By Laura
When I enter into conversation about the Church, I often get responses like, “I’m a Christian, but why go to church? Tons of people are living out their faith more than those in the church,” or “The church is full of hypocrites; I’d rather just do the faith thing on my own.” While these are discouraging comments, I have to admit that I have felt them myself at times. Why do the person of Jesus and the body of Christ, the Church, often seem so contradictory?
We see throughout the Bible that God chooses to use the Church to partner with Him in his great missional and redemptive work. The Church is made up of fallen humans so we cannot expect it to be perfect, but it is also included in the holistic restorative work of God and can continue to become more Christ-like. While the Church around the world continues to grow at a fast pace, I believe the Church in North America needs to wake up to the importance of its calling and ultimately of its identity. Mission is what the Church is called to do, in following Jesus’ example of teaching, preaching and healing.
As I am learning more about the ways in which the Church has been impacted by Christendom, I am reminded even more of the necessity of the Church’s self-evaluation and openness to change. I believe the Church needs to take the time to re-evaluate the ways in which it aims to live out its mission and identity in a changing world that calls for true faith in action, proclaiming the Kingdom of God that was and is and is to come. In the words of Alan Hirsch, we need to be like the first apostles, “…holy rebels who constantly attempted to throw off encumbering ideologies, structures, codes, and traditions that limited the freedom of God’s people and restricted the gospel message that they are mandated to pass on.”