Concerning the Church: Newton’s First Law of Motion

by JR Kerr

I was sitting in church and it hit me.

Is this really it? Are we being the church God had in mind? Is this what God had in mind when he stood with his disciples in the final moments of his life on earth and told them to go into all parts of the world and declare his authority over all creation? Is this what he envisioned when declaring that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the church of Jesus Christ?

I think not. I think that we have allowed consumerism, pragmatism, and individualism to deeply implicate our vision of Church; we can no longer see clearly what God intended for us to experience as the people of God.

I want to think through this with you, to engage these ideas on their own merit and wrestle with their meaning for our experience in church today. This is the first of articles accounting my own struggle to locate myself within the church of Jesus Christ. I hope these reflections are of help to you.

Newton’s 1st Law of Motion & the Church

Is the purpose of the church to establish a religion dedicated to Jesus or does the church exist to sustain the movements of the Gospel in life as we know it today?

People have been talking about this forever - tabernacles vs. temples, starfish vs. spiders, wells vs. walls. There is a deep tendency in our humanity to relieve risk and to control chaos.

I am concerned that we have deeply misunderstood the implications and requirements of the Gospel and what this means for the life of a Christ follower in the 21st Century. As far as I can tell, Jesus consistently deconstructed the religious establishment throughout his life. He confronted tradition and dismantled the systems of power that existed in the Israelite approach to religion.

Newton’s first law of motion states simply that a body persists in its state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force. If this is the case for physical matter such as particles and cells, what truth does this hold for organizations or the church?

I think that a strong case can be made that the church in the United States has in many ways worked to shelter itself from external unbalanced forces, when in reality these forces may be one of the very things we need to survive. Most of our churches today presume that we have all we need internally and that any external relationship is largely for the good of the person or organization that is being “reached.”

Here we are again, the established church. We have established mores and rules for what is acceptable and what is outside the acceptable boundaries for the people of God. Where we have allowed these standards to be defined by pragmatism and modernism or pluralism and postmodernism, I believe we are off. The church can never be overly committed to one system of thinking over another…we must remain committed, relentlessly committed to following the movements of the Gospel.

It seems that Jesus came to introduce movement not establishment. Jesus was in many regards the ultimate deconstructionist or that “external unbalanced force” that came heralding down into the life of the people of God. He came to establish movements of the Gospel not start another religious organization. He came to upend our systems of control and measure. He came to ensure that every part of our lives fall under the dominion and reign of God, not our religious systems.

The question then facing us is are we building movements of the Gospel or establishing churches. Are we fostering a commitment to our organizations around Jesus or are we fostering a deeper commitment to all of life falling under the reign of Jesus?

The difference between building movements of the Gospel vs. establishing churches is often lost in the nuance, but what if we could unpack the difference between the two and seek some wisdom for creating more movements for the Gospel and less churches for established religion? What if we could once again allow the external force of Jesus Christ to wreck us, make us whole, and redefine our lives once more?

Comments

Diane Miller

Right on, bro!..keep pursuing this with folks! Quite frankly, it seems we have become "Comfortable Church" in this culture! There is a huge gaping hole in modeling love to others.. we have become myopic in our 2nd culture, destination community small groups that tend to focus on more study...

What gives, are we not more highly educated than the church of Acts?

Josh Hageman

I love this.....I wish more people in the church would be asking themselves questions like these.....So many of them sit and watch the world go bye and wonder why nothing ever changes..... They complain and groan on how christ could be the best answer for them.... Yet there to comforted in that they have all the answers that when they share.... They miss the very love that god tells us to show.....It makes me wonder how many more people would be in fact out there proffesing Jesus as lord if the people who talked to them would drop the religious mumbojumbo *although important* and just love on the person and show christs love through them.....

Loran E. Scott

This is the discussion that we need in order to be the church of Jesus Christ. Blaise Pascal said, "God made man in his own image and man returned the compliment." There is a book by Brennan Manning, "Abba's Child; the cry of the heart . . ." that speaks volumes to this kind of discussion. Pastors need to make that book a "MUST" read, and then get it into a discussion group, both inside their churches and among fellow clergy. I feel, after 35 yrs of ministry and 20 years of retreaded retirement, that we have lost our contact with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God has somehow become so impersonal to us and we don't know how to walk with a "Father" whose hand we can almost reach up to.

