Church Inc. – Diabolical Destruction of Unity

God has a structure for the church that runs contrary in many ways to what we see in our churches today. We have modeled our churches much the same way we have built corporate America. On the surface church in America appears to be successful after all look at the rise of the mega-church in the last 20 years. However, we ignore the fact, most church growth is the result of people moving from one church to another. So, in light of the kingdom, we basically have zero net growth from God’s perspective.

In many ways, it has come down to who can put on the best one hour show to attract the most Christians. This does not only go on in mega churches but effects large and small alike. Of course few will openly admit this is happening. We also ignore the fact there is little power and the absence of the presence of God in most churches. By God’s standard I would say the church is pretty anemic. What He calls successful and what we call successful are very different.

I do not claim to have all the answers nor do I sit back in judgement. But God did give me some revelation recently that really opened my eyes to some things. Before you read this article any further I would suggest you read my recent article, Fusion Factor – Unity of the Spirit. Below is a quote from that article

“To a large degree churches today operate like corporations. Church members are returning customers, visitors new prospective clients, pastors the CEO’s. This creates many problems with the most glaring being God becoming the product. Not at all the way God intended. God is not a commodity. This also produces a concept of unity based on corporate organization.”

God does not run a corporation, He runs a family. In Gods word He always related to His people from a family perspective. He will not operate inside a man-made corporate structure. He does not conform to our ideas. We must conform to His. If we are going to find His reality we must do things His way.

I do not want to sound anti-corporate. I went to business school and actually enjoyed it. I read the Wall Street journal almost everyday. Nothing like an interesting merger story. I am also very active in running a business. I enjoy business and the corporate world. It has its place but not in the church. We either operate as a family or as a corporation.

If we continue to operate from the perspective of a corporation we will continue to commoditize God. He will be the product that we must market to attract new customers. We will continue to be rife with division and unity of the Spirit will be far from our gates. We will be irrelevant to those who need the gospel. There will be continued competition with other churches for customers (new members). It’s dog eat dog in the corporate world. After all, you know the saying when one company destroys another “it’s just business”. Onward Church Inc.

Here is how ingrained this is in the church. What do we call it when people are looking for a new church? “Shopping for a church”. Shopping? We shop as consumers for products. We should not be shopping for a church but looking for a family to connect with in genuine relationships lead by the Spirit of God. It’s just too easy when church is a consumer item to throw it out and get another one.

How are pastors typically brought into a church? They are hired. Interviewed and hired just like a corporate job. Instead of pastors being raised up within the family, we have search committees. If hired this way, they can also be fired this way.

Ministry as a corporate career as opposed to a calling has caused some serious problems within the body of Christ. Many pastors try to balance factions within a church so they don’t lose their job. After all, they were hired by the power brokers. This is wrong for a pastor to do. But it is also wrong for congregations to put pastors and their families in that position. This leads to division, compromise and some politics that make our current national political landscape look tame. Church Inc. marches onward.

The above are just a few examples of Church Inc. If we want the church to flourish and get in line with the kingdom, the system must come down. It is a diabolical system that is destroying us from the inside out. We must open ourselves up to the Spirit of God and find what it means to be a family. We must be willing to leave our man-made structures behind and step into the unity of the Spirit. Imagine with me what things could be like if we did.