The 8 Indicators that you might be in a Dysfunctional Church

Last Sunday I started a new series with the title, "The 8 Indicators that You Might Be in a Dysfunctional Church. Of course, the title is a play on David Letterman. It is actually a set of sermons on the early chapters of First Corinthians. I have been wanting to preach on that letter for some time now. It is a wonderful exposition of everything that the church shouldn't be as well as a lot that the church should be.

The early chapters that I am teaching currently show a church that actually is pretty smug about who they are. The problem is that Paul has to tell them that, not only shouldn't they be smug, they ought to be ashamed of themselves. They are divided, celebrating immorality, taking one another to court, flaunting spiritual gifts and generally in a state of disarray. Later in the letter, you find the "magna carta" of Charismatic Worship. The gifts and how they are used are set forth in an orderly manner. And, of course, in the middle of all of this is the wonderful chapter on love.

I was asked if I am preaching this series because I think that my current church is dysfunctional. First, I really believe that the Church of Jesus Christ can never be dysfunctional. Jesus is the head of the church and where he is actually in charge, things are in order. The problem is that the church (little c) in its local settings is made up of people. People are known for getting things wrong. They follow the wrong priorities. They actually begin to think that they are in charge. This leads to dysfunction. This all begs the question, "Is Bayview dysfunctional?" I answer that it is no more dysfunctional than most. We all have the seeds of dysfunction and Christ likeness in our midst. I am teaching this series as a check-list on how we are doing. We can see how we measure up to the Corinthians and take Paul's teaching and set ourselves right. I'll be going through the list of eight, sermon by sermon.