The Challenge and Failure of The Church

In deep disappointment, I have wept over the laxity of the church. Yes, I love the church! How could I do otherwise?… Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful— in the time when the early Christians rejoiced as being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days, the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society…

Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often, it is an arch defender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silence— and often even vocal— the sanction of things just the way they are.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Matt Fox makes this observation for us to consider with these words:

“King weeps over the failures of the church. Do we also? What work of reformation of religion and church can we effectively bring about? King longs for the courage of the early church, when Christians stood up to the Roman Empire, even if the stance was dangerous and brought the wrath of the empire upon them. He saw a living church as one that transformed the mores of society. How much, if anything, has changed since King’s day? To what degree do churches still defend the status quo and sanction things as they are?”

While Dr. King has always been an inspirational model for me and for the qualities of ministry I tried to employ, it takes little examination that a minister only can accomplish what his/her congregation will support. The question of “fitting in” or of mirroring a congregation has long been held as a formula for success for a long tenure in a church.

Similarly, the clergy, if they want to succeed, will reflect the same or similar and compatible theology or philosophical outlook on society, the status quo, and reinforce the way things are.

For some clergy, it will boil down to issues around life and security for them and their families, so a “don’t rock the boat” attitude might supersede their desire to wield a more prophetic voice. They are reluctant to take a more demanding ethical stand when confronting societal injustices and theological distortions that our culture condones, or passively accepts.

Matt Fox wryly gave me this advice when we talked about the difficulty and the price of keeping your mystical view and your prophetic voice alive in the church today. He said ” If you have not been fired from your ministry position at least twice, you are not doing it right!”

By that measure, I have succeeded quite well!