that lead to spiritual growth?  Quite probably, just like there are steps to other kinds of growth.  Will there be evidence of maturity in the lives of believers?  I certainly hope so. What I object to is the practice of measuring "spirituality" or "holiness" or even worth and value by outward appearance - things like church attendance, tithing, philosophy of ministry, preferred style of music, volunteerism, time management, Bible reading or memorization, diet, habits, political affiliation, or other external behavior.

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Quite possibly the preceding paragraphs provide more detail about church matters than most of my readers would ever want to know.  Indeed.  But yes, church matters seem to really matter to church people.  My whole point is that we are missing the point if we obsess about these things. 

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So what really does matter?

At this point, I can only answer for myself as part of the body of Christ.  To do that, I try to focus on Jesus, on His life and teachings as my example.  I know that love and grace are probably the things that matter most - as well as forgiveness and generosity and healing.

In fact, I just might come up with my own list of what I believe the church should be about: reconciliation, redemption, and restoration.

I believe these are things that really matter.