The Church is a Whore...? Really?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the "Church" as a whole. About her role, about her objectives, about her formation, division, and about the current push for the "Emergent Church". The Emergent Church...the thought used to seem novel...Now I'm not so sure.

What is the Church? We call a building a Church nowadays, and I still can't quite get how that came about...Church is believers: People. It's like repeatedly going to a football game where you are surrounded by Fans, and eventually instead of saying you are going to the Game (, or Stadium would be more accurate for this illustration) you eventually start saying "Hey man, want to go to the Fans?" Syntax, I know. My head is cold, so I put my hoodie up.

But really, The Emergent Church. I heard a philosopher speak this Sunday about the Church. If you know me, you know I really don't like little catchy catch phrases about...almost anything, like "It's not a Religion, it's a Relationship", or "God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good." I'm sure you know more, and I am not saying they aren't true, but, oh snap I want something to hit...the fan...when people say those things...All that to say, this guy used a little phrase, but it made me think.

"The Church is not an Organization, it is an Organism."

He went on to talk about how he feels that the Church as a whole (and he as a person) is guilty of making and committing to so many activities, classes, and services that she almost begins to solely invest in an Organization with her time and monies. He then asked those gathered if they thought Jesus would really take part in a body whose purpose was strictly preservation, as that seems to be what the Church (as a whole, currently,) is in the interest of doing.

Epic. Metal Hands. It truly is, has been, my belief that:
1) The kingdom is at hand, here, now,
2) The kingdom is not an ideal, or a place, but God's own people,
3) God's people are the Church.
Therefore I believe that the Church is the Kingdom: a kingdom made up of God's people, with a mandate to invest not in another hierarchal religious order, but rather in the building of relationships, and the redemption of parts of the body that have fallen to the wayward side...Hm...more to come on that later.

And now back to this emerging business...one thing that strikes me as odd is that a lot of people say "Emergent Church" but mean...pop-culture church...the hip church...the church that is with it...you get the point...but what does the name imply? Emerging from what? From persecution? I would venture to say that in the place we call the U.S. of A., almost all persecution of the Church comes from within the Church, and it manifests itself in two forms: Unbelief and Denial. Unbelief in that

Some might say it is "emerging" from more recent years (last 100) of cultural disconnectedness.
Some might say it is "emerging" from do-as-I-say to discipleship.
Some might say it is "emerging" from sermon driven to service driven.
DC*B might say it is "emerging" from death to life.
After much thought and deliberation and multiple conversations, I have decided that I agree with my close friend who put it plainly when he said:

"The universal church is everyone who is a follower of Christ and has put on the wedding dress. Emergent, Traditional, Dying, Adulterated, Contemporary, Blended, Pentacostal, Baptist, Non-Denominational, Charismatic, Old, Young, Fat, and Slow - are we not all followers of Christ? Some with a little more dust on our feet than others...and at varying times."

Emergent or not...The Church is, has been, and will always be the Church.

DISCLAIMERS:

I realize that some organization allows for more effective means at times. I also recognize that the Church has been an awesome tool through which a lot of lives and minds have been renewed, and I don't mean to downsize that in the least.

I abhor when "Emergent Church" supporters get mad when you talk about the present Church and call it a Whore, because I also believe that the Church is the body and bride of Christ.

Jesus wouldn't marry Himself to the Church if He didn't believe that:
1) She could be redeemed, and
2) She was worth it.

Despite that belief, if the Church is composed of God's people, even the "Emergent Church" would still be considered a whore in that sense because
THE CHURCH IS PEOPLE. A collective body of people from all walks! So long as one...ONE member of God's kingdom sells out to sin, the Church is a whore. Therefore, we ought not think that the Church will cease to be a "whore" just because it emerges or....however you would say that.