October 30, 2008
Pulse of the Church
Even though we’re one body in Christ, the blood pressure of individual churches varies. From the outside looking in, it appears that some of our local churches are clotting, while others are bleeding out. Many people think their church has a strong heart beat, when in reality, it maybe just their membership bouncing back and forth like a ping pong ball from one congregation to another. Aren’t we all guilty of diagnosing the health of our churches by the number of people who attend? You’ve got to admit it’s a weird way to measure the Holy Spirit.
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Gail;
-----Willy is my 1959 Willys pickup. I always get a kick out of folks’ reactions when they take a gander inside passenger compartment. “Gee! It sure has a lot of gauges!” Well, Willy didn’t come that way. In fact, none of the original gauges confined within the speedometer dial work, as does not the speedometer itself, nor the odometer. But that’s ok. The other instruments serve more relevant information as to the health and welfare of Willy’s little Super Hurricane six. The most apparent one to the driver’s glance is the vacuum gauge. It registers how much vacuum is present under the carburetor. Above and to the right is the tachometer that registers how fast the engine is running. Below these is the critical oil pressure gauge. To the right of the original speedometer cluster is an ammeter to indicate how much electrical load is on the system and whether it comes from the alternator or the battery. Below and to the right of it is the voltmeter indicating the battery and alternator conditions. Under them is an empty hole for a transmission temperature gauge which has made it no further out of my dream world than that . Hidden from the sight to all but the driver, down by the left knee, is the water temperature gauge.
-----Apparent from the positioning of the gauges, the one I most watch is the vacuum gauge. After driving with it for several years, I can really estimate how much vacuum is in the manifold by comparing the engine sound to the engine speed. But it is easier to just look and see. As you point out, it also seems to be the most used measure in today’s church - how much vacuum is present in the empty pews. Also, as you point out, unlike the other five gauges present in Willy, and more like the missing gauge, there are critical measures of the church engine not being taken. The Holy Spirit gave us manifold functions in the Lord’s body and described them in the Word. They are things like kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, respect and honor, consideration, generosity, etc. Maybe with the exception of faithfulness and generosity, these functions indeed have empty holes in the leadership’s dashboard available for the missing gauges.
-----Not only is this condition troubling for our contemporary churches in spiritual distress, but the totally useful vacuum gauge seems to be misconnected. The leadership apparently has only enough spiritual acumen to attach that gauge to the emptiness of the pews. It has not realized it should more importantly be attached to the manifold natures of the new life which should be circulating amongst the individuals expected to fill the empty pews. A quick reading of the various baby books used by the contemporary leaders reveals the source of the vacuum in new life natures as being a scriptural vacuum in the philosophy of the movement.
Love,
Steve Corey
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