Comments on: They Like Jesus But Not the Church

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:28:43 +0000

Isn’t that the truth! We should all be standing at the door like the father in the story of the prodigal son, looking and waiting for that lost sheep to find its way home. The church I’m a part of accepts the “tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to be free.” We have bankers, those on welfare, those who struggle with alcohol, ex-thieves, divorced, unwed mothers, those who many in society would consider “rejects”, all races, the list could go on and on. It is the most diverse crowd you can imagine but we all have one thing in common –the blood of Jesus washes us. Some fall and pick themselves up, some fall away, many go searching for that shiny religion and some eventually come back. We often say any one is welcome in whatever condition you are in, you’re just not allowed to stay that way. We want all to grow in their relationship with Jesus.
But I think we put too much stock in numbers sometimes. Sometimes we don’t attract people because we are doing the work of Jesus. Jesus said the path is narrow and few there are who find it. Some people want “easy religion” and fall away when a relationship with Jesus means giving up sins in their life.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:19:38 +0000

In the gospels, it is apparent that people in all sorts of spiritual conditions, were drawn to Jesus. He was able to love them perfectly. His message of holiness was so different from that of the pharisees, who had stopped caring about people and seem to mostly care about themselves. As the church, we need to always be looking for ways to love more extravagantly, not watering down the Gospel, but living it.

By: Ray B.

Ray B. — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:44:16 +0000

Anne , Amen. And I would add that Jesus teaches us about hearts in the parable of the soils. And 3 out of 4 do not make it. And it is their fault. Not the Lord, the scriptures or the church.

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:58:15 +0000

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:40:13 +0000

It’s easier to judge those who leave than it is to take a look at ourselves and ask, “what are we doing to alienate people?” If we’re not attracting people, we’re not able to do the work Jesus gave us. I’m so sick of excuses. There’s no excuse for not being welcoming to EVERY person in the world. NO excuse.

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:15:57 +0000

Not all tradition is unscriptural. Many times it has become “tradition” because it was based on biblical principles. Sure there are traditions that are wrong, you will find that it any religion. There is no perfection on this earth. The perfect church only exists in heaven.
“There is nothing new under the sun” can also reference that people experience the same things over time. That people like Jesus but not the church is nothing new. As Ray stated he heard that in the 60′s. I’m sure they heard it in the 30′s during another social upheaval. Look at the Restoration movement, the Reformation movement, Martin Luther, you can go on and on. History is like a boiling pot different things rise to the top, but the ingredients are usually the same. Soon we’ll probably be reading books that people are looking for the comfort of “traditional” churches.
I don’t view our relationship to God with doors. God is always welcoming. It’s more like a path. It’s hard to use generalities. I’ve seen some who are always looking, and discontent and never seeming to find their way. Instead of staying with their hand to the plow they are always moving around to different fields and never planting a crop. As with many relationships sometimes relationships with God and our church families are rocky, but instead of staying and working through those people wander off looking for the shiniest religion out there and blaming those hypocritical church people for their own failings in building a relationship with God.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 09:10:59 +0000

Leaving the Church of Christ doesn’t mean I’m leaving “the” church. Thanks, JW!!!

Every time I hear this “nothing new under the sun” scripture quoted, my red flag goes up. It’s almost always used to support something outdated, culturally irrelevant and more in tune with tradition than scripture.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The way to God is not confusing. It’s laid out and emphasized SIMPLY in scripture.

Some people just need a fresh, new start somewhere else. Many will get what they need for their broken spirits elsewhere and come back years, even decades, later. It’s not a one-way door, is it?

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:59:41 +0000

“they like Jesus but not the church” that’s kind of like inviting another couple out to dinner but saying I really like him but let’s leave her at home.

And amen Ray to your last sentence.

By: Ray B.

Ray B. — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:59:15 +0000

Preach / teach the truth. Obey the word. Pray . Love people. Give out daily cups of cold water. It is what the church has done since Pentecost. No , we are not to be like the church, we are to be like Jesus. Some of the early churches had problems. We do too. Some in the early church evangelized , they prayed, they held up Jesus , preached the Gospel. In that sense thy were following Jesus. So , in that sense , the early church is an excellent example. It is easy to sit back and criticize the church and mention all our mistakes. But it is more important to read and study the word and then beging to apply it. And there is nothing like the local church. That is where you find the real action. I have been hearing about Love Jesus but not the church for 40 years. Nothing new. Theywere saying it back when I was in college in the 60′s . Then it was we do not like the institutional church( whatever that was ) and we had the hippie , dippie movement and there have been statements and new movements and gurus and advocates of change like this for decades. I have been hearing for 4 decades about how we have now found grace. Ok . Now what ? Nothing new. If you want to serve Christ and the church and lost people , then roll up your sleeves ,keep on praying and get busy.

