I love the Church I serve. I love being a minister. I’ve been at the Church I serve 20 years this year. I am convinced that a connection to the Church and one’s attendance on Word and Sacrament are necessary for sanctification in the Christian life. I love the people I serve and pray for them and minister Christ to them regularly. However, having said that, I want to be and I want them to be on guard against loving the Church inordinately.
As such, I want to raise a warning that it is possible that there may be those who are practicing Church-olatry (Worship of the Church). The following are possible signs that we have begun worshiping the Church rather than attending the Church to worship.
1.) We think that whenever the doors are open we have to be present.
One of the Changes of the Reformation was to reduce the time laity spent in the Church building. In the Medieval age the Church was open for Matins, Vespers, Masses, canonical hours, confessional, etc. It was thought that the more time one spent in the Church the better Christian one was. The Reformation changed all that with the understanding that all of life could be lived unto the glory of God. The Reformation actually reduced the time one spent in Church.
Certainly Worship should be attended but the idea that members have to be present for every single function of the Church suggests that the Church may be seeking to replace the role of the Family as the institution responsible for the rearing and raising of children.
2.) We keep attending a Church even though we know the Church refuses to challenge a pagan culture
Worshiping the Church can be seen by the fact that often people who know better will keep attending a Church even though there is a refusal to challenge worldliness. For example, people remain though youth groups are prioritized over family. People remain though no teachings are heard against the sin of causing little children to stumble by placing them, for hours a day, in institutions that catechize them into a false religion. People remain though no teachings are heard warning about the child centered family. The Reformed antithesis is not drawn over against theologies alien to the Covenant Reformed faith.
3.) We keep attending even though there is an attempt to use false guilt to involve us in certain behavior patterns
Teachings are given where members are told that God expects them to do “X,” “Y,” or “Z” with little or no Scriptural support to sustain the appeal. Often times Scripture is taken out of context in order to support some kind of hobby horse of the ministerial staff.
4.) We keep attending even though the leadership is not Covenantal Reformed
If we are in a Reformed Church we should expect Covenant Reformed leadership in the lay Elders elected. We should expect that the pulpit is not turned over to those who are not Covenant Reformed. We should expect that conferences are not organized where Arminians are invited to speak as headliners.
5.) We keep attending even though the Church doesn’t appreciate how central the family is in God’s economy
We get teachings that suggest that the Church is more important than the family and should be prioritized over the family when in God’s economy both the Family and the Church are equally ultimate, each in their proper sphere. There is little or no sympathy of the Parent’s desire to protect the children from bad teaching in Sunday School or Youth Group precisely because there is little or no understanding that the teaching in Sunday School and Youth group is unwholesome.
6.) We keep attending even though the Leadership does not manage their own household well.
There is, among some or all of the leadership, children of varying ages who are out of control or who have repudiated or redefined the Christian faith. Yet despite that the Leadership is allowed to continue in leadership positions. Children are allowed to be “salty” to their Elders showing little or no respect.
7.) We keep attending though the Church is antinomian
There is a refusal to understand that for Christians there is a harmony between Law and Gospel. As such there is a constant warning about falling into “legalism” whenever any member suggests that the standard of God should be applied. As such there is a bent towards antinomianism in the Church.
By all means, let us enjoy and treasure our Churches. Let us celebrate the gift they are. Let us pour out our lives and hearts into ministering to God’s people — including God’s people who also happen to be our children. Finally, let us realize that just as we are not perfect so our Churches will not be perfect, and so let us be patient. However, in doing so, let us also be mindful of the necessity to properly prioritize our own family, remembering God’s word that “He who does not provide for his own family is worse than an infidel.” Let us beware the danger of falling into Ecclesiolatry.
