How does that relate to the church in America? It doesn't directly, unless you believe that supporting organizations like ChinaAid or The Voice of the Martyrs is the expressed duty of the church.
This is an illustration. There is a cost to following Christ.
So, if fines, jail, torture and death don't relate to us, how do we understand the cost of following Christ in America?
Allow me to present a story of three pastors: Tom, Dick and Harry, if you will. They each work for Holy Cornerstone of Worship Church (Holy COW for short). Tom is the outreach pastor, Dick is the education pastor and Harry is the head pastor. Holy COW has an elected council that makes decisions in the church so that no one pastor can make any power plays over the other pastors. Everything works smoothly between the pastors.
The council, however, is another story. On the council are three retired brothers who helped rebuild the church after the fire of 1955, the rich old widow who paid for the renovation of the sanctuary last year and the man who lost the head pastor vote to Harry. They are all very good friends. They all think alike. They have discovered that if they work together, they can do what they want with the church, and the pastors will have to listen.
The council has decided that they don't like the riffraff Tom has been reaching out to. Being riffraff, they have very little money and almost no manners, and therefore offer very little to the church. They tell Tom to stop reaching out to the riffraff and focus his energy on drawing in people with more to offer. If Tom refuses, he loses his job. If he agrees, he compromises his faith in order to make the council happy.
While Tom is considering his options, the council offers the outreach position to Dick behind Tom's back. Dick would receive a pay increase and a responsibility decrease. There is no downside for Dick as far as the council is concerned. If Dick refuses, the council may look for someone to replace him. If he agrees, he betrays his coworker and friend. The council tells Dick that if he tells Tom what's happening, they're both out of a job automatically.
Harry sees what the council is doing to Tom and Dick and tells them to find a new option. He does not, however, exercise his authority as head pastor to force the council to make their actions known to Tom. Instead he steps back and watches the council's actions from afar. After all, if they're getting rid of Tom and maybe Dick, and if Harry spoke out against it, wouldn't he be the next to go?
Getting rid of the council is not an option. The council is elected by the congregation. Each member has benefited the church enormously through service, donations and loyalty (as listed above). The congregation has no idea what the council is doing, nor would they listen to the truth. After all, the council is made up of pillars of the congregational community. How could they be expected to believe such cruelty from their leaders?
So what do Tom, Dick and Harry do? If they do the right thing, they lose their job and their opportunity to lead others to God (no matter how misguided those others are). If they keep their job, they betray each other. I would go further and say that they betray God.
This is the closest thing I have seen to a cost for following Christ in America. Each pastor has the opportunity to do the right thing, but it will cost them their job. If they don't do the right thing, it will cost them their integrity. If they compromise just this once, they could be coerced into compromising again. Eventually, such compromises could cost them a real relationship with God.
Jesus told his disciples that there was a cost to following him. He told his disciples they had to give up everything. Jobs. Friends. Family. Everything (Matt. 16:24-27). He went so far as to say "any of you who does not give up everything cannot be my disciple" (Luke 24:25-35)(emphasis added). It's a steep price.
In real life, Tom lost his job. Dick didn't take Tom's position, but he didn't defend Tom, either. Harry kept his mouth shut and signed Tom's dismissal papers. To this day, the council remains in place, and the church remains ignorant.
It's easy to sit at your computer screen and talk about what fools or cowards Dick and Harry are. However, it's not nearly as easy when it's your job or your family's welfare at stake. It's not easy when you feel like your influence protects the church from the destructive influence of the council. It's not easy when you feel like there's still good you can do in the church with or without the council. It's not easy.
But Christians aren't called to an easy life. We're called to consider the cost very carefully before committing to follow Christ. Once we commit, we're committed, period. Anything less is not and has never been following Christ.
As my mother says, being a Christian is not for the weenie-hearted. There is a cost to following Christ, and it ain't cheap.
When you write, you have a rare ability of telling a very complex story in an extremely understandable way. I think that is a great trait to have for an aspiring journalist.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Meagan. I know my pastor has had problems with the church council as well, and it made it hard for him to feel like he was a true Christian. I've also had my own personal experiences that showed me that your post is true. That it ain't cheap.
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