They are idiots.
How is it that I both love the church and yet hate it all at once? It's not that I'm merely annoyed with the church but I seem to be becoming repulsed by it more and more with each passing day! I hate their lack of love. I hate their lack of hatred towards that which is not explicitly love. I hate their lack of repentance.
Before I am referred to as being "offensive" or what have you, let me explain.
What is the purpose of the church? To be specific, what is the purpose of both the institution of the church and the body of believers as the Church? Is it merely a specific place where "holy people" are to gather, "worship from the heart," and then get some emotional giddiness from an inspirational sermon? Or rather, are we to be a broken people seeking the mercy of God by means of remembering the Gospel, rejoicing in the Gospel, and then reading a text directly from Scripture about the Gospel?
Even then, that is not all of it. There are two views of what the church is. View 1: a place where Christians gather to "fuel up" for their week. View 2: a people who are actively involved in the celebration and spreading of the Gospel.
What are the differences between those two views?
In view 1 the Christian goes to church out of necessity because he has not fueled himself up in God's Word during the week. His worship experience is defined entirely by Sunday morning and possibly various church events during the week. He goes because he is supposed to and he has no other way to grow in the faith.
In view 2 the Christian goes to church to celebrate how Christ has worked during that week and simply seeks to share in rejoicing with others during that time. The purpose of church becomes less about "getting something from it" and more about releasing your joy that Christ has risen and his resurrection has changed your life, not merely your Sunday morning. He goes for the sake of building up the body of Christ, not himself. He does not simply go to church but he is the Church. Rather than going into the "house of God," he is the house of God because the Spirit of God dwells within him!
As you can tell, if I speak of the church from here on out, "church" is the building where people gather that I am aggravated with and the "Church" is who are are to become as a body of Christ. "church" = generally bad. "Church" = always good.
Now that this explanation is over with, let's rant.
I hate when the church is not the Church. I hate when people who claim to be Christians rejoice that God has saved them and yet do absolutely nothing to express that they indeed are joyful by means of sharing it. If we truly rejoice in that the infinitely good God of the universe had mercy and grace upon us who are totally depraved then how could we possibly shut up about it?
God called us to share the Gospel, to rejoice in the Gospel, and to know the Gospel. If you asked the average Christian what the Gospel even is, will they even know? Is it simply, "We get to go to heaven." Yippy ... No, that's not the Gospel. The Gospel is that God created a good earth, we broke it, and through the life, death, resurrection, glorification, and eventual second coming of Jesus Christ we might be able to receive the mercy of God rather than his wrath. We, through Christ's substitution, can be made right before God despite our wickedness. That is the Gospel! That's what is so exciting!
When was the last time you ever heard of something actually mourning the death of Christ? Our own sin? Or perhaps, when was the last time you ever heard of someone actually crying out of joy that God would have grace upon us outside of their "salvation experience"?
Why does the church not rejoice in the very Gospel in which it was founded? Why?!
Could it be that the vast majority of churches is not the Church (don't think you might be exempt bud, I'm not)? Ecclesiastes 12:13 states as the summary of the book, "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." Have you ever heard a sermon or heard another person speak of fearing God as a good thing? Ever?!
God is God. Why does such a statement seem so groundbreaking and revolutionary? If God is truly the infinitely powerful maker of heaven and earth; the author, originator, and result of all things good; the redeemer of the world; the hater of sin and injustice; the one who will make all things right in this world; etc. then why do we respond to him merely as if he wishes for us to have "our best life now" (Yes, that's a gouge toward Joel Osteen)?
What spurred all of this on you ask? A culmination of things whether it be experiences, sermons, and Scripture.
Experience: I've been trying to live as a missionary with those I am around. As a result, I had quit looking for a church job and instead find a normal job. With that, I have met people who do not attend church for the sake of sharing Christ with them. One such person gave me what I think was his last experience in a church. He did not have time to dress nicely as it was a last minute thing and he had work afterwards. As he tried to enter the church, the ushers turned him away! What the hell?! Based upon that testimony, it seemed as if he was seeking after Christ more earnestly that those who serve the "church"! This is but one of many stories I have heard recently.
Sermons: David Platt and Francis Chan. Look them up, almost radical ideas in comparison to many "church" teachings.
Scripture: Jonah, the Prodigal Son, the Sermon on the Mount, etc.
In preparation for the Bible study that I lead I have been doing some in-depth research on the book of Jonah. If there is anything I can say of him it would be that he is an idiot. Jonah is normally preached as an evangelistic sermon for people who are "running from God." However, that seems to be a lesser point of many other points made in this book. He claimed to fear God and yet every pagan in the book feared God more than he! He hated the idea of God having grace upon the 120,000 in Nineveh and yet remorses over a plant's death when the plant had been shading him. The closest thing to a good thing he did was praise God when he was saved from the belly of the whale. Even then he is a self-righteous idiot who cares nothing of the salvation of others and yet rejoices when it is over himself. Jonah is an idiot and we are all Jonah.
Within the story of the Prodigal Son the rebellious son is welcomed home by his loving father, a parable of the Gospel itself. However, this is not the whole story. Jesus when he spoke this was speaking to the religious people of the day and as such, he was speaking of something that would apply to them. He was not comparing them to the prodigal son but to the older brother. You see, the brother of the rebellious son had no heart for the grace of God. He would not rejoice in the salvation of his brother. Are we who consider ourselves to be the church any different?
The Sermon on the Mount also has multitudes of information. One point I'd like to make from it would be the idea that we should love God, love people, but not love our righteousness. We are to rejoice in the righteousness of God, not our own moral ability or supposed moral superiority.
As an end to my rant, I'll leave with this last annoyance: since when does just feeling bad for our sin or admitting who Christ is save us? We are saved not by works but solely by the grace of God! If that is the case then what are we to do? Simply receive the grace offered to us by way of repentance! Yes, repent. We need no three step ABC's of becoming a Christian (admit, believe, confess), but the judgmental word "repent" will do nicely.
Edit: As a side note, don't take what I'm trying to say wrongly for I myself do not have it perfectly right and am in need of more repenting than anyone else...