Reform seems to be the latest craze in our culture. There have been cries from every corner of society calling for a reform of how we do what we do. We’ve largely been doing life the same way for years, decades even! It seems we’ve been living by the old adage that states if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. But what happens when the system is broken and we don’t realize it? What happens when we’ve missed the boat and don’t even know that we’re standing on a bridge that doesn’t really have a purpose anymore?

Now I’m not going to tackle all of the societal things that need fixing, because that would be pointless, too time consuming, and honestly likely divisive. But I would like to take a look at one part of culture and be honest about where some change is needed and why. Some of you are going to agree and others will disagree, and frankly that’s your right.

My grandfather used to say that our world is going to hell in a hand basket and his self prescribed fix was to go back to a better time. He thought that our best times were behind us. He thought that the previous way of doing things was the only way to do things. It seems that many in our world have a very similar approach. We either cling to the way they were or the way they are and aren’t willing to see life for what it could be.

This post is intended to spur some thought and conversation with you and those around you about who we are and who we’re called to be. Because I truly believe that by and large we are not living the lives we’ve been called to live.

In my estimation the institutional church is doing this very thing – clinging to a way of doing things that is largely ineffective because it was designed for a different time. Now before you get your pants in a bunch and go all he’s a heretic on me, read on and I’ll try to explain.

What I’m NOT saying

I know that some of you have formed your opinions already because you heard something that I didn’t say, so let me clear that one up right now. I did NOT say we need to change the message. The message is the only thing we know is right. If we’re teaching the message of the bible, then we’re standing on solid footing. I’m not saying that we need to bail on all of our traditions and deny our past. That would be just as dangerous as trying to erase history because we don’t like what it said or represented. We’ll just end up falling back into old habits if we do that.

The Problem

So the problem, as I see it, is that we’re clinging to systems and ways of doing things that fit a time that no longer exists. We’re living as though the Blue Laws still exist. For those of you unaware of Blue Laws, it was when many activities and businesses were not allowed to be opened on Sundays. Basically, church was the only thing to do on Sundays which is why nearly all of church activities happen on Sundays even to this day!

But that’s just not the case anymore. Hardly anything is closed on Sundays, yet Sunday is the day when most of our work and service happens in the church. What’s worse is the church is grinding her teeth complaining that culture is moving away from what we have to offer. We grumble that we need to go back to a simpler time when Sundays were sacred. What if Sunday isn’t the problem or the answer? What if this whole idea of a day of rest isn’t tied to Sunday or even Saturday but tied to whatever day you can find to rest on a regular basis?

It’s not just the day of the week that we struggle with either. We have largely been clinging to methods of learning and teaching that are quite old school. Much of our Sunday programming revolves around lecturing at a learner. But is this the best approach? Is this even a biblical approach?

Finally, our focus has moved from mission to maintenance. I’m part of a church body that in my mind has a great foundation of belief. I willingly ascribe to this identity of what I believe and how it impacts my understanding of life. But what happens when the confessional identity becomes the point over the mission of the kingdom? What happens when making people look like us becomes more important that helping people see the reality of who Jesus is? What happens when, as a church body, we’re more concerned with butts in seats in our membership classes than lives transformed by the gospel as individuals connect with one another on mission in their daily lives?

What happens? Simple – the institution gets off course and loses ground. The message gets disregarded because it doesn’t match up to the new perceived mission of self preservation.

I have to be honest here I’m getting a bit frustrated as I look into the world and hear well meaning Christians talk about the church as if the church is there to serve her members. Since when is the church about those on the inside? Since when did the church lose her identity like this? If you’re part of a church and you’re concerned more about what you gain from it personally than you are taking the truths learned into the world and sharing them those around you, then perhaps a reformation is needed in you as well.

The Reformation that happened in the 1500s was about reforming the people’s mindset of being part of the church. The reformation that’s needed today is about reforming the church’s mindset on what it means to be on mission. If you wnat to know what the chruch should be about, then read Jesus’ own words. I came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10) Then in John 14 Jesus says, the things I do you also shall do. If we’re supposed to be about what Jesus was about, and Jesus was about seeking those far from God and introducing them to God, then why do we care more about introducing them to church than to Jesus?

The church doesn’t save people. The church SHOULD be pointing people to the only source of salvation, namely Jesus. While there is only one way to the Father and that’s through Jesus, the institutional church that’s bent on membership more than mission isn’t the only way to Jesus.

It’s time for a reformation. Not in someone else. Not in someone else’s church tradition. The reformation needs to start in you and in me.