Faith &
Leadership, an online educational resource associated with Duke Divinity
School, recently interviewed former bishop and New Testament professor N. T.
Wright on his ministry both within the church and academia. In this interview,
N. T. Wright claims that the church, while necessarily institutional, is first
and foremost a community. However, “the institution is like the scaffolding
that you need to be working on the building.” He then likens institutions to
plumbing: “When you go into a friend’s house, you don’t expect to see the
plumbing, but you need to know that it’s working, because if it’s not, fairly
soon there’ll be a bad smell in the house.” Wright admits that institutions
often feel binding, but kingdom principles should guide how people are treated
at every level of the organization. In this way “the mission of the church can
go forward.”
Wright also says
that we in the Western world have “a kind of
romantic idyll, that if only we were really plugged in you wouldn’t have to
have any organization. There wouldn’t be any overheads, any administration.
There will always be things that need to be handled structurally, and it’s not
then a question of Spirit or structure. It is good structure or bad structure.”
I agree wholeheartedly with Wright that institutions happen naturally to any
community and should be worked on. Those of us who want to go back to a
pre-institutional form of Christianity will be disappointed, for even the early
church had leadership structures (i.e. the council of Jerusalem).
Wes, I completely agree with you that community brings forth structure of some kind. I like how N.T. gave us the plumbing analogy. It is amazing to think of the many behind the scenes works that go on in order for the “show” to go on. I would argue that even “non-institutional” churches have plumbing to hold them together. A good example is money, as soon as it gets involved at any level there needs to be responsibilities. There are tax issues, building and property payments, parking spaces, instruments in worship, electricity etc… On top of that, even if the church meets in house, there would be financial obligations to the host family. Who stands up to preach, teach, or call service to order if there is no institutional plumbing at some level? This article has hit me real hard because I have been frustrated with the Methodist institution that I serve in. This article and your piece have helped me to realize that the grass is not greener on the other side. In other ways, institutional organization broadens the scope of leadership to a more balanced medium, in that many more voices can be heard. Thanks for your post.
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