The “Greater Good”

I have had some experience with (and within) organizations, some good, some not so good. A question I have been asked several times over the years and pondering quite a bit lately is whether religious organizations (or what some who seem either bitter or who have grown cynical call “institutions”) are indeed evil. Another question within that train of thought that arises is whether it is possible for those within religious organizations to remain faithful to caring for individual people and yet also serve the best interest of that organization.

As my good friend Daniel Susenbach says, here seems to be a lot of “either/or mentality”. I agree with him that an “either/or mentality”, at least in this case, is error. My opinion and hope, is that it is possible for a religious organization to simultaneously stay faithful to Jesus’ mission, care for the people within the organization, care for people outside the organization and still function well as an organized group of people. After all, organizations are made up of people and religious organizations should be made up of godly people.

The problem I have run into over and over in the 14+ years of my involvement vocationally within religious organizations (often even while I have been in leadership within those organizations) is what I call the “the greater good mentality”. This mentality is one that seems to say that “we need to defend the organization and it’s reputation at all costs”. This mentality ends up sacrificing people by reducing them to “liabilities” or “assets”, using them to build the organization and when they finally seem to have lost their “usefulness”, they are disposed of or “graciously asked to step aside” for the “greater good”. Those leading the “greater good cult” seem to think that “the end justifies the means” and that “sure, a few may feel or even actually be hurt in the process of building the organization, but the long-term benefit’s will outweigh the shady process in which we arrived”.

This kind of thinking may be “normal” in corporate models, business’ or even governments (again, I said “normal” not “right”), but when I read my Bible and spend time with God, this is not the kind of thinking or practice I think Jesus intends for His “Kingdom”. I think that we can glean concepts from corporate models, but we need to first put everything through the “Kingdom filter”, as I like to call it. When I read the Gospels and hear Paul’s instructions in his Epistles, I don’t gather that God is okay with sacrificing people, wounded or healthy, in order to keep His Church “clean and tidy” or clear from any chance of “bad reputation”. The only “sacrifice” I see that has any merit for saving God’s Church, is Jesus’ sacrifice for His Church, the Complete and Final Sacrifice.

So again I ask the two questions: 1.) are religious organizations evil, and 2.) if not, is it possible to stay true to Kingdom of God priorities and still serve the best interests of the organizations? I think that to begin to answer these two difficult questions we need to start by going to the Bible for some clues, clues that may be found by what the Bible says and does not say about what the Church is supposed to look and be like.

There is a ton of books currently coming out about how the present day western Church has gotten it all wrong and it’s time we “reclaim the true structure that Jesus intended”. Though there are some points within those books that I really do personally agree with, the problem as I see it with many of their conclusions is that Jesus said so little about what the Church was supposed to look like. It seems that Jesus was more concerned about what the Church was supposed to be like. And Paul’s instructions in his Epistles are very contexualized letters addressing specific issue and concerns he had about specific situations, people and wrong teachings within their gatherings. When Paul gives instruction about order, what to teaching or on the subject of spiritual gifts, he is addressing particular situations within particular gatherings of people. So, other than to gather general principles or truth that we can apply to life and how we “do Church”, both the Gospels and Epistles really don’t speak in favor or against the way many within the western culture “do Church”.

So, since there is little evidence for what Church is to look like, let’s go back to what Jesus intended His Church to be like. This is a rich study that is jammed pack with metaphors, parables, instructions, teachings, commands and the like. One of Jesus’ most common teachings was on the “Kingdom of God” (or “Kingdom of heaven”) and how it was coming and then arrived and is here now. And it seems that in this new Kingdom, things are different than the one of the world all around us. In this new and present Kingdom people matter, the outcasts are the greatest within the Kingdom, the weak and poor and unwise are the esteemed, and there is no “lording over each other” because we all have one Lord and Master, Jesus. The values of this Kingdom and it’s citizens are in sharp contrast to the values of the surrounding culture and those not yet citizens of this new and exciting Kingdom. It seems that we (those within the God’s Kingdom) do things differently because we are different.

So in conclusion, back to my original questions: what about religious organizations and caring for individuals? My opinion after study, conversations, time with God and years of experience within religious organizations is that there is hope for religious organizations that stay true to the heart of Jesus and the truth of the Gospel, that remember to value people more than structure, that keep in step with the Spirit of God, and that keep a humble awareness that all an organization really is, and is composed of, are people, those valuable to Jesus. Organizations should just be a larger group of people who have decided to organize in order to follow a common vision or objective.

In my opinion, when a religious organization starts operating in such a way that is contrary to heart and values of Jesus, or has to make compromising decisions in order to protect that organization, or the leaders start hearing words like “for the greater good”, “assets”, “liabilities” fall from their own very lips… the organization has lost it’s way and is in danger of turning from flesh and blood into cold machinery. That may be when it’s time to re-evaluate the priorities of that organization, to not “conform to the patterns of this world, or “call it quits” in order to find the Kingdom and heart of God once again.