Self-Interest, Kingdom of God, and The Great Dilemma

So I’ve been pondering lately about the dilemma I faced while still operating as part of the institutional systems of church, the dilemma that so many well-meaning church leaders face today.

The dilemma is this: we like to see ourselves, and our local church, as part of the larger Body of Christ, recognizing that we are only a part of THE church. And yet, because of the nature of sustaining an institution, most of the decisions the leader(s) must make have to do with the growing of “our” church rather than building “the” church.

Functioning as an institutional leader, I genuinely had a heart for the greater church, and wanted to see my little piece as part of the bigger picture. I even tried to make decisions that had the larger church in view. However, I know deep inside I would never have made a choice that favored the greater Body of Christ (or another congregation) at the expense of my local church. So in reality, my local group had to come first, not the greater cause of Christ–because otherwise, how was my family going to eat? See the dilemma? 🙂

Some pastors, admittedly, don’t really see this as a dilemma. They feel that growing their local church and building the Body of Christ are one and the same–that somehow God has destined their particular entity for greatness, and in throwing their all into building a mega-ministry, they are doing the Kingdom of God a great service. The test of their true loyalty would be if they were forced to make a choice between doing harm to other local congregations or Christians in their area, or allowing their own church to suffer loss. Would they be willing to do damage to another ministry to preserve their own?

Don’t be fooled; pastors and other ministers are faced with this all the time. You can guess the choice they make most of the time. When the local entity becomes the main priority, it is nearly impossible for interests not to conflict, even among well-meaning pastors. It is inevitable that one local church will benefit at another’s expense. Some will prosper, and others will suffer–because the truth is, we don’t have the interests at of the Greater Kingdom of God at heart. We have our own interests at heart, and we’re calling it the Kingdom to make ourselves feel better about it.

I don’t mind telling you that several times in the history of pastoring a tiny congregation, we found ourselves on the suffering end of such shenanigans. (I don’t know if I was ever on the other end of things–I never thought we got big enough to ever have been a threat to another local group.) Once or twice, a mega-church pastor who knew who we were actively tried to recruit one of our members to leave our group and join his. Another time, a woman who had her own ministry had linked arms with us for a project we were working on; and in a moment when another church leader expressed offense with us, she made a deliberate political decision to turn on us and cozy up to that leader, because she feared associating with us would hinder her from being able to recruit people to her own gig. All this, while she continued to claim to have a heart for church unity!

I don’t blame these people, honestly. I mean, I don’t have the right to blame them. Because if I had been in their shoes–that is, if I’d had that much to lose–I’d probably have done the same things they did.

And that’s just the point. The reason I am skeptical of the institutional forms of our faith is that when we have to hold up our own institutions, we have too much to lose. We mistakenly believe that doing political crap like this to protect our particular entity is equal to defending the Kingdom, and that it is somehow our solemn responsibility to protect our turf, and our “people”.

At least, this is what we tell ourselves. What we’re really doing, most of the time, is protecting our bank accounts. Because far more often than not, these decisions are business decisions, not kingdom ones. Not trying to be jaded here, just calling a spade a spade. It’s about money, more than anyone wants to admit.

I guess what I’m saying in this rant is that there has to be a better way for us to be shaped–one that doesn’t automatically put our immediate interests at odds with those of other church groups, or the greater Kingdom of God. And for that matter–where did we even get the idea that furthering the Kingdom of God on earth wouldn’t require some self-sacrifice and even suffering? (Wasn’t that what the cross of Christ was all about?) Institutions or no institutions–at what point did we think it was okay to become this self-serving?

There are some pastors and leaders who have purposely deconstructed, re-organized, or even dismantled their institutions because they were of the conviction that such a move was in the better interests of the cause of Christ for that time. For such people, I have an incredible amount of respect. For me–I guess I’m just glad I’m no longer faced with the Great Dilemma. I’m like most of you, in that I don’t particularly enjoy suffering. (That’s why they call it suffering, folks–if you like it, you probably need to talk to someone.) However, if I am ever called upon to make a choice for the furthering of God’s kingdom, knowing that I will suffer loss for that choice…I hope that I will have the strength to make that choice.

Because that’s how Christ did it for you and me.