If the fall never happened, would the church exist? Would there be a need for the organization of the Church (choosing my words carefully here)? No. There would be probably be a need for organization as the population grew, but it would be like nothing we’ve ever experienced before. People would love each other. We would relate to the Father in a way that we’ve never seen because it would be both corporate and personal. So the ideal Church would exist, the Bride, but not the institutional Church as we know it.
Think of it:
- No buildings
- No division
- No fundraising
- No 80/20 issues
- No leadership hierarchy
But for the moment some of the aspects of the Church are clearly needed. They didn’t come into use for no reason. And some of them are even … biblical 😀️.
The question that led me down this path was, “What did Jesus redeem us into?” He redeemed us into a pre-fall relationship with God and set us up to have pre-fall relationships with each other. He redeemed us into a time when the Church as we think of it today, was not necessary. If that is true, then the church is temporary. It is only needed as a transitional mechanism to get us back to our pre-fall mindset where we can understand our relationship with God and each other. Therefore, everything that we hold onto so tightly is really just fleeting “until” as Ephesians 4 says:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,… (4:11-13, ESV)
“Until” means it will end some day.
We worry and argue about so many things. We insist that church must be this way or that way. Or argue that the Apostle Paul said we have to have elders and deacons. When do we stand up or sit down or what kind of songs do we sing. We cling so tightly to things that are fleeting.
It’s all going away! How liberating this is!
Finally, lest you think I’m making this up. Here’s what Paul said when he was giving the Corinthian church some practical instructions on how church should operate.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (I Cor. 13:8-12, ESV)
BTW, the Greek word for “perfect” in the above verse is the same as it is in Ephesians 4 that’s translated “mature manhood”. This is not something that should be only expected when Jesus returns. So when we’re mature, the (good and necessary) tools of the Church will not be needed. When we can see ourselves as God sees us; when the mirror is no longer dim, the Church will no longer be necessary. As we increasingly allow our new man within us as Christians to express himself then the crutches of the Church will abate.
For leaders in the church, this means that your job is to work yourself out of a job. You have term limits by definition. Raise up disciples that transcend you and get out of the way. And when you think there’s something in your church worth splitting over, ask yourself, “Am I clinging to something temporary?”