1. Institutional Staff (Continuation)
In Catholicism, the clergy/laity is more pronounced than protestant churches. Yet, it exists in both. In Catholicism, the order of clergy is equated with the church institution to which people must come to enjoy blessings from God.
In Protestant churches, the institution stays intact while the people with their clergy are placed within the institution. Both have developed such complexity that far exceeds the description of the New Testament Christians. Instead of the characteristics described in 2 Peter 1, the measure of personal growth is often the degree of involvement in the local church organization. The tradition in which I was raised begins involvement with “waiting on the table,” or giving announcements, leading the singing, offering a public prayer, to teaching a Bible class and attending special classes whenever one is offered. Parents beam with pride as their little boy leads a public prayer. The real measure of growth is teaching an adult Bible class or preaching a sermon. If you do much of this work, you will soon be given the support of your fellow members to preach for a congregation if you choose to “live of the gospel.” If not, you would certainly be considered for the next deacon or possibly an elder. All of this describes the activities of the local church organizations. It is a rare thing to hear any description of growth in any other context.
2. Institutional Name
A name must be chosen for any organization. Yet, regardless of what name is chosen, it is chosen to the exclusion of all other names. This demonstrates that like giving a proper name to a child at birth, once a proper name is chosen, you don’t choose another name at will. Among church organizations, names are chosen and placed on a sign to erect over a church building or property. This structure with its signage is associated with the organization that is identified with it. No other name is ever used. I was taught from a child in my tradition that our name is an identifying mark of the church. So, if you don’t have the right name, you can’t be in the right church. Others would admit that it is not a proper name and that other descriptive terms could be used. However, you will face firm opposition if you suggest changing it. If a church organization does change their name, they are suspected as going liberal by their sister churches.
However, to suggest changing a name to another name would accomplish nothing but make a name change. You’ve still given it a name, which is one of the identifying marks of the corporate business model. If, on the other hand, the church is not an institution or organization, there’s no concern with a name. In addition, if the church is not an organization, it has no property and no thought is given to what name we will attach to its property. Only the corporate church has a property and a proper name that identifies them among denominations. Could it be that the reason for the absence of both in the Bible is because the corporate identity of the church was a post-apostolic innovation?
3. Corporate Building
Also, the institutional concept of church always included a building. The corporate identity of an institution also requires owning real estate which explains why the formation of a local church includes a church building as a high priority. If one is not acquired by the organization, discussions are forthcoming, plans are soon made and a building fund for a future purchase is begun. It is one of the most sought after goals of the organization and the most costly to acquire and maintain. Still, it is the preferred choice. Some church organizations who execute a plan for “church planting,” will “start a church”, “build it” with the right name on the building, organize it, and then a hire a preacher to “grow the church.” These are the concepts and corresponding terms that identify the church as an institution, none of which you will find in the Bible.
Today, preachers’ sermon introductions repeatedly refer to the house of God as the place for worship, while children are taught the same misconception in their classes. Children learn in their Bible classes to fold their fingers inside their cupped little hands and say the rhyme, “Here’s the church, here’s the steeple, open the door and see all the people.” The first obvious problem is that the “church” is distinguished from the “people” in the same sentence. Second, it conveys the meaning that both are thought to be formed by congrégating in a building. It is the position taken in this book that the “assembly” is that collectivity of saved individuals whose names are written in heaven and known by God.
4. Institutional Language
We have already mentioned some of the common phrases used in the context of a church organization. We hear the word “church” used as an adjective to describe a work to the organization. We hear of church services, church kitchens, church buildings, church parking lots, church nursery, church picnics, church secretary, and church directories. It has been assumed that the reason we do not read of these things in the Bible is because of cultural advancements. Yet, we read of none of these things in the Bible precisely because the ekklesia was not an organization. We do not read of anyone going to church, attending church, buying a church, loving (his/her) church, restoring the church, or destroying the church. There are so many more phrases but these will suffice to show that “church” defines an institution/organization or the building in which business is held.
