GroshLink

A number of our fellowship gatherings have focused a considerable amount of prayer on the state of the mainline Protestant denominations and the future direction of the institutional structure(s) of the Body of Christ. Particularly, how is one part of an evangelical, faithful local congregation which is under the authority and/or in relationship to a larger fellowship seeking its own understanding?

My off-the-cuff response has been that throughout history the people of God have wrestled with the prophets of the Lord, the Word of God and the Spirit of God as to how we are to live in relationship to God, neighbor, and creation. Liberal Christianity is paying for its sins summarizes some of the angst which grips our current time of questioning whom we will serve. Will the people of God choose to be set apart or be caught in being relevant to the trends of today (in this case actually that of several decades ago) and pass them along to their children?

More important than all the questions about the institutional Church is how are we living in our daily life where God has placed us for a life of ministry? Are we as individuals, families, and local congregations living faithfully before God with all our body, soul, mind, and strength? Those who passionately follow Christ will always be in exile in the fallen/cursed creation, even at times in the institutional structure(s) which incarnate the Body of Christ in various ways. Our response, by the grace of God, is to live out the Gospel, which blesses creation and neighbor through our care for them under the reality of the cross, resurrection, ascension, and the new creation.

Let us remember that the fight is not over the buildings, seminaries, and the heritage of various denominations, they give witness in and of themselves (as many of the statues, seals, and texts on university campuses, along with the words of their founders witness to their dedication to the work of God). Maybe the time of some structures has passed, maybe it is a season for renewal. But let us choose this day to serve the Lord as a people of God before all the issues and structures set before us. He has called us to Himself as a people, a Body, with a personal relationship to Him brought into clarity by the Word, the Spirit, those who have come before us (saints both living and dead), not a timeless, indestructable, institutional structure to fight for to the death. Forgive us for so many times serving the gods of our age instead of the God of all ages.