The 4th Century marked the end of the “early church” and beginning of “Christendom.” Constantine I made Christianity “legal” in 313 and in 325 made Sunday a holiday! One might say, “Amen!” but I believe Christendom did more harm than good. Prometheus, in Greek Mythology, gave people fire and they burned themselves. The Gutenberg press gave us the first Bible! …But it privatized scripture reading! The iPhone “changed our lives,” but produced zombies, disconnected families (at the dinner table), and perpetuates distortions of reality. The point is: Christendom, although seemingly awesome, was not. The joining of church and state was (and still is) a bad idea.
Alan Kreider wrote an article entitled, Beyond Bosch: The Early Church and the Christendom Shift. In it he observes that Christendom attracted people who wanted incentives rather than the lifestyle of Christianity. Pre-Christendom, people were attracted to attractive Christians - attractive was a reference to their lifestyle that drew people in. If we are being honest, we all love meeting selfless loving servants. Moreover, I'm sure we can even list a handful of people who don't "go to Church" yet we want to be like them in their selfless/sacrificial style of living. Sadly, iIn Christendom, some people “converted” because it gave them “access to professional advancement." Today, people join to “get into heaven” vs. allowing “heaven get into them!” …they can’t make connections with the Gospel and daily living. These type of consumeristic church goers are frequently frustrated and perpetually angry. They may love the Bible but hate people. The root of their issue is they came to God for "his stuff" rather than to let him live through them. They came as consumers rather than submissive contributors/participants in God's plan of restoring mankind.
George Wieland, in his article, Grace Manifest: missional church in the letter to Titus, captures the missional practicality of Paul's letter to Titus: Two personal takeaways: 1. The fact that Paul knew the cultural idioms/understandings of Cretans indicates he knew his audience. 2. Paul preached incarnation ministry by never telling the church to remove themselves from the social environment, but rather to engage it - an “ethic of engagement and transformation" (p. 9).
The missional church is marked by intentional discipleship, which is much more than Bible Teaching. I pastored in a “Bible Church” and my mindset was that "the study of God's word is the highest form of worship." In hindsight, I can see that my heart remained anti-missional. I can look back and see that I really just wanted people to join my club. My particular flavor of theology. Everyone else was uneducated or outright stupid for their theology. My experience is not true for all “Bible Churches,” but I observe many “Bible teaching Churches” today Christendom-like. They “invite people to Church” rather than “being the Church” that sends. A life worthy of the Gospel is a life of surrender - It is a life in which Jesus is able to love unlovable people through surrendered people.
The end of Christendom may expedite the comeback of the missional church - People who desire God more than his “stuff.” I believe that the local churches are shifting from buildings back to houses, coffee shops, beaches, and local little leagues - and men are being caught and disciples are being made.
We don't Go to Church - We are the Church.
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