By: JW

JW — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:40:19 +0000

First of all, let me say that I did not grow up in the Church of Christ, but am now a member since converting after marriage. I do believe that the body of Christ extends waaay beyond our doors to those who lift up Christ, his death, burial and resurrection, basically the gospel. In response to Q, I grew up in a church that allowed women to be in the pulpit, though it was rare. I don’ t believe that we are commanded to recreate/copy the early church, but we are commanded to copy Christ and be relevant to our world as he was…but not “of” the world. That being said, the fact is that women will follow a man, but few men will follow a woman unless they are forced. Statistically, denominations who have opened their doors widest to female leadership are declining in membership. Perhaps, this is the reason for the command from Paul. He recognized that both genders respond well to competent MALE leadership. We need to consider that men are heavily outnumbered at church. Please consider other ways to use your gift. My experience is when a job belongs to a man and a woman steps in to do it, the man is more than happy to let her.
We can always do better but let’s be careful not to water down the standards of Christ in order to be popular with a generation who can’t be criticized lest it damage their self-esteem.

By: Keith Brenton

Keith Brenton — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:53:49 +0000

If I’m among those who seem to be skunk-spraying the church, please understand that doing so would be skunk-spraying myself. I don’t think I’m doing that.

But anyone can see in these comments alone that there are two extreme views of the church in play here.

One extreme is that the church is the beautiful, perfect bride of Christ and no one should dare insult her by suggesting she is anything less, or try to change anything about her.

The other extreme is that “everything must change” (sorry to misrepresent McLaren), and a total head-to-toe makeover is required.

Between the extremes is the perception that the church is the bride of Christ, yes, but overly coated in makeup and self-importance and that she does need to change that into gratitude for what the bridegroom has done for her and show it by taking on more of His nature as well as His name.

That view, I think, is where the truth is found.

By: MK

MK — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:44:48 +0000

This issue is one with which I am wrestling. In theory I should not be because I am in church leadership. I have read Kimball’s book, as well as works written by others. I think it comes back to a fundamental premise I heard when I was younger and have heard repeatedly throughout my adult life. That premise being, we want to be like the early church. While there are many noble attriubutes of the early church, we were never commanded to be like the early church. We are to be like Christ.

Too often, in trying to be like the early church, we (and I include me) miss the mark. We need to try to be like Jesus. That is our standard. That is such a seismic shift in paradigm that it creates a lot of difficulty for individuals, as well as the corporate being called the church.

I am still wrestling with what all of this means. One thing is for certain; what we are doing now is not right and it must change. Otherwise, the church will increase in its irrelevance.

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:20:16 +0000

“there is nothing new under the sun” When Jesus’ teaching became too hard, or something they didn’t want to hear they turned away from following him. Is today any different? Many go shopping for the church that fits what they want to believe. By definition that is idolatry. Many people want to live their lives like they want and have just enough “Jesus” to ease their conscience. Those who try show them the way they should live their life based on the Bible are called judgmental and narrow-minded. But when their lives fall apart, because of that word we are not allowed to use in society anymore –”sin”, then they want to know why is God against me?

By: Joey Tilton

Joey Tilton — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:38:58 +0000

God likes Jesus and God likes the Church. Hebrews 11:16 – Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God – Our Father is PROUD of us. Maybe these kids (and everybody else) need to be hearing THAT from us instead of reinforcing their criticism by regularly criticizing the Church ourselves.

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:33:05 +0000

It’s been my experience when people skunk-spray the church, there’s no reason to panic or try to change the church so that people will stop saying such disturbing things. The church is made up of imperfect people who will sometimes (or even often) misjudge, go negative, or get political. And even if we could change the church into a group that always does the right thing, people will still say disturbing things; besides, none of us would quite fit in to a church that always does the right thing (no matter how much we’d like to believe that we would).

Mike’s got the right idea, I believe. Just listen for awhile. Build some trust. Often people leave the church because they were hurt, no one goes to them to bring them back, and so they conclude that no one in the church cares about them. The pain gets buried, still unresolved, and it comes out in occasional attacks on the church. You’ve got to uncork the pain and help them work through their fears and misconceptions.