“your church” is not “The Church”

It is a catchword in my church body, and no doubt in Christianity as large: congregational autonomy.  Originally in my church body,  the idea was cast around as an assurance that Mother Synod would not come calling for your property or your treasury, or least not with a bylaw that allowed it.  But regardless of where it started, it has grown into the idea that the only thing one has any concern for is their church, their congregation.  Oh, a church might release some money out to synod or a missionary, but only at it relates to their goals or their “vision.”  It is all about that is going on at “your church.”

In an age of prosperity this attitude was bearable only because most churches had the means to function as a unit unto themselves.  But it was not ever a good idea.  Congregations made decisions without any thought about the fact that their members would one day be someone others members.  One congregation quickly embraced traditions (high liturgical or contemporary) that no other congregation in the area had even heard of.  One church thrived while another down the street died.  It should not be so in the church.

Your church is not the Church.  The Kingdom is larger than your assembly.  And for so many reasons, we all have to learn this lesson quick:  congregational autonomy is quite a foreign idea to true biblical Church talk.   Autonomy means self-law or self rule.  And there is so self -rule in the kingdom.  The King rules.  Period.  An his name is Jesus.  And how does he rule?  Through the Church, big C.  And this means that the things we do should be governed first by our Lord’s words and secondarily by a genuine concern for the Church as a whole.  Our first concern should be for the Church, and then our church as it relates to that concern.

This means you might free up your pastor to do some work for the larger church.  You might gift him with your funds to bless the Church. It means that when considering any change in your church you will at the very least inform, and more rightly, beg counsel from the congregations closest to you.  It means that if you are thriving, your should have your eyes open to be a blessing to a church that is hurting.  It means that you might  have to lower your pride to ask for help when you need it.

And it means that we have hard work to do at circuit or district levels.  We have to ask hard questions.  Is it time to rid ourselves of an idol in the image of an individual congregation in order to better  feed the found and seek the lost in a larger area?  Will we do the hard work of calling one another aside and gently restore each other from error, rather than just blogging about them.  Are we humble enough to receive the same?

Oh I could go on and on, but seriously, let us all remember that the Church is larger than our own and therefore we must think like this as we live out our lives in Christ.  Thanks be to God that the King we have rules with truth and  grace.  Amen.