5. Institutional Worship
This is not to suggest that worship is not possible in a church organization. Individual saints can worship God, anywhere. It is only to note that in any organization, there is the danger of having a form of teaching but void of power. Church organizations may easily structure a “worship service” that employs certain acts of worship. This structure includes an order of worship or a program that outlines who does what in sequential order. In older traditions, the service is called a “liturgy.” Liturgy comes from Athenian public performers that fulfilled a civil task. Here is another influence of the culture on Christianity as the same word is adopted for use in the public worship of God. It refers to a prescribed order of worship either recorded and scheduled by the organization to be carried out by the clergy, or recorded in the foyer on a schedule of duties performed by the members. Those assigned to certain tasks may include a song leader/music director, choir, prayer leader, scripture reading, offering, announcements, and formal observance of the Lord’s Supper (known as the Eucharist by some traditions). Of course, among Catholics, this is performed by the priests.
We have all seen the familiar images since childhood. As one pulls up into the church parking lot with the proper signage and a freshly mowed church lawn that would make a member proud, he sees people getting out of their car dressed in the finest attire. Greetings start as soon as people walk into the building. Some have a greeter or usher while others just mingle with each other. Some have a bulletin handed to people as they walk in or it’s resting on a table to pick up as folks enter. Still, there is a greeting and preparation for worship. Some “worship services” tend to be more somber and processional than others with the majority including a priestly office to lead in a liturgy. Among many Protestants, the greatest amount of time is allotted to a speaker to instruct or motivate the audience. There may be either an “altar call” or an invitation to persuade non-members to respond to the sermon. Then, the service ends with a benediction which may take the form of a blessing from the clergy/pastor, a closing song or a closing prayer to end the service. There are many variations between denominations but they all have these common elements. They all have a form and ritual in which the participants perform the assignments. They have some structure and organization in various degrees and they all share similar elements in their public period of worship.
This order of worship, while very important to church members, cannot be found in the Bible. It originated from the medieval Catholic Mass which in turn was influenced by the surrounding culture that included the Jewish Temple service and pagan rituals of purification, and vicarious sacrifice. Frank Viola, in his book entitled, “Pagan Christianity?” shows that the Catholic Mass of the sixth century was “essentially pagan.” The priestly garments, incense, holy water, burning of candles, Pontifex Maximus as a title for the head bishop, and rituals for the Mass were all borrowed from pagan temples.
When the early church of the first century met, each shared spiritual gifts to edify one another (1 Cor. 14:1-33). It was marked by open participation and spontaneity due to the nature of spiritual gifts, yet orderly and in turn. When the use of spiritual gifts needed to be regulated in Corinth, Paul did not correct the problems by shutting down the meeting and handing out a schedule of services or a liturgy to follow. Instead, he offered some guidelines to facilitate order so that the gatherings would allow each one to contribute toward the edification of the body without distraction. The distraction had to do with unnecessary questions, unknown languages, and speaking a prophetic word at the same time. This was not a regulation against two people starting to talk at the same time as this appears to have been very probable.
6. Institutional Treasury
Any religious organization has income from free will offerings and an operating expense account that requires a bank account and a treasurer to keep the books. It is said that this is designed to fund the activity of the collectivity (“collective activity”). In other words, the church becomes the centralized agency through which the individuals may do the work of benevolence, evangelism, or edification. Whether Catholicism or institutionalism, we have an institution that is distinguished from the people. In fact, some tell us that the church does not exist until individuals constitute themselves into such a formal organization that carries out the decisions of the collectivity.
So, using the definitions of “institution”, did Jesus build one? Did he purchase an institution with his blood? Did he build an organization with himself as “head” CEO, inviting all to become staff members of his company with all the benefits and opportunities for promotions in it? Did he institute the name for it and all the identifying marks above? These identifying marks do not describe the ekklesia of which we read about in the Bible. It describes the local church organizations which were the creation of man.
In addition, there is a fellowship among the local church institutions. Being in good standing with others in the branch offices across the nation is based on whether the same values, practices, and teachings are followed. We read the Bible with the lens handed down to us by the tradition to which we belong. The tradition under which I was influenced, considers a congregation to be sound if they followed the expected norms. We would expect to find a building with the right sign on the outside, similar forms of a “worship service” that includes an opening and closing prayer, the Lord’s Supper, giving, and a sermon with a call to obey the gospel (formally called, “offering the invitation”). Individuals, especially preachers, are considered sound if they support and defend certain forms of order, whether they be these or some other.