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A Tale of Five Churches
Once upon a time, there was a small town. It could be anywhere in America, but I’m thinking of one place in particular. The population of this small town is around 350 or so, depending on the time of year. During the hunting season, the population rises slightly as the town’s two small motels filled up. The main street is paved but all the side streets are dirt. Like many small towns in America, the people are friendly and wave as you pass.
On any given Sunday, it would seem, the friendliness cools a little. You see, this small town has five poor churches:
A Catholic church, by far the most affluent in appearance, a Community Church, both of which are on main street and within sight of an off street where there are three more churches in a row, a Seventh Day Adventist, Presbyterian and a Church of God. Their theological differences are seemingly tall walls that surround their “churches†though the only visible barrier is a large pile of dirt on the sidewalk where the property line between the Seventh Day Adventist Church and Presbyterians meet. These buildings caught my attention as I stayed in one of the motels within sight of all the churches. Why did they seem out of place? What exactly caught my attention?
I pointed out that three of these churches are on a dirt street. The sidewalk connecting two of the buildings is not on the street, but instead speaks of a happier time when whoever occupied the two buildings were friendly. But now a four-foot pile of dirt blocks the sidewalk on the property line; apparently a visual reminder of their theological differences.
What happened in this town where all the inhabitants went to the same small school where grades 9-12 is comprised of only 68 students? Maybe it’s that these buildings are poor and seem to speak in regard to the status of love in that community. Love of God and love of each other. While I don’t think building aesthetics are important, these buildings look more like abandoned outbuildings on a ranch than places where the church meets. How many actually gather in these buildings that are smaller than the upstairs of my house? How many come into this town to fellowship; the largest town in a county of 1200 people and the only town in 50 miles?
The letters on the front of the building that once said, “The Church of Christ Meets Here.†now, because of missing letters, utters an incomprehensible message. But I wonder, is there a larger, more incomprehensible message being spoken by the five run down churches in a small town of which three of the churches are next-door neighbors? Is this what caught my attention?
What is the message being spoken by these churches to the patrons of the bars in town? What message do the visiting hunters receive? Maybe the inhabitants are proud that the churches slightly out number the bars in their town. Maybe in the bar they are proud they have five churches in their town. Maybe the hunters are pleased that the devout among them can choose their flavor to fellowship with; or maybe they don’t even give it a thought. I wonder if Christ is happy with this diversity, this division, in His Body. I wonder if the Lord Jesus is satisfied with His dismembered, spread out, cut up Body? I wonder if He thought of this town, among many others, when He said, “By this they’ll know that you are my disciples, that you have love for one another.†He didn’t say; “They’ll know you are my disciples by your theological purity†or “what by day you meet onâ€, or “by your style of worship and polityâ€, or “by your eschatology or your ritualsâ€. He said love proves you are His disciples. Self sacrifice for the benefit of others. He demonstrated this love so His disciples would know exactly what He was talking about.
I know, some will say; “there are good reasons why we separate.†I say; be careful how you wave your knife around and certainly don’t run with that knife in your hand. You could be the one who is hurt.
On the other hand, there is a place where the Church is one. There is a place where people love and support one another regardless of their differences. There is a place where the style of your collar doesn’t matter, where your theological distinctives don’t matter or any other differences. That place is a concentration camp; a gulag. That’s the place where the Body of Christ is persecuted, but the Body is one; that is where it is one Church. Just as Jesus showed His greatest attribute in His persecution and death; real love. His Body will show a true distinctive that separates it from the world; real love in the face of persecution. That is when the differences and distinctives are inconsequential. That is not the place where His body bleeds because of its dismemberment and its division, but rather bleeds in its solidarity, as a Body, in love for one another. Lord Jesus may this judgment come quickly. This world needs real Disciples of Christ.
What does the church look like in your town?
1 Peter 4:1-2 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
1 Peter 4:12-19 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER? Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.