An Authentic Church? What would that look like?

One meaning of the word authentic is: to be true to one's own personality, spirit, or character. It is a word that I have wrestled with quite literally during my college years. There is nothing about me that, when I engage people, seeks to be conformed to some preconceived notion. It is my hope that people are touched by my quest to be a person of authenticity, integrity and conviction. In my own naiveté, I realize that isn’t always the case, as long as they can, people will continually pigeon-hole anything about me.

So I wonder if my struggle to be authentic is seen as an extension of the church that I belong to, is there a sense of authenticity within the modern church today? Is there something that sets it apart from all the other institutions on the earth? Or has the church become so mainstream that there is nothing about it that appeals to people’s needs or interests?

The Church of the Brethren has become a mainstream church that has lost its heritage that was specifically from an Anabaptist and Pietist background. Maybe it is because we sought to become more ecumenical and lost sight of what made us different from other churches. If we are in an age that is beginning to respect diversity then we must remind ourselves that it is alright to be different from other groups. Unity became the goal so we took our eyes from the path that brought us to the place we are. We’ve severed our roots and grafted them with others. If we are to survive it will be returning to our “spiritual ancestral birth.”

The “contemporary church movement” has attempted to do a new thing by adapting to the age it lives in; in doing so it has lost it’s authenticity by choosing to be no different than the culture. We would rather wear a mask and cover the true identity and image of the Body of Christ. We have worship services that resemble concerts and appeal to nothing more than a spirituality seemingly based on emotion. Our evangelism efforts have become little more than a salesman who is no longer familiar with the product he is selling. Discipleship has become a warehouse where disciples are no longer formed but manufactured to have a set of fixed ideas, theology or correct head answers to heartfelt questions. Any emphasis on asking questions is subdued by the fact that our culture and churches are persistently answer-oriented (just see how often the phrase “Jesus is the Answer” is used today). Any kind of spiritual formation is viewed with suspicion & hesitation and generally regarded as something New Age. We no longer have the “elder” office within the church and replaced it with the professional pastor that is often asked to be more like the CEO of a Fortune 500 company than the spiritual leader of a community. A shift must occur to the bi-vocational pastor who has a foot firmly planted in the church and the world the church seeks to serve. We have mega-churches that appeal to our one-stop-shop mentality. Ironically enough, it is the churches that are choosing to become “contemporary” by blending themselves with the culture, are the ones that are growing in leaps and bounds. Further proof that we really do not want a new thing, we’d rather have the familiar and comfortable. At the present rate if all we do is become mega churches, we could in theory have large houses of worship with massive amounts of worshipers who are more content to worship Jesus than to follow him. Thus, we never really mature into an adult faith. The other end of the spectrum is those congregations that are quite content with the way things are; they fear the new thing.

The Post-Modern Church is about marking a returning to the very things that have become lost. This new thing that God is doing isn’t going to be recognizable; rather it will be distinctly ancient, yet not so far removed from the longing of our hearts. It will be familiar only by our connection with the tradition that surrounds it. I believe that in our culture today we are experiencing another renaissance. One in which we cannot deny the vast number of innovations and intellectual thought that seem to be emerging within the culture. We are no longer as dependant upon one another as we once were. We let machines do our thinking and working for us. We are experiencing a new kind of ‘humanism” in the world today that is vastly different from the term that was used 600 years ago. This has led to an increase in eschatological thinking, blaming the modern humanists or other people who do not “have it right” for the wrath of God. Quite simply, we no longer offer hope… only fear; the one thing that is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Be not afraid!!).

On the heels of that renaissance will be another reformation. Not one that seeks to divide (even though the reformers would say that it was never their intention to divide the church) but rather a reunification of the church. It will not establish some new denomination or church rather it will be a reclaiming of what has been lost in the pace of our culture. This will occur within the North American Church as people who refuse to identify themselves with the emerging mystique that has become increasingly more “Americanized.”

If the church is to ever regain its authenticity it will be by returning to the things that make the church distinctively different from the surrounding culture. I will elaborate on some of the ideas contained in a letter written by Paul Grout who is currently working on the formation of “A Place Apart”, an intentional Christian Community that seeks to train people to be truly alive. Listed below are a sample of things that must be rediscovered if we are to ever reclaim what has been lost:

- We will no longer give lip service in our proclamation and worship of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; it will be our identifying with his life, teachings, miracles, suffering, death and resurrection; this is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
- The empowerment and guidance of the Holy Spirit will once again take precedent in our lives.
- A return to and love for simplicity and creation.
- Daily worship that seeks to bring together heart, soul and mind (Deut. 6:5).
- Daily conversion and transformation that surrenders our will to God.
- Promoting a lifestyle of working for peace and justice.
- Silence and solitude will not be feared but enjoyed.
- Reading the Holy Scriptures through the lens of faith and with sheer wonder and awe.
- The healing of our wounded ness and souls.
- The casting off of fears that so govern our daily lives and choices, and transforming it into pure joy and thanksgiving for life.

If we really are at a crossroad in the life of the church then it is my belief that we must come full circle in regards to what we have tried and succeeded at, as well as what we have failed at. For both are full of the grace of God. If we are to ever become true to our own spirit and character we may have to follow the path that T.S. Eliot so wonderfully ascribed, “The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.”