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| The
Institutional Mindset |
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| Jason Moore |
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I used to hear in my teens
sermons on the subjects of “Institutionalism,” “The Work of the
Church,” “The Sponsoring Church Arrangement,” and such. I thought when
the lessons were finished: “Why can't everyone see that? It's so simple.”
Perhaps so. But
institutionalism has less obvious costumes. It can appear in subtle
disguise. When it dresses up in flashy clothes it gets lots of attention.
Just the novelty of its arrangement alone makes folks suspicious, even
before its innovations upon the biblical pattern are neatly exposed. It is
institutionalism in plain clothes that needs to be feared. And it is not
just a fad of modern times. It's been around for a long time.
An institutional mindset in
religion occurs whenever people begin to think of religion as a function of
the church rather than a function of the individual. When religious activity
is conceived as being done “in” and “through” and “by” and “for”
the church, an institutional concept of the church has evolved. The church
is thought to be something greater than the saved individuals who comprise
it. It is an “institution” in the same way as a bank, or a school, or a
hospital. And of course when people begin to think of the church as an
institution, we shouldn't be surprised when the church begins to behave that
way. This doesn't happen all at one time, but gradually. And there are a few
evidences of this gradual evolution of which we need to be cautioned.
Proof-text preaching. There
are certain passages of Scripture which have been used so long to fight a
particular doctrinal deviation, that the original context of the passage may
be forgotten. For instance, Matthew 7:21 was not written to refute the
misleading invitation to merely “accept Jesus as your personal savior.”
That is a proper application of the passage. However when an application of
the passage becomes its interpretation in the minds of the people, the
original point of the passage is blunted. It may escape our observation that
the passage has application to superficial allegiance of every kind, not
just the denominational variety. In fact it is a particularly heinous
variety of hypocrisy that cries “Lord, Lord” to invoke his authority for
the work and worship of the local church while ignoring His lordship in
personal purity, in individual growth, and in brotherly love.
The problem with the
proof-text is the same as the theorem in mathematics. The student who takes
up the theorem without having proven it for himself places his confidence in
the professor of mathematics who delivered the formula. The man who
memorizes the proof-text without testing it for himself places his faith in
the person or persons who derived the doctrine, not in the principles and
Person which underlie the doctrine. In his case, contending earnestly for
“the faith” is no longer a defense of the “system of faith,” but a
defense of the “system,” in other words the “institution” that is
manufactured by his thinking it so.
Tradition. When a
whole body of proof-texts arise and are circulated generally -- whether in
written or unwritten form -- they become a body of tradition, and reflect a
sort of creed. The example of the Pharisees ought to warn us that you can be
averse to the concept of human creeds and still embrace the reality in your
zeal to build a hedge around the truth. Pretty soon people begin to admire
the hedge and are more committed to its maintenance than that of the truth
behind it. The truth or falsity of the applications of the proof texts is
not the problem, at least not the only problem. The problem is that the
applications of the Scripture begin to be raised to the status of Scripture
itself, so that a generation arises that no longer reasons through the
context. They merely outline its teaching with the stencil handed down to
them by the fathers. Soon any other application of the proof-text is gazed
at with an eye of suspicion because it doesn't have the familiar ring of “orthodoxy.”
When that happens, Christianity begins to wreak of that same odor of cedar
shavings and mothballs that characterized the religion of the Pharisees. You
see one of the “institutions” of “institutionalism” is “tradition.”
Sunday school. I don't
hear the term “Sunday school” used by our people much. It has an
institutional ring to it. But so does “Bible class,” and “Bible
curriculum,” and “resource room.” I'm not opposed to any of those
terms -- they are merely descriptives. Nor am I opposed to the existence of
Bible classes, and curriculums, and resource rooms. Their kinship to secular
terms and contrivances can pose some real dangers however. Bible instruction
may come to be understood as a corporate endeavor, a work of the church,
rather than a privatized industry. The Scripture commands fathers, not
churches, to bring up children “in the discipline and instruction of the
Lord” (Eph. 6:4). When families depend upon churches to teach their
children the Bible in the same way that the public school system teaches
them reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, then religion is made the function of
an institution which has as one of its goals the spiritual education of
youth. Bible classes should only supplement and complement the biblical
instruction of the home. When it becomes the sole or even the primary
dispenser of biblical teaching then fathers have forsaken their post and
have yielded their responsibility to an organization which has neither the
authority nor the resources to provide children with biblical instruction.
Don't blame the church when young people leave the Lord. They were never the
church's responsibility -- at least not in the Lord's eyes. The man who sees
differently has his eye set on an institution which the Lord never conceived
nor commanded.
There are other instances of
the institutional mindset which deserve addressing, but for which there is
not the space in this writing. Perhaps another time. Address them yourself.
It's up to you to do so. And that's the real cure -- keeping religion a
personal, private, individual devotion to God, His word, His work.
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Copyright (C)
2008
Southside Church of Christ
All rights reserved.
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