Article 4 of 4 in the "Culture Changing Church" Category

The crucial orthodoxy and orthopraxy common in the early church, that turned the world upside down, are deemphasized in the church today. Laypeople can help it return.

If you’ve been following this blog you’ll know this is the final in a series titled The Culture Changing Church.  By way of quick review, the first blog addressed, the church’s inability to influence our land on the abortion crisis.  The second was addressed to church leaders describing the desired response God has always wanted from them.  The third addressed our prolife clinics and related nonprofits encouraging them to actually stop doing something.  This final blog in the series is addressed to the body of Christ in general and specifically to anyone who would help return the church to the culture changing force she once was.

In a previous post I wrote that our inability to effect the abortion crisis is the “the canary in the coal mine for the institutional church.”  We used to be a culture changing force but we’ve barely made a dent in what is easily the greatest human rights crisis the world has ever known.  After 50 years of legalized abortion, which by the way is still legal, we could easily fill every seat in 10 college football stadiums, every year, with an aborted child. (~800,000)  

Why is that?  Why aren’t we as influential as we used to be?  What is it about us that’s changed?  Having been directly involved in this issue for many years now, I realize the complexities.  I realize there’s not a single, “silver bullet” solution.  However, there is one glaring anomaly present today in the institutional church that I’m convinced is at the root of our ineffectiveness.  To get to the root, we have to go here first. 

ORTHODOXY + ORTHOPRAXY = CULTURE CHANGING CHURCH

At the risk of putting you to sleep, ZZzzzzzz, or getting all “churchy speaky” on you, if you’re not familiar with the words orthodoxy and orthopraxy I want to give you a quick definition of both and then reveal how they’re still crucial to our mission today.  These are compound Greek words.  Ortho meaning “right, correct or straight” and Doxy“doctrine, teaching, belief.”  So basically, it’s correct doctrine/belief.  It’s often used in the context of what the early church taught/believed.  Orthopraxy, when separated in two, Praxy, means “practice or behavior.”  Orthopraxy, then of course means correct or right practice.  Orthopraxy is informed, guided and even compelled by Orthodoxy.  In fact, in the case of Christian orthodoxy, the two are inseparable.  If there is no orthopraxy present, it’s likely your orthodoxy, your beliefs or interpretations of the doctrine, are “off.”   Both were and are essential for they go hand in hand and are necessary to keep the church on course. Ok, so hang with me. We're almost there...

With that as a foundation, there are two orthodox beliefs of which all of Christian thought (doxy) and practice (praxy) should moor itself to.  The first is the belief that it was and is God’s great desire to be in union with us.  Always has been.  Always will.  It’s the worst kept secret in the history of the world but still many of us have missed or dismissed it.  It has always been His desire for us to partake in the perfect, sacred, matchless love and fellowship of the Trinity.  In other words, He wanted us to know what it is to be fully known and yet completely accepted, completely fulfilled and satisfied…in Him.  All of scripture testifies to this amazing truth. (Lev.26:11-12, Zech.2:10-11, 1Jn.1:2-4, Jn.14:23/17:21-26, Rev.21:3) It’s why God is still pursuing, redeeming, reconciling the world and sanctifying His bride, the Church/you, to Himself today. (Lk.15, Philp.1:6, Eph.5:25-32, Jn.17:19, 2Ptr.1:2-4).   Let the magnitude and joy of that sink in for a moment.

The second truth, is like it.   Because we were made to be one with Him, because we were made in His image, our thirsty, hungry souls cry out for what only He can satisfy.  Again, the scriptures reveal this truth to us from beginning to end.  They tell us He’s our living water, (Jn.4:10 & 7:37-38 & Is 55:1) our bread of life, (Jn.6:35, Rev.7:16) our treasure and great reward (Gen.15:1, Lam.3:24). The Psalmist knew of this longing and where to find fulfillment when he penned the words, “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water…your steadfast love is better than life.” (Ps.63 & Ps.42:2)   It’s this longing that compelled C.S. Lewis to pen the words, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”  This is why the “fast food” the world offers simply can’t compare to the banquet Jesus invites us into.  Amazing right?  

THE ORTHOPRAXY OF THE EARLY CHURCH

Having established these two orthodox truths we can now turn to the specific orthopraxis of the early church that enabled it to turn the world upside down. (Acts 17:6)  This requires some context, but it's where it gets good.  As you’ll recall from the book of Acts, after the Ascension and after Pentecost, it was quite common for the apostles and new believers to gather at the temple for teaching, fellowship and to share/meet needs.  The Holy Spirit, now given, was moving with great power granting validity to this kingdom come.  Miraculous healings were quite common.  Thousands were coming to faith in Jesus and…it did not go unnoticed.  The Jewish authorities who had put Jesus to death mistakenly thought that would silence all this “Messiah” nonsense but, it only made things worse.  So, they started arresting Peter and others warning them to no longer speak in the name of Jesus.  You guessed it…they disobeyed and went about their mission of teaching/healing.  Not long after that, Stephen, who was also teaching about Jesus in public, gets dragged before the Sanhedrin, testifies about Jesus, is summarily dragged out of there, outside the city gates and is stoned to death.  This sets off a great persecution of the church causing many to flee Jerusalem and scatter throughout the Roman empire.  Soon the Roman authorities joined in on the assault and for the next two and a half centuries, the church had to be more careful.  They still preached boldly to the masses and to authorities, when given the opportunity, but as a standard practice, they no longer met en masse at the temples but instead, in smaller groups, secretly, in people’s homes.   

