If These are the Pillars of the church, Its Time to Knock the House Down

Pillar: A tall cylindrical vertical upright and used to support a building or other structure.

In religious terms, the word 'pillar' is often used to describe a person within the organization ("the church") who has been in the "church" for a particularly long time and/or is a staunch supporter of the ideals of the congregation. Pillars usually enjoy a fair amount of influence, especially when it comes to the politics behind that generally define the denominational church's inner workings.

By 'politics' I mean this: In order to have any kind of say in what the typical denominational "church" does, what it stands for or what programs it offers, one must become a "member" of the "church" in order to receive the ability to vote on any of these things. Before one can become a "member" they usually are required to stand in front of the congregation and publicly commit to some kind of "church" creedo or agree to follow certain rules and uphold this or that.

By 'influence' I mean this: A pillar is usually one of these "members" and often has an inordinate ability to get what they want whenever a vote occurs on various issues that occur on a regular basis (i.e. whether or not to spend money on some new-fangled piece of technological wizardry or sell the antediluvian organ that has been gathering dust in the basement for a hundred years.) Another way that a pillar gains influence is by acting as a role model of sorts either by way of other members of the congregation who lift them into that position or by acting themselves as though they have won some kind of "Pentecostal Idol" competition.

Let us not forgot as well that there is power in numbers - a Pillar is rarely alone. It is not uncommon for an entire family to be the "pillars of the church", a scenario typified by the ability of someone to attend any random church event, throw a rock up into the air and have an extremely high probability of hitting someone from said family. This can also extend from family into cliques, and that is where the real fun begins.

A clique is very dangerous to the unity of the body because of the simply fact that a clique implies exclusivity, which is the opposite of inclusivity. If one can assume that inclusivity is necessary in order to have unity, then a clique is an extremely effective of shutting down unity. It goes beyond simply having a group of close friends that you hang out with all the time. I have one of those and it is a great thing. A clique is more like a social club that no one else is allowed to visit. Of course in a congregational setting, you can't really get away with overtly telling people to get lost (at least I certainly hope not), so a church clique does this in more subtle ways. Sure, they'll invite everyone to their prayer gatherings, worship services and dinner parties and maybe they'll even seem friendly for a little while. Until you do something that rubs their religious sensibilities the wrong way like say something controversial or wear too much (or too little) makeup, or have a foible of some kind. Then suddenly you find yourself wandering around in a daze seeing a lot of people's backs. But hey, we have a head office or a diocese to keep in mind - we can't let the inmates start running the asylum now can we?

So we come back to the pillars. As I said before, a pillar is something that we use to hold up a building or a structure. This could also be translated as "organization" or "institution". All of these words imply the putting up of walls, either to keep the bad people OUT of our "church", or perhaps to keep the good people IN?

So here is the question - what is the point of a ministry when revelation is replaced by church programs and submission to God is replaced by politics? How frightened should we be when a pastor's primary concern isn't leading his sheep to the place God has set out for them, but reporting to the organization about why he isn't meeting his goal for church membership and service attendance this month?

A pillar sounds great in theory, and as long as we keep the outside looking tall and strong - maybe slap on a new coat of paint every so often. But what happens when the insides are rotten? Eventually the ugly interior can no longer hide behind a new coat of paint, and the building threatens to topple. While the "faithful" rush to hold it up as if nothing at all were wrong, those who come truly seeking the face of God realize they aren't as safe as they thought they were, and they run for the hills.

What does the Bible tell us we are individuals, standing under the strength of personal virtue? Nothing. "God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. " (Ephesians 2:8-10)

What can we become as equal parts of the body of Christ? Everything. Conquerors. More than conquerors even. "..until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Ephesians 4:13-16)

We need to pull down the dividing walls and stop raising people up into pillars. Smash down the little building that is "our church" and let the light of day back in. Then maybe we'd have something worth calling the church.