Institution or Kingdom?

What is a church?  It is a group of people that God has brought together, it is the body of Christ, and it is a place to worship and serve God.  Churches come in all styles and sizes, and each congregation has a unique witness and identity.  If one church tries to be “just like” another church, there’s bound to be disappointment and frustration.

But no matter what you think of our church (or of any other church), you need to make a fundamental choice about its nature:

Is the church an institution or a kingdom?

When we think of the church primarily as an institution, our focus centers upon issues that we find in other organizations.  We pay attention to the church’s resources: its finances, its building, and its officers and membership.  We want to be stable or growing, with a healthy budget, well-maintained facilities, capable leaders, and increasing attendance.  We look to the long-term health of the church: will it continue to exist in the future?  Do we have all the pieces in place that it takes for the church as an organization to continue to exist?  If we do, then we’re a successful church.

When we think of the church as a kingdom, however, we pay attention to other factors.  By calling the church a kingdom, we recognize that there is a King who is in control of the church.  We are the citizens of the kingdom and subject of the King, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Our role as citizens and subjects is to do our King’s will.  We trust that he sets plans in place and equips us with resources to fulfill them.  When we follow those plans and use those resources to fulfill his purposes, then we’re a successful church.

If you get an “itch” that things aren’t going right in church, the itch you feel depends upon your view of the church.  If you think of it primarily as an institution, then you start to itch if you think that it doesn’t have enough money or people or whatever else to remain viable.  But if you think of the church primarily as a kingdom, you get an itch when you think that the church isn’t fulfilling its purpose in God’s program.

It’s popular for many people to say that they don’t like “organized religion,” perhaps because they’ve been in contact with too many churches that viewed themselves primarily as institutions.  These are the churches that ask for people to give more money, attend more functions, and serve on more committees in order to keep the church going.  Institutionally-focused churches leave people cold because they become simply another demand upon busy people, without offering much in return.

There will always be an institutional aspect to the church.  We can’t fulfill the mission that God gives us if we can’t pay the bills and if we don’t have anyone willing to do the work.  But when the church is a kingdom, all these things serve the greater purpose of doing the work of God in our community.