Is the Church Becoming Less & Less Like Jesus?

In the past few weeks, I have stumbled upon a couple of articles, talked with a few pastors, listened to a few podcasts, and even read Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez. In doing all of this, I have become more than a bit concerned. It appears that the church is becoming less and less like Jesus.

Philip Yancey, whose writing I encourage you to pick up and read as soon as possible, posted recently that “Service, love, unity—Jesus named these as primary marks of his followers.” However, he continues, “Have you ever asked a stranger, ‘When I say the word Christian or evangelical, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?’  I have, and not once, not once, have I heard anyone answer with one of those three words.”

In a recent Atlantic Monthly article by Peter Wehner entitled The Evangelical Church is Breaking Up, it would appear that Yancey is not the only person with such strong feelings about where the church is today. For Wehner, a big problem today is politics. He writes that “For many Christians, their politics has become more of an identity marker than their faith. They might insist that they are interpreting their politics through the prism of scripture, with the former subordinate to the latter, but in fact scripture and biblical ethics are often distorted to fit their politics.”

Therefore, when the politics of the day, or for that matter, any cultural issue not in line with scripture, takes center stage, the church spirals out of control. Instead of “taking up the cross,” the church now protects itself with angry outbursts against those who do not have the same views as them. Unfortunately, this hateful stance not only damages those outside the church looking in, which is bad enough, but also pushes out those inside who happen to hold to the so-called minority opinion.

Scott Dudley, the senior pastor at Bellevue Presbyterian Church in Bellevue, Washington, said it well in Wehmer’s article. “The early Christians transformed the Roman empire” he said, “not by demanding but by loving, not by angrily shouting about their rights in the public square but by serving even the people who persecuted them, which is why Christianity grew so quickly and took over the empire. I also know that once Christians gained political power under Constantine, that beautiful loving, sacrificing, giving, transforming Church became the angry, persecuting, killing Church. We have forgotten the cross.”

“We have forgotten the cross.” Thus, we have become less like Jesus. And as result, many are not wanting any affiliation with us. Russell Moore wrote (see my post How Do We Get People To Church?) that people aren’t leaving the “church because they disapprove of Jesus, but because they’ve read the Bible and have come to the conclusion that the church itself would disapprove of Jesus.”

So is the church becoming less like Jesus? Well, I’m not sure. I know much of what is written today seems to point to a yes answer. But we’ve always struggled have we not? Just stroll through history and you will come to see that we as Christ-followers have not always lived out what we claim to profess. Even the New Testament alludes to situations where Christlikeness was not being maintained. Just consider Paul’s rebuke of Peter in Galatians 2.

No doubt we have a problem. And I have two thoughts about it. First, we need to humble ourselves and then repent and lament. We need to come clean before the watching world that our search for power, prestige, and prominence has caused us to dehumanize those we should have been serving. And then we need to weep over the pain we have caused. We must be broken over our sin that has damaged the lives of those around us.

Second, we need to recognize and acknowledge that there are churches that are doing good work. They are salt and light. They love their neighbors as themselves. They ooze Christlikeness as they pour out grace and mercy to their community. But here’s the thing about most of these churches. They probably don’t get much press. You won’t find their pastor being quoted in a magazine article. Nor will you find them attracting a large online audience for their Sunday morning worship service. Yet they continually want their neighbors to flourish. And if you asked someone on the street about them, the answer might be, “Those folks are always helping!”

Yes, the church appears to be in a dilemma. And therefore, we need to humble ourselves and listen to the voices around us. But maybe we also need to take some cues from those churches who in their own quiet way, just love those around them regardless of who they are or what sin they might carry. The don’t do anything fancy. They just work to show Jesus to others in the day to day. So maybe this is where we need to start…or rather…return.