~"What if you grew up on a desert island with nothing but the Bible to read? Imagine being rescued after twenty years and then attending a typical evangelical church. Chances are you'd be shocked..." ~ Francis Chan ~
I've come across a few believers over the last two years who are disillusioned with church worship. They have given up on corporate worship (which I don't agree with) because of the hierarchical design of the church: the pastor as the active head of the church, the functioning clergy somewhere in the middle, and the passive laity at the bottom. Just because we split from the Catholic Church during the Reformation doesn't mean we are worshiping flawlessly.
The disillusioned friends I made on my travels allow their faith to suffer when they abandon corporate worship. They do not receive encouragement and accountability from a community of believers. Regardless, they have found one truth: that their relationship with Jesus does not require an intermediary (other than Jesus); they know they do not have to listen to a preacher in order to grow as a believer.
Having an intermediary between you and your Savior can be a hindrance. It can discourage a personal studying of the Word as a way of growing closer. When we read the Word, we apply it to our lives in a deeply sticky and personal way. If we start to rely on an intermediary too much, we view Sunday mornings as our time of spiritual growing instead of viewing every moment of our lives as a time to grow.
I've noticed how often people will talk fondly of their pastor's ability to preach. When I first noticed this, wheels starting turning in my head: "Sure do hear that a lot," I thought. Then, I began thinking that quite often churches grow because of a great preacher (that is, one who is great at preaching). There are, of course, other reasons why churches grow but people love to hear a great sermon. In fact, people often choose which church they will attend based on the preacher and his/her ability to preach. I believe that people feel they need to have a great preacher because the pastor feeds them their weekly meal. They need to grow by the preacher's Sunday morning message because it is all the food they are going to get for the week.
Let's be honest, how many of us actually have time in our busy lives to pursue heartfelt and genuine scripture study and devotion on our own time? Our work-centric culture doesn't allow it. The only options we have are to be spiritually malnourished, constantly burnt-out, or counter-cultural. If you choose the counter-cultural option, you will need to de-prioritize your job or find a less demanding job so you can pursue your passion of following Christ whole-heartedly.
After I yelled, "Burn the churches!" I talked about this idea and told my friends sarcastically, "You may have a great preacher who preaches great sermons, and that's all fine and dandy. Good for you. Ya know what though? I have a crappy preacher who gives boring sermons but at least I'm growing strong! I'm spiritually growing on my own and spiritually growing with friends." As soon as I said, "I have a crappy preacher," my friends started laughing at what I was saying even though I was trying to get them to seriously consider people's over-emphasis on a preacher's weekly sermon. (Any preachers I know reading this, please understand that I was speaking hypothetically about me having a crappy preacher)
Also, having one pastor as the leader of a congregation places the perceived responsibility of the spiritual health of numerous people on one believer. I used the word perceived because, ultimately, it is NOT the sole responsibility of the pastor to maintain the laity's spiritual health, it is each individual's own responsibility and it is the collective group of believers' (the church: the body) responsibility to each other. Each person is accountable with one another in a community of believers.
I do not think one believer should be responsible for the spiritual health of many when we all could do our part. Many hands make light work, right? In the same way, many friends make light responsibility... at least when it comes to accountability. What I mean is this: it is easy to hold each other accountable if we all are active participants in each others' spiritual lives.
Another huge reason why we should reform the church and dethrone the position of the pastor is because he/she is seen as a professional who is required a salary.
Let me break that into two parts: professional and salary.
Professional- We view pastors as specialists in Christianity like we view doctors as specialists in a specific medical area. The problem is, we put pastors on a pedestal and, in doing so, learn to accept everything he/she says without testing it. 1 John 4:1 says, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Most likely, a pastor is not a false prophet but it is possible. The Bible also says, "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness" (2 Cor. 11:14). Basically, we need to be aware of Satan and false teachers. We also need to remember our pastors are fallen people just like us; they are capable of making mistakes too.
Salary- Basically, I do not think we should pay pastors in the same way we pay a doctor- or like we pay everyone else in secular society for that matter. In fact, I'm not too sure we should employ pastors at all. The Jewish priests used to work at a trade in order to earn a living, and in turn, not place a financial burden on those participating under that priest.
1 Corinthians 12 and 14 say a bit about "church worship." "Church" being the body of believers and "worship" being how the believers each brought something to the table. Check out 1 Corinthians 14:26, "When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church."
Throughout history, we have grown to idolize control to the point where we fear chaos. We think that anything that is not controlled or lead by someone will fall apart. However, if we all participate, each can do his or her part of leading simply by contributing. We need to encourage those who seldom contribute to contribute more and those who contribute too much to contribute less so that it is more even and opportune for others.
No longer is the stress and responsibility of everyone's spiritual health falling on one believer; it is dispersed among everyone so that we may all be accountable.
No longer are we spending a major amount of our tithes on just one person in the church. We are capable of spending all the money for the sake of showing others Christ's love, first among fellow believers and, then those outside the church.
No longer will we have to sit in a pew, facing one or a few people who are standing on a stage, and call it worship. If we use our various gifts from the Holy Spirit as the glue, we can all participate in worship and, in turn, fill the gap between clergy and laity.
~ ~ ~
When I yelled, "Burn the churches! Burn 'em all to the ground!" last week I only meant it metaphorically. Through affliction and suffering, the church is being refined by fire. It is through this fire we see the impurities of the church. I long for the church to be different; for the things we created to be burned away so that Christ might be worshiped more fully. I long for the church to be free of its worldly pollution and free from the financial burdens of one, full-time, heavily burdened person and instead be filled with accountable, intelligent, encouraging, and passionate believers.
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