A friend who was pursuing a career in ministry several years ago explained in detail their logic for choosing to be part of an established, well known denomination. They believed the ‘brand’ was a critical factor for reaching people. In their case, it was Anglicanism. As a recognisable brand, they believed people would be more open. For a brief time, I agreed with their analysis. Today, I could not be more excited that I am not part of an established denomination. Not because I have anything against Anglicans or my many friends who work within the Anglican church, but because my friend could not have been more wrong regarding the world’s perception of the church.

In his book “The Twilight of Atheism”, Alister McGrath builds a great case for a causal link between atheism and the disappointing state of the church. McGrath pins the blame for the French revolution in 1789 in large part on the church. It was so overbearing and corrupt that it caused great thinkers to develop an alternative system of viewing the world. Perhaps not atheist, more deist, but still anti-church. Corrupt overbearance was a feature of the European church. To make his point, McGrath illustrates that the American revolution (which took place after the French revolution) did not feel the need to pursue an atheist agenda. The reason was because of the influence of the Puritan church, the likes of John Wesley, who had developed a church without hierarchy and corruption, but of life, honesty, and of the people for the people. The Americans did not feel the heavy burden of a corrupt church. To them, the gospel was actually good news to be embraced.

I have noticed that even today the likes of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens when debating their position regarding atheism feel the need to refer to the state of the church as a key part of their argument. So often the church is portrayed as a burdensome, controlling, corrupt, abusive institution holding society back. And fair enough, because it sometimes is (let’s be honest). But here’s the key point - if the church didn’t suck quite so much, atheism wouldn’t have quite so much traction. Atheism is required as an alternative to those who have experienced a broken church. Atheism builds an alternative to a hierarchical, controlling, clergy-driven organisation that robs people of involvement, truth, reality, engagement, and more.



There was another time in history where the people of God reflected those kinds of attitudes. It was the first century, and Jesus wrenched the church out of the hands of any class of person, caste, education, status. He handed it to ordinary people, in their homes and workplaces. He sealed it with the Holy Spirit. The hierarchy is simple, not complex. The truth is found in the word of God, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, not in the traditions of the human institution that is the church. The more the church reflects Jesus, the less traction atheism can gain. It is essentially unnecessary, as the vast majority of people begin with the view that there is a supernatural being outside our natural observation and experience. Atheism is often the last resort of the one who has been disappointed by a corrupted human institution, the church. Nearly every atheist I know (all?) have had a negative experience of the Christian church. A key basis for their current system of belief is, “the church obviously can’t be right, it’s clearly so wrong.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t naturally follow that therefore there is no God.

That’s why I love being part of Epoch Community. I was speaking to an academic from a local university campus (not a follower of Jesus) on the weekend, and explaining to them what Epoch Community was. I explained that we were investigating a Jesus centred life based on the bible. I further explained that we were doing so by unhitching the teaching of Jesus from Western history. The two were not the same thing. The church of the last 2000 years has sometimes perfectly reflected Jesus, and other times has perfectly reflected his enemy. We were experiencing God directly, through his word. We were discovering God was accessible to anyone, anywhere. We meet in homes. We encourage the intelligence and capacity of Canberrans to interact with God. We are not illegitimate sons and daughters of God because we aren’t part of a traditional structure created by men, but we are full co-heirs with Christ because we are passionately seeking his word, quietening our spirits before His Spirit, and building a genuine community of faith. To say he was impressed by this picture would have been an understatement. Canberran atheists are within reach of Jesus, by expressions of church like Epoch Community. Despite all the wonderful ministry that occurs within traditional denominations, the general view in the city I’m part of is that the traditional church is corrupt, abusive, backward and protective of itself for selfish reasons. Clearly, this isn’t a major selling point, and is not a ‘brand’ that is helpful in reaching people. Without realising it, the simple existence of a traditionally portrayed church in a city like Canberra is fuelling atheism. There is just so much baggage related to the last several hundred years of church.



Fortunately, an emergency for the traditional church is not an emergency for God. He is at work, and churches like Epoch Community have the opportunity to seep into every subculture in a city like Canberra, introducing people to Jesus in a loving, personal, customised way. Jesus centred community is being developed in the most unlikely places. And the glory goes to God.