The Casual Christian

Jesus denounced professionalism. His disciples were all day laborers—what we call “lay people” today. He trained His followers to engage in mutual ministry, as evidenced by some fifty “one another” admonitions throughout the New Testament and by His exhortation to treat each other as brothers and sisters rather than “teacher” or “father” (Mt 23:9–11).

All of the Apostles supported themselves through secular employment although the churches did supplement their income from time to time. Paul monitored the teaching to make sure it was Biblically sound  and provided discipline when the churches strayed. He also taught theology in his many letters to the churches, encouraging them to remain true to their beliefs.

Today's churches have abandoned this Biblical model to follow the secular culture.  Churches look more like educational establishments with their classrooms and lecture halls than the intimate gathering places of the early Christians. The one anothers of Scripture have been left to social welfare agencies and government programs. As more and more ministry requires a seminary or Bible School degree, church programs have become increasingly academic. Church is more about Christian education than practical living skills.

Church organization is patterned after corporate models inspired by gurus like Peter Drucker. Pastors have become CEOs who preside over layers of management. The result has been a change of focus from an eternal perspective to earthly goals and objectives. Anticipation of Christ's return has waned as pastors and Christian leaders seek to establish their own kingdoms on earth. The goal of ministry has changed from producing Christ like character and spreadiing the gospel to building bigger churches with more elegant sanctuaries.

As pastors are farther and farther removed from their congregations, they have become less accountable and more prone to autocratic behavior. Check the website stopbaptistpredators.org to see stories of top officials in the Southern Baptist Convention who have covered up sexual abuse by their peers. They get away with it because there is no formal feedback mechanism in most churches and no independent outside authority to ensure compliance with professional or ecclesiastical standards.

We all know what happens when any institution polices itself. It enforces its own standards in a way that promotes its own self-interests. The problem comes when those interests conflict with the interests of others. Without the rigorous external controls imposed by an impartial third party, the church can use its considerable clout to steamroll anyone who gets in its way as it has done with the victims of child molestation.

All these trends have led to the dramatic decline of the  institutional church. Up until 1990 about eighty-seven percent of adults identified themselves as Christians. Since then the number has dropped to seventy-six percent. Defectors haven’t joined other religions, either. They have simply dropped out. The fastest growing church, on the other hand, is Wicca. Although small, their numbers are doubling every thirty months.*

From The Casual Christian, Chapter 6 - "Modern Pharisees"