The Church is a Whore

“The Church is a Whore but She is my Mother” It is said that St Augustine coined this phrase sometime during his lifetime. I attended Eastern University, where Tony Campolo was my professor. This is where I first heard this quote. I remember being a young naive Christian hearing these provocative words and wondering, “what in the hell is this guy saying?” I would hear others say it as well within my circle of socially active and counter-culturally beautiful friends. I would say it myself without knowing its meaning because girls may have found it interesting thus finding me interesting. The word Whore next to the word Church was so damn exciting and vulgar. It was the perfect phrase to raise eyebrows and make more sensitive Christians angry. After all, that was my mission at the time, to piss off the conservative Christians for giggles.

Overtime however those words and many others Dr. Campolo gave me during my short lived college experience stuck with me. This particular one however has always intrigued me to no end. I remember sitting with some good friends who were starting a community called simple way and hearing them use this quite a few times. I loved those guys because of the words they used and the passion they had. I wanted that passion and felt it was in me somewhere. I wanted to call the church a whore and know why I called her that. The thing is I was pretty sure these guys did and I was dying to find out. I was a brash, emotional and generally passionate kid who wanted to be a part of something bigger than Eastern College, I wanted to save the world. This phrase and these crazy six people were the best way I saw to that. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way because I never did find out why the church was a lady of the night. I did find out how wonderful those six friends were and how amazing their hearts were. I did find out that communal living and being a hippie of sorts wasn’t my calling. In the end I walked away from the simple way still searching for my next great adventure.

So what about this Whore? How could the church be a prostitute? I have spent many years and many conversations mulling this question over. The best way to examine this is to look at the man who said it. Now no one seems to know for sure if St. Augustine of Hippo actually said these words but let’s assume he did. Some will also say Martin Luther said this and honestly in its context I could see it being him too. The fact is this was a bold response to the corruption that was taking place in Rome. Christianity, which had become the official state sponsored religion since Constantine merged the two, was out of control. It was being used to bully, threaten and steal from its followers. It was doing just what it was intended to do, make Christians not only fearful of the church but also of Rome. When Constantine decided to make Christianity the state religion and start the Roman Catholic Church his intentions were not to spread the name of Christ. He needed people to fight for Rome which was constantly being attacked by outside enemies. The Christians who up until this point were not participating in governmental affairs or military service were a great untapped resource. So for this and other reasons the church and state became one. For hundreds of years Rome would control the Christian church and also use it’s power in ways that would leave black marks on the religion for centuries to come.

Augustine who was very loyal to the Papacy in Rome but also was aware of the corruption that came along with it was prone to speak up. His use of the word whore would be a direct statement to the fact that he felt the church was being used like a prostitute. It was being sold out so to speak for political, material and other reasons. I believe he felt that the beloved church, the bride of Christ, was being cheapened by the reality of the day. The corruption taking hold of the church was obvious to him though he also felt he must not simply walk away from it. A whore back then and today is something no one wishes to be called. I also believe no one wants their mother referred to as a whore. So this statement is powerful and should cause some uproar. I imagine if he said this during his time it did just that. I know when Dr Campolo said it there were plenty who would have liked to run Tony right out of town that minute. What is interesting though is not that he called the church a whore at all. What is interesting is the “but” in the sentence. There is a huge and brash statement followed by this “she is our mother”. That is a big difference, just saying the church is a whore is one thing but now we are also comparing it to our mother? What is going on here and who does this guy think he is talking about my momma?

This is where the idea gets interesting. This is also where I tend to believe it was Augustine words as opposed to Luther. As I said Augustine was loyal to the Church in Rome and often took their side in matters Luther may have not. The second part of this statement “but she is my mother” speaks clearly to the fact that he not only loves the church but sees it as his mom. Now unless Augustine had it in for his mother I doubt he saw her as a whore. I doubt anyone really would want to see their mother become a whore. What I see in this second part is the desire to heal and stick with the church despite its apparent faults. He is pleading with the people to not run out on the unfaithful church but love it in spite of itself, to stand up and proclaim the sins but also forgive and move forward. This is where I see the relevance to this very statement today. It makes sense why Campolo and my simple way buddies were so keen on this sentence. It is something that needs to be brought to our attention in this modern age.

We now live in a time where the church of Christ may not be in bed with the state but it has been staying over. It has been coming home late with lipstick on it’s collar and making excuses as to where it has been. We see it everywhere we look, especially during times where politics take center stage. We are facing yet another presidential election and the term Evangelical is as hot as a firecracker. There are Christians who want a leader who not only represents their morals and ethics, but their faith. Some want a theocrat in the office so we can start backing up claims of this being a Christian nation. This has been going on for many years and been led by many different voices. The idea of a theocracy should strike fear into the hearts of Christians or at least make them look back at why the Reformation even happened. Maybe we should look at the Crusades or perhaps the Inquisition? Is this a good thing to have government and the bride of Christ becoming one? It is also within our culture. The church has created a culture that eerily resembles the secular one but is prettied up with slogans and bible verses. Are we just making our mother look more enticing in order to make it more acceptable or deceptive? I believe if the church is our mom then we need to get our mom to go back to dad. The church of today is not as blatantly committing adultery with the state but it is. We are letting our mother flirt with another man in front of our eyes. So what should we do next? Should we just wait until she comes home and confront her for her infidelity? Or should we just leave her to her lust and find a replacement?

I think the answer is clear if we read the last part. She is our mother and we do not abandon her! Sure our body is divided, distorted, corrupted and pretty much sleeping around, but we must be there to help heal her. We are all guilty of this unfaithfulness. We all have fallen short and as a body we are pretty bad at getting anything right. The answer is not to abandon ship but grab a bucket and start getting some of this water out of here before we sink. Jesus called his church his bride and yet we are allowing that bride to be a real slut sometimes. Whether it is politics, consumerism or any of the other vices we have tied our church too, we must take responsibility and hold ourselves accountable. There is no reason to let our mother sell herself in order to keep us happy. It is conviction time, and it is about time we got ourselves a little. Jesus loves his church; he wants us to love him back. He calls us his bride and wants us to love each other without having to wander from that marriage. The world has its politics and its problems but they are not ours to bring home. We are citizens of both heaven and of earth. As a citizen of earth we are a part of the issues and politics of our day but as citizens of heaven we hold allegiance to a higher authority. It is in that authority that our hearts must lie and our conviction belongs. We are called to be peacemakers, to love our enemies, take care of the poor and forgive those who wrong us. This is not the way of the world; this is the way of the kingdom of God. It is the only kingdom we as a church belong to. Is our mother a whore? Yes but she is our mother just the same and we must not abandon her to be ripped apart by those who hate her. We belong to Christ in unity not divided, as a bride to a groom. Jesus forgives our adultery but he now needs us to come home and be faithful. The world may have things our hearts desires but we are promised so much more. Our mother is the church, let’s get mom off the streets.

Amen