Organizations

The problem with organizations is that they get....well, they get organized.  Actually, they have no other choice.  Like a barking dog, an organization that gets organized is just doing what it is supposed to do.  But, just as a dog can bark too much, so it seems that organizations can sometimes get too organized.  A baseball league for children can become so full of rules and provisions that children playing baseball becomes a secondary matter.  The primary issue is keeping the organized program going forward.  The church also struggles with those kinds of issues.  It can come to a place where the organization no longer is a servant of the church, but its master.

 

I wonder if Jesus ever figured this would happen when He talked about two or three gathering in His name.  Sometimes I think that He must be scratching His sacred head and looking in amazement at what folks like you and me and some others can do with something put in place by Him.  It often seems that the church today is not so much a spiritual movement as it is a well greased machine demanding more and more of our time, energy, and money to keep it running.  Maybe in the beginning the Holy Spirit was enough to energize the church, but everyone knows that today's church cannot run on the Holy Spirit alone.  It needs to be organized to the max in order to be effective in today's world.

Or, does it?  Is it simply a ridiculous idea that the church does not need all this smothering organization?  Could it possibly operate without all the power leaders grasp for themselves?  Does the Sunday offering have to be the most important moment in worship?  The problem with organizations is that they can take a life all their own.  What one of us would say this is not happening to what we know as the organized church?  Is simplicity even an option any more?  Is there any hope for a Martin Luther like Reformation to sweep the church again?  A favorite anthem sings, "Come, Holy Spirit, revive the church today."   Yes, and quickly, Lord.  Quickly.