I am finding a lot of response when I really get down to talking about a God who loves them, but I feel a resistance to doing it among church members, and I seek to know more about how to tell them / show them the love of God. --- Loran

Dawn Nicole Baldwin

Interesting post. I'm not a biblical scholar, but when I think of Jesus I see someone who constantly challenged the status quo and people's perceptions of what it meant to be in the will of God. And that wasn't always popular.

It does seem that churches are too afraid of failing, too afraid of what others may think... and with good reason. We do a fantastic job of throwing stones at new ideas that stretch "how we've always done it" and not enough rallying to make a tangible difference. As a result,

nothing

really

changes.

Is this the legacy we want to leave?

Peter Salisbury

Since we're on a roll with asking questions, let me ask: why do preachers exist?

JR Kerr

These are some killer thoughts. Thanks so much for sharing what you all think about the post...It all makes me curious though.

What are the obstacles that keep us from being a church that is truly committed to the movements of the Gospel vs. simply establishing religion? Is it fear of failure as Dawn pointed out? Or is it that our education or "expertise" has gotten in the way as Diane comments?

I would love to hear your thoughts? What keeps us from living the vision of the church as it existed in its beginnings?

Also...Peter...I love the question you asked. I ask myself this question at least once a day. The only answer that has given me solace is that in the same way that I believe God has made artists to create art and politicians to influence policy...I think that God has given some of us the ability to preach the Word of God in way that unveils our lives before a community and reveals the power of the Gospel. This is by no means a better use of our time than any other vocation...but it does seem legitimate in light of the history of the church and Scriptures.

Thoughts?

Peter Salisbury

Are you willing to suffer the reproach of Christ? Have you placed yourself comfortably between two kingdoms?

1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long(A) will you go limping between two different opinions?(B) If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." And the people did not answer him a word.

Joseph Riccardi

That's something I have been wondering about, how would it look if the Lincoln Park Campus (LPC) of Park Church would allow the external force of Jesus Christ to wreck us, make us whole, and redefine our lives once more?

Are we at LPC fostering a commitment to our organizations around Jesus or are we fostering a deeper commitment to all of life falling under the reign of Jesus? That's a sobering wake up call to myself. My prayer is that I would grow and come to learn along with all who call LPC home what it practically looks like to do life under the complete reign of Jesus Christ.

Also have been thinking of small groups lately. How do we move more from these becoming just something you need to be in to ones that are radically Christ centered and life changing where the pursuit of holiness undergirds everything the group is about? What does it look like to be apart of group that fosters a deeper commitment to all of life falling under the reign of Jesus? Committed to the journey with a great group of people on being totally surrendered to Him!

Thanks for provoking some things that need to be considered!

Peter Salisbury

Why don't we just do what the good book says? Why is the church being infiltrated with those who are better at technology and computers than they are with God and on their knees? Why do we have to come up with something clever when the Bible clearly tells us to pray and walk in the spirit? Would you like it if I invited you over to my home and sent you an outline of exactly what you were going to do minute by minute? Why can't our people stay in the presence of the Lord longer than one hour, but they can go home and stay in front of their television set for three hours watching a football game? And why do they prefer that? Why can't our people come and pray for free but instead they pay to be entertained by conferences, etc? Why are we so impassioned when our kids are told they can't pray in schools, but we could care less that we don't even pray in our churches? Why are so few people being saved on a weekly basis? Do we realize what we are up against in these days? The hour is getting late.

Mark Dykstra

Kerr, not much of a blogger, and I apologize about my analytical and philosophical nature, but I love to analyze language and arguments. So my feedback might not be as helpful, but perhaps might help clarify and define a bit, and in the end... he who defines the terms usually wins the argument. So what I will attempt to do is to react directly to your words, which I will put in " " and my responses will be in CAPS.

