Much of evangelicalism has been forged in a piety that pits a personal relationship with Jesus against the visible church and its public ministry. In part, that’s because evangelicals have wanted to avoid nominal commitment and formalism, which are good things to avoid. But in the process, we have tended—especially since the nineteenth century’s Second Great Awakening—to criticize formal church offices and the ordinary means of grace in favor of charismatic leaders and extraordinary movements. “Quick and easy” has beaten “tried and tested.” Rapid growth in numbers has counted more than slow growth in grace. Pragmatic results, not formal structures, have been viewed as keys to success. Along the way, many of us were raised with the evangelistic appeal, “I’m not asking you to join a church, but to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.”It’s not surprising that, after successive movements of this kind, “getting saved” would have little to do with joining a church. And now there are even evangelical movements that drop church membership out of the picture entirely. They say to just show up … or not. One evangelical leader celebrates the dawn of the “Revolutionaries” who have somehow decided that being the church means not joining a church. Instead, these revolutionaries find their own spiritual resources on the Internet and in informal gatherings.
Then along comes Jonathan Leeman, not only reminding us of those many passages that we had pushed aside, but also having the audacity to say things like, “Christ does not call us to join a church, but to submit to a church.” The church is not simply another voluntary society, like the Boy Scouts or the Sierra Club. It’s an embassy of Christ’s kingdom. And kings do not offer suggestions, sell products, or provide resources that people can take or leave.
Horton, M. (2012). Foreword. In Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus (pp. 14–15). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
Comments