Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. (1 Corinthians 3:1-2 NIV)
While still in Cincinnati, I worked with Bob Sloniger of the then CDEA to select a name: Life Bridge Christian Church. He challenged me to work hard through Scripture and prayer until a mission statement was formed: "Empower one more to walk together with God." A tag line was chosen as well: "Imagine life differently." Life Bridge would be a church that would help unchurched people imagine, and then live, a life walking together with God.
We worked with what God provided. It was a damp basement that used to be a parking garage and was filled with batting cages. We praised God, though, because we had a place to meet. It wasn't handicapped accessible and there was much work to do, but God was providing what we needed. Bob had seen a church down south that was a "coffeehouse" style, and that was something we could do with the space God had provided. So, Life Bridge became a "relaxed, coffehouse atmosphere" where someone could "imagine life differently." We were ready to reach new people with the love of God.
You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere human beings? (1 Corinthians 3:3-4 NIV)
At first it seemed wildly successful. We had 200 people on our opening day and attendance increased to an average of 250 on any given weekend by the end of one year. Finances ramped up as we had hoped and people seemed to be enjoying the new type of church. From a business perspective, the church was "performing" well. Our key indicators of attendance and offerings told us so. They didn't tell us, though, the real story that was happening.
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. (1 Corinthians 3:5 NIV)
It wasn't long after starting that it became obvious that we were not accomplishing what we thought. Unchurched people were not coming to Life Bridge. People were coming from other churches. They weren't attracted by the new life offered by God through Jesus. They were attracted to "imagining life differently" than their previous church. Over time, it became so popular of an idea that another denomination copied the concept and planted a church using a similar look and feel. Years later, people from within Life Bridge were so enamored with the church "performing well" that they left and planted their own church using the concepts they had learned. Church was a business in competition with other parts of the church.
When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he fought against this idea of "performance-based church," competition, and focusing on human leaders. He told them that this way of looking at church is all wrong. We still fight this mindset today. We may not call ourselves followers of Paul or Apollos, but we do claim to be followers of Luther, Calvin, Wesley, or the original Apostolic succession. Even non-denominational churches fall prey to following Stone or Campbell in our rallying cries. We not only follow these human teachers, but we make their teachings Gospel. Then we claim our local church body or denomination is better than the rest. Historically we even go so far as to say the others are going to hell because they are wrong. In the end, the Body of Christ becomes filled with dissensions, factions, and competition. The result is a church that communicates a mess to a broken world who needs God.
How about you? Do you see church in a performance-based mindset? Do you consider your group of Christianity to be the only right group? Do you work to move people out of other Christian groups into yours? Do you divide, rather than unite, the Body of Christ?
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