Is Church as we know it CHURCH as God wants it?

This image reminds me of the little white church building where my family worshipped.  I grew up in a time when most of the people I knew went to church and church activities didn't have to compete with hobbies, sports and school activities.  In my family, singing in the church choir had a higher value than being in the school play. And little league baseball took a backseat to Vacation Bible School. And since grocery stores were closed on Sunday, grocery shopping had to happen on another day of the week. 

Life in the 50's in my little community was pretty uncomplicated. Neighbors looked out for each other, partisan politics didn't paralyze Washington, and drug addiction wasn't a national epidemic. It was a pretty good time to grow up, particularly if you were a middle-class white kid living in middle America.

On the other hand, if you were poor or black or Hispanic or Native American or blind or disabled or mentally challenged, the 50's weren't as kind and gentle.  Even with the help of "Blue Laws" and other social conventions friendly to the religious community, the Church did little to confront prejudice, poverty, the problems of the underprivileged, and other social ills.  Clearly, Church as we knew it in the 50's was not CHURCH as God wanted it.  

When our religion is shaped by our culture, devotion to that religion can be measured by cultural values. However, our devotion to Jesus, can never be measured by the values of our cultural.  Jesus calls us to transform the values of our culture by practicing the law of love:  

• "You shall love the lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5).
• "For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Galatians 5:14).
• "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).

When Church as we know it is shaped by the law of love, it will become CHURCH as God wants it.