Should the Church Abandon the church (Part 1)

Camelot

The year is 1960. A baby-faced good looking kid from Massachusetts has just been elected the youngest American President ever. He appoints his brother Bobbie to the US Attorney General's office. Bobbie, then approaches the storied founder and leader of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover to begin investigating the Mafia.

Hoover and the FBI had been criticized in the media for ignoring the mafia for many years. Truth is, he had been avoiding the Mafia for a very long time. The world-wearied Hoover understood something practical that others seemed not to grasp.

There was money in the Mafia. There wasn't money in government service.

J. Edgar Hoover had been around the seedy side of people long enough to know that his underpaid and overworked field agents were much too vulnerable. The long hours, the financial needs of their families, and the necessary periods of separation from direct leadership oversight that was the life of a field agent was a recipe for disaster when mixed with Mafia money.


Now, history tells us that J. Edgar Hoover attacked the Mafia by upping the ante in their game. He attempted to trump their aces by buying mafia informants. Offering them protection and resources that would exceed anything they would see in their current deals in exchange for information. Only the 20/20 vision of review allows us to see whether there was wisdom in his decisions. However, one thing remains clear...


J. Edgar Hoover was hesitant to put his people into a position in which they were almost certain to fail.


The Mission or the Missionaries?
Jesus is about to be betrayed. He will soon be beaten, whipped, ridiculed, mocked, and humiliated. He knows this is coming. He has agonized over it. He has begged to have this cup that He must drink removed from Him. Nevertheless, He has accepted it.


Having done that, His thoughts are on His friends. Let's take a moment and look at an extended piece of scripture as Jesus exposes His heart towards His friends as He prays for His disciples.


After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life--to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began. "I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me. "My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold. "Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. "I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one--as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. "I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! "O righteous Father, the world doesn't know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them." - Jhn 17:1-26 NLT


Do you hear His love for His guys?  Do you hear the responsibility He feels towards them?

The next chapter, John 18, starts by Jesus and his guys crossing the Kidron, and walking into a grove of olive trees. Judas knows this spot, and Judas is ready with soldiers to give his "kiss of death."


This is His final thought before He is taken from them to be crucified. His heart is not for the mission as much as it is for His missionaries. His heart is breaking for them. That love is amazing.


Like Whitewashed Tombs
One thing is for sure. When it came to confronting the religious leaders of His day, Jesus did not mince words. He laid it out plain and simple...


Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach. - Mat 23:1-3 NLT


Alrighty, then. Sounds like a lot of people we know...


They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. "Everything they do is for show... . - Mat 23:4-5a NLT


I don't know about you, but that sounds like what everyone I know says about our Modern Day church.


And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called 'Rabbi.' - Mat 23:6-7 NLT


Right off the bat, I think it's safe to say that Jesus is not fond of these traits in His church. He has come to earth to start a revolution. The Jews wanted Him to start a political revolution, and to lead them out of the oppression that they were suffering at the hands of the Romans. But, He has other plans. He ALWAYS has other plans.


Understand that, in this passage, He is talking about what we would now call the "church." But, He is talking to His followers, His believers. He's talking to the "Church." Follow the capital letters here, He's talking to the Church about the church. (I'll explain the differences as I see them later)


Let's continue in Matthew 23 as He instructs how He wants them to be different than what they've seen so far...


"Don't let anyone call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don't let anyone call you 'Teacher,' for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. - Mat 23:8-11 NLT


Shut the front door! How do we miss this stuff? Or more correctly said, how do we put so much importance on some of the things Christ said, while we completely ignore other things He said?


I'm not Jewish, so I don't call anyone Rabbi. But, I get His point. There is only one teacher, and all the rest of us are all equal. I'm also not Catholic, so I don't call anyone 'Father', but I was in church yesterday, and sat and listened to a wonderful 'Teaching Pastor' give a great 'sermon' on Job and the ups and downs in his life. It was meaningful, it was inspirational, it was comforting. The 'Teaching Pastor' is genuine and Godly. His message was impacting not because of his title, but because he has caught onto the heart of his calling, 'The greatest among you must be a servant.'


My issue isn't with him, we'll come back to this. For now, let's continue with a warning from Christ to the power hungry...


But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. - Mat 23:12 NLT


I don't know about you. But, Jesus doesn't seem like the kind of guy to make empty threats. I'd guess that you could pretty much bet that if He says something, He'll follow through on it.


He continues to characterize the religious establishment. Understand that, if you only know the "Sunday School" polite Jesus, what He says here may shock you. If your prayers sound like Ricky Bobby's, "Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus, in your golden, fleece diapers, with your curled-up, fat, balled-up little fists pawin' at the air..." Well, this Jesus has a beard. Let's listen to the MAN.


"What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people's faces. You won't go in yourselves, and you don't let others enter either. "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are! "Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! ... Blind fools!... How blind!... "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law--justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won't accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy--full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs--beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! ...Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? - Mat 23:13-33 NLT


This may not be clear to you, but to me it seems pretty obvious. Jesus does not dig people who use "religious authority" to laud power over people for their own advantage or for the people's disadvantage. He REALLY doesn't like it, and He REALLY isn't someone to mess with. One thing is clear. Jesus did not like the way the Jewish leaders treated the Jewish people. I would imagine His opinion of that type of leadership in today's church is not much different.

Next, Part 2, where we go back a few thousand years...