Bad Religion: Institutionalized Religion
Bad religion is when people try to make God and His Church what they want them to be rather than the historic Jesus revealing and explaining to us exactly who they are.
We are bred in a society that despises institutionalism and formalities. Is there any value to it, and, if so, what is God's design for it in regard to the Church?
Matthew 16:13-20 (NIV)
13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
There is no getting past the issue of the identity of Jesus as a starting block. Otherwise, the issue of sin really has no bearing on humanity, because, who is really to define sin? Yet, if Jesus is really the Son of God that He says that He is, everything must follow out of obedience to Him.
This is why so many history channel documentaries, books (ex. Bart Ehrman's), and other commentaries are written about Christ.
A church is not the Church of Jesus Christ if the central element surrounding the Church which Jesus built is not the identity of Jesus, otherwise known as Christology. This is the issue in today's times.
The Church spends so much time focusing on trying to cut off the branches of people's sin, but none of it matters if Jesus is not who the Bible said that He is. This is the root and the way that we must introduce people to the truth of the gospel.
Chalcedonian Creed (451 A.D.)
In 451 AD, this creed was a product of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held at Chalcedon, located in modern day Turkey. It was a response to certain heretical views concerning the nature of Christ. It ratified the orthodox view that Christ has two natures, human and divine, that are unified in one person.
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.
Timothy Keller commented that Jesus Christ is in the group of the top 10, three most influential persons, if not the most influential person, that the world has ever seen, while claiming that He is divinity. Keller notes that others have made similar claims throughout history but have been unable to convince anyone but a small group of unstable, marginalized, and disenfranchised people.
When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:33-39 NIV)
Keller states that most influential people in the history of the world who have been great walked in humility and deflected worship. Jesus was both commanding in His influence receiving worship and humble in His approach. No thoughtful person can walk away from his life without studying it; you better know that He is not God because of the magnitude of His claim.
What makes a church?
It is the place and community where you grow in your love for the subject of all the Scripture: Jesus Christ.
Definition of ekklesia: the assembly, the gathering.
It implies not individual faith, but an active gathering of the believers.
The very definition of what Jesus said that He was building cuts against a sole focus on individualistic spirituality.
If you want to say you are a part of what Jesus is doing, it will be practically building this assembly of worshipers.
Jesus said that He would build His Church on the rock of the revelation of Jesus as the long-awaited savior of the world. Peter was also going to be a rock on whose leadership the mission of the church was advanced. What has your part been, and what does it need to be?
Timothy Keller's explanation of the Apostles' Creed ("Eating With Jesus" message): "I believe in the holy Catholic Church."
It has been said that sometimes it takes more faith to believe in the church, that it can be all that God has called it to be, than to believe in the Christ.
The Apostles' Creed was said at public baptism and was people acknowledging the accountable community of love to which God had called them. There is no sole independence in the nature of a Christian. To be a Christian means to be a part of the body of Christ. It means that you are an invaluable part of a larger whole that has been going somewhere long before you materialized and is dependent on your important contribution to move forward in health.
“The church and the whorehouse arrived in the Far West simultaneously. And each would have been horrified to think it was a different facet of the same thing. But surely they were both intended to accomplish the same thing: the singing, the devotion, the poetry of the churches took a man out of his bleakness for a time, and so did the brothels.” ― John Steinbeck, East of Eden
There are many good things that we get to enjoy and in which we get to participate as the Church:
Service to the widow, orphan, poor and disenfranchised;
The goodness of God expressed through signs, wonders, miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit;
Authentic, healing community;
That the Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth in society;
Leadership development;
And a place where people are given a reason for living, a purpose in lif,e and a sense of destiny.
Yet, none of these are enough if they miss the central cause of the gospel of Christ: that He went to the cross to die for sinful humanity's rebellion against God to reconcile a condemned world to the Father through His own life that would be sacrificed on the cross.
Matthew 16:21-28 (NIV)
21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
“If you live today, you breath in nihilism ... it's the gas you breathe. If I hadn't had the Church to fight it with or to tell me the necessity of fighting it, I would be the stingiest logical positivist you ever saw right now.” ― Flannery O'Connor
The detrimental and immediate effects of our sinful choices are poignant enough. I would submit that our positive, godly choices are as well. Most people today think that they can live flippantly, apathetically, or lazily without any thought of God's recompense. It is a deception that is fostered by the numbing effects of the media and entertainment culture in which we live. In addition, we see superstars and celebrities make wrecks of their marriages and lives, but go on to their next film or contract with a fresh spouse attached and no report of residual emotional stress or smoke from their burnt relationships.
The ambition of our work life can have the same blinding effects. Jesus reiterates this point time and again, even in the Sermon on the Mount, but makes it abundantly clear that the decisions that we make today have consequences in eternity. This is the reference to the Kingdom of Heaven. (Pastor Rollan had a relevant Gladiator quote to share.) This is why we unapologetically say that our aim, focus, and goal as a Church is to win people to Jesus Christ and teach then how to live a life of fruitful worship to Him. It gives context to each of our days on the job and in school where God is using places, relationships, and opportunities to cultivate creation and usher in that said Kingdom. At its core, the gospel is not merely one of individual salvation, but that of the Kingdom, which is the rule of God brought through the daily decisions that we make. Each of these will one day be judged with either everlasting reward or unrelenting penalty.
Our Perspective:
We often perceive that we are encouraging God to do the real good when we give suggestions about how our time, relationships, careers, and money should be spent.
There is a difference between our perceived good and God's best. It is ironic that Satan offers what is seemingly good (in your romantic life, how you spend your time and money, etc.), but what saves lives is God's best. How often, with good intentions, have we been like Peter?
Often, what we are doing is trying to find the path of least resistance or the least amount of sacrifice. If we can do good with as little effort as possible, we will still feel good about ourselves and be able to say that we've contributed to the common good. However, what Jesus makes clear is that He wants nothing less than the whole of our lives. Where do we have in mind the things of men rather than the things of God?
His Perfection:
Because Jesus has made His mission plain, the clear answer is to resign to imagining, "If I were actually an avatar for Jesus in my workplace, in my friendship group, in my family, what would He do with the time, opportunities, and relationships that He's given?"
This faith is continually defined as a trust in Jesus, what He has done for you, and the subsequent life of love and obedience that follows through the power of the Holy Spirit in the Christian.
Second City Church- Bad Religion Sermon Series 2013