The Church. Is there a right one? Is there only one that speaks for or represents God? What is the church and what should it look like?

Different seminaries and denominations present differing viewpoints of the church. If you ask people on the street this question, you’re likely to get a lot of different answers. Yet, the common themes you will hear are centered around judgment and hypocrisy. A growing number of Christians say they love the Lord but they despise His Church and institutional religion.

Was this what Christ intended for His bride?

For over 1,000 years, the idea of what church is and is not has been vastly distorted. I’m not going to get into all the details of the great schism of 1054 (i.e., the false doctrines of the Catholic Church that led to the division with the Eastern Orthodox Church and ultimately the reformation which continues to splinter to this day). Instead, I’m going to zoom in on the last 50 years of the church experience in America.

There is an answer to the question of why so many Christians today despise the church. I’ll explain why it is impotent in the culture. If you want proof, all you have to do is look at the results… church doors are closing faster than they are opening. The pews are in decline. Church leaders are more focused on government policy, controlling the culture, and arguing with each other than shepherding Christ’s flock. And, the church is allowing wolves to steal God’s sheep.

Ultimately, America has become a post-Christian culture.

I believe there is a reason for this – The Church is not fulfilling its purpose. As a result, religion has failed us.

If you ask an Orthodox Christian, what is church? You won’t get a definition. See, for the first 1,500 years of its existence, there wasn’t a rational definition. The New Testament says the Church is a divine “mystery” (Ephesians 5:32). 

The truth is the Church is a miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ in us and us in Christ. It will always be beyond explanation.

Today, we try to answer the question based on Earthly understandings… Denominations, doctrines, and administration. 

This leaves an incomplete view of what the Church is and is not. 

The writers of the New Testament lived in ancient Judaism. Their culture and time were very different from our own. The Apostles defined the Church in “spiritual images,” not rationalistic formulas. 

The Church is: the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:23; Revelation 22:17), the True Vine with its branches (John 15:1-7), the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22), the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:6), the Household of God (Galatians 6:10), and Living Stones (1 Peter 2:5).

The imagery of the Church the Bible presents is not only of reason but also of our hearts, spirits, and human experiences. 

More importantly, the New Testament tells us we are members of a divine-human community.

The Church is not only a human institution. It is primarily a divine institution that exists eternally where God dwells with her.

As human beings, we have made the church into something that “does” instead of “is.” In doing so, we’ve lost the meaning of it. We’ve reduced it to an academic exercise of arguments and counterarguments that feel cold, harsh, and stale. We argue over doctrine and allow evil to prevail in its presence. 

Where is God’s love, grace, and long-suffering?

Where is His forgiveness, truth, joy, and our focus on Him?

The Church is so much more than membership and all of these things. It’s more than an association of believers or a collection of religious individuals working together. It is a community of Christ Himself. It is Jesus Christ of Nazareth who gives the Church its existence and purpose. The Church is totally and completely dependent upon Him. 

The nature of the Church is the nature of Christ because as individual members, we are part of the His body. If we don’t get this, then we will have a faulty view of the Church.

So, let’s talk about participating in the divine mystery of the Church.

What is required?

What I’m about to say bucks the entire idea of what it means to be an American and a Christian — rugged individualism and a church presented as beautiful buildings.

This is not Church.

What do individualism and aesthetics in and of themselves have to do with relationships and community?

Membership in the Church requires a life of love devoted to God and His people. As members of the Body, we are to live together in communal life in the Spirit — This is the Church! 

The purpose of the Church is to bring His sheep, the believer, into communion with God and each other. No outward structure or human institutional control commands the presence of the Holy Spirit. He may use buildings, doctrine, and administration, but He is never manipulated by them. 

We must not confuse these things with the purpose of the Church.

Ultimately, buildings, denominations, and doctrines divide the Body. They are tools of manipulation used by our adversaries (Satan and his demons). When these forms become an end to themselves, religious institutionalism takes over the chief purpose of the Church, which is an extraordinarily dangerous place to be.

Christ’s Church is where love and truth exist harmoniously. 

Sadly, most churches today do not operate within their purpose. They may say they do and justify their doctrines under the guise of Scripture, but let’s not forget that the demons also know Scripture and how to manipulate it and us. 

Why are so many leaving churches?

Because the Church has nothing to offer them. By exerting control through doctrines and administration, there is no mystery. There’s no room for Christ or the Holy Spirit. It’s as if church leaders proclaim to know more than God. In the process, they are too busy building and protecting their kingdoms than His. They justify love over truth and/or control over grace — this form of institutional religion is meaningless.

St. Irenaeus of Lyon once said, “Where there is the Holy Spirit, there is the Church. Where there is the Church, there is the Holy Spirit.”

The Church does not exist to build its own empire. Instead, she (the Church) is supposed to use institutional structures to promote the communion of God’s people with Him and with each other. When a church isn’t pursuing this purpose, it becomes an obstacle to this union. 

What reason does anyone have to be curious about our Lord Jesus Christ?

Why would anyone waste their time or energy on the Church?

While they might not fully understand or can’t communicate what is happening, so many Christians despise the Church because they know something is inherently wrong. 

Perhaps God is using them to wake up church leaders.

Perhaps it’s time to seek out a church that recognizes the mysteries of God and return to the ancient forms of worship that are so lacking in today’s modern evangelical movement that is on the precipice of disaster.

More on that another time.

For now, I pray that if you got this far in the article, you’re hungry to know more fully our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s time we return to being a divine-human community. As the days grow darker and community becomes less and less in our society, it’s more important than ever that we seek His Church. 

In the Church, we’ll find Christ and community with purpose and meaning.

Blessings to you,

Father Don