Church institution Part-2

In my last blog we were seeing why Jesus did not choose to centralize institutionalizing of the Church. You can click HERE in case you missed to read the last blog.

I am just thinking, what would today’s preacher or Pastor literally have done if he faced a situation like Jesus. Invariably, a big mega-church building project would have come up in almost every village, town and in a city. The preacher / pastor will be the new celebrity.  Plans to mobilize funds would have been the top priority. A largest auditorium would have been erected in a noticeable place to accommodate all the people. The preacher or the pastor would be the headlines in all the news all the week. In one gathering the pastor would address thousands of people.  It would be the highest fund turnover of all times. He would own almost anything, from helicopter, to airplane, ship, branded cars and probably an Island in his name. Soon the tag ‘international’ would be attached to his name and to his ministry. It looks so interesting and promising right?

It is an oxymoron and an assumed ideology to believe if we erect a Church building in all pin codes, towns, taluks, and cities, then the gospel by itself would spread and people will be saved! Christian presence is marked by number of Church buildings existing in a particular city or state. However, have you ever wondered why Jesus never did that? He could have always asked His people to build a large auditorium and called it as Church. And by the way, Jesus had many disciples and followers by then, who He could have entrusted with a Church for each one of them. Probably, that would have been the best prototype for us to follow as a pattern.  

It looked like a successful church model was emerging, but fortunately Jesus never intended Church that way at all.  Leonard Ravenhill Put’s it so beautifully “When I see the Church in the New Testament, they didn’t have stately buildings, they didn’t have paid evangelists, they didn’t have a lot of money, they didn’t have organization, they couldn’t get on TV and beg; but I’ll tell you what they did — THEY TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN!” Let’s give it some serious thought. Jesus had prominent funders with Him too. There was also a treasurer in His team. Then why did Jesus keep moving from one place to another leaving the crowd behind? Is Jesus a bad model for a pastor in today's standard? Analyse with me please if Jesus missed something or are we choosing to deliberately overlook something. Leaving all possibilities, Jesus takes the disciples to Caesarea Philippi filled with all types of gods and idols, and there He promises the establishment of a Church. He did not select a place to put a structure there but propelled a powerful movement which can soon govern not only a particular city but entire earth. Jesus' intention and purpose of building a Church was completely different than what we want it to be .  Jesus intended to built the Church on person, and eventually, people become His Church. Matthew 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.".

To be continued...

 

Click here You can follow on Twitter 

Church Institution Part-1

 

Jesus quickly became famous from the moment He started doing miracles and healing people from all kinds of sicknesses and casting demons. Luke in 7:17 (NLT) records, “and the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.” Mark 1:28 records, “at once the news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.”. It was not easy anymore for Jesus to walk on the streets freely because He was surrounded by crowds always. Luke records in 8:42, “while He was going the crowds were nearly crushing him.”.  We can imagine how challenging it would have been for Jesus to navigate from one place to another. In Luke 6:19, the writer records, "The whole crowd was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing them all.". So, now we realize why the crowds always pressed Him.

In addition to this, people who were healed by Jesus carried the news to all the places and that attracted more crowd. In a particular incident as recorded in Mark 1:45 talks about a man were healed from his leprosy, and we read in the scriptures that he went about to spread the news about Jesus to an extent that Jesus no longer could walk openly. “… with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But he was out in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.”. He had to find a deserted place with His disciples, but then, even there the crowd found Him. We learn that Jesus got all the attention from the people in a little time. It was not needed for Jesus to go and find the crowd anymore. The Bible registers that the crowd was always expecting Him. In Luke 8:40 Luke records, “when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were expecting Him.”. People knew Jesus’ schedule most of the time. I guess probably before Jesus could reach a particular place, the crowd already made their way to meet Him and touch Him. Isn’t it exciting?

Having referred to all the above facts about Jesus, let's do some honest thinking. Did Jesus miss in doing something? He could have worked around the already existing synagogue which He called it as a prayer house or established the largest facility and get everyone in one place? Generally, we believe all our evangelism work should culminate and settle to a particular destination i.e., ‘Church’, a literal building with a Christian identity. But Jesus who already conceived the idea of building a Church did not leave any pattern for us to follow at all. Jesus’ idea of building a Church was entirely different which is overlooked by the majority all the time. Today what draws the attention of Christians in most cases is the Church building. Diane Langberg states this, "Beautiful structures, a performance that moves  people, theological brilliance and correctness, and large audiences are things Christendom praises and prizes today."

To be continued...

 To Read my last Blog  click HERE

Click here You can follow on Twitter