You’ve probably heard that old story of the sailors who encountered a man stranded on an island, alone, for many years.
The castaway was so delighted to see his rescuers, he gave them a tour of all he had accomplished during his time on the island. He showed them the home he built for himself and even the church where he would worship every Sunday.
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As the tour ended, the rescuers noticed a structure the castaway had not identified.
“Oh, that’s my old church,” he said.
They asked, “Your old church?”
He replied: “Yes, I just couldn’t attend there anymore. Those people don’t believe like I do.”
‘Fractured, consumeristic age’
In a fractured, consumeristic age, one of the great theological questions before the church is not only what Christians believe, but what it means for Christians to belong to one another.
It sometimes feels like Christians in the United States look for, and find, any and every reason to join another church. Depending on where you live, there is likely an endless variety of churches to sample.
Church planters often set out to reach the lost and unchurched in a community, only to find their churches filled with disenfranchised Christians looking for a place to land or those interested in tasting the newest flavor of the week.
Exploring doctrine
When I teach systematic theology to college students or to my church members, I express my observation there appears to be certain doctrines that capture the attention of the church for a period.
In those times, Christians explore together the depths, constraints, applications and margins of those doctrines. It is a process as tumultuous and painful as it sounds. But it is an important process, as the church responds to its times by stating as clearly as possible what it believes.
For instance, in the 20th century, many of the churches and denominations in the United States were exploring together the implications of pneumatology, or the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. You can see it in the birth of the Pentecostal movement, the charismatic movement, the worship wars and countless debates on how to know when the Holy Spirit is present and active.
How will the church reconcile the experiences of Christians with what is taught in Scripture regarding the Holy Spirit? What does that mean for the practice of the local church?
If I am right in my observation, then I suggest the 21st century will largely be focused on the issue of ecclesiology, or the doctrine of the church. This makes sense as our society becomes more fractured, causing people to feel threatened and disconnected.
Defining church
Technology exposes us to the opinions and fears of all the people of the world. Connections are made and severed at a dizzying pace online. In this reality, I think people will want to know where they belong, where they can feel safe, and to which tribe they belong.
Churches will have to answer hard questions. Who can lead us? How should we organize? Who can be a member of our church? Who cannot be a member? What does membership mean? What do the biblical metaphors used for the church — family and a body — mean in a society largely transient, consumeristic and individualistic?
Does this mean as churches answer these questions in their local contexts it is inevitable they will divide? Probably. It always has, to some degree. Especially among Baptists. Matters of scriptural interpretation, conscience and conviction have led to countless church splits and new starts, along with lesser causes, of course.
But I would say to any Christian who is looking for a place to land: There is hope and meaning in the local church. Hope is found in Jesus Christ, whom we believe will keep all his promises.
The church’s hopeful future
In John 17:22–23, Jesus prayed for the church: “The glory you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so the world may know you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
I experience what Jesus describes in my local church. Together, we are in Christ, members of his family and members of his body. The images are ripe with meaning. And Jesus promises his presence with us. We are one together with Christ.
While it is true some will decide they cannot remain as churches answer hard questions about who they are and what they believe, it is also true those who do remain may experience a deeper, Spirit-formed union in Christ.
The future for each local church emerges according to who is there and participating and how they all engage together with God’s word and God’s mission in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, the future of the local church will be determined by who shows up consistently and engages with the people and with the mission. Everything depends on how each individual understands Scripture, is shaped by the Spirit, and is committed to sharing life and serving those who are also part of the local church. That is hopeful to me.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Scott Jones and originally published by Baptist Standard.
