Utumishi Blog

Glory to God in the highest… (Luke 2:14)

to Him be the glory in the church… (Ephesians 3:21)

At our closing carol service at the end of the ministry training week Pastor Manases of Christ Supremacy Church fed us wonderfully from these verses, particularly pointing us to the glory of Christ and the way that he brings true peace on earth through his reconciling death, but also making a side point that it is very easy for a church or Christian organisation to drift away from a pursuit of the glory of God towards a pursuit of the glory of man.

David Jackman, in an Evangelicals Now article, highlights the case of ‘Solomon’s Temple’ in Sao Paulo, Brazil – a recently completed 11-storey, 10,000 seater, $300 million centre for the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.

This is religion as idolatry, for the glory of man in the name of the glory of God. We may stand aloof, assuring ourselves that we would never fall for such blatant idolatry, but we might be wise to identify its characteristics and examine whether their roots are to be found in our own corporate church cultures…

Religious idolatry is an ever present threat and… powerful whenever Christ and his work is sidelined in favour of he church and its image in the contemporary culture. It will be motivated by competitiveness (my church is more successful than yours), by a commitment to impressing the world on its own terms, rather than living in it on Christ’s terms. It will seek the acceptance and approval of the world, rather than being crucified with Christ (Gal. 6:14).

We need to look within. The seeds are ready to germinate in all our hearts. “Dear children, keep yourself from idols.” (1 John 5:21)