My own experience within the local church has allowed me to observe how the humble become great and influential. With the radical becoming established, a form of wealth, power and recognition enters the picture. These temptations are very hard to resist as they lay siege to the human soul. There is little wonder as to why two of the monastic vows are poverty and obedience. When we measure the success or failure of a church or a person by a wrong-headed standard, the values shift. Darrell Johnson once shared with us, “Some churches are more interested in preserving themselves than in serving the Kingdom of God.”

The story of King David is relevant. The humble shepherd boy rises to prominence and slays the proud giant Goliath, eventually becoming the great king of Israel. It is at the pinnacle of his worldly success that he becomes Goliath himself and crushes and oppresses others with an act of adultery and murder.

My question is: how do we avoid such a fate? If my humble doings lead me to a place where I become great in my own eyes, I am undone. Indeed, how do we maintain that passion for Jesus you speak of, that missional, dynamic Spirit-filled life? Perhaps that is the wonderful point to the Jesus prayer taught in the Orthodox parable, “The Way of the Pilgrim.” My passion , my sin, my desperation for Jesus grows when I meditate upon the words of that publican’s prayer, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The Christian and the Church must pursue a cruciform pilgrimage or become Goliath.

Take for example the whole issue of ‘parish boundaries’ and church planting. In a previous generation, parish boundaries were probably a good thing … in an age when people saw themselves as part of a ‘local’ community. The suburbs have change, the city has evolved, and the denomination is still working on a out of date paradigm for ministry. And so we debate whether parish boundaries should stay or go … for it’s ’sinful’ isn’t it to plant a church in someone else’s backyard (as if they weren’t enough unreached people to go around for more churches to be planted). How long did it take the Anglicans and Presbyterians to do away with parish boundaries? How many synods and general assemblies before the ‘walls’ came down? Too many to count.

I am thankful to God that the early church didn’t operate denominationally. Imagine the implications for the Pauline mission had the Jerusalem council mandated parish boundaries! I am being facetious at this point, but you get the point. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t knocking our denominations, after all I am a Presbyterian pastor. In fact, I chose to be part of the denomination because I value what it stands for as an institution, which if true to its nature and purpose will grow and further the cause of the gospel and the kingdom (… and I should know having seen how independent Chinese churches run). As far as my denominational commitment goes, it’s a tried and tested system, with sound Reformed doctrine, Biblical governance, and when combined with good leadership works well for both the kingdom and mission of Jesus.

My main concern was really not the denomination, though the points I raised also applies to the denomination. The observations I had was mainly to do with leadership and the actual gathering or community of believers … the ‘local’ church. It’s in our nature to institutionalize. The problem as you highlighted is when maintaining the institution overshadows the God given vision and mission of the institution. Let me stretch your analogy of the institution of marriage. You pointed out - “what’s the point of maintaining the institution of marriage, when you spend no effort loving your wife?”. You live in the same house, you share the same bed, you share a bank account, but there’s no passion, there’s no communication, there’s no relationship. The same holds true of many of our local Christian gatherings or ‘churches’. What’s the point of maintaining the particular structures and traditions of a church i.e. running and doing church a certain way when it’s not fulfilling the kingdom vision and mission of Jesus? As an institution it’s running fine meeting the needs of those within (or maybe not … stagnating perhaps, declining perhaps), but there’s no passion for Jesus, no love for the unreached, no relationship. From starting as a missional, kingdom seeking church, willing to change and adapt it’s structures, willing to take risks, we now have a proud ‘local’ institution only interested in bricks, keeping people, and making sure no one rocks the boat. It’s the start of a dying church, no matter how healthy it looks.