Would Jesus be part of today's church?

I heard a lesson last night that dealt with the top 5 things talked about in church today, and the top 5 needs of the world.

The top 5 church discussion starters were: 1) Money, 2) Worship style, 3) Salvation, 4) Love, and 5) Missions. They were some great topics that we talk about in church. From sermon series to Sunday School lessons to table talk after church- these 5 nail it on the head.

The top 5 Problems of the world that the same groups came up with were: 1)Food, 2) Water, 3) Shelter, 4) Poverty, 5) Pain. This has become extremely noticeable with the Haiti disaster.

The lesson ended with the leader asking the question- "Why aren't these the same? Jesus talked more about the problems of the world than the things we have listed on the church list."

This got me thinking: Would Jesus be part of today's church?
Or, would he call the church a whitewashed tomb (Matthew 23:27), pointing out our hypocrisy like leprosy?

In Luke 4:16-30, Jesus reads a passage from Isaiah to the "congregation". He says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has annointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

The crowd was shocked. It doesn't say this in Scripture, but if they were anything like the church today, they were probably expecting something (a) uplifting to the people there, (b) something about tithing, (c) something about God's love.
But Jesus pulls a right turn, and goes all missionary on them (missionary: v.- to speak on a Sunday in khakis, and an untucked flower shirt with a slide show from a mission trip in the background. To talk about doing something for someone else.) He tells them that He didn't come to make them feel good, or to plan the best Christmas musical, or to help in the building fund. He came to help those in need.

Question: Why does anyone go somewhere to help? Answer: Because the people there that can help aren't. This is in no way applies to salvation. But what it does mean is that it wasn't the first time that God ever said "do good things for others."

So Jesus came to help the poor, heal the sick, and bring freedom. We are supposed to be like Christ, after all- Christian means "Little Christ". So, as "Little Christs", we should do what Jesus did.

Did Jesus ever argue about service style?
Did Jesus ever say "We don't need outreach, if we just do a better service, people will come on their own"?
Did Jesus ever start a fight based on the decorations in the church (excluding the whole moneychangers incident)?

Did the pharisees?
That may have stung. I apologize. But what the church is doing right now is so like the Pharisees that we could substitute our names with theirs! How many Christians helped out with Haiti? A bunch. Awesome. How many non-Christians helped out with Haiti? A bunch. What does that mean- that is wasn't the Christian thing to do- it was the human thing to do.

How many people helped out with something seemingly insignificant, something that gave no personal recognition, no "good feeling" afterward? That is what we are called to do. We are not called to a feel good feeling, but to follow Christ.


I've jumped around alot to say this: If Christ was to come back right now, he would probably speak out against the church, just like he did the pharisees. I wish it weren't true, but the evidence is showing it right now.

We as Christians need to stop spending our time worrying about trivial church crap. The carpet, songs, instruments- all of that is meaningless if we are not advancing the Kingdom of God. The top 5 things talked about in church should be the Top 5 needs in the world. That is how we know we are following Christ. We have to go, we have to serve.