"Is the purpose of the church to establish a religion dedicated to Jesus or does the church exist to sustain the movements of the Gospel in life as we know it today? "

A DEFINITION AND AN EXAMPLE OF "...movements of the Gospel" would be helpful here. I know you mention more about it later, but not many examples nor positive descriptions of what this means. Perhaps God is know through the via negitiva, but perhaps the Gospel, or "movements of the Gospel" have some positive descriptions or examples that your are pointing to that would help your reader agree with the dilemma quoted above.

"tabernacles vs. temples, starfish vs. spiders, wells vs. walls" I THINK THE DEEPER QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN MONARCHY VS. THEOCRACY, OR WHETHER WE ARE FOLLOWING A HUMBLE RABBI OR A RULING KING CURRENTLY. SCRIPTURE LEAD OR SPIRIT LEAD?

"Jesus consistently deconstructed the religious establishment throughout his life."

I AGREE HE WAS FED UP WITH AN IDUMEAN MANIACS OF KINGS, ROMAN WOULD BE MESSIAHS, HERETICAL SADDUCEES, UNWARRANTED ZEALOTS, DISENGAGED ESSENES, AND UNBALANCED PHARISEES. YET HE STILL WORSHIPPED, PAYED TAXES, WAS EDUCATED, HONORED TORAH. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT JESUS NEVER INTENDED HIS 12 DISCIPLES TO TAKE OVER THE SANHEDRIN AND RUN THE TEMPLE COMPLEX, BUT HE DID INTEND THEM TO DO THINGS. I'M NOT SURE HIS DECONSTRUCTION OF THE SURROUNDING JEWISH PROBLEMS ALWAYS HAVE A DIRECT ONE TO ONE CORRELATION FOR OUR PREDOMINATELY GENTILE CHURCH TODAY.

"Newton’s first law"

NOT SURE HOW YOU'RE USING THIS ANALOGY. ARE YOU ASKING IF THE CHAOS OF OUR WORLD IS SOMETHING WE SHOULD FIGHT TO REFORM SO AS TO CREATE A NEW WORLD ORDER OF POSTMILLENIAL CHRISTIANITY WHERE CHRIST CAN RIDE IN SAFELY ON A DONKEY AGAIN AND NOT HAVE TO RAISE A SWORD? OR THAT THE CHAOS IS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE THE GOSPEL IS MEANT TO SURVIVE? AND CREATING SAFE CHURCHES THAT HIDES US FROM THE CHAOS IS DOING THE DIRECT OPPOSITE OF WHAT JESUS INTENDED FOR HIS CHURCH TO DO?

"we must remain committed, relentlessly committed to following the movements of the Gospel."

I WOULD LOVE A DEFINITION OR 2 OR 3 EXAMPLES OF "MOVEMENTS" OF THE GOSPEL

"It seems that Jesus came to introduce movement not establishment. "

GOD LIKES PROMISE KEEPERS MORE THAN THE PRESBYTERIAN DENOMINATION?

Jesus was in many regards the ultimate deconstructionist or that “external unbalanced force” that came heralding down into the life of the people of God.

OUR MINISTRIES MOVEMENTS NEED TO BE MORE INCARNATIONAL? EXAMPLES?

"Are we fostering a commitment to our organizations around Jesus or are we fostering a deeper commitment to all of life falling under the reign of Jesus? "

ANATAGANISTIC FALSE DILEMMA? OF COURSE WE CAN DO BOTH, AND THAT WE ACCOMPLISH MORE WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER, AND WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER WE TEND TO FORM ORGANIZATIONS, AND THOSE ORGANIZATIONS BECOME BEURACRATIC, LEGALISTIC, OCCASIONALLY DOMINATED BY DONORS INSTEAD OF LEADERS, BUT THEY ARE ONLY AS WEAK AND EVIL AS THOSE WHO RUN THEM. WHAT ARE YOU PROPOSING? SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T EVER TURN INTO AN ORGANIZATION?

"What if we could once again allow the external force of Jesus Christ to wreck us, make us whole, and redefine our lives once more? "

AMEN.