humanitarian or corporate: which are you?

Churches come in many forms: big, small, huge, tiny, household, citywide, young, old, rich, poor - and the list goes on ad infinitum. I have observed, however, that churches, and Christians, can all be divided into one of two major groups: humanitarian or corporate. Distressingly, I'm afraid the religious world has been trending toward the corporate side of the spectrum for the past two or three decades. Please let me explain.

The corporate church is the one that is consumed with legalism, worldliness, politics, money, possessions, prestige and power - oh yes, power! I have been associated and affiliated with many corporate churches. These churches and Christians talk about goals in concrete terms like buildings, buses, programs, budgets, parsonages, election of leaders, etc. Worship for the corporate church is the centerpiece of its being. Much of the discussion in corporate churches revolves around things seen like the worship order and the proper way to do certain things within worship. Their preachers and leaders provide a perpetual stream of programs, gimmicks, drives, special assemblies to enhance and expand their assembly. They pour millions of dollars, almost invariably referred to "the Lord's money" into missions, orphans homes, colleges, preachers' schools, hospitals, summer camps, etc. Sometimes we need to be reminded that John said the world and everything in it is going to burn down!

The church that follows the humanitarian model on the other hand sees all these things as incidental to the mission of the real church: saving the lost by giving them the Gospel. They are focused on their fellow humans, saved and unsaved, and how to serve them as Jesus did. Jesus said, in fact, that He came for a single purpose, to "seek and save the lost." That's it. That's all. No more, no less.

I would be foolish to suggest that we should not be good stewards of God's possessions with which He has entrusted us. We should be good stewards of the buildings, buses, etc. that we have at our disposal due to God's blessing. But if our goal is to get those things rather than letting them be given to us incidental to fulfilling the mission of preaching salvation, then we have become a corporate church.

Please understand that I am not denigrating churches that have beautiful sanctuaries, grounds, missions and all the other things. I applaud them if they have these things because God blessed them with their bounty incidental to them being wholly devoted to reaching the mass of lost humanity in the world today.

I fully expect that my church family has, and continues to receive, these things because our only concern is reaching the unsaved around us. The fastest, most accurate way to identify a corporate or humanitarian church or Christian is to watch them and determine if the things they have and do is their goal, or is what they have been given to them by God incidental to them having only the goal of reaching unsaved humanity with the message of Jesus.

I have known many miserable Christians. I have, myself, been one. Why? Because of failures in the material realm of buildings, buses, camps, programs, etc. to bring peace into their heart. God, however, has promised in Phil. 4:6ff that He will give me a peace that is so profound that I can't understand it. Why? Because in verse 4 of that same passage Paul said find my joy in Jesus. That's it. Jesus. The humanitarian church is composed of Christians who have only one thing that brings them happiness: Jesus. Everything else is just incidental.