Tempting Consequence: (part 2) - Diction Digression

I hope from my last post, you would have seen that there is a problem within modern Christianity. A disease, if you will, that is beginning to eat away at the church from the inside. I believe this problem has its original roots within the garden of Eden when our first parents decided to eat a particular fruit; however, the past century with Christendom has only exacerbated the wound. Left untended and ignored, this problem will only grow to magnificent proportions and eventually the church will be pinned by its own power.

My main point in this post is to explore the evolution of diction within the church. I'm devoting an entire chapter to this subject in my book (if I ever finish it), but here's a very small snippet that should help to clear some things up:

First, there is a major distinction that needs to be made in order to understand the “Church”. We have slipped into the idea that the “Church” is the building. However, the original Greek is ekklesia which referred to a gathering of people, usually in a political situation. Thus, I am going to divide the lines right from the start. When I refer to the “Church” (capital “C”), I am referring to the body of the believers, either universal or local. When referring to the “church” (small “c”), I am talking about the set of ideas that limit the bride of Christ into a building. Mixing these two terms is inherently dangerous and can often lead to miscommunication and arguments within the ‘church’.

• The first problem that arises out of this diction slip is the change in philosophy from an "us Church" to a "them church". Let me explain this further. When the Church is perceived as merely a building, everything that was before the (C)hurch's responsibility now becomes the (c)hurch's responsibility. In other words, everything is put off onto the "other guy", because the person is seen as a separate entity from the church. When you separate the church from Christians, you will end up with bunches of people that herd in and herd out within the span of two hours on Sunday. What you will not receive is willing help in all areas from those who attend. The church is perceived more as a country club where the staff take care of the problems and everybody else just shows up for the kicks and giggles. Such an attitude is why the church has dropped the ball in many areas including community service and helping out those in need. This service space reserved for the church is now being filled in by the government, though it is a very nasty and unwelcome fit. When the church steps down from its position as a model for the community, what do you expect to happen?



• Another outpouring from this paradigm shift is the limiting of the Christian life. When all Christians perceived themselves as part of a tightly-knit community, they would be more likely to allow Jesus to infiltrate all areas of their lives. When the church is merely a building and staff, worship becomes a one-hour service on Sundays. The Christian life becomes a limited "sacred" institution that only happens on the weekends; the rest of the week morphs into the "secular". However, this is a false dichotomy. To say that one-hour of our lives is holy and the other 167 hours are "worldly" is to deny the heart behind the message of Jesus. He didn't send us into the world to live like the world; rather, he calls us to be salt (Mat 5:13) and light (Mat 5:14), set apart from the world (2 Tim 2:21, John 17:17). The Christian life is transcendent over hours; it does not bow down to the god of time. Rather, it is only when Christianity is lived out in all areas that we can actually be witnesses to this world.



• Lastly, this separation of the (c)hurch from the (C)hurch furthers the idea within Christianity that we are better than outsiders. Instead of being a city on a hill, the church builds walls around it that block the light from ever reaching the rest of the world. To be sure, human efforts cannot block God's perfect will; however, in our sinful nature, we constantly are deceived by the lie that we are better than everybody else. The Truth is we are not better than the non-Christian; it is nothing we did that separates us from the world. In terms of righteousness, we are closer to Hitler, Stalin, and Bin Laden than we are to Jesus Christ. It is not our righteousness that we proclaim, it is that of Jesus. As Paul says, "I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Cor 12:9) Without Jesus, we would be headed to hell just as much as the next guy. Thus, when we wall ourselves off from the world as if we are better, we not only are displaying our own stupidity and pride, we also are perverting the Truth of the gospel. This is something we are all guilty of. As Paul says, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."(Gal 2:20)

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