Now don’t miss this for it is central to what has changed in the church today and why we struggle to be the culture changing force we once were.  By all rights, this movement should’ve fallen apart but, grounded in and by the resurrection, there was something special, enduring, about these smaller, intimate fellowships. As you probably know, letters written by the apostles were secretly sent from city to city and read in house church to house church.  These letters were full of instructions on how to conduct themselves, how to establish and follow leadership and how to live out their faith in word and deed, but that’s not all.  There were specifics such as confessing your sins to one another, forgiving and praying for one another, singing hymns over each other, spurring one another on toward love and good deeds, bearing one another’s burdens, and encouraging one another to remember the promise of the life to come.  (James 5:16, Gal. 6:1,2 Eph. 5:19, Acts 13:3 & 28:8, Heb. 10:24-25, 1Jn.5:13 ) Because these fellowships had to remain relatively small, it was impossible to “hide” or go unknown, uncared for.  That meant every individual was able to give and/or receive the Trinitarian, life-giving, elements of grace, truth, mercy, dignity and purpose all in the context of love.  These house churches provided the kind of environment that ushered in the new life in the new kingdom Jesus came to bring, the life we all long for and were made for. It was just a taste or a foreshadowing of the life to come where we will experience in full what we can only see now “through a glass, darkly” (1 Cor. 13:12) but it was soul satisfying, experiencing the “one-ness” Jesus had prayed for them and invited them into in John 17:20-21.  (House churches mentioned in the N.T.: Phlmn 1:2, Acts 2:46, 5:42, 12:10-17, 20:7-8,20, 1Cor. 16:19, Col. 4:15, Rom. 16:5)

IS OUR "ONE-NESS" SHOWING?

John 17:20-21 sheds a marvelous light on what is missing in the life of the church today and why His bride struggles to be the culture changing force she once was.  In this passage, where Jesus is praying for His current disciples, He says, ²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (emphasis added) With today’s overemphasis on the Sunday morning service, and the deemphasis of small group communities and the life-giving elements experienced therein, the church has lost a large part of what we need to grow in our sanctification and at the same time, sidelined our most effective, influential, evangelistic tool. These smaller communities, once the rule, now the exception, are the missing orthopraxis that once enabled us to let our “light shine before men” in such a way that compelled them to repent, to believe and to ultimately “glorify our Father in heaven.” (Matt.5:16)   It was a love for one another, that went beyond measure, that caused a lost world to take note.  It gave us a reputation.

Without these sanctifying and influential kinds of communities operating outside our church walls, we simply can’t hope to impact the world as we otherwise might and if the church was meant for anything, it was those two things.*  It’s a big part of why we’ve been ineffective on abortion. It’s a big reason why we’re unable to help those with same sex attraction find fulfilling, restorative, godly community.  It’s a big reason why race relations even inside the church are so poor. They need to witness His kingdom come. What's our reputation now?

UNBALANCED LEADERSHIP = UNBALANCED PRIORITIES = UNBALANCED CHURCH

So what went wrong? How did we get out of balance, devaluing these small group communities and overemphasizing the Sunday morning service?  Well, the obvious answer is no one’s trying to kill us anymore so we can meet en masse.  We don’t have to meet in smaller, secretive communities.  That’s a good thing of course and should never be taken for granted but it should’ve never taken the place of or diminished our felt need for smaller fellowships.  The second reason this happened is because….well, this one's hard to hear but, we wanted it that way.  All of us would agree it’s simply easier and “safer” to show up on Sunday, sing some inspiring, worshipful songs, hear an encouraging message, give to some good cause(s) and be on our way.  We even pay people at the church and find volunteers to streamline it, to make it quick and easy.  But the real issue is it’s safer.  We’re so fearful of being known, found out, preferring the isolation…even if it’s slowly killing us and our families. It's a powerful lie from the devil. Instead, we should know there is love and freedom in authentic, open, humble, grace and truth-filled community. It's there where we can experience much of what we need to experience the life abundant. 

