Reflections on the Difference Between "Church" and "Business"

My journey through Christendom has given me so much to think about over the years.  It has led me in many different directions and to many different types of churches.  A theme I constantly come back to when thinking about our time at Milestone is "The Church as a Business" or "The Church as a Pastor's Kingdom."

Church is, after all, a market share kind of thing.  There's one on just about every corner (sometimes four).  People are no longer denominationally oriented and are quite willing to flit about from church to church gathering what nectar they may.  I've done my share of that in the past as well.

So where does that leave churches themselves?  Vying for market share.  Leadership conversations start sounding like this, "How do we retain the members we have?  How do we recruit new members?  How do we make this building a place people want to be?"  As opposed to, "Where is the Holy Spirit leading us this year in terms of spiritual growth?" or "How can we better learn humility this season?"

I personally think it is sad.  I also think it's artificial and unnatural and not the way church was ever intended.  I also think it lends itself to "pastoring" turning into something more akin to "CEOing."

I was sitting in a restaurant one morning with a girlfriend and right behind us was a pastoral team meeting with a church consultant.  The conversation ran to business...the same kind of questions I mentioned above.  Basically, "How can we structure your church so that it appeals to the largest number of people?"  I think both of us were a little shocked.  We were both still at Milestone at the time and had that moment of realization.  This is what is going on behind the scenes at OUR church too.  This is what our leadership is saying about....us.  Somehow feels a little less spiritual, doesn't it?

Well, so what?  For me, the big "so what" is this:  It wasn't supposed to be this way, it doesn't have to be this way, and it should NOT be this way.

As I have mentioned before, I spent a good deal of time researching church history and tracing the origins of my faith back to the roots of it all.  I landed at an Orthodox Church.  An ancient church.  Based on about 2,000 years of tradition and not prone to having planning meetings on how to appeal to the masses.

The focus of my faith has shifted BACK to where it started when I was young...my personal walk.  My personal sin.  My personal repentance.

What would happen if every Christian, church, and pastor had this experience?  What if we properly understood evangelism as an outgrowth of spirituality, closeness with God, and humility vs. the PRIMARY goal of our faith?

What if pastors who had seen people injured under their watch got a hold of this idea?  What if they dedicated the rest of their spiritual lives to humility and repentance and seeking out those they had neglected or ignored because they were too "busy" or "removed" to do anything?  What might happen then in a church, a city, or a nation?

We need a restoration in the church today.  Yes.  A good history lesson, some sayings of the church fathers, and a big-time restoration.