The Church Needs True Repentance and Rededication

         Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law, Dallas

As described in second chapter of Acts the New Testament Church was born in a dramatic display of spiritual power, which sealed its divine origin and produced a dynamic witnessing community of believers. The community of believers multiplied as the power of God was evidenced by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The disciples of Jesus Christ were filled with zeal. The sermons of the apostles proclaimed Christ and His resurrection. The living Jesus Christ and the power of the His resurrection ignited the earlier Christian Church in its quest of spreading the word of God.

Nearly 2000 years later the question being asked is this: do Christians still band together as a community of believers bonded by love, lead by the Holy Spirit and united in their endeavors as they did in the first century? In Ephesians 2: 19-22 Paul wrote: “ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Paul gives us a clear historical foundation for the Church. He traces the Christian heritage, the roots to which every believer is connected, to the New Testament community of believers.

 In 1 John 4: 7-9 it says: “We are enabled to love one another through Jesus Christ.” In Galatians 5: 22-23 it says: Christians are different because Christ lives in them. We the Marthomites claim the heritage of St. Thomas and eastern traditions, its culture and values to claim a unique and separate identity for itself from other churches. Our efforts, so far, in trying to pass this on to our younger generation have been unsuccessful. For Christians being the children of God, it is not the identity through its origin, nationality or race which makes them unique, but it must be always be the love of God that should transgress through us to others.

 The Church is people, a living entity, not a corporate body. The church is not building or a structure. The Church is also not a multinational institutional conglomerate. This does not mean that the people of God should not be organized or that no formal structure should exist. But, the Church should never forget that it is composed of people, special people, the people of God. Unfortunately, in this materialistic society, people of God have often been over looked, forgotten and even neglected and abused by the corporate institution of the Church. There are now man-made categories and hierarchies of people in the Church, the religious proletariats and bourgeoisies.

 Jesus’ disciples used the Greek word “ekklesia” to refer to the Church. The original meaning of this word means an assembly. But it refers to the people of God whether they are assembled or not. Some define Church as people ‘called out of the world.’ The fact that Christians are ‘called out’ is biblically correct, but the word ‘ekklesia’ may be better translated as “called together.” So the members of the New Testament Church themselves are called together, chosen people, the people of God. They were the people of God at all times, and not just when they were assembled together for worship services. We pretend that we are God’s chosen people only when we are inside the sanctuary and not outside.

 What is the challenge for the Christians today? We must share the love that dwells within us by Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ’s commission to the Church in Mathew 28: 19-20 clearly identifies the Christian responsibility to proclaim the Gospel: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Sprit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” This challenge to adhere to New Testament teachings and the responsibility to make disciples applies to all of us as a Church. Jesus promises to be with us and live his life in us, strengthening and empowering us: verse 20 says “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the ages.”

 It happened on the road to Jerusalem when Jesus’s disciples wouldn’t let the blind men come to Christ. It happens today when a Church spends more time discussing the style of its sanctuaries than it does for the needs of the hungry; it happens when the brightest minds of the Church occupy themselves in prosaic controversies rather than biblical truths; it happens when a Church is known more for its stance on an issue than its reliance upon God. In our worship services many times our words falter. Many times our music suffers. Many times our worship is less than what we want it to be. When we ride on the steeds of chariots by building architectural monuments spending millions of dollars for our sanctuary, remember God uses tinny seeds to reap great harvests. It is on the back of donkeys Jesus rides – not steeds of Chariots – just simple donkeys to convey His message of love and glory.

 In Mathew 21:13 it says: “My temple will be called a house for prayer. But you are changing in into a ‘hideout for robbers.’ “It is sad but true fact of the faith: Church is used for profit, position and prestige by the so called believers: people are exploited and God is infuriated. Church is getting in the way of people who want to see him. Church exploits people in the name of God. Religious hucksters poke the fire of divine wrath.  They build more fences than they build faith. Max Lucado writes: “The religious hucksters have stained the reputation of Church. They have muddied the altars and shattered the stained glasses. They stripmine faith to get a dollar and rape the pew to get a payment. Our master unveiled their scams and so must we.”

 Compare our churches to the Laodicean church. They were wealthy and self sufficient as we are now. There are parishes built spending millions of dollars, and spending more than $25,000 - $30,000 to maintain the same per month. Yes, we are wealthy and self sufficient, but we have hollow, fruitless faith. The message of the fig tree given by Jesus on His way to Jerusalem is not for all of us to have the same fruit. The message is to have some fruit. We have faith in religion, faith in the Church, but not in God. What angered Jesus during his last week was not apostles’ confusion, not for the people’s demands, not for being questioned by the Pilate or when whipped by soldiers. But what made him angry was two faced faith: religion used for profit and religion used for prestige, and he could not tolerate these attitude.

 Jesus lives in the midst of the forgotten and marginalized people. He has taken up residence in the ignored. He made a dwelling amidst the sick. But the Church now lives with the affluent and the wealthy and taken residence with haves, and made mansion among the richest. Pilate thought he could avoid making a choice. He washed his hands of Jesus. He climbed on the fence and sat down. But it is not about making a choice. Pilate made a choice. Rather than asking for God’s grace, he asked for disgrace. Rather than inviting Jesus to stay, he sent Him away. Rather than hearing Jesus’ voice, he heard the voice of people. When we spend million of dollars to build sanctuaries, our church is doing the same, not asking for grace, making wrong choices, listening to wrong voices, and turning away the forgotten. Jesus denounced hollow religion through his final walk through the temple of Jerusalem. We need to invite Jesus to walk through our sanctuaries, our general body and committee meetings, our bake sales, raffles, and our feasts.

 We too make choices at the foot of Cross. We compete for recognition, big Church buildings, well furnished parish halls, wedding receptions, and even funerals. We scramble for status by inscribing our names on the doors, walls, pews, and floors of our sanctuaries. How many Sundays have been wasted at the pulpits for spreading personal grudge and agenda? How many parishes have witnessed physical fights between believers caused due to selfish motives? How many pews and alters have been wet with the tears of believers who experienced bitterness of their own brethren?  We find pleasure in hurting others by our words. We disagree violently and split on simple things, and then split again.  We are so close to the cross but far from the Jesus.

 Legend is that Pilate’s wife became a believer, and Pilate’s eternal home is a lake where he daily surfaces, still plunging his hands into the water seeking forgiveness. He is trying to wash away his guilt… not for the evil he did, but for the kindness he didn’t do. When people are forestalled to access to Jesus by those pretending to be close to him, the result is empty, hollow and ugly Church. So we need to turn to God, seek forgiveness not for the evil what we are doing or spreading, but for the kindness we are not sharing with others. So let us nurture love, have concern for others, do well to our brothers and sisters, share and care those who need out help, which is essential characteristic of the Church. So let us repent, re-dedicate ourselves as a Church so that our parishes bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control as stated in Galatians 5:22-23. The Church should repent for not being the "salt and light" it should have been, for allowing the forces of darkness to rule us, by our own default. The Church should ask for God’s grace to replace our faith in Jesus Christ through sharing the love of God by re-dedicating ourselves so that we can be the light for others, rather than cursing the darkness. We should be grateful to our Metropolitan and the Synod for declaring 2004 as a special year of repentance and rededication for our church.