In A Testament to Freedom Dietrich Bonhoeffer says:

The church is established in reality in and through Christ, not in such a way that we can think of the church without Christ himself, but he himself “is” the church.

This quote has me thinking. Can my church exist without Jesus? Or, maybe a better way to phrase it, is Jesus at the center of everything that we do?

It seems like the implications here are huge. It’s the basic difference between religiosity and relationship. A religious country club to hang out in, or a growing, dynamic experience with the creator of the universe. There is no middle ground.

I think this is a good question because initially every “good Christian” is going to say, “yes, Jesus is the foundation of our church, that’s why we sing songs, listen to sermons, and have children’s church.” Some of you will be tempted to think, “my church teaches the Bible, the word of God; of course we are centered on Jesus because Jesus is the Word.” But seriously, is He always the foundation for everything you do?

I think the reality of the presence of Jesus has slipped out of their collective consciousness of many churches. And, without even realizing it they have jumped off the tracks that lead to Jesus and are faithfully (and fool-heartedly) trucking down the tracks of religion that lead nowhere, or worse, that lead to hell.

A few questions are in order to help us evaluate where our church is at:

1. Is Jesus central to all our teaching?
   It is one thing to break down a text line by line, it is another thing so do that and relate the text to Jesus and the gospel message.
2. Do the people in your church connect with Jesus relationally?
   Do the people in the church talk to Him and hear from Him? Are they actively learning new things in their spiritual life? Do they talk about what Jesus is teaching them? Can you see continual renewal and change in them? How about yourself?
3. Does your church do programs for programs’ sake?
   It’s not good enough to have a good program. A program is only good when Jesus leads a church to it, and then the program must continually focus itself on following Jesus. We can do Visitation all day long, but if Jesus hasn’t led us to do it and He’s not in it, it’s worthless.
4. Is your church in a rut?
   I’m convinced that Jesus doesn’t live, or hang out, in a rut. So, if you are going to a church that is in a rut, it’s likely that the church has lost site of Jesus.

This was a tough post. Deep and whatnot. Tomorrow’s will be on an encouraging note…so stay tuned…