Biblical Integrity

Our situation is a little unique in the modern Christian world.  We are an independent congregation governed by local elders.  Thus, the authority common to the more predominant pastor led church model is not common to me.  As a minister, I can suggest a vision for our future, but I certainly cannot dictate it.  I don't have a problem with that, as I don't think it's healthy to build the local congregation around an individual.  But, having the authority to set direction in the hands of several is a bit complicated.

In our particular congregation, I've rarely been denied the opportunity to try things, but I've often been denied overt support.  That is, I've been allowed and even encouraged to try approaches, to attempt to influence people, and to teach on Biblical direction for contemporary ministry.  But rarely has the leadership identified and endorsed any specific direction for the congregation.  And, influence leaders in the congregation have, at times, subtly undermined things we've attempted to do by making dismissive statements in the background.  So, we've often found ourselves at an impasse in regard to a congregational vision.

Recent events began to change that, but at the moment it feels like we are a bit stuck again.  Of course, I know some of my critics will say I'm only complaining because I'm not getting my way.  And I am as subject to selfish desires as anyone.  But I find that those who complain the loudest about "my way" are primarily concerned that if I get "my way" they won't get "their way."  Though Christians tend to make their complaints using spiritual terminology, it is still, more often than not, a question of self interest.

Thus, when we dispute over our vision for the local church, we are, quite often, disputing, not over theological or doctrinal ideas, but over preferences and opinion.  This, in and of itself, I don't mind.  People have opinions and ideas, and should be free to express them, so long as we don't equate our opinions and ideas with the will of God.  Unfortunately, that happens all too often.

For me, the most disturbing thing about the church today is that the Bible does not seem to literally matter.  Most Christians will take exception to such a statement, but I'm convinced it is true.  In his book, Knowing Christ Today, Dallas Willard points out that western civilization, both secular and Christian, has so separated faith from knowledge, that when confronted with new knowledge, we are capable of rejecting it in deference to our faith.  Which indicates that our faith is not informed by knowledge.  So if our faith is rooted in the modern church, and knowledge of Scripture challenges the practice thereof, we favor our faith over that knowledge.

This is another way of saying that we have assigned authority to our own traditions, experiences, feelings, and religion.  The Roman church, after Constantine, assigned itself this kind of authority, and in spite of reformation, most of us still make the same assumption at some level.  It basically works like this:  We are the church.  Whatever we do and whatever we have experienced is indicative of what the church does.  If the content of Scripture appears to contradict what we do or what we have experienced, we can disregard it because... We are the church.

The net effect is that when the Bible establishes our direction for us, we are very slow to adopt that direction in actual practice.  Many who sincerely believe they are following Christ are actually following a mixture of their religious experiences, their impressions of Christ, and an unhealthy portion of selfish intent.

I'm not real big on the modern church "vision process."  It's been borrowed from the corporate world of commerce, which is another problem.  But I find the typical process incredibly self centered.  Often, we seem to be seeking our vision as informed by Christ, rather than Christ's vision as employed by us.  And the strongest indication of that is the fact that the Bible actually gives us some pretty clear directions that we disregard because they do not fit our religious experience.