Leadership Journal

What do people want our church to look like?

It's a question I'm often tempted to ask. Yet this impulse reflects in me a lack of vision or a deep insecurity.

A healthy church is secure enough in its understanding of the kingdom of God not to put on a show. At its core, a healthy church must walk in the light of the reality of God and the world. The first step toward honesty and health is identifying the dishonesty. Most churches don't intend to be dishonest, but sometimes we create unrealistic expectations.

Here are several ways our churches can unwittingly participate in a form of hypocrisy:

A young woman who visited our church described to me the three worlds of her early life: The first world was her home, where she was sexually abused. The second was a public-school room, where she was respected for her mind. The third was her church, which portrayed God as one who knew nothing of, and who made little difference in, her first two worlds. She said her church pretended that abuse did not take place among God's people, and it did not appreciate her strengths as a woman. She felt her church did not encourage Christians to ask tough questions. This church hadn't intended to be dishonest, but by not talking about real issues of life, it gave an inaccurate impression.

In my early years as a believer, I felt many Christian testimonies gave an inflated view of Christian experience. I discovered the people giving testimonies often felt pressure to shore up what was, in many cases, a lackluster encounter with God. Inflated testimonies encourage others to subtly lie, and they promote a dishonest church.

Churches can fall into promising too much. For example, some paint an idealistic view of the first-century church.

One person said to me, "We are looking for a New Testament church, where people really love each other and where there is no carnality or hypocrisy."

"Which New Testament church do you have in mind?" I replied. "Ephesus, with its racism and abandonment of Paul? Corinth, with its drunkenness, fornication, and divisiveness? Or maybe the church in Galatia, with its legalism?"

When we talk about the glories of the early church, we fail to realize that the Epistles were written to churches that were not living out biblical principles.

Not long ago a Christian musician gave a concert in our church. Throughout the evening, he made references to the need for revival. Who could disagree with an appeal to get right with God?

But as I listened to him, I was left with the impression that the purpose of the Christian life was to follow the shekinah glory of revival from place to place. This impulse can come from the idea that the first-century church was always full of dramatic signs and wonders, penitent disciples, and heroic faith. The reality is that the church has always been a work-in-process.

Another way a church can inadvertently become dishonest is by ...