Is The Christian Church in Transition?

Is the Christian church in a period of transition?  I have been asked this and have asked it myself.  I think the answer is a resounding, YES.  But, in reality, the Christian church has been in a state of transition since its birth at Pentecost 2000 years ago.  The reason it seems more transitional today than it has in past history?  Everything today happens at warp speed.  For centuries the transitions the church went through were slow and often subtle.  Today the transitions are fast and much more overt.  BUT, I submit to you that the TRUE Christian church, while constantly transitioning in some ways, has always been solid, firm and unmovable in the things that really matter, the foundational doctrinal truths that make it the Christian church.

Think about it like this.  Architectural styles of houses, churches, schools and other structures have changed over the years.  These styles have come and gone like clothing fads.  But the engineering principle of foundations has not changed one iota in since God created natural laws.  Jesus spoke of this in the Sermon on the Mount.  The wise man built his house on a rock and it withstood the storms.  The foolish man built his house on the sand and it soon collapsed.  In other words, construction that survives is built on a sure, unmovable foundation.  The Christian church was built on the solid foundation of certain doctrinal truths given to us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and as long as the church stayed true to those foundational doctrines it remained the TRUE Christian church. Throughout history, heresies would invade the church, resulting in splinter groups but there was always a remnant of true believers who would fight the battles, suffer the martyrdom, pay the ultimate price to keep the true Christian church alive and well but even then the transitions continued. They didn’t fight those fights and suffer those fiery deaths to preserve “architectural style.”  They did it to preserve foundations.

So, where is the Christian church today?  Exactly where it has always been, standing true to the foundations laid by Christ and the apostles.  Some reading this will question that last statement, because they see a church that looks different than the one they grew up seeing and often the changes in practice gets misinterpreted as changes in foundations.  Music is different.  I was in a church Sunday that had a six piece bluegrass ensemble leading the congregation in a blend of old hymns and contemporary praise and worship songs that were doctrinally sound and I LOVED it! (I knew I was in the right place when I walked in and heard that banjo! Earl Scruggs, I miss you!) That was followed by the pastor preaching a great message on the marvelous grace of God and how it is through His grace we are saved.  The music was a new “architectural style” but the preaching revealed the truth of Christian foundation.  We have to remember that in days gone by, the introduction of the piano in church brought a firestorm of criticism as "bringing the world into the church" because the piano was considered a saloon instrument.  Dress is different.  Suits and dresses have been replaced by khakis and slacks, in some cases t-shirts, jeans, even cargo shorts.  Many pastors no longer wear suits and ties.  That’s the new “architectural design” but if the statement of faith the church stands on and the preaching is based on the true doctrines of Christ, the foundation is solid and firm.  We have to remember that many years ago when pastors stopped wearing robes in the pulpit, they were accused of lowering standards an becoming worldly.  The format is different.  Some churches have a stage instead of a platform and the preacher doesn’t use a pulpit.  Some churches have lighting effects during the music.  Then the pastor gets up and declares the clear gospel message of salvation and Christian living.  “The architectural style” changes but the foundation is sure and solid.  Again, we only need to go back a century to find that pastors mounted a high pulpit, pretty much on a pedestal far above the congregation and read his sermon word for word.  When the church brought pulpit down to almost floor level and the pastor began to speak more extemporaneously and actually venture away from the pulpit as he preached, it began to be called “low” church and people saw it as lowering the bar. 

We have to face the truth that the church “architecture” is always changing.  I have to make a choice as I watch this accelerating transition.  I can do like my grandparents did and say, “I don’t like it!  They just don’t build them like they used to.” Or I can look for the foundations, and if they are solid, accept that change is part of generational progress.  Churches that do not adapt will slowly die.  We are seeing that take place before our eyes in both churches and Christian schools.  My grandkids will not “do” church like I did and that is okay if the foundations are solid.  Truly, it is the foundations that really matter.  In the end whether Christians sing to a piano and organ, or a bluegrass praise team; whether the pastor stands behind a pulpit in a suit, or paces an open “stage” in khakis and a polo shirt, that’s simply architectural style.  If WHAT is being sung and preached from that pulpit or on that open stage is foundational truth based on the rock of Christ, all is well!  I am one guy who believes that if we make sure the next generation gets the solid foundation of doctrinal truth passed on from us, we can bless them with the freedom to use their God-given creativity to find their own “architectural design.”

I spoke in a church recently and a man walked up to me and introduced himself.  He was a man that would be frowned on in many churches because he had shoulder length hair, was dressed in leather and had a few tattoos on his arms.  He told me his story of how, in many churches he'd visited when he was seeking an answer for his soul's questions, he'd be stared and, pointed at and avoided.  Then he came to the church where I met him and told me that he's found there a church that wasn't JUST for church people and he came to Christ.  Then after a few months of discipleship and mentoring God called him to reach out to people like him.  So today he has a thriving ministry to street people, the down and out.  He goes into his town, and because those people can identify with him, they listen and dozens are being saved and helped.  God found him where he was and now the Lord is using him to do the same with those to whom he has been sent.  Different architecture; same foundation!