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Is the Church an Institution?

Have you ever heard the phrase, “blood bought institution?” If you were brought up in the church and are thirty to forty years old, you are probably familiar with it. Some of you may have heard of it but have no idea what is meant by it. Most of you who were raised in the church and are sixty and older are very familiar with it because you heard it often as it was used when referring to Acts 20:28. This passage mentions that the church was purchased with the blood of Christ. Now, we have heard the church referred to as a blood bought institution but where in this text is the word “institution?” It is not in the text, is it? I suggest to you that it is a product of our times.

Every one of us is a product of the industrial world that has been created by the industrial revolution. The pre-industrial revolution world did not have industrial concepts but used the personal touch of hand craftsmanship. Each artisan understood his product, the materials, and the steps toward producing the product. He or she had creativity and personal skills to produce something and it required their personal involvement to complete the product.

By contrast, a product of industry depends on the knowledge of management. A laborer does not have to possess creative skills, he does not have to understand the materials being used, and he does not have to know how to produce the product. All he has to know is how to perform his job well. This is the point: In the pre-industrial world, our concept of institution did not even exist. After the industrial world existed, the institution was life’s common reality. Now our economic world is marrying skilled, creative jobs to institutional structures of owners, directors, and management teams. This concept is the foundation of our thinking. When we think about any body of people working together to accomplish something, we use our institutional concepts. Therefore, because the church is a body of people working together to accomplish God’s purposes, we assume it is an institution. The institutional concept perceives the owner as God, Jesus as the C.E.O., the elders as the board of directors, the deacons as a management team, and the members as the labor force. All reasoning about the church begins with that assumption in place and unchallenged. The concept affects how we think the church should be led and directed and how it does certain things. It also effects how we measure success in the church.

The institution of today and the nation of Israel in the Bible have something in common: both used a hierarchy. Judaism’s hierarchy starts with God and proceeds to the high priest, priests, Levites, Israelite man, and Israelite woman. Problems had to proceed through proper channels of that hierarchy. Typical government in the ancient world also had a hierarchy: king, his counselors or advisors, his officers in charge of specific assignments, the citizen (who existed to serve the king), and slaves (the work force). Just as we naturally think in institutional terms, first century people naturally thought in hierarchal terms. Both the institutional concept and the Hierarchal concept share some common concerns: who has the power? who is in control? who has the right to make decisions and enforce them? and who is going to do the work? In the church, we commonly combine both concepts: we function as a church based on hierarchy and institution. We theoretically vest power in the elders. Too often, the issue is not what scripture actually says. The real issue is control and power struggles. Control is an issue in an institution and because the church is viewed as an institution, control becomes an issue.

Yet, the first century church was set in place before the industrial revolution and the only hierarchy is Christ as its head. Jesus taught that there is only one master or Lord and “ye are all brethren.” When one examines the book of Acts, the first congregation (1)“devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread (Lord’s Supper), and prayer” (2:42), (2) shared their possessions and provided financial assistance to those who were in need (2:44-45), (3) met everyday and ate meals together in their homes (2:46), (4) praised God and had “favor with all the people” (2:47), (5) had souls added to their number as they were being saved (2:47), (6) were of one heart and soul and regarded their possessions as common property (4:32), (7) was not in need (4:34), (8) and was persecuted (8:1). Do these sound like the activities of an institution? Acts 8:3 states that Paul ravaged the church by making a house to house search, entering the private homes of Christians, and dragging them out of their homes and taking them to prison. Acts 9:31 tell us that Christians in Jerusalem helped Paul return home to Tarsus because his life was in danger. When Paul left, the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, was built up, and—in the fear of the Lord and comfort of the Holy Spirit—continued to grow in number. Acts 11:22 tell us that news about a new congregation in Antioch of Syria “reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem.” Acts 11:26 states that Paul and Barnabas spent an entire year in Antioch meeting with the church and teaching considerable numbers; Acts 12:1 states that Herod the king arrested “some who belonged to the church” and mistreated them. Verse 5 says that the church prayed fervently for Peter when he was arrested. Acts 13:1, 2 states that at Antioch in the church there were prophets and teachers who ministered to the Lord and fasted. Acts 14:23,27 informs us that Paul and Barnabas appointed elders “for them in every church” and gathered the church together in Antioch to give them a report—they were the church whether gathered or un-gathered. Acts 15 states that Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem by the church and were received by the church in Jerusalem (v.3-4), that the decision to send letters to Gentile congregations about a controversial doctrinal decision was made by the apostles, elders, and the whole church (v.22), and that Paul and Silas traveled through the areas of Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches (v.41). Does the collective evidence of those scriptures support the idea that the church is an institution? The evidence confirms that the church is a community, a community that places its faith in Jesus, that exists in the love of God, and that loves and cares for all community members as they seek to share Jesus with others.

I ask you to seriously consider this: is it possible that one of the reasons the church continues to experience so many problems is because we are trying to force what God designed to exist and function as a community to exist and function like an institution?