Leaving the IC

Lots of people seem to be blogging about the book Revolution, by Barna. I'm gonna take a risk by making a strong reply, here, to some of the things I've read. (I haven't read the book yet; it was sold out yesterday, at one nearby store.) The gist of the book is that lots of people are reportedly leaving the IC ("institutional church") and that lots and lots more are expected to leave. I read one pastor's blog that urged people to "stay faithful to the institution".

Whaaat? I'm sorry, but at the risk of sounding plain here, we are called to be faithful to One alone. How on earth could any preacher tell believers any other thing? (Why do pastors seem to trust God's people so little?) Let them stay. Let them go. Only, fulfill the calling on your life to proclaim JESUS CHRIST and remind people that their spirit is free to follow JESUS CHRIST and HIM alone!

Oh, but you've seen people go that way? Oh, so you know what the risks and the dangers are? Well, so do I! I've heard about all of them, and lived through most of them here "on the outside". We did fine. Yeah, people tell horror stories about getting involved in intimate little house churhes... well, people tell horror stories about the IC, too. People are fallen. The mode doesn't matter. So 'danger and risks' shouldn't stop people, imho.

"But how will they know what to do? Who will teach them?" Okay. I know that tons of the people now leaving the IC seem hopeless, hapless and helpless! Lord only knows what crazy ideas for the right way to "church" we'll be reading online in the next years! But ignorance, idealism and inexperience do NOT change the fact that these people are probably (at least really trying to be) FOLLOWING JESUS CHRIST! If HE calls a person to stay, let them stay. If HE calls a person to leave, let them leave. But above all, for God's sake - and I mean that literally - for His sake, let His people be free to FOLLOW HIM!!!

(sigh) ... sadly, I'm quite confident that men will not stop finding new ways to cajole, control and compell and convince other christians that they should be faithful to "the institution". (Surely, many men leaving will start things which they themselves, in two or twenty years, will be trying to convince other people not to leave!) Now, I believe in leadership, and sharing the direction that the Holy Spirit brings inside of you; (actually, I believe it so much that I believe it takes an entire church where everyone "leads" to do it effectively); but I do NOT understand how men keep their consciences clear when fighting so hard to keep people IN anything. Have they never heard of Gamaliel?

I believe it was May of 33 AD, when the Council of the Sanhedrin took Peter and John, whipped and beat them, and commanded them not to keep preaching this NAME to their people! Then Gamaliel, one of the council, said: "Let's let them be. If their movement is not of God, it will die on it's own. But if their movement is being supported by God, how can we stand against it?"

I only have one problem with preachers: they do everything. The main "revolution" that I think we need is for the idea called "the priesthood of the believer" to become "the priesthood of the believers"... and for it to become less of an idea, and more of a practical reality.

All that said... I'm NOT asking anyone to REVOLT! I don't know what Barna means... but I know the word, "revolution". It means "change". It means "turning" away from the old, to something new. It often means doing so even when powerful people tell you not to! But it doesn't have to mean war. It doesn't require being mean or ugly. You don't have to shoot someone else down, in order to "revolt" from their laws... you just have to leave, and find a new place, and find a new way to do... whatever it is that you think you're supposed to be doing!!! (?)

Stay or go. Just follow your Lord!

If the cynics are right about this trendy exodus, then "revolution" might simply mean "cycle". I'm guessing a lot of those leaving will go back again. Some of the Jews who left Babylon got back to Israel, found it was too hard, and went back to Babylon again... but NOT me, by the way! I say, to #e!! with Babylon! But I'm only speaking for myself! :)

I say, if preachers really feel like they're following the Lord in their jobs, let them keep doing it. And preachers, if your people really feel like they need to seek greener pastures outside of the IC, let them do it. But don't tell them to stay faithful to the "institution".

Tell them to stay faithful to HIM. Then trust them to do that. And trust HIM to catch them if they fall. And HE is able... to make all of us stand.