But to further ensure this unbalanced system remains, we’ve even elevated the role and authority of the “Teacher” in our churches.  Somewhere along the way we forgot there should be a plurality of leadership in the church.  Do we understand there should be Apostles, Evangelists, Prophets, Teachers, Pastors…so that the body of Christ is adequately equipped? (Eph. 4:11-16).  Are we even aware that there is a role of Teacher and a role of Pastor and that the man teaching you on Sunday mornings may not have the role/gift of Pastor/Shepherd and therefore shouldn’t be the sole hierarchical head of our fellowships, entrusted with making sure me and my family have all I need for sanctification?  Do we think it wise to entrust one person, with one particular gift, with that much responsibility, with that much power?  Is this your church?  Do you know how you can tell?  Here’s a couple questions.  Ask yourself, “Is there just as much emphasis placed on small groups meeting regularly, over the long haul, as well as a process for raising up and training leaders for these groups?”  Also, have you ever heard your “Pastor” say, “If you have to choose between attending your small group or church, attend church.” A true Pastor/Shepherd would never say that.  It simply reveals a misunderstanding of how people grow or worse, reveals his bias toward his gifting.  Often times, leaders like this believe “If they just think correctly about God and His word, they’ll live correctly.”  This of course is partly true, but you don’t just get that from a Sunday morning message/worship and frankly it's not that linear. This is why we have different leadership roles.  All He should say in that regard is, “If you feel like you have to choose, your life is out of balance.”  You can never value one over the other.  Churches that fall into that trap are often led by spiritually immature Church Board/Elders that submit/defer to the Teacher on all spiritual matters.  

Beware of this unbalanced version of the institutional church for it has led to numerous abuses, causing great harm to the body and a result, hindering our impact on the world.  Also, beware of this structure on behalf of your Teacher for it sets them up for failure.  Pride, anger, exhaustion, loss of compassion and moral failure in your Teacher are all signs of this church structure. No one but Jesus is supposed to have that much responsibility and power.  Our support of this structure is simply another version of the sin Israel committed when they didn’t want God to lead them, they wanted a King like the other nations.(1Sam.8)  Jesus is the head of the church whether we’d like Him to be or not. 

I get it though.  It’s difficult both logistically and emotionally to carve out an additional 2-3 times a month to gather at someone’s home, share a meal, share struggles and truly love one another in word and deed.  It can be messy, awkward and frankly, “it doesn’t fit with my kid’s soccer schedule!”  But what’s the real cost?  What are we missing personally?  What message are we sending to our kids?...to a lost world?  We’ve fooled ourselves into thinking the Sunday morning service is all we need when it’s simply not set up for the intimate, authentic, roof off, walls down connection with one another God deemed necessary.  Let’s be honest, our high divorce rates, extravagant, temporal-minded lifestyles, abortion, racial segregation, youth leaving and obvious lack of influence outside our walls prove otherwise.  

So let me be clear.  I’m certainly not advocating for leaving the institutional church.  The Sunday morning service in particular and the institutional church in general are VITAL to our mission.  I addressed the great need for both and the significant role they must play in a previous post to church leaders, but as they currently stand, need a reformation. What I’m advocating for here is for you to assess whether or not you’ve fallen victim to a cultural, perhaps unbalanced version that may be preventing you and your family from experiencing the Godhead in the way you need and was intended. For the reasons stated above, and a few others I don’t have room to mention here, I have little hope that our institutional church leaders will guide us out of this.  However, I do have hope that layleaders such as yourself might.  Jesus will certainly one day hold our church leaders accountable for how they’ve led (Heb. 13:17 / 1Ptr. 5:1-4) but notice also in Revelation 3, He’s admonishing all of us as well.

TAKE ACTION ON THE ORTHOPRAXY

So, take action on this orthopraxis of the early church.  If you’re not in a long-term community like the one I described earlier, seek one out or consider starting one yourself.  If you’re starting one, ask the Lord to raise up a like-minded core that will set the environment for what this fellowship will be. Ask yourself and the Lord, “Who do I know in my church or elsewhere who desires to grow in an ever-deepening intimacy with the Father and loves their neighbor as themself, who leads with truth and grace in love, who’s open about their own sin and need for the gospel?”  We have a guidebook that will help you establish this kind of group.  It’s designed mainly for people who want to start a fellowship that would welcome in moms/dads tempted by abortion but even if that’s not your specific focus, you can still benefit from the principles.  You can find it here.  

Thank you for taking the time to read this series on the Culture Changing Church.  As always, I appreciate and benefit from your Spirit-filled comments and suggestions.  May the peace and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ, be with you all.

*Even when the size and focus of a church’s Sunday morning service allows for the kind of fellowship we’re describing, we tend to forget how intimidating our buildings can be.  For lost people, who already feel “less than” or have had a bad experience in the church, (ie. All truth no grace) it can be like venturing into the belly of an alien ship. Meeting in informal spaces like someone’s home or a neighborhood community center/clubhouse or even a restaurant is far less daunting.  Additionally, we have to understand there’s something restorative about being invited into someone’s home to share a meal and even bring something to share.  It helps restore someone’s sense of belonging.  It’s a vital part of the restorative process.  Frankly, you can’t argue it’s an easier bridge to cross and if that’s what’s necessary to help someone get a peek inside our sacred assemblies, we shouldn’t give it a second thought.