Three Ways to Be Church
by Chad Hall

Leading a church is frustrating as you-know-what. As an idealist, I often find the most frustrating thing about church leadership is that the reality doesn't match my dream of what church could be. I really want church to be the kind of community described in the NT, but what I get is a 501c(3) non-profit religious organization that is far from Acts 2. What gives?

But maybe I've been thinking about this all wrong. Maybe the organizations you and I lead are not really "churches" in the biblical sense but are instead institutions that relate to church in three possible ways: barrier, non-player, and catalyst.

First, these organizations can be barriers to real church. The Bible is clear that all humans are created for the purpose being in communion with their Creator and fellow creatures. So when some hapless creature goes looking for communion in the most obvious of places (a church) and finds a group of people committed to building their religious organization on the backs and souls of spiritual seekers, the hapless creature goes away disappointed and disillusioned. Or worse, the creature assimilates and adopts the values and vision of the organization being built. Either way, the organization stands in the place and in the way of church.

Second, these organizations are non-players, having little to do (positively or negatively) with church. Jesus is doing His work in and through people all around, and these so-called churches are not uniquely related to this work any more than are the public library, Little League, or Sears. The fact that some organization members are also participants in true church is merely coincidental.

Third, these organizations are catalysts for church. However, let us not mistake the catalyst for the community. At best, an organization can create communities of faith in which people live out Jesus-like lives and extend the reign of God. Organizations can equip these communities, can gather potential communicants together, and can facilitate the formation of authentic Christian community. But the organization is not the thing it is trying to form. It is a means, not the end. The organization many of us have joined and even led is not really a church, but the organization might lead to “churches.”

What does all of this mean? For me I have found three lessons that may also apply to other church leaders.

First, I feel a great sense of relief. The 501c(3) not-for-profit religious organizations will not and do not have to become authentic Christian communities. Thank God! This shift in understanding means I don’t have to get bent out of shape when a given congregation is filled with systems, values, behaviors, and people who are anything but the body of Jesus. I think many pastors might feel the same relief as they give up on making their congregation into a church – a task akin to climbing to the moon.

I am also relieved that Jesus is at work through channels other than local congregations. His Spirit is at work birthing churches in factories, neighborhoods, homes, support groups, chat rooms, and hospitals. These churches do not need to legitimize themselves by getting attached to a brick-and-mortar organization. Instead, the opposite may be true – any congregation not attached to these kinds of authentic churches is suspect.

Third, I am not giving up on the local organization. I am now free to help such organizations (including the one I help lead) produce churches rather than become churches. Any congregation is at once a mixture of all three possibilities: barrier, non-player, and catalyst. Some are such barriers, that there is little hope. Others are non-players to the extent that a new vision is needed. And some are catalysts that can ratchet up their church-producing efforts by modifying their organization and getting out of their own way. I can best serve congregations by working to diminish the barrier qualities, reveal the non-player qualities, and grow the catalyst qualities. I think this is worthwhile work.

<back to top