[Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were
created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers
or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all
things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first
place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself
all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of
his cross.
--Colossians 1:15-20 NRSV
Bible scholars debate whether Paul really wrote
the letter to the Colossian Christians, because of verses like the ones above
which have a “high Christology” equating Jesus and God. They view that as a later occurrence in
church history. I choose to believe Paul
could have written the letter, because I believe that from the beginning of the
Christian movement believers understood Christ to be doing what these verses
say: connecting and reconciling all things in creation to God.
These types of theological and biblical questions
may seem abstract, but I believe they have everything to do with why so many
churches are dying today. For me, these
verses from a two thousand year old letter that its author had no idea we would
be reading today describe a concept of God that should matter to us. I believe at the heart of Christianity is a
God who refuses to remain separated from who and what God has created.
What exactly do we believe Jesus Christ was up to
when he walked the earth and was executed for being a threat to the powers that
be? Was he out to establish a new
religion with rules, laws and traditions or was he trying to demonstrate that
God loves people enough to be in the midst of all humanity’s pain, violence,
suffering and confusion? If you believe
the latter, then you accept that there is no length that God will not go to in
order to be present where people are in their pain, loneliness and
despair. God will go and already is
everywhere in the universe there is chaos and hurt in order to reconcile all
things back to God.
The God we see in Christ does not remain distant
from people’s needs but will do anything to be there in their time of
need. So why is it that the church, which
is supposed to be made up of Christ followers, refuses to do the same?
Way back in 1974 the Christian feminist scholar Letty
M. Russell wrote, “The church’s role is to point to Christ in the world and
not to itself.” It’s too bad that
almost for my entire lifetime I’ve watched churches do exactly the opposite of
what Russell and the New Testament writers were saying. My entire life, and even more so in my
professional life as a minister, I’ve watched churches grieve their decline,
pining for previous generations when church membership was an essential part of
the American social fabric. I’ve sat in
countless hours of church board meetings, congregational business meetings and
denominational seminars decrying shrinking budgets, rising building costs and despair
over dropping membership rolls. All of
that energy has been spent working for the survival of congregations instead of
helping people see Christ in people’s lives and Christ in people’s jobs and
Christ in people’s families and Christ in people’s neighborhoods. We’ve treated church buildings as the only
place Christ can be instead of equipping people to recognize Christ is
everywhere they are.
Do the folks who make up your church really believe “through
[Christ] God was pleased to reconcile to [God’s] self all things?” If so, that means God is not only present in
church buildings but everywhere, and the church’s job is not to act as if it is
separate from what God is doing and has done outside church walls. If the church is more than a business, a non-profit
or a social club and we really believe the church is supposed to be a part of
God’s work in the world, why don’t churches put their energy into being a part
of what God is doing instead of surviving for survival’s sake?
I don’t know anyone who wants to join a church to
help that church survive, but I know lots of people who want to be connected to
God and feel their lives have purpose and meaning.
Merely surviving is no reason to be a church. However, if discussion and discernment
can be about where Christ is already active in the world around us and how a church can be a part of that work, then that church will do more than survive; it
will have a future being a part of the reconciling work of God that has already
happened, is happening now and will happen in the future. Any other future desired for a congregation
is no future at all.
Grace and Peace,
Chase
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