Church: Where God Does His Amazing Work
Part 2 Ordinary by Michael Horton
“How was church this morning?” It’s such a normal question
for us to ask. But what do we mean when we ask it? How was the sermon? Was the
music up to scratch? Did you have any good conversations?
What is the measure by which we answer that question? For
past generations, it may have been a baffling and unlikely question, as Michael
Horton points out in Chapter Three of Ordinary: their understanding of church,
and their expectations of what they would ‘get out of it’, were most likely
substantially different. I wonder how many of us 21st century Christians
have struggled with dissatisfaction with church? I’d hazard a guess it would be
a fair percentage of us. I’ve known a number of people who have moved on from
gospel-centred, loving churches because of an indefinable dissatisfaction – “there’s
nothing wrong with the church per se, I’m just not growing here, so I should
try somewhere else”. It wasn’t that these people were superficial Christians
with a consumer attitude to church – far from it. At the time I hardly blamed
them. I wonder now, though, if a mindset of waiting for ‘the next big thing’ was
underlying their frustration. It’s a mindset I can recognise not just in others
but in myself - an impatience with the ordinary means of grace that God has
provided through the ordinary local church.
It has been fascinating to read
Horton’s thesis that the culture of revivalism, which was so significant in the
development of the evangelical church in the US, has contributed to an expectation
that something thrilling should always be happening, whenever we meet together.
The point could be made that this is peculiar to American churches; obviously
the evangelical church in Australia has had a different set of stories. But I
think for Sydney evangelicals at least, perhaps that expectation centres on
the idea of remarkable Bible teaching. Brought up on a diet of big conference
events with gifted Bible teachers expounding God’s Word in an engaging and
powerful way, might we start to believe that those less talented servants who
teach the Bible to us week in, week out at our Sunday services are seriously lacking?
We see their lack of giftedness as their problem and critique their sermons
after church, bemoaning why they can’t use better illustrations or hold our
attention with their ‘wise and persuasive words’. Horton argues, however, that
the age of apostleship is over. What our leaders should now be doing is simply
passing on the baton, keeping the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ at the
centre, sticking to the truth of his Word and faithfully seeking to shepherd
the people under their care in their walk with Him. In doing this, they may not
be glorifying themselves, but they are certainly glorifying Him.
It reminds me of the passage (1 Kings 19) where Elijah runs
away from Jezebel and falls into complete despair, and God speaks to Him, not
through the earthquake or the fire, but in a still, small voice. He reminds Him
that although things look dire, He Himself is still at work in ways that Elijah
doesn’t even know about (vs18). We just get so caught up in what we have to do
– we imagine that we have to be extraordinary for God to be able to work. No,
He is extraordinary, and He is doing extraordinary work, but we just need to do
what we’re told! I found Horton’s standpoint on the benefits of traditional
church structures very biblically grounded and wise in view of the dangers of charismatic
individuals setting themselves up as leaders who provide an ongoing
‘mountaintop’ experience in the Christian journey. Even putting aside the issue
of false teaching, I wonder what happens to the faith of those under their care
when that leader is no longer around, or when times of testing or just plain
boredom come. Will their faith in Christ (as opposed to their faith in their
pastor) be mature enough to enable them to stand firm? It is making me very thankful for my ordinary,
faithful community of believers, with our elders and pastors serving in
unspectacular ways to enable the everyday ministry of the gospel to continue,
as God does His amazing work.
About this month's contributor, Kristen